Extra public holiday for William & Kate wedding

With the Royal wedding set to take place on 29th April 2011, we were delighted when the announcement came out that we were all to have an extra day off, whether using the day to celebrate with Kate & Wills or to use as our own. However, are things as straight forward for all businesses as simply giving your staff an extra day off? The answer is in your employment contracts.

I would expect most businesses will offer their employees an additional days paid leave for this public holiday, however for some bigger businesses they will be weighing up what the cost of this will mean for them.

Employees do not automatically have the right to have paid time off on a bank holiday or public holiday, it depends what is written into their contracts or is given at the discrection of the employer.

What will you do?

Are your contracts up to date?

When an owner sets up their business, they will want to make sure they have everything in place for their staff. But as the years go by and everyone is busy dealing with all the regulations that occur with running a business, often they don't revisit the staff employment contracts or handbook. This could prove to be a big mistake.

I have visited many companies and reviewed their employment documents, only to find that they are seven or eight years out of date. During this time there have been so many changes in employment legislation, which include statutory rights for employees that the law says you must provide.

Often a common thing I find is that some companies choose not to issue contracts to staff, only giving offer letters to new employees stating their hourly pay rate and working hours. To make sure that you are legally protecting your business, you need to issue a proper contract of employment that clearly outlines the terms and conditions of the employment, which forms the basis of the employment relationship.

Contracts need to be issued to staff within eight weeks of them starting their employment with you. A contract is made once the offer of employment is accepted. Some statutory rights are effective immediately, although most statutory rights don't apply until the employee has actually started in your workplace. Ideally, the contract should be issued before the new employee starts work.

It's also a good idea to have an employee handbook that you can issue to all staff when they first start working with you. It's a simple practice to put into place, and something that could save you a lot of time and problems in the future. This handbook can outline to all your staff what is acceptable and what is unacceptable at work.

We have come across several companies that have problems with staff smoking or using mobile phones. A handbook is an ideal place where you can put policies into place to help protect yourself from problems such as these.

To make sure that you don't get caught out, I recommend that you review your contracts of employment and employee handbook every year. If you don't have employment contracts or handbooks already within your business and you want to introduce them, you will need to consult with your existing staff and make sure that they understand and agree with the terms that are outlined.

There have been so many changes lately in employment law, it is hard to keep up to date, especially when you have a business to run. And let's face it, Human Resources can be incredibly time-consuming and confusing and not a priority to you when are busy running a company. Having all these practices in place and keeping them up to date could save you from issues arising in the future - and who knows, it may even save you from a costly tribunal!

What's the latest on tribunal figures?

Recent figures are showing that the tribunal service is under increased strain, mainly as a result of multiple claims but also partly due to the changing economic climate.

All in all, UK employment claims are up by over 56% from the previous year. This increase is huge, the main areas of dispute to see an increase are Working Time Directive claims with an increase of 300%, deduction of wages and redundancy pay claims. However despite the dramatic increase in these areas, the classic unfair dismissal case is still topping the charts at a massive 51,000 claims!

Sexual discrimination claims have stayed almost the same, and disability, race, religion/belief and sexual orientation cases have all increased, in line with unfair dismissal claims overall increase. We may well see a rise in equality related claims now that the new Equality Act has come into law.

Unfortunately almost 70% of Employment Claims are successful, twice as many than are unsuccessful. Are you up to date with employment law and protecting yourself from a tribunal claim in the future?

National Minimum Wage Increases Announced

The National Minimum Wage increased as from 1 October 2010. As well as an increase in the NMW, the age at which the full NMW rate is applied will reduce from 22 years old to 21.

The new rates, and amended age bands, will be:
21 and over - £5.93 per hour (previously £5.80 for workers aged 22 and over)
18 – 20 - £4.92 per hour (previously £4.83 for workers aged18-21)
16 and 17 - £3.64 per hour (previously £3.57)
Apprentice under 19, or over 19 in the first year of apprenticeship - £2.50 per hour.

The new Equality Act - a brief guide

The new Equality Act came into force on October 1st 2010. The main provisions of the Act are:

• Protection against direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation
• Clarification of protected characteristics – these are the grounds on which discrimination can occur. This now includes: Age, Disability, Gender reassignment, Marriage & civil partnerships, Pregnancy & maternity, Race, Religion or belief, Sex and Sexual orientation.
• Changing the definition of gender reassignment to include an individual who has started, proposes to start, or has completed a process to change his or her gender. The individual does not need to be under medical supervision to be protected.
• Associative & perceptive discrimination
  Associative discrimination means discriminating against individuals who associate with an individual with a protected characteristic. E.G. an employee who cares for a disabled relative.
  Perceptive discrimination means discriminating again individuals who it is thought or perceived to have a protected characteristic.
• New concept of ‘discrimination’ arising from disability
• Ban on pre-employment health questionnaires
• Extended protection from third party harassment, to all protected characteristics
• Making secrecy clauses unenforceable
  

What do you need to do as an employer?

• Review your equal opportunities policy
• Review your application form
• Ensure that your managers and employees are aware of the changes.
• Reduce risk of discrimination in recruitment e.g., have clear job descriptions; ensure that interview questions are related to job/skills.
• Do not issue any further pre-employment health questionnaires.
• Take action if an employee alerts you to 3rd party harassment.
• Ensure that any secrecy clauses are removed from contracts of employment.

Having trouble with the new Sick Note to Fit Note?

From 6th April 2010 the sick note was no more and was replaced by the new fit note. Many people with health conditions that would normally be signed off sick, could with some basic support from their employer, work as they recover from their condition. This not only helps the individual but also can benefit the employer by reducing your sickness absence.

To help more people get the support they need to return to work the new fit note system means that the doctor can advise that your employee is either:
'unfit for work'; or 'may be fit for work'.

A doctor will only give a 'may be fit for work' statement if they think that the employees health condition may allow them to work with suitable help and support from their employer. Suitable types of support may be; a phased return to work, altered hours, amended duties or workplace adaptations

If an employee is too ill to work the doctor will advise 'unfit for work', just like the old sick note.
If it is not possible for you as an employer to provide the support for your employee to return to work, you should discuss this with them and use the statement as if the doctor had advised 'not fit for work'

Sick leave while on holiday

Did you know that employees now have the right to ask for statutory leave to be re-allocated to them if they were sick on their holiday?

If an employee is on holiday and then becomes ill they may be able to take this as sick leave rather than holiday. The holiday will then be reinbursed to them.

A court ruling also allows employees to carry over annual leave ruined by illness until the next year.

I recommend you make sure your Absence Policy Procedure is up to date to reflect this. Your policy should say how and when your employee should let you know when they are sick on holiday, and what proof they might need.

Registration with the Vetting and Barring Scheme Halted

It has been announced by the Government that Registration with the Vetting and Barring Scheme has been halted to allow them to remodel the scheme back to more common sense levels. Voluntary registration for the VBS for new employees, those changing jobs, and for those seeking to work with children or vulnerable adults, will not start from 26th July 2010 as originally planned. In my opinion, employers should continue to undertake all relevant CRB checks for new employees wishing to work with children or vulnerable adults.

Employers to prepare for World Cup

So the football World Cup is due to start in a couple of weeks, and although there will be less disruption than usual for employers due to the majority of England games being played at the weekend, we at J Mann Associates are advising employers to put a plan into place to avoid issues at this time. According to a survey of almost 2,200 adults, 13% have previously called in sick to watch a World Cup match or recover from match related drinking the night before. Consider the following options:



Flexible working
Given that some matches kick off in the afternoon, consider flexible working times for employees at the end of the day. If possible, employees wishing to have time off to watch a match could start earlier in the day to allow themselves to finish earlier.

Time off
Consider putting a rota into place offering employees to share time off to watch matches, allowing more employees to be off at once than you would normally. This will only be for a short period and could avoid unauthorised absences.


Facilities
Why not put a television in a communal area to allow employees to watch part or all of a match, providing you have a valid TV licence and comply with health & safety regulations. This is a great way to boost staff morale and although may temporarily decrease productivity, staff would otherwise be pre-occupied by having to check scores and keep up with activity of the games.


Clothing
If you have a workwear policy in place, why not remove this for match days only and allow employees to wear their team shirt to make them feel a part of the World Cup action while they are at work.


Discrimination
Be careful not to discriminate against staff; for example, assuming only men will be interested in watching matches, or giving preferential treatment to England fans over other nationalities whose team are taking part.


By communicating your plans to staff as early as possible, you will be able to strike a balance between letting employees participate in World Cup fever and maintaining business as usual.