A web based source of all the hr information required to support small to medium sized businesses
A web based source of all the hr information required to support small to medium sized businesses
All the latest news and views from leading HR consultants specialising in small to medium sized businesses.
In any business you can have employees presenting repeated or serious misconduct issues. These might include persistent lateness, poor attitude, poor customer service or something more serious like theft. In these cases, you will need to take disciplinary action against them.
Published Thu 24th Oct 2024
Read Disciplinary – Introduction and Overview...Disciplinary action can feel formal and time-consuming. But having a proper system protects you from legal claims. In these situations, emotions are likely to run high. So, a fair disciplinary procedure can help keep things calm and professional. This allows you to deal with matters properly–without ruining employee relations and morale.
Published Thu 24th Oct 2024
Read Disciplinary – Conducting a Disciplinary Procedure...Appraisals can serve as a crucial tool for employers and team members to assess performance, set goals and foster personal development and succession planning. When conducted effectively, these structured conversations can significantly enhance team members productivity and satisfaction. However, mishandled appraisals can have adverse effects, leading to disengagement, demotivation and even legal implications. Care therefore needs to be exercised when they are implemented.
Published Thu 24th Oct 2024
Read Managing Appraisals – A Step by Step Guide ...You need to select employees for redundancy in a fair way. If you're making a whole team or specific group of employees redundant, you'll have already identified a clear criteria and list of roles you need to make redundant. For example, if a food shop closes its butchery, it will need to make its butchers redundant.
But if you need to reduce the number of employees in the organisation or team, you'll need to set up selection criteria and make a list of roles to be considered for redundancy (a 'selection pool').
Published Thu 24th Oct 2024
Read Managing Employee Redundancies – Selecting Employees for Redundancy...Employees who qualify for adoption leave will also qualify for statutory adoption pay provided that their average weekly earnings are not less than the lower earnings limit for national insurance contributions. Statutory adoption pay is payable for up to 39 weeks at the standard rate or at 90% of the Employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. Statutory adoption pay is treated as earnings and is therefore subject to PAYE and national insurance deductions.
Published Thu 24th Oct 2024
Read Managing Adoption – Calculating Adoption Pay...Employees are entitled to 52 weeks' maternity leave. They have this right from the day they start the job. Someone who's legally classed as an employee is eligible for statutory maternity pay if both of the following apply:
• they've worked continuously for your organisation for at least 26 weeks, ending with the 15th week before the week the baby is due.
• their average weekly earnings are at least above the Lower earnings Limit (LEL) up to the end of the 15th week before the baby is due.
Published Thu 24th Oct 2024
Read Managing Maternity – Introduction and Overview...When you have been informed an employee is pregnant it is essential you follow the right process. An employee’s right to Ordinary and Additional Maternity Leave and to return to work, depends on them complying with various notification requirements.
Published Thu 24th Oct 2024
Read Managing Maternity – A Step by Step Guide...Someone who's legally classed as an employee is eligible for statutory maternity pay if both of the following apply:
• they've worked continuously for your organisation for at least 26 weeks, ending with the 15th week before the week the baby is due
• their average weekly earnings are at least the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) a week, up to the end of the 15th week before the baby is due
Published Thu 24th Oct 2024
Read Managing Maternity – Calculating Maternity Pay...It's important to have a reliable Maternity Policy outlined in your employment handbook. This ensures everyone is aware of how an employees’ maternity is dealt with. This guide contains some commonly asked questions.
Published Thu 24th Oct 2024
Read Managing Maternity – Commonly asked Questions...It's important to have a reliable Adoption Leave Policy outlined in your employment handbook. This ensures everyone is aware of how an employees’ adoption leave is dealt with.
Published Wed 23rd Oct 2024
Read Managing Adoption – Commonly asked Questions...Hybrid Working is a type of flexible working where an employee splits their time between:
• the workplace
• remote working
Working from home is the most common way of working remotely. An employee might work from home all the time, or as part of a hybrid working arrangement. Having a clear policy for all employees ensures the parameters of your working arrangements are clear and fair.
Published Wed 23rd Oct 2024
Read Home and Hybrid Working – A Step by Step Guide...Modern businesses need to be faster, better and with a lower cost base whilst driving sales and making profit quickly to ease cashflow. This demands that every employee needs to be aligned to the businesses vision, 3 year plan and the business goals for the current financial year.
One way to do this is to create a bonus scheme for employees that drives the right behaviours to get the best results. It also ensures all employees are aligned to the Company Strategy. The other powerful element is that employees feel they have some “skin in the game” and are going to be rewarded for their hard work.
Published Wed 23rd Oct 2024
Read Managing Employee Bonuses – A Step by Step Guide...It is said that the only tangible asset any business has is its people. The success of any company depends on the capability of its team members so the more training and development they receive the greater the potential for a company to grow and thrive. It can also result in increased employee engagement, satisfaction and retention.
For any SME this investment is costly and there is always the risk the newly trained employee you have invested in leaves and worst of all goes to a competitor. A training agreement is a legally enforceable contract that sets out the terms and conditions of any training that you provide your employees. It states the cost of the training (normally from an external training provider) and who is responsible for paying.
Published Wed 23rd Oct 2024
Read Managing a Training Agreement – A Step by Step Guide ...An Employee who adopts a child through an approved adoption agency is entitled to up to 52 weeks’ adoption leave provided that he/she has at least 26 weeks’ continuous service calculated as at the week in which notification of matching is given by the adoption agency. Having a clear policy ensures all employees are clear of the procedures and processes when they choose to adopt.
Published Wed 23rd Oct 2024
Read Managing Adoption – A Step by Step Guide...It's important to have a reliable redundancy policy and procedure outlined in your employment handbook. This ensures everyone is aware of how redundancy is dealt with. If you don't follow a fair procedure and take inappropriate redundancy action, you may be taken to an employment tribunal.
Published Wed 23rd Oct 2024
Read Managing Employee Redundancies – Introduction and Overview...It's important to have a well-crafted Equal Opportunities Policy which protects the business from serious or legal issues arising, such as bullying, harassment and discrimination.
Published Wed 23rd Oct 2024
Read Managing Equal Opportunities – A Step-by-Step Guide...A workplace encouraging equality, diversity and inclusion can help:
• to better serve a diverse range of customers
• improve ideas and problem-solving
• attract, motivate and retain good employees
• make it more successful and profitable and finally,
• prevent serious or legal issues arising, such as bullying, harassment and discrimination
Published Wed 23rd Oct 2024
Read Managing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion – A Step-by-Step Guide ...It is a legal requirement for all organisations to follow minimum grievance procedures. The statutory grievance procedure has three steps:
• the employee informs the employer of the grievance in writing, a meeting is held to discuss the grievance and there is an appeal, if requested
• It is essential that grievances from employees are treated in the same fair manner and
• that employees must know to whom they can turn in the event of a grievance.
Published Wed 23rd Oct 2024
Read Managing Grievance – Introduction and Overview...When an employee puts their complaint or grievance in writing to their Supervisor/Manager. You have a duty to respond to their grievance in writing, inviting them to attend a grievance meeting. In the letter you must explain who the meeting will be chaired by and that they will be given the opportunity to explain their grievance.
Published Wed 23rd Oct 2024
Read Managing Grievance – A Step by Step Guide...For businesses to succeed, they need to avoid a lack of talent to lead and grow the business. Succession planning is the process whereby you identify new leaders and develop them to take over the role of the incumbent.
At some point, succession planning will help with such a situation by preparing an existing team member for a planned or emergency replacement. This could be because of a leaver, retirement or ill health.
Succession planning is your safety net to ensure that business operations can remain smooth. A robust process will help you identify key individuals who could fill leadership positions.
Published Wed 23rd Oct 2024
Read Managing Succession – A Step by Step Guide ...Developing a detailed recruitment strategy can help you outline your hiring goals and how to reach them. A good recruitment strategy is also key for sourcing and hiring more qualified candidates. It's helpful to learn what to include in a recruitment strategy to ensure it's easy for all hiring managers to follow. In this guide, we explore what a recruitment strategy is, what to include and how to create one.
Published Wed 23rd Oct 2024
Read Managing your Recruitment Strategy – A Step by Step Guide ...In order to recruit quality candidates, you need to be both thorough and creative. By learning some of the best recruiting strategies, you can ensure that your hiring process is effective and efficient. In this guide, we explain what recruiting strategies are, explore a list of some of the most effective strategies for finding great candidates and provide a few tips for successful recruiting.
Published Wed 23rd Oct 2024
Read Managing your Recruitment Strategy – Finding the best talent ...Flexible working involves making a change to when, where or how an employee works. Some form of flexibility can be built into almost all jobs, regardless of the organisation's size or sector. You cannot automatically dismiss a request for flexible working by an employee and it's best to start by thinking about what might be possible when considering such a request.
Published Wed 23rd Oct 2024
Read Understanding Flexible Working – A Step-by-Step Guide ...Parents have the right to unpaid time off work when they need to look after their children. This is called 'ordinary parental leave' or unpaid parental leave. Parental leave is additional to other types of time off employees are usually entitled to, such as:
• maternity, paternity and adoption leave and shared parental leave – for when someone's having a baby or adopting a child
• holiday
Parental leave is usually unpaid, but some employers might offer pay.
Published Wed 23rd Oct 2024
Read Understanding Parental Leave – A Step-by-Step Guide ...The Working Time Regulations 1998 is the law that applies the EU Working Time Directive to England, Scotland and Wales. The law is primarily designed to protect workers health, safety and wellbeing. The law applies to the following groups, employees, workers, agency workers, apprentices, casual and seasonal workers, doctors in training and zero-hours workers.
Published Wed 23rd Oct 2024
Read Understanding the Working Time Regulations - a step by step guide...By definition and under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (the ‘Regulations’), an agency worker is an individual supplied by a temporary work agency to work temporarily under the supervision and direction of a hirer. (The company they are supplied to is known as the hirer).
The Regulations only cover a relationship where the agency worker has a contract with and is paid by the agency, not the hirer. The Regulations do not affect other casual workers which includes staff working on a service that is being provided by a managed service provider (for example a company that provides HR services to other companies), or employees who are placed into permanent employment via a recruitment agency. This guide sets out the rights agency workers have when you hire them.
Published Thu 10th Oct 2024
Read Managing Agency Workers - An Introduction and Overview...The law allows you to issue the written statement in instalments, but certain key information must be included in the ‘principal’ statement which must be included in a single document. This needs to be issued within two months of the employees appointment. This guide sets out how to create a 'principal' statement or Contract of Employment.
Published Thu 10th Oct 2024
Read Managing Contracts of Employment - A Step by Step Guide...A contract of employment is a legally binding agreement between employer and employee which is formed when an employee agrees to work for an employer in return for pay. You are required by law to give a written statement detailing employees’ particulars of employment within two months of their employment.
Published Thu 10th Oct 2024
Read Managing Contracts of Employment - Introduction and Overview...Apprentices are aged 16 or over and combine working with studying to gain skills and knowledge in a specific job. Apprentices can be new or current employees, and you must pay the apprentice at least the minimum wage. Apprenticeships must last at least a year, however they can last up to 5 years depending on the level the apprentice is studying. Recruiting and training apprentices can be extremely rewarding. It not only helps your business develop the next generation of talent in your industry, it also gives young people the chance to learn a trade and gain a nationally recognized qualification.
Published Thu 10th Oct 2024
Read Managing an Apprentice – A Step by Step Guide ...As a business owner/operator you are responsible for managing the holiday leave for your employees. Managing multiple holiday requests can be challenging, particularly when employees desire the same holiday periods off. The other challenge is ensuring you have adequate cover across your business to ensure you maintain productivity and continuity of service to your customers.
Published Thu 10th Oct 2024
Read Managing Annual Holiday Leave – A Step-by-Step Guide ...Recruiting new employees is time consuming and costly. The average cost of recruiting employees in the UK varies widely depending on the role but it's not uncommon for the total cost to run into the many thousands over and above an employee’s salary. Therefore, retaining existing employees is essential, ensuring stability, knowledge retention, productivity and continuity in service to customers.
Published Thu 10th Oct 2024
Read Managing Retention – A Step by Step Guide ...Pay and benefits are important in attracting, retaining and engaging employees. A range of options is available to reward workers and recognise their contribution. The most effective reward packages meet the needs of:
• the business, and
• its team members
• the organisation’s purpose, culture and performance – i.e. what behaviours do you want to reward that exemplify the culture of the business. All this should be done in a fair and responsible way.
Published Thu 10th Oct 2024
Read Managing Reward – A Step by Step Guide ...Calculating your employees redundancy pay is important to ensure everyone is treated fairly and within the law. This guide provides you with factors to consider when calculating an employees redundancy pay
Published Thu 10th Oct 2024
Read Managing Employee Redundancies – Calculating Redundancy Pay...The first thing to ask yourself is if redundancies are necessary? Employees are a very valuable resource whom you invested in and developed so this decision should not be made lightly. Redundancy is usually a type of dismissal when a role is no longer needed. You should only consider making redundancies if part or all of the organisation is:
• closing, or has already closed.
• changing the types or number of roles needed to do certain work.
• changing location
If you have concerns about an employee’s conduct or performance, you need to follow a disciplinary or capability procedure and not “dress it up” as a redundancy.
Published Thu 10th Oct 2024
Read Managing Staff Redundancies – Introduction and Overview...It is that time of year again. The time of year when we take stock both personally and as Business Operators. This normally involves reflecting on what we have achieved this last year and what our ambitions are for the coming year. This year, it is important, more than ever to clearly define our personal and business goals and ensure we align our resources (cash, team members and time) to achieve the goals that will help us deliver our overall strategic plan.
Published Thu 10th Oct 2024
Read Goal Setting...