Sickness Absence

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Every employee will invariably be sick and unable to work from time to time.  But it is important to keep in contact to establish any support they need and when you can expect them to return to work. In extreme circumstances, or where you suspect the sickness my not be genuine, it may be necessary to terminate a contract of employment but you must follow a fair procedure first – do you have the correct processes in place?

Short Term Absence:

  • Discuss the problem with your employee as soon as possible and keep lines of communication open at all times
  • Monitor the absence and document the ‘calling in sick’ process.  Can the employee complete a self-certification notification or do you require a Dr’s letter?
  • Once your employee is fit to return to work, make sure you have all your ducks in a row and have conducted a thorough return to work interview
  • If necessary instigate a formal action process including warnings and dismissal, as a last resort
  • Learn from employee absence, conduct reviews and look for patterns that can help you to avoid absence in the future

Long Term Absence:

  • This is when a period of absence exceeds four weeks in duration.  In these instances an employee is required to provide medical support
  • Keep in regular contact and help to obtain medical advice that will assist in return to work
  • Avoid the risk of disability discrimination by taking your duty of care seriously and making all necessary adjustments
  • Manage return to work effectively, consider a phased return where necessary or take all the right steps to instigate dismissal on the grounds of ill health

Dismissal is always a last resort, factors that must be taken in to consideration before heading down this path include:

  • The nature and length of the illness
  • Length of service and previous record
  • Any improvement in attendance
  • The effect of absence on colleagues and the business as a whole
  • Whether there are other employment options available

Key steps to great recruitment

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Recruiting the right people and retaining them for the long term is the goal for every business, big or small, no matter what sector of industry you operate in.  If you recruit the wrong people you could pay the price not only in terms of business success but also in costly and often difficult employment disputes.  So ask yourself “How thorough is our recruitment process?”

Here are some key steps to great recruitment that can help:

  1. Preparation, Preparation, Preparation.  Conduct a job analysis to establish what roles you need to fill.  Put together a job description detailing exactly what each candidate needs to be able to do in conjunction with a person specification listing both essential and desirable attributes.  Finally, ensure you benchmark the salary for each role correctly, both in terms of the market and internally to ensure you attract the right calibre of individual.
  2. Attracting the Right Candidate.  There are many options available to you including advertising (internally and externally), word of mouth, web, agencies and head hunters, job centres, graduate programmes, review of previous applicants etc.  Ensure you are using the right method or combination of methods for each job and for the specification of candidate you wish to attract.
  3. CV vs Application form.  Both are great tools for ensuring you select the right candidates for interview but both only paint part of the picture.  A CV tells you what the individual wishes you to know, but an application form asks information you wish to know.  Use them in combination to get the most out of your early selection process.
  4. Selection Process.  Once you have narrowed down your candidates there are a number of further activities you can undertake to ensure you choose the right one, these include psychometric testing, and practical exercises to identify key skills sets and personality traits
  5. Legal Compliance.  Once you have selected the right person you must ensure you are meeting your legal requirements before any offer of a job can be made.  As a guide you must pay attention to discrimination, medical needs, references, eligibility to work in the UK and data protection
  6. Making the Offer.  You have ticked all the boxes, dotted the I’s and crossed the T’s and now you are in a position to make an offer.  Ensure that any offer in subject to satisfactory completion of the following:  reference, CRB checks, medical screening, right to work in UK confirmation and completion of a suitable probationary period.

Happy recruiting!!

Is your HR team proactive?

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Top tips to ensure proactive success:

  • Have in place well designed policies and procedures to cover all business needs and eventualities and ensure every part of your business is operating like a well-oiled machine.
  • Prepare comprehensive job descriptions for every employee and evaluate regularly.
  • Set objectives / targets to provide focus for all parties on what needs to be achieved both short and long term and give feedback regularly.
  • Give praise for work well done and deal with instances of poor performance before they become a major issue.
  • Keep up to date with the latest employment legislation? And, always ensure you are exercising your duty of care towards the welfare and development of your employees.
  • Communicate with your employees and keep them informed, engaged and focussed on your strategic goals. Also, take a bottom-up approach that allows employees to voice their concerns and ideas.
  • Provide opportunities for training and career progression wherever possible.

Employment Law Update

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A number of employment law changes that could impact your business came into force this month. Firstly, The Government has increased the rate of Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), Statutory Paternity Pay and Statutory Adoption Pay to £135.45 from £128.73. For more information please go to www.hmrc.gov.uk/paye/rates-thresholds.htm.

Secondly, The qualifying period for unfair dismissal has gone up from one year to two years, meaning employees whose contract commence on or after the 6th April must have completed a continuous period of two years in their employment before they are eligible.

Thirdly, there have been two important new changes to Income Tax and National Insurance.  The lower earnings limit for national insurance contributions has increased from £102 to £107 (go to www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/804/made for more information) and the income tax personal allowance threshold has increased by £630, bringing it to £8,105. For more information please go to the HM Treasury website.

Unfair Dismissal ? the latest legal developments

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On 6th April a simple but highly controversial change in unfair dismissal law came into force.  From this date, the qualifying period for unfair dismissal went up from one year to two years, meaning that until an employee has completed a continuous period of two years in their employment they will not be able to bring a case of unfair dismissal.

However, it is important also to note that this only applies to employees whose contracts commenced on or after 6 April 2012.  Anyone employed before that date will qualify for unfair dismissal after a single year of continuous service.

Please update your disciplinary and grievance procedures to reflect these changes.

Top Tips for Conducting a Successful Appraisal

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Performance appraisals are a fundamental part good performance management.  It is important for the success of your business that your employees feel appreciated and that they are progressing in their careers.   Likewise, it is important that any issues with performance are managed effectively with the aim of eliminating any long term problem.

  1. Always ensure the conversation is free flowing with views expressed by both parties
  2. Ask open and probing questions
  3. Don’t interrupt or inhibit the flow of conversation
  4. Pay attention to non-verbal communication such as body language
  5. Evaluate performance, not personality
  6. Give feedback based on facts not subjective opinion
  7. Positively reinforce the good
  8. In the case of underperformance discuss corrective action
  9. Tailor your approach to each individual
  10. Be prepared to handle negative or defensive reactions
  11. Set specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely objectives
  12. Give deadlines/timelines for improvement
  13. Consider potential development opportunities
  14. Empower employees to come up with solutions for themselves
  15. Document each appraisal whilst it is fresh in your mind.

How to Handle Disciplinary Issues and Help Employees Improve Their Performance

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It is important to handle any disciplinary situation quickly, fairly and appropriately.  Small businesses often find it easier to deal with an incidence of misconduct informally particularly when the issue is minor in nature.  Hold an informal meeting to ensure that the employee understands why their behaviour has been deemed unsatisfactory and seek agreement/agree steps to ensure that the behaviour does not continue or recur. 

If informal warnings have not produced the desired result and the unsatisfactory behaviour continues, the next step is to arrange an investigation by an impartial Manager.  An investigation should include review of HR records and any previous warnings/issues that may have occurred, talking to other Managers with knowledge of the misconduct and interviewing any witnesses.

Should the investigation indicate that there is a disciplinary case to answer then you will need to invoke a formal disciplinary procedure.  Most companies operate a 3-stage process: (1) written warning, (2) final written warning, (3) Dismissal.  There is no legal obligation to start at the beginning of the procedure.  The type of warning issued will depend on the seriousness of the offence.

In the event of an act of gross misconduct, i.e. an act of such a serious nature that it fundamentally breaches the contractual relationship between employer and employee then you have the right to dismiss the employee immediately without notice or pay in lieu of notice.

Bribery Prevention

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Do you understand how the Bribery Act 2010 could affect your business and the measures you need to take to prevent you from falling foul of acts of criminal bribery?  Here are a few tips to get you started:

  • Undertake a risk assessment and draft an anti-bribery policy that is relevant to your business operations and your employees
  • Ensure top level commitment to the policy and put in force a zero tolerance approach
  • Communicate your policy to your staff, customers, suppliers and any other parties associated with your company
  • Ensure your employees are trained and understand the implications of the Bribery Act
  • Update your contracts of employment to include acts of bribery in the context of gross misconduct
  • Ensure appropriate approval processes for any payments, gifts or hospitality requests
  • Ensure good record keeping and audit trail – record any incidents where ethical standards may have been breached and how it has been dealt with

How to ensure your employees are performing to the best of their ability

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Your people are the heart of your business.  By investing in them you are investing in your success.

Here are our top 10 tips to help you get the most out of your most precious asset, your people!

  1. Provide a vibrant and stimulating working environment and a culture that values the contribution made by each and every individual.
  2. Actively embrace the diverse range of skills, expertise, experience, attitudes and backgrounds of all your staff.
  3. Encourage your staff to reach their full potential! Provide opportunities to develop their expertise, both in terms of technical and soft skills
  4. Provide formal and informal performance reviews on a regular basis.
  5. Set clear objectives and achievable targets and allow your staff to air their concerns within an environment of trust and honesty
  6. Deal with issues as soon as they arise, don’t wait for them to become  a significant problem
  7. Equip your managers with the skills required to deal with difficult situations confidently and effectively
  8. Reinforce/reward good performance
  9. Offer a clear career path that incentivise employees to be the best they can be.
  10. Conduct regular employee questionnaires to highlight areas for concern and ensure staff feel that you value their opinions

Implications of the Bribery Act 2010

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Are you aware that it is an offence to offer, promise or give a bribe as well as to request, or accept one with the intention to obtain or retain business, or commercial advantage in the conduct of business?

Facilitation payments such as those made to Government officials for carrying out or speeding up routine procedures such as planning permission; gifts given to secure advantage during a tender process or to encourage customers to buy products or services; and any payment/gift given by an employee to obtain new contracts can all be considered acts of criminal bribery.  You will be pleased to hear that corporate hospitality is permitted but it is important you take a common sense approach.  If it looks too good to be allowed it probably is!  Ensure the hospitality is offered in good faith with the sole intention of establishing or maintaining good business relations and not to secure an advantage for your business or influence the impartiality of the recipient.

What prevention measures can you put in place?  Firstly, undertake a risk assessment and draft a zero tolerance anti-bribery policy, with top level commitment, that is relevant to your business operations and your employees.  Secondly, ensure your employees are trained and understand the implications of the Bribery Act 2010 and that contracts of employment are updated to include acts of bribery in the context of gross misconduct.  Finally, put in place a stringent  approval processes for any payments, gifts or hospitality requests and keep an audit trail that includes a record of any incidents where ethical standards may have been breached and how they have been dealt with.

With prison sentences of up to 10 years and confiscation proceedings the likely outcomes for getting it wrong, you really cannot afford not to be aware of the risks.