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Tales of an HR Services Expert – Day 18: Not ugly enough!

Written by Carolyne Wahlen

Not ugly enough!

Conventional wisdom says attractive people are more likely to be hired. But it’s a bit more complicated than that.

Two Israeli researchers send out CVs with pictures – rated according to attractiveness – for 2,500 different jobs.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Recruitment

Tales of an HR Services Expert – Day 14: Minimum Wage

Written by Carolyne Wahlen

Doing employees a favour doesn’t always work

I was approached by a company to help with a situation that was baffling them.

They had employed someone who wasn’t really as experienced as they would have liked, but they liked him and created a job for him.

However what they also did was pay him less than minimum wage. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Employment tribunals, Getting things done, Managing Employees, Minimum wage, Recruitment

Tales of an HR Services Expert – Day 9: Avoiding expensive mistakes

Written by Carolyne Wahlen

So. You’re a small business with just a few employees, and managing them is one job you have to do yourself. And do it well.

Learn from the costly traps that other employers have fallen into, with this free guide on the pitfalls you simply must avoid. Remember these are the seven biggest mistakes that employers make which lead straight to a tribunal and cost them their personal cash – so beware!

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, changing terms, Contracts of Employment, Discrimination, Dismissal, Grievance, Illegal immigrants, Managing Employees, Pregnancy and Maternity, Recruitment, Resignation, Sickness Absence, Uncategorized

Tales of an HR Services expert – Day 2: Recruitment

Written by Carolyne Wahlen

Don’t do this!

• Recruit someone you find attractive (apparently most of us do!)
• Accept their word that they can do something – test them
• Reject them giving one of the protected characteristics as a reason (unlimited £££ tribunal claim)

Filed Under: Business, Discrimination, Managing Employees, Recruitment

Don’t do this!

Written by Carolyne Wahlen

Recruitment

  • Recruit someone you find attractive (apparently most of us do!)
  • Accept their word that they can do something – test them!
  • Reject them giving one of the protected characteristics as a reason (unlimited £££ tribunal claim)

Filed Under: Contracts of Employment, Discrimination, Managing Employees, Recruitment

Women are more expensive than men to employ. Or are they…?

Written by Carolyne Wahlen

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, waiting at any oppertunity to strike them down for voicing their opinion.

There can be three main points that people think about when considering the cost of women vs men:

  1. “Women have more time off than men”
  2. “Maternity pay costs a fortune”
  3. “I have to find someone to replace them while they’re away”

 

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.

women are more expensive

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

“Women have more time off than men”

Perhaps a little surprisingly, they do.

According to government figures, in 2018 women lost 2.5% of their working hours to sickness or an injury, whereas the figure for men was only 1.6%.

If you assume 254 working days a year, then women would be off for 6.35 days a year, men 4.06 days.

Estimated cost if you pay sick days (based on UK median salary of £31,460): £547.32 per year for women

Estimated cost if you pay SSP only (based on UK median salary of £31,460): £41.04 per year for women (as first 3 days are unpaid;
if these are not continuous days, then you may not pay anything at all for sickness absence).

“Maternity Pay costs a fortune”

Statutory Maternity Pay is 90 per cent of average weekly pay for the first 6 weeks (£544.50 per week based on UK median salary of £31,460) and then
£151.20 per week for another 33 weeks, paid by the employer – a grand total of £8256.60 per pregnancy.

However, most businesses can claim 92 per cent of maternity pay back, and smaller businesses can claim back 103 per cent. £5896.8 * 1.03 = £6073.71
SMP

Estimated cost: £2182.89.

“I have to find someone to replace them while they’re away”

Well, not necessarily.

Most sensible business owners would try to cope by redistributing work throughout the business.

However, it’s true that the smaller you are, the more difficult this tends to be.

An agency will charge you a finder’s fee of about 15 per cent of a candidate’s salary.

Of course, you could do all the legwork yourself, but it’ll probably cost you about the same by the time you’ve added everything up.

Estimated cost £4,719.

Work that out over a 40-year career (assuming two pregnancies and 6.35 days sick every year on SSP) and that’s an extra cost of around
£15,445.

£386 per year.

Or £32 per month.

Maybe I’ve missed something out – and if I have, I’m sure you’ll let me know – but that doesn’t sound like a lot to me.

Then, once you’ve factored in the fact that the average woman gets paid 17.3% less than the average man (so £26,017 based on the median salary), and you could even be forgiven for concluding women are less expensive than men!

Filed Under: Managing Employees, Recruitment

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• We focus on employment law that deals with difficult employees in companies that do not require an in-house HR Manager.

• Carolyne has been working in solving employers’ problems since 1995 – so you can be sure that you have an expert in us

• We have over 160 clients who have already benefitted from the expertise of Gap HR Services

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Where our clients are:

Mark Ghafoor, KCC Basildon

“Whether it’s a simple question or a more complex query, GAP HR have ensured that we have the most up to date knowledge of current legislation and processes to ensure we can offer the best support to our teams.
It is reassuring to know that expert advice is only a phone call or video conference away!”

Deb Green, Vermatech Pest Control

“We have been using Gap HR for several years now. Carolyne and her team are professional and efficient and we would not hesitate in recommending them for small businesses. It is a great relief to know we are supported by them for our HR advice and paperwork is kept up to date.”

Justin Wilkie, 2Excel Logistics

“I have been working with Carolyne and her team for 6 years now , when I first purchased 2Excel Logistics I found the HR scary as I wanted to do the right thing for my staff , with Gap HR on my side this all seemed easy and we have gone from 9 staff to 28 with no hassle what so ever , thank you to all at Gap HR”

Ashley Lewis, Wallingford Tiles and Bathrooms

“So pleased to be working with Gap HR. They’ve straightened us out in no time. Their pricing is clear and they really know what they are talking about.”

Helen Gordon, Kitecreative

“We are a growing company but do not have facilities in house yet for HR services in house. Gap HR is our go to service for all kinds of advice about HR for our business and we have found them very reliable, communicative and efficient. Would definitely recommend them”

“Carolyne and team continue to provide great support to our business, with quick and accurate responses to help with our various HR needs.”

“Gap HR have been at our side for a number of years now and are a great help in dealing with our HR needs”

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