HR Advice For Small Businesses Archives - Page 5 of 8

Employment Law Scrapped

Employment Law Scrapped I was speaking to a prospect the other day, and while he was interested in our support, it quickly became clear that he didn’t feel he would need it going forward. Not because he wouldn’t experience issues in his organization, but because – in his words – “Now we’ve had Brexit, the … Read more

Can you make an employee get the vaccine?

Can you make an employee get the vaccine?

I got a question today from an employee asking whether he could be disciplined for not getting the vaccine if/when it is offered.

The government has been pleasantly surprised with the take up of the vaccination programme in the UK so far – they were hoping for a 75% uptake, and they have over 90% uptake in the “at risk” groups so far.

But regardless of how good the uptake is, some people are refusing, and will continue to do so, and right now, there are no plans to make any of the vaccines compulsory.

As an employer, you have no right to insist on any vaccinations, either during employment or as a condition of employment. It’s also unlikely that you could make staff get vaccinated on health and safety grounds.

Can I make them return to work after lockdown?

Can I make them return to work after the lockdown?

If you’re anything like me, you’ve definitely got an ear to the ground for the inevitable leaks that’ll come from the government ahead of Boris’ big speech on Monday.

You’re probably also thinking about your employees, can I make them return to work after lockdown?

And as things start to ease, there’ll definitely be challenges for employers.

There’s one particular challenge we’re already getting a lot of questions about:

“If staff prefer to work from home, can I ask them to return after lockdown?”

The answer is a pretty unequivocal “yes”.

As ‘working from home’ was always a temporary arrangement for most employees, you’re well within your rights to ask them to return to their usual way of working.

If they do want to continue from home, then the onus is on them to make a “flexible working request”; something that all staff with 26 weeks + service can do.

Filling the GAP in HR services: Pregnancy myths shattered with a rant…

Filling the GAP in HR services: Pregnancy myths shattered with a rant…

I got an email from a business coach the other day, and halfway through it, I felt like I’d been slapped.

In the middle of a perfectly acceptable rant about poor service, the rant segued into saying how no business owner should ever employ a woman of childbearing age, as they “take a year off on maternity leave – again and again”!

Ignoring the gross over-simplification that all women always get pregnant, it was interesting that he thought pregnancy was the biggest thorn in an employer’s side.

We work at the “sharp end” with staff issues, and I can tell you straight away that it’s absolutely nonsense.

In fact, the reality is that 95% of the staff issues we deal with are to do with men over the age of 30.

Very occasionally we have had a “tricky” pregnancy situation to resolve. (By occasionally, I mean two in the last 14 years):

Filling the GAP in HR services: Insert expletive of your choice

Filling the GAP in HR services: Insert expletive of your choice

‘It is a real shame that ACAS is falling down in its main job: supporting people who have been unfairly treated by their employers.

We’ve always had a lot of contact on our client’s behalf with ACAS at the Early Conciliation level (the month before they start an official tribunal).

Their conciliators have always only been a messenger, without legal power and no jurisdiction to decide who is “right”.

Generally, they have been very realistic and informed and helpful in the process.

But that was before Coronavirus.

In the past two months, we’ve had to deal with two nightmares “conciliators” who had no idea about the law or how to do their job.

The first one felt that it was unfair (!) that an employee had been fired after 4 months service without following a full disciplinary process.

As you probably know, under 2 years there is no protection from unfair dismissal for employees. And we have in our contracts and handbook that we will not be using the disciplinary process on staff under 2 years.

Absolutely legal.

But the ACAS conciliator had not heard of it, telling me bluntly, “You are not allowed to do that!”.

Filling the GAP in HR services: Women are more expensive than men

Filling the GAP in HR services: Women are more expensive than men

It’s an accepted “fact” of business life – women are more expensive to employ than men.

But is it true?

Few people like to go on the record about it – largely through fear of getting a knock on the door from politically correct vigilantes.

Employers and employment bodies have traditionally been shy of undertaking any kind of meaningful study into the costs of women in the workplace.

Despite this, there appears to be a real fear that employing women can cost a business dearly.

A survey of HR professionals by Croner Consulting suggests that some four fifths of employers instinctively think twice about employing women of ‘childbearing age’ – which is basically all women nowadays, as the current UK oldest new mother is 66!

That means the assumption that women are more expensive to employ could be affecting 10.9 million women throughout the UK.

Even removing the subjective from the discussion, leaving out the whys and the wherefores, answering the simple question ‘are women more expensive to employ than men?’ takes diplomacy to entirely new levels.

So how does the expense theory stand up to scrutiny? Here are some of the most common assumptions (and the truth behind them)”

Filling the Gap in HR services: Incurably itchy wrist

I bought myself a new Fitbit for Christmas.

I kind of had to, because I lost my old one at the end of last year, and while health is actually the point of exercise, turning it into a competition makes me far more likely to engage with it!

I didn’t want one of the big watch ones.

In fact I didn’t want a watch at all, I wanted something to clip onto my belt.

You see, I haven’t been able to wear anything on my wrists for any length of time for years; since the children were born.

I used to love watches, that was my reward when things went well at work: buy a new watch.

But as soon as Frances and Christopher came along, all of a sudden I couldn’t wear a leather strap, nor metal or plastic, without developing an incurably itchy wrist.

Gold bracelet? Nope.

Filling the GAP in HR services: Undeserved reputation

Filling the GAP in HR services: Undeserved reputation

You might think that once you’ve got a box of Christmas decorations, you’re done – the same collection can come out and go on the tree each and every year.

But that’s not how I operate – despite developing a reputation for Grinchiness, I do rather love the festive season, which is why I’ve been busy this week, buying more decorations.

And not just any decorations – some beautiful pieces from Taitu; an Italian company and my favourite craft company.

They’ve “discovered” email marketing this year, which means I’ve been getting missives from them several times a week with new products.

One of those emails featured a truly beautiful heart shaped decoration that I just had to have, so – after managing to navigate the website with only a cursory knowledge of Italian, I put the item in my basket and headed to the checkout.

And that’s when my first roadblock presented itself – it turned out that to get free P&P in the EU I needed to spend €40.

Filling the GAP in HR services: Cynicism gives way to desire

Filling the GAP in HR services: Cynicism gives way to desire

As you’ll know, from the many, many (many) emails sent out by retailers, last week was Black Friday – the one time of the year when my cynicism gives way to be desire for a bargain.

I’ve wanted a robot vacuum cleaner for ages, and the discount day gave me the perfect excuse to splurge.

Not that I needed much of an excuse – with two teenagers and a small dog in the house, there is A LOT of dirt brought in every day.

And when you add in the fact that I’m usually barefoot at home thanks to our underfloor heating (which I really wouldn’t be without), it’s fair to say that we need our ground floor vacuumed pretty much every day.

Thing is: life’s too short to be doing this, which means that for a long time I’ve just been putting up with a floor that really fails the ‘clean enough to eat off’ test.

Filling the GAP in HR services: The most popular page…

Filling the GAP in HR services: The most popular page…

Every now and again I take a look at the most popular pages on our website.

And pretty much every time I do, the same answer comes up, which is an article on the penalty for not issuing an employment contract.

Since it’s proved very popular online, it’s clearly an important topic, so I thought I’d dedicate an email to explaining the answer, to ensure you’ve got absolute clarity on where you stand.

So here goes…

Filling the GAP in HR services: Off to the Apollo….

Filling the GAP in HR services: Off to the Apollo….

Got any plans for tonight?

I’m off to the Apollo to see Jimmy Carr. I’ll get into the Big Smoke early, grab myself a bite to eat and enjoy an evening out.

Not really.

That was the plan, before Lockdown 2.0 got involved.

Now I’ll be fighting over a takeaway menu with a teenager having already lost the battle over the remote.

But although I’m disappointed not to be enjoying Jimmy’s acerbic wit this evening, I haven’t given up hope.

You see, the Apollo has learnt from the last lockdown.

Filling the GAP in HR services: Canny employees will hate this shift

Employers rejoice – the eternal battlefield of employment law has made a small but significant shift in favour of the employer.

And it’s in the area of disciplinaries.

Some employees are extremely canny when it comes to the disciplinary procedure.

They’ll push and push and push until it seems they can push no more, and they’ll receive a final written warning for their trouble.

Then they’ll commit a completely unrelated offence; one that has no relationship to the original offence.

Can you dismiss them for the unrelated offence?

Well, you couldn’t. But now you can.

Filling the GAP in HR services: Square Root of Diddly Squat

Filling the GAP in HR services: Square Root of Diddly Squat

I doubt I’m alone in feeling a sense of déjà vu this week – the shelves are bare, Zoom quizzes are already being organised, and I’m receiving scores of emails from restaurants, hotels and other businesses explaining the degree to which they’re open or closed.

Which has afforded me the wonderful opportunity to shed the number of lists I’m on rather dramatically.

Unsubscribe. Unsubscribe. Unsubscribe.

Filling the GAP in HR services: But you never said

Many employers don’t like to have formal meetings, i.e. in private, with closed doors, with staff who are not performing.

Instead, they feel that an “informal” comment at their desk or the coffee machine will be enough for the person to understand the feedback and act on it.

In an ideal world, that would be the case. But years of experience shows me that it’s not.

And a recent incident highlights the point:

I was called in to “deal with” the PA to the MD.

And by “deal with”, I mean that – of course – he wanted to get rid of her.

Filling the GAP in HR services: Substandard Salcombe

Filling the GAP in HR services: Substandard Salcombe

I was in Devon last week. First stop Salcombe for a marketing seminar, and then client visits in Torquay.

It was my first few nights away since February, so hearing great things about one of the hotels in Salcombe, I decided to treat myself and book it, since that was where the seminar was.

And on paper, it ticked a lot of boxes.

Amazing location.

Good rating on Trip Advisor.

Lots of pretty pictures showing how beautiful it was.

Unfortunately this was a world away from the reality.

Filling the GAP in HR services: 2 plus 2 equals…?

Filling the GAP in HR services: 2 plus 2 equals…? As you can imagine, we’ve been very busy during lockdown and furlough, so much so that we need to take on more staff. We’ve got very high standards, as you might expect, and as a result, we’ve got a pretty stringent recruitment process in place. … Read more

Filling the GAP in HR services: Stuffed during staycation

Filling the GAP in HR services: Stuffed during staycation

We had our “staycation” last weekend.

With holidays cancelled and school and university looming, it was time for a bit of TLC, and instead of travelling anywhere, the kids and I decided we’d go out every night to a new restaurant.

And I’m glad we did, because we discovered a new gem as a result: Atomic Burger in Oxford.

The instant I walked in, I knew it was my sort of place – superhero décor and 80s pop videos on the TV – the latter in particular making me feel right at home, as the 80s was probably the last time I actually watched pop videos!

Filling the GAP in HR services: Dangerous Air Con

Filling the GAP in HR services: Dangerous Air Con

As you probably know, you’ve got a duty of care to provide a safe work place.

But in usual circumstances, the commute to work is another matter – you’ve got no legal obligation to provide a safe commute; it’s up to the employee to discern what’s safe and what’s not.

However, in the current climate, you may need to make “reasonable adjustments” if your employees are in one of the extremely clinically vulnerable groups and they’re concerned about their safety.

The phrase “reasonable adjustments” can mean a whole load of different things, but what it doesn’t mean is allowing an employee not to drive to work in his company car because it doesn’t have air conditioning and it’s “too hot”!

You’ve probably guessed that I haven’t plucked that example out of thin air.

Filling the GAP in HR services: A gym too far

Filling the GAP in HR services: A gym too far

My son Christopher is now 16.

For him, it means he can finally be a “proper” member of the local gym.

The gym is at The Swan – the ‘famous’ hotel from Three Men and a Boat, and they don’t accept under-16s, which means we’ve been driving the 5 miles to Cholsey whenever he wants to go.

But now he’s 16, he can stop relying on me and walk there whenever he wants.

Or so we thought.

14 Day Isolation Letter

The government is announcing instant lockdowns on an almost daily basis on Twitter.

Your staff may have to go into self-isolation after a week in sunny Manchester.

Therefore we recommend giving out this letter to all staff who have a holiday booked in the next month, so that everything is clear before they go.

All staff will need to be paid the same amount, i.e. all take unpaid leave, or all get SSP.

Do not discriminate between departments or full time/part time staff.

Redundancy Process (Video and Transcript)

The process normally is three weeks consultation – it is a grey area. The ACAS guide is that it should be a reasonable consultation period. I have argued with clients, who then didn’t stay clients for very long, that one day was a reasonable consultation period. No, it’s not and you don’t want to be … Read more

What other jobs do you have to offer them? (video and transcript)

What other jobs do you have to offer them? (video and transcript) So you’ve spoken to them individually. You’ve offered them all the jobs that are open, you don’t make any decision at this stage about whether they are suitable for them or not. You don’t say, “Oh but that s not going to pay … Read more

Redundancy Pool (video and transcript)

Redundancy Pool (video and transcript) If you only have one person in your redundancy pool, the courts see that as unfair dismissal. They see it as a not a fair redundancy process they see it as the employer trying to get rid of one employee. And that is, unfortunately, going to be the case that … Read more

Redundancy Pay – Zero hour contracts (video and transcript)

Redundancy Pay – Zero hour contracts (video and transcript) So, to know how much you need to pay zero hours workers for redundancy, you need to look at the last 12 weeks of pay that they have received. You would discount any weeks that they haven’t actually worked, or they’ve been on holiday and you … Read more

Filling the GAP in HR services: Royal Mail made me buy an iPad

Filling the GAP in HR services: Royal Mail made me buy an iPad

I love reading.

But, with a busy business, and two teenagers, I don’t usually get to do as much as I’d like.

Lockdown was different though – the extra time at the weekends meant I could indulge my passion to the full.

While I’m mainly reaching for a novel, the one weekly publication I never usually miss is the Economist.

However, during lockdown it started getting delivered on a Monday rather than a Friday or Saturday, which meant I didn’t have time to get through it before the next weekend, by which point it was often pretty out of date.

In the end, I turned to the digital version.

Filling the GAP in HR services: Dodgy whatsapp images

Filling the GAP in HR services: Dodgy whatsapp images

Your employees, however well you get on with them, are there to earn money.

Never forget this.

So many small business owners make the mistake of treating employees like family or buddies.

This is all well and good when things are going smoothly.

But what happens when a downturn in business means you have to make someone redundant?

I’ve seen it, and they react especially badly. They turn up to work to pay the bills.

When that has gone, any friendship you built is immediately in jeopardy.

They may instead feel moved to sue, and the business could fold. It happens; don’t assume you’re immune to it.

And this week, we had an added refinement on this theme:

Don’t assume they appreciate the same things you do.

Such as WhatsApp messages containing pornographic videos.

Filling the GAP in HR services: A veneer of availabililty

Filling the GAP in HR services: A veneer of availability

I tried to buy a TV this weekend.

We’ve needed a new one for months, ever since I pressed too hard on a corner and created black lines across the top of the screen.

In truth, we’ve bumbled along just fine, barely noticing the line, but now that the retailers have stock to shift and the email offers are coming in thick and fast, I thought it was time I sorted it.

After looking at the Which? recommendations, I found one that fit the bill – Samsung, under £1,000 and in-stock at my local Currys.

Simple and straightforward transactions tend to elude me, so you won’t be surprised to know that this is when things started to go pear-shaped.

After adding the TV to my basket, I got a ‘computer says no’ message.

“This item is not available for delivery, but you can click and collect”

Not ideal. I had wanted it installed and the old one disposed of, but in these trying times I figured I could cope with a 6-mile drive to Didcot to pick it up myself.

Except I couldn’t.

Filling the GAP in HR services: Audible Subscription

Filling the GAP in HR services: Audible Subscription

I love listening to podcasts.

I’ve got my favourites – “No Such Thing As A Fish” and “The Infinite Monkey Cage” have been the pick of the bunch over the last year or so.

But when we went into lockdown, I rapidly “used up” all my podcasts, thanks a long daily dog walk and “quiet time” away from the other inhabitants of my house.

So I needed something new to listen to. I’d heard good things about Audible, so I thought I’d give it a go.

As an Amazon Prime member, I was given a very generous offer of £3.99 for the first three months, before defaulting to the normal £7.99 monthly subscription.

And over the past 10 weeks, it’s been really valuable.

But now – as we exit lockdown – I’m finding less and less time to listen to the books.

So I figured that I’d cancel my subscription and head back to my podcasts.

Easier said than done, and I mean that in an admiring way.

Finding the button to cancel was surprisingly easy – they don’t hide it away like many other subscription services.

When I clicked it the genius began.

Filling the GAP in HR services: Tequila and TV

Filling the GAP in HR services: Tequila and TV

We’ve all had our vices during the lockdown.

A bar of Dairy Milk for some people, a glass of red wine for others.

Mine?

Tequila and television.

Don’t worry, I haven’t let my liking for the Mexican liquid get the better of me – I’m not furtively pouring it into my coffee cup just to get through the next Zoom call.

However, I have been enjoying it at the end of a long week, in front of something entertaining on the box.

Although of course, TV has changed unalterably in just a few short years.

Filling the GAP in HR Services: Night Owl

Filling the GAP in HR Services: Night Owl

I’m a night owl. Always have been.

Getting up at the crack of dawn has never been my thing, and consistently I’ve done my best work and had my best ideas once the sun has dipped below the horizon.

But, being a mother of two, I’ve had to adjust over the last two decades, because they really messed all that up.

With children, you’ve no choice but to be a morning person, even when your body is crying out for “just another five minutes”.

As the saying goes though, a leopard can’t change its spots, and over the years I’ve found myself craving the holidays, if only because those days don’t come with a pre-7am wake-up call.

In the early days of the current crisis, I was still getting up in the dark, because there was so much to do – furloughing was brand new, and my attention was needed in multiple places in a short space of time.

But as the pressure started dying down, so did my resolve.

I started hitting the snooze button more, because – well – why not?

Filling the GAP in HR services: Dirty little habit of mine

Filling the GAP in HR services: Dirty little habit of mine.

Since “lockdown” began, we’ve all been closer to our nearest and dearest than we ever thought we would be.

And in this strange, coronavirus world, some of our loved ones’ habits are bound to be seen as cause for justifiable manslaughter – “If he says ‘Stands to reason’ one more time…!”

Even more worrying than the alarming homicidal tendencies is the discovery of a dirty little habit of mine.

I’ll tell you but it has to stay between us.

Holiday p*rn.

Now that doesn’t mean watching it whilst on holiday.

Instead, it’s the few minutes I allow myself each day where I dream about how it could all be different.

Where I dare to fantasise of the time when we’re allowed out again, and start searching for my first post-CV holiday.

Filling the Gap in HR Services: Caribbean in Oxfordshire

As we enter yet another weekend in lockdown, albeit one with cooler weather on the horizon, I can’t help but cast my mind back to last weekend.

It really was lovely – one of the nicest Easter weekends I’ve ever experienced; so different from the ones in my childhood, which I remember as being grey and damp.

In fact, it was so nice that I was able to don the swimming costume I bought for my holiday, lie on my sunbed, close my eyes and be transported to the Caribbean, despite being in sunny Oxfordshire.

This transportation was only possible with Nivea sunscreen.

My mum always used this one us when I was a child in Italy, Kuwait and Cyprus.

As soon as I open the bottle I am transported to exotic, hot beach locations.

Filling the GAP in HR Services: Eight Whole Hours

I’ve been spending a lot of time on Zoom recently.

I’m sure you have too.

But when I say “a lot of time”, I don’t mean a 30-minute team meeting and a pub quiz in the evening.

I mean hours and hours and hours – an average of 7-8 a day to be precise.

I guess it’s pretty unsurprising: when your business is all about people management, you expect to be busy, and when you can’t physically see clients, then Zoom is the next best thing.

Anyway, when I first started the calls, I came to the sobering realization that my study – which provided the backdrop for every call – was not a pretty sight.

Pre-coronavirus, the study was the business equivalent of the box room – bung everything on a shelf and sort it out “later”.

Filling the GAP in HR Services: A very lovely silver lining

Last night, I realised that the isolation is playing into the hands of one of my favourite creatures:

Hedgehogs.

I’ve been a fan of the little snuffly animals for a while – we have a family of three living under next door’s shed, and before they went into hibernation, we were putting mealworms out for them every night.

After such a mild winter, I’ve been expecting them out of hibernation any way, and a couple of nights ago, the alarm (our dog Comet) sounded, with a bark that sounded like a zombie hoard was attacking the back door.

And sure enough, the first hedgehog out of hibernation was the reason why – the poor chap must have been very confused to have an overfriendly and over-loud dog approaching during the first adventure post-hibernation!

Filling the Gap in HR Services: Blindsided

We were all worried about the effects that Brexit would have on our businesses, and now we’ve been blindsided by Covid-19.

Clearly the next few weeks will make running a business and dealing with staff particularly challenging, so I just thought I’d drop you a quick line to say that if you need someone to talk to, I’m here.

I’ve already had a number of people contact me to ask where they stand in terms of staff contracts and reduction of hours, so let me clear a couple of bits up:

You may think you’ve got ‘zero hours workers, but you only do if your contract is worded in a specific way. If it’s not, then they’re just part time workers.

Which means you can’t reduce them to zero hours, which would have been an immediate and easy cut in payroll costs.

Plus, if you give them their week’s notice, you will have to pay them their average hours over the last 12 weeks. Not zero.

When it comes to layoffs and short time working, unless you have the right in your contract of employment to impose this on the staff, then you have to ask them if they agree to the layoff.

They might, they might not.

Clearly this is not ideal, and some business owners will be wishing they’d sorted their contracts sooner rather than later – again if you need to talk about your contracts, then please get in touch.

But, despite my tendency for rants, I am an optimist.

This WILL pass.

Filling the GAP in HR Services: Coronavirus Employer Update

If you are struggling, here are some options:

Reduce all the zero hours people to zero hours, if you have them.

How much you still have to pay other staff? Do still need to make cuts?

Next step would be to fire all staff under 2 years’ service, especially those only on one week’s notice. You do have to pay the notice.

How much you still have to pay other staff? Do still need to make cuts?

Next step would be to fire all staff under 2 years’ service, with one month’s notice. You do have to pay the notice.

How much you still have to pay other staff? Do still need to make cuts?

Final step would be to do a redundancy process with the remaining staff. 3 week consultation period, statutory redundancy pay and notice period to be paid.

Office staff could possibly work from home.

Remaining staff:

Filling the GAP in HR services: HR update – Coronavirus

Latest employer related updates regarding coronavirus:

Statutory sick pay is now to be paid from day one of illness.

No other changes to the amount paid or for how long – 28 weeks.

The Chancellor said that SSP for all companies with fewer than 250 employees would be refunded. No details yet on how this would work.

You would pay full sick pay as stated in your policy, once staff call in sick. Then SSP.

Full sick pay usually includes the SSP component.
No requirement to pay more than is in your policy.
If you only pay SSP, you would continue to pay SSP.

Those self-isolating after contact NHS 111 or their GP should also be paid SSP. No legal entitlement to full sick pay.

Filling the GAP in HR Services: Being Grounded

Filling the GAP in HR Services: Being Grounded

As I write this, we’re at the end of the second day of full lockdown, or “being grounded” as I like to refer to it.

And what amazes me is how the media is rubbing salt in our wounds, by playing out of date TV and radio adverts.

I listened to the news this morning, and then straight away saw four adverts:

An ad for McDonald’s breakfasts – when they’re closed.
What to do if you see a red X on the motorway –which we are not supposed to be using
Invest in a stocks and shares ISA – when the bottom has fallen out of the stockmarket
Travel with GWR to Bristol – when we are barely allowed out into our gardens!

And then I saw a Sky TV advert for Sky Store with the message, “Reasons to stay in in March” – as if we had a choice!

Filling the GAP in HR services: No planned perspiration

I went up to London with Frances and Christopher at the weekend.

I’d booked the Mischief Theatre’s Magic Goes Wrong at the Vaudeville Theatre, so we hopped on the train and off we went.

I printed the tickets, checked the route in London, and although it said 20 minutes on the Bakerloo line, I left 60 minutes just in case.

Turns out we needed every minute of it.

The first fun event was turning up at Paddington and finding out that there was no access to the Bakerloo line as they were refurbishing the ticket office. Hmm.

Filling the Gap in HR services: Incurably itchy wrist

14 Day Isolation Letter

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