Can I just fire zero hours and casual workers?

Can I just fire zero hours and casual workers? No! You can never “just fire” any employee. As an employer, you have a duty to make sure that you follow a fair and legal process when dealing with any employee. The easiest employees to dismiss are those under two years. If an employee has been … Read more

What is the notice period for a zero hours or casual worker?

What is the notice period for a zero hours or casual worker? As the employment term for a zero-hours or casual worker feels different to that of a full-time worker, most employers feel as though their notice period too should differ from that of a regular employee. Because zero hours or casual workers have the … Read more

What constitutes a zero hours or casual worker?

What constitutes a zero hours or casual worker? Unsurprisingly, just like with all other employees, there is a formal process you must follow whilst employing a zero hours or casual worker. They must have a contract when working for you, and if not – then they don’t count as a zero hours or casual worker. … Read more

Sickness absence with a silver lining

Sickness absence with a silver lining

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has just released its sickness figures for 2021. And they aren’t as bad as you might think.

In 2021 approximately 149.3 million working days were lost due to sickness or injury. Which sounds a lot but is the same as just 4.6 days per worker per year.

The most common reason for sickness absence was “Other” conditions, which accounted for 41.5 million lost days. This includes accidents, poisonings, infectious diseases, skin disorders, diabetes, and anything else not covered.  From April 2020, interviewers have advised to code any mention of Coronavirus as ‘Other’, when a supplementary question was asked.

Coronavirus absence accounted for 24% of all sickness absences.

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Optional auto enrolment?

Optional auto-enrolment?

I was talking to a club the other week that’d got themselves in a sticky situation, pension-wise.

An employee had left them back in February and had come back to them to let them know that his pensions was now “set up” and ready for them to make payments.

Got the foggiest?  No, we didn’t either.

Turns out that – last year – when the employee had finished his 3-month probation, the club had sent him a letter asking if he wanted to enrol in the NEST pension scheme or contribute to his own personal pension.

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Top 8 things that should be included in a settlement agreement to make it rock solid

things included in a settlement agreement

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you’re reading this post, you’re probably thinking: What should be included in a settlement agreement?

It’s a good question, and it’s one we’re going to answer in good detail – but first, let’s start with the basics.

What is a settlement agreement?

A settlement agreement is where an employee gives up their right to sue an employer after they leave. Usually they are not leaving voluntarily. A settlement agreement includes the details of the payment the employee will receive when they leave, leaves their role, often as part of a redundancy.

After everything is agreed on the employee’s exit, they will not be able to bring a case to an employment tribunal for any reason, including discrimination.

It’s an important agreement for a lot of reasons, which is why it’s super important that you include everything in your settlement agreement to stop your employee suing you after they have left.

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Sickness absence – too much?!

Sickness absence – too much?!

In the past few months, we have been asked by 6 separate clients (different industries and locations) to help them deal with sickness absence.

Before that, we hadn’t had to do any GP reports for almost a year. What is going on out there??!!

The situation could be long-term sickness absences (are they ever coming back?), newly-diagnosed illnesses (what reasonable adjustments do we need to make), or many intermittent days off (are they just taking the mickey?).

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How to turn raving fans into vocal critics

How to turn raving fans into vocal critics

Cast your mind back to July last year.

We’d just come out of Lockdown 3, and although life in the UK was returning to normality, it was still super difficult to get on a plane, or travel to other countries.

And there I was looking at holidays for the simpler times I hoped would arrive, and securing myself a cruise for February 2023, via (what I thought was) a delightful broker.

I got back in touch with them the other day, to get my flights booked, as I knew the airlines had released them.

I didn’t quite get the answer I’d hoped for, but with the issue resolved, I bid them farewell and cracked on with the rest of my holiday admin and started trying to book some shore excursions for the trip.

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What is a reasonable settlement agreement?

What is a reasonable settlement agreement?What is a reasonable settlement agreement?

If you’re reading this, chances are you want to find out more about settlement agreements; and more importantly – what is a reasonable settlement agreement?

You might want to know what a reasonable settlement agreement might be in your particular situation.

And you also might want to know what your next steps could be to try and solve your current problem.

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Settlement agreements and redundancy

 

Settlement agreements and redundancy

A settlement agreement is where an employee gives up their right to bring legal action against their employer at the end of their employment, usually in exchange for payment.

Once an agreement has been reached, the employee has officially given up their right to bring a case against you in an employment tribunal.

It’s a useful option for many employers who are considering redundancy, for two reasons:

1. It protects the business
2. It also settles the end of the employee’s time in your employment, while still giving them something.

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Hiring your first employee

 

Hiring your first employee

Hiring my first employee was scary for me, because I really did know all the horror stories about staff behaving badly from my work advising clients.

But I realised that I could not move the business forward without hiring my first employee. I had tried freelancers and it worked, to a point.

But there was no loyalty, they wouldn’t guarantee that they would be available when I needed them. And when another company came along offering them a higher rate or many more hours, they dropped me without any notice.

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Modernism lessons from the Guides

Modernism lessons from the Guides

By September, both of my children will have flown the nest (at least for a while).

Which means that for the first time in about 20 years, I’ll have ALL of my waking hours free of commitments.

It sounds fantastic, but I’m under no illusions that I could get a bit bored, so I’ve been creating a list of things to do when the freedom really kicks in.

And as well as getting into chess again and a transatlantic cruise, I’ve decided to get back into Guiding.

I’ve been involved with Guiding since the age of 7, with all the ribbons to prove it.

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Is it illegal to work without a contract in the UK?

Is it illegal to work without a contract in the UK? No, not at all – any worker can work without a contract in the UK. However, you may want to think twice before not issuing a contract As an employer, a contract is the one piece of legal documentation that allows you to control … Read more

Statutory entitlements

Statutory entitlements The beginning of April is one of the most significant times in the annual HR calendar. Because that is when all the statutory employment entitlements change. There is no legal requirement to inform your staff of the changes to the statutory payments other than the minimum wage. Statutory payments (per hour) From 1 … Read more

Bet you can’t get 10

Bet you can’t get 10 Disciplinaries. Every employer’s heard of them, maybe some have even used them as part of their “process”. But do you actually know how to conduct a disciplinary in a way that moves you closer to your desired outcome, without falling foul of the long arm of the law? The truth … Read more

What P&O did wrong

There’s one employment law story dominating the headlines this week, and it’s P&O’s decision to sack 800 staff with zero notice. And in case you’re wondering what P&O did wrong, it’s NOT the fact that they made a business decision that they needed to let all of those staff members go – P&O have likely … Read more

Settlement Agreements

What is a Settlement Agreement

It is difficult sometimes to get rid of an employee. The law requires you go through a process that sometimes can be very lengthy. There is a quicker way to do this: settlement agreements.

What is a settlement agreement?

A settlement agreement is the name of an agreement that can be a very neat and tidy, albeit sometimes expensive way to part company with an employee. It is an agreement where you give the ex-employee money, and they agree not to sue you.

You can use a settlement agreement at any time in the employment relationship, whether there is already a dispute (disciplinary, grievance) or not (they are just not suitable for the role, but you know they will kick off if you try to dismiss them).

Why would I need a settlement agreement?

The aim of a settlement agreement is to part company quickly whilst you take away the employee’s ability to sue you at employment tribunal, for almost anything related to their employment.

For them to give up this right, you have to give them money. The settlement agreement sets out clearly what monies they will get, and what rights to sue you they have given up.

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Let sleeping dogs lie

I ended up with a broken toe the other day, and it was all my dog’s fault; that’s what you get for saving a canine from drowning! I woke up at 1am, needed a “comfort” break and hotfooted it to the bathroom. As it turned out, Comet was sleeping halfway across the doorway, and I … Read more

Pick a protected characteristic, any one…

One of the golf clubs we look after received a grievance letter from a staff member recently. It started off with the claim that he was being “harassed, bullied and victimised” under the Equality Act 2010 (Which is always fun!). Wow, all of those things at the same time?! But the most telling part of it … Read more

Saving a drowning dog

My dog Comet almost drowned last week. And while it was less dramatic than it sounds, it was still awful. We were walking along the towpath when we bumped into an old friend. I stopped to chat, but Comet didn’t fancy a chinwag, commencing his normal bouncing and barking that makes it clear that he … Read more

What rights do zero hours or casual workers have?

A zero hours worker or casual worker is an employee that works for you, who does not have fixed hours in the working week. As far as you, the business owner is concerned, they act like a tap that you can bring in whenever you need the extra help during the week. 5 Quick facts … Read more

Book promotion

Book promotion As a regular reader of this blog, you’ll already know that working in HR is very much like working on the submissions team in the creative writing department at Random House. Every day brings a selection of new short stories, each one packed full of unforgettable characters and unexpected plot twists. So many … Read more

Sick leave & social media

What can I do if I have an employee who is currently on sick leave from work, but they have been posting images of themselves going out on social media? Managing sickness absence is rarely a straightforward task and dealing with someone that you suspect is not genuinely ill has always been at the trickier … Read more

Push button, avert disaster

One of our clients averted disaster recently, with just one push of a button. They’d received a grievance letter from an employee about one of their colleagues making rude and nasty comments about them. We held the grievance meeting, and the employee gave plenty of detail, and provided witnesses, making it a pretty cut and … Read more

Scantily clad employment law

Scantily clad employment law I love social media. But despite what the gurus have told me, I’ve still struggled to make it work for my business. And by make it work, I mean make ANY money out of it. I know all about how influencers make it work (I’ve just watched the Dubai TV series), … Read more

Calm. Too calm.

We went through a redundancy process at a golf club back in July 2020. And it was all very calm.  Too calm. There were several staff members at risk, including the club manager, and when that happens, it can be quite challenging – managers are much less inclined to play ball. Not this time though … Read more

Plan B rules – how much will they affect your business

Plan B rules how much will they affect your business

We are back in the delightful place of doing regular updates to Coronavirus guidance for employers. These rules are correct as of today, but please be aware that things may change. If they do, we will update the guidance.

Remember – we do a weekly Zoom call where we keep you up to date on the latest developments and answer your questions about any and all staff issues.

Working from home

From Monday 13 December everyone who can work from home should work from home.

If the chairman of the board does not want to allow this because he does not “believe in homeworking”, despite the events of the past two years, then ask him to take it up directly with the government and send staff home who can work from home.

If staff can’t work from home, we are back to strict enforcing of the wearing of masks, hand washing and other social distancing guidelines.

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A tour of central London

A tour of central London I like to think I’ve got pretty good geographical awareness. Turns out I really don’t. I was down at Chislehurst Golf Club the other day, giving a talk for the GCMA South East. I finished at 5:30pm, popped my home address into the satnav, selected “fastest” and set off, joking … Read more

Not worth the paper it’s written on

Not worth the paper it’s written on

We recently had a situation at a client who had been “too nice” to a new employee.

You might think it’s impossible to be “too nice”, but hear me out:

The client had employed his first female in his fairly new business.

In her first week of work, she was off one day sick and went home early another day.

In the first week!

He rang us and we discussed parting company with her, but at that stage we thought she had haemophilia, which would have been protected under disability discrimination.

He did a return to work interview with her where she said it was actually anaemia that was causing the problems (not a disability) but was then back at work for the rest of the month.

However…

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Brownie Campfires – the perfect stress release!

Brownie Campfires – the perfect stress release!

I used to be Brown Owl. Not a surprise to most of you, I would imagine! And before that a Rainbow leader and a Guide leader.

I did enjoy every aspect of Guiding, but my favourite bit by miles has always been the campfire. And it turns out that I have managed to get myself a bit of a reputation in that area!

I am the Campfire Lady!

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“Looking After” tips

“Looking After” tips

I was on holiday over half term, in Gran Canaria and it was GLORIOUS – sun, sea, sand, and all the food you could dream of.

Seriously, one of the perks of holidays and staying in a hotel is that you can’t cook, even if you want to, which means the hardship of having to eat beautiful food in lovely restaurants every night.

It does come with its own specific challenge though: how much to tip.

And funnily enough, I find it harder to decide on the gratuity when the service has been good – I don’t tend to struggle when it’s been mediocre or worse!

But more than that, what really concerns me is whether the staff are actually going to GET the tip, particularly in the electronic age.

Does the employer keep it and not pass it on at all? Highly likely.

Or does it get put into a pot for all staff to share? Okay, but not really rewarding good service.

Or does that one person actually get what I have tipped? Highly unlikely.

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No I dumped HIM!

No, I dumped HIM!

One of our clients recently had a troublesome greenkeeper.

As each week ticked by, new troubles presented themselves – absences, poor performances, you name it, it happened.

And, because we were advising them, they went through the proper disciplinary process, and the greenkeeper ended up on a final written warning.

Then came the final straw: a shouting and swearing match with his boss, in front of the whole clubhouse.

By anyone’s book, that’s gross misconduct, but a less grievous offence would still be grounds for termination – once someone has an active final warning, anything they do after that would incur even a first written warning, it’s grounds for dismissal.

 

Yes, you do need to go through a process, but it’s very straightforward, and it seemed like the best way forward in this situation.

We began an investigation, making it clear to the employee how serious this was, and started preparing for a disciplinary meeting.

Then, plot twist, the employee resigned with immediate effect, before we could invite him to the meeting.

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The empty nest blues

The empty nest blues

It’s now less than a year until – fingers crossed – my youngest child will be leaving home for university.

And as much as I love to faux-moan about him, I also love having him around, and everyone’s been telling me how much I’m going to miss having children in the house.

So I decided to do something about it to get ahead of the curve, and started looking for a holiday I’d NEVER take the children on, even though they’re both adults now.

Long story short, I’m now scheduled for a transatlantic cruise on the Queen Mary 2 to New York, with a balcony cabin; proper bucket list stuff.

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Easy way to lose a “customer”…

Easy way to lose a “customer”…

I was chatting to my favourite golf club the other day (the identity of the club will remain a secret!).

And they had good news – they’re at full membership AND they’ve got a 100-strong waiting list.

A position they haven’t been in for over a decade.

I congratulated them, and then my marketing head kicked in and I started asking a few questions.

“Okay, so you’ve got a hundred people on your waiting list – what do they get?”

            “What do you mean?”

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Overtime doesn’t count towards holiday entitlement – or does it?

Overtime doesn’t count towards holiday entitlement – or does it? The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) decided in 2014 that any overtime worked does count towards an employee’s holiday entitlement. Yikes! What does that actually mean? It means that if you have in their contracts that they work 20 hours a week, and they work 10 … Read more

Contract Information Center

Read through all of Gap HR’s documents about contracts. When issuing a contract, it is important to always remember that you cannot make an employee sign away their rights. A contract is a document designed to let employees know what they are entitled to, but not to change their statutory rights. You can schedule a … Read more

You MUST understand

You MUST understand

I have a SEAT Ateca.

It’s not the most fashionable car in the world, but I’ve had it for a few years, and it’s served me well.

SEATs come with a three-year warranty, which I’ve been keen to keep it alive, so I’ve headed to the local dealer each year for the service.

And I’d have kept going indefinitely, but the events of the last couple of months have changed all that.

I turned up for my service, waited in the queue and started observing the goings on at the front desk.

What was clear straight away was the distinction between the sales staff and the service staff – there were several sales guys standing around doing nothing and one harassed looking service staff member, running around like a headless chicken.

One of the serene looking salesmen make the mistake of approaching me and asking if he could help.

I explained what I was there for, and he responded:

“Oh sorry, I can’t help – I’m sales”

After uttering those words, he moved onto the next person, also in the service queue, asking the same question and giving the same response.

That was when I lost it:

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Treasurer says zero hours workers have no rights

Treasurer says zero hours workers have no rights

It’s the consultant’s curse – people value your advice enough to ask for it, but try everything they can to avoid paying for it.

But this week, we experienced the complete opposite.

A golf club client of ours point blank refused to take the advice we gave them.

Advice that they’ve already paid for.

The club had received an ACAS Early Conciliation (EC) notification – EC is the stage just before formal tribunal, so they were – understandably – pretty worried.

The employee in question had worked for them for six years on a zero hours contract, had been given notice in February and left at the end of June because the notice period had been extended.

So what was the problem?

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Double jeopardy

Double jeopardy

We have had a lot of questions about what to do around staff and vaccinations.

Please be aware that no staff has to tell you whether they have or have not had the jab. They could even lie!

Double vaccinated staff

Do not have to self-isolate if have come into contact with someone who has Covid-19 – the pingdemic is over!

There is no requirement that they get themselves tested unless they have symptoms.

If they feel ill themselves, they should take a PCR test asap and stay at home until results come through.

While they are at home waiting for their results, they are self-certifying their sickness and are to be paid in line with your sickness policy.

If their result is negative and they feel well enough to come back to work, they should do so.

If their result is negative and they still feel ill, they should stay at home and be paid in line with your sickness policy.

If their result is positive, they are officially sick and stay at home until a minimum 10 days have passed.

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Trained to ignore

Trained to ignore

My car told me I had a flat tyre the other week.

That’s how sophisticated they’ve become – before you’ve even felt anything, the computer explains loudly and clearly that you need to do something about your tyre.

And they don’t just tell you once.  They tell you again and again.

But on this occasion, I decided I knew better than the computer – my last SEAT was a little trigger happy when it came to notifying me of issues, so I became convinced that there was nothing to worry about.

So I ignored the warnings.  For days and days and days.

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