New Year's Resolutions......

As the end of January draws closer, the time is here to reflect on the past year and what lessons have been learnt. January is undoubtedly a popular time for people to make important decisions. David Woods reports that one in three employees’ makes it their New Year's resolution to quit their job. As we all know many New Years resolutions go out the window with the January detox diet, how many of you are still going to the gym 3 times a week and have kept to the alcohol free January plan? I know I haven’t.
So what HR resolutions did you make and have they pushed aside with that cabbage soup detox diet?!
Will 2011 be the year when you get the best out of your people? Will it be the year when you review all your policies and procedures? What HR resolutions can you make?

· Give regular feedback?
Does feedback necessarily have to be in the form of a yearly appraisal? We don’t think so.
Why not try to give regular feedback in the form of 1 to 1’s with your staff. This doesn’t have to be lengthy or formal process it can be an informal chat about progress or any issues that have arisen in the day to day performance of an employee or it can just be a pat on the back for a job well done. Sharing your thoughts with an employee about their progress, giving then constructive criticism or a simple well done can have a significant impact on staff morale and improve performance.

– Manage poorly performing staff?
Whilst we are not promoting the Alan Sugar ‘you’re fired’ effect. Managing poorly performing employee’s should not be avoided. Have you got performance management procedures in place? Are you tackling situations as they arise to prevent them turning into issues? With Unfair dismissal claims continuing to rise, 56% in 2010, caution in this area is understandable. However, to ignore performance issues can cause real problems for your business in the long run and can have implications for the efficiency and morale of your team.

– Keep up to date with Employment Law?
Employment legislation does continue to change. However, are you aware of the key dates for 2011? Get these in your diary-
January 1
– Expenses for travel to temporary workplaces can no longer be counted towards the National Minimum Wage.
– Scheme for naming employers that breach national minimum wage legislation introduced. Those found to be in breach of legislation will be given three months to address the problem.
April 3
– Fathers can claim up to six months' of the mother's maternity leave provided she returns to work, under new Additional Paternity Leave arrangements. The new right is granted to fathers of children due on or after 3 April 2011. The extra leave is in addition to the current two weeks’ paternity leave entitlement.
April 4
– Single Equality Duty for public bodies comes into force, replacing the current separate duties for race, disability and gender, and including other grounds such as sexual orientation and religious belief.
April 6
– Default retirement age set to be abolished. Employers no longer able to issue notifications for compulsory retirement using the DRA procedure. Some employers may be able to objectively justify why certain workers should retire, such as those in the police force or construction industry.
– Personal allowance for income tax for basic rate tax payers under the age of 65 will be increased by £1,000.
– Employers' national insurance contributions increased by 1pc to 13.8pc. National Insurance Contributions will also be increase by 1pc for employees, and the primary threshold increased by £570. Threshold at which employers pay National Insurance raised by £21 per week.
– Employees of companies with fewer than 250 employees are granted statutory right to request time off for training or study. Already in place for businesses with more than 250 employees, the change means employers have to seriously consider any training requests received.
Also in April (date TBC)
– Right to request flexible working extended to parents with children under 18, one year older than present. Employees must be employed by the same business for 26 weeks or more before they are eligible.
– Bribery Act 2010 comes into force, introducing a new corporate offence of failure to prevent bribery by employees, agents, or other "associated persons" working on behalf of a business. This is unless a business can show that it has adequate anti-bribery procedures in place.
October 1
The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 will give agency workers the same basic employment conditions as permanent employees after just 12 weeks on an assignment. This will relate to pay, holidays and other conditions of employment.

– Manage sickness absence
According to CIPD's research employee absence is a significant cost to businesses. Whilst many employers are tackling absence and have systems in place to monitor absence more can still be done to ensure that short term sickness is not having an impact on your business. In the latest CIPD absence survey fewer than half of employers monitor the cost of absence, just under half of organisations have set a target for reducing absence and just over one third of organisations benchmark themselves against other employers.
Have a look at how you monitor sickness? We advise using the Bradford Index as this is a great tool for monitoring sickness absence and triggers points can be used to highlight any issues with employees who have recurring incidents of short term sickness.
We would also advise conducting Return-to-work interviews as they can help identify short-term absence problems at an early stage. They also provide managers with an opportunity to have a chat with staff about underlying issues which might be causing the absence which could ideally knock the problem on its head before it has an impact on your business.

Finally……. If you need any advice or have any questions why not make it one of your resolutions to contact The HR Experts at info@thehrexperts.co.uk

Parental Leave Regulations

Clegg wants to reform the “Edwardian” rules that “patronise women and marginalise men”

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has announced that the government will be pressing ahead with plans to change current parental leave regulations. As of April this year new fathers will be entitled to take up any remaining unpaid leave if their partner goes back to work early. Whilst mothers are still guaranteed the first six weeks of maternity leave receiving 90% of their full pay, these changes will mean the remaining 46 weeks can be shared in a variety of ways between the parents with men being entitled of up to 6 months of this (three months paid at the statutory rate, three months unpaid) rather than the current allowance of 2 weeks.

The announcement of these changes has sparked great debate and discussion in the media. Brendan Barber of the TUC states that this “extension is welcome. New parents should be able to decide for themselves who looks after their baby in the first year, rather than having that decision dictated to them by the government”. The changes could be advantageous for the labour market too by evening out the playing field in regards to employers hesitations when hiring women due to their concerns about time off to start a family. Now that this leave is becoming a shared responsibility it should make these worries obsolete.

From a business perspective these proposals have received a “cautious welcome” from the CIPD with David Frost of the British Chamber of Commerce stating they will “simply burden businesses with more red tape and deter them from taking on new starters”. The feasibility of companies arranging cover or managing absence for parents sharing parental leave in small blocks is questionable.

However, this is just the government’s first step towards establishing a properly flexible system of shared parental leave that is forecast to be introduced in 2015 after rigorous consultations with the Demos think tank. Therefore, The HR Experts advise that in the meantime small businesses should promote a large single block of time off for parents (rather than lots of little ones), or adopt Clegg’s “use-it-or-lose-it” time off policy for new parents so that employers can plan for cover.

For more advice on this don’t hesitate to contact us at info@thehrexperts.co.uk!

Hard Labour?

On Radio 4's Today programme this morning, Kenneth Clarke discussed his plans for sentencing reform. While John Humphrys told listeners that "We send more people to prison in this country than any other country in Europe." Mr Clarke stated that prison doesn't work but rehabilitation does. This means integrating people into society - and finding them jobs.

But, as an employer, do you really want to take on an ex-con? The answer, by-and-large, is usually no. So, it's not surprising really that in a recent poll having a criminal record came top of the most shameful things to tell your boss. But, it has been estimated that a fifth of the working population has a criminal record.

We've had some clients who've knowingly employed convicted criminals, and with mixed results. Generally, the employer has come to find out the skeletons in potential employees' cupboards because it has been disclosed when a CRB check is instigated. We advise that employers ask successful candidates to disclose criminal records as a matter of course. And, if the industry or profession requires it, a CRB check too. Specific checks are required when working with children and vulnerable adults. If you're not sure what level of checks you need to make, it is worth contacting the Independent Safeguarding Authority.

In my experience, where it goes wrong is when employers do nothing. So...you find out that your new employee got done for driving while banned, or punching a bloke on a night out...what do you do next?

Quite simple really - assess the risk. How long ago was the conviction? Could this person cause problems for your organisation or the people they come into contact with? Is there an opportunity for them to re-offend? If you decide that the risk is manageable, consider whether you need to put in place any additional measures. The CIPD offer a range of excellent resources for helping you to navigate the legislation and advice on good practice in this area.

And don't forget, for more information, you can always contact The HR Experts by emailing info@thehrexperts.co.uk!

Snow is falling

With the festive season nearly upon us and the landscapes portraying the perfect white Christmas, bad weather is the talking point of the moment.
However, this can leave employers wondering how to tackle the chaos. With extreme weather warnings, school closures and commuter bedlam, bad weather creates a number of workplace issues.

Cost of bad weather
Bad weather at the start of 2010 forced many small businesses and local vendors to close early or for full days, due to lack of staffing. Productivity and turnover suffered as a result and the Federation of Small Businesses put the cost of that cold weather snap at £600 million per day. Most businesses have contingency plans in place for other aspects of their business but have not addressed plans for how to tackle bad weather. When looking at how much it can potentially cost businesses bad weather is snow joke!

Options
Many employers are tempted not to pay employees who do not make it into work. In theory employers are not obliged to pay employees who are unable to attend work due to bad weather. However, this could be risky and with the increase in flexible working many employees can argue that they can work from home. Along with this a little goodwill does go a long way and can be beneficial in the long term for businesses.
A few alternative options are:
 Pay employees but require them to make up the time later.
 Require employees to take ‘snow days’ as annual leave.
 Enable employees to work from home by providing appropriate technology.

Bad weather policy
Overall it comes down to common sense and what is best for your business. Bad weather should not be automatic permission to take a day off. But employers also need to communicate that employees should not risk their safety to get to work and be understanding if weather conditions worsen throughout the day. Even though it may sound extreme a well communicated ‘bad weather’ policy should be put in place linking with your already existing absence management, health and safety, and business continuity policies. This should enable you to plough through any weather-related issues.

Leave to remain

Holidays and discrimination?

Part time employees shouldn't be treated differently when it comes to holidays. They have the same entitlement as full time workers, albeit on a proportional basis.

Quite simply full time employees are entitled to 5.6 weeks / 28 days holiday,
and this is pro rata for part time employees. If the organisation gives more than
the statutory minimum, then the additional amount should pro rated for part time
employees.

Bank Allowance?

There is no statutory entitlement to having public holidays as leave.
If the organisation closes on the bank holiday, then this can be taken out of
the employee's allowance by the employer.

Indirect discrimination?

Employees have the right not to be discriminated against on grounds of sex, race, disability, sexual orientation, age, religion or belief or gender reassignment.

But employers also need to be aware, that if they award different levels of benefits to different groups of employees, they may create indirect discrimination. For example, giving more holidays based on hierarchy may favour men over women or awarding more holidays for length of service may indirectly discriminated against younger workers. A good policy and procedure would need to underpin decisions to award different levels of benefits, as employers may be called upon to prove there is a legitimate business reason for differences.

Autumn is upon us, and the times they are a-changing

Well, there is lots of change underway in the UK. Anyone who has read a newspaper or turned on a news channel can't have failed to notice the sweeping government spending cuts.

Our clients who provide public services or services to the public sector are tentatively waiting to hear how this will affect them. And no doubt, you are tentatively waiting to find out exactly what the impact on you will be.

In HR terms, this means planning what organisations will look like in the future, which roles are critical and how the organisation will survive through careful people management and business planning. Too many businesses are making financial decisions without fully considering the risks, resulting in a rise in tribunal claims.

You see, being in HR doesn't mean that when the proverbial hits the fan, you have time to get out of the way. Rather, you have to be there to explain why it's happening and then clean up the mess afterwards. Not that I'm moaning, I'm quite happy to do it. It pays my bills after all.

It's starting to happen already and I'm busy making sure that the fan is still working in the aftermath. Personnel Today are reporting that HR professionals still aren't being consulted early enough. Otherwise, we in HR are not so much saying, 'I told you so' but rather, 'I could have told you so, if only you'd asked.'

Is social media working for your business?

With 6% of workers confessing to spending at least an hour a day using sites such as Twitter and facebook, does virtual networking present a problem?

I’m the first to admit that I use social media while at work – after all, I’m sat here blogging. And it’s certainly been useful for me; I have instant access to literally hundreds of contacts to help with recruitment, advice and information sharing. It’s not that people use the internet per se. It’s how and when they use it.

Besides, blurred boundaries between work and play aren’t great when you’re trying to present a professional image. But that problem hasn’t just appeared with the spread of the virtual variety of social networking. If they weren’t on t’net, they’d be bugging the person at the desk next to them, or spending too long at the coffee machine.

Based on their recent survey, Myjobgroup.co.uk are reporting that 55 per cent of the UK’s working population are apparently accessing social media whilst at work, however 1 in 10 respondents claimed that social media made them more productive. According to their analysis, Facebook, Twitter and other social media networks could potentially be costing the UK up to £14billion in lost work time.

Banning facebook might be one solution but it won’t stop time wasters time wasting. As a manager, when standards slip, you should be asking questions. Trust and respect go along way but the starting point for that is setting clear expectations. A good email and internet usage policy is key, as are performance monitoring plans when you need to intervene. SMEs in particular would be wise to head the advice of Lee Fayer. The Managing Director of Mjobgroup.co.uk suggests that monitoring is needed to boost productivity by ensuring that employees are not abusing their freedom of access.

For help and advice on managing employee internet access, get in touch with jen@thehrexperts.co.uk.