Tag Archives: employment

Are You Ready for Pension Auto Enrolment? Part Two

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Are You Ready for Pension Auto Enrolment? Part Two

All businesses will soon have to provide a pension for their staff. The start date depends on the size of your business. But there’s a lot more to think about than just the date. Last month we brought you five tips to consider (click here to read that blog) and here are five more:

Existing joining methods may be fit for purpose. Many employers believe they will need to change the way they currently join employees to their pension scheme. However, your existing method and processes for joining may already be suitable. For example, if your employees already join the pension scheme via their contract of employment, then there may be no need to introduce a different method. This can also allow all staff to be treated the same way, regardless of their age or income. But it’s likely to mean changing processes and potentially employment contracts, to meet the new legal requirements.

Use waiting periods to fit your business. The majority of employers have used waiting periods aligned with payroll so employees join on the first day of the pay reference period. This avoids having to calculate, explain and manage part payments. But it is also possible to build in a waiting period to avoid one off events such as bonus payments or seasonal increases. Or to allow time to organise contract joining before the auto-enrolment duty kicks-in. But remember while employers can delay assessment and auto-enrolment, they cannot delay the statutory communications to their employees.

Communicate with employees early. Engaging with your employees and clearly communicating the changes in advance of auto-enrolment will make sure that when it happens, they understand why money is being deducted from their pay. This will also ensure they appreciate the value your contribution is adding while reducing employee questions.

Review existing default investment funds. You have a regulatory responsibility to make sure the auto-enrolment default investment option is suitable for your employees that will be enrolled to the scheme. Existing investment solutions may not be appropriate. Advice is crucial to getting this right. You also have a responsibility to have an on-going investment governance framework in place.

Remember to register with the Pensions Regulator. You must register your scheme with the Pensions Regulator within four months of your staging date. Details must be given of your qualifying workplace pension scheme and how you have gone about enrolling employees to the scheme.

 

There is a lot to think about and do when it comes to setting up your company pension. These five tips, combined with the five we gave you last month, give you a good starting point. In the meantime, if you have any questions about pensions, do get in touch.

Is Your HR Doing What it Should?

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Is Your HR Doing What it Should?

All businesses that employ staff need a way of looking after them. It’s called HR, or Human Resources. Rather than waiting for a problem to arise and then dealing with it, good HR is proactive and preventative. Here’s how to make sure that yours is doing what it should, to protect you and your employees.

    • Have in place well designed policies and procedures that cover all your business needs and eventualities, which ensure every part of your business is operating like a well-oiled machine.
    • Prepare comprehensive job descriptions for every employee and evaluate them regularly.
    • Set objectives and targets to provide focus for all your staff on what you want them to achieve. Have short and long term goals and give your employees regular feedback on how they’re doing.
    • Give praise for work well done – in public, if necessary.
    • Deal with instances of poor performance before they become a major issue.
    • Keep up to date with the latest employment legislation. Always ensure you’re exercising your duty of care towards the welfare and development of your employees.
    • Talk to your employees and keep them informed, engaged and focussed on your strategic goals. Let them have their say and voice their concerns and ideas.
    • Provide opportunities for training and career progression wherever possible.

When you spend time looking after your staff, they will become more engaged and more productive. Use HR proactively and you can build a better workforce and a more profitable business.

How Do You Make Sure Your Employees are Performing to the Best of their Ability?

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How Do You Make Sure Your Employees are Performing to the Best of their Ability?

Your people are the key to the success of your business. By investing in them you are investing in your success. But how do you make sure they are working as hard as they can, to bring about that success?

Here are our top 10 tips to help you get the most from your people:

1. Provide a vibrant and stimulating working environment and a culture that values the contribution made by each person

2. 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 them with 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 with your staff and allow them 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 they need to deal with difficult situations confidently and effectively

8. Reinforce and reward good performance. Provide incentives and rewards that motivate each individual member of staff

9. Offer a clear career path to 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.

Managing staff is often the hardest part of any manager’s job. Follow these simple tips and you’ll find it easier to encourage your staff to put their best efforts into working with you.

How Will Changes to Flexible Working Affect Your Business?

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How Will Changes to Flexible Working Affect Your Business?

In November 2012, the Government published its consultation on modern workplaces and said that from 2014 it would extend the right to request flexible working to all employees. This will have a huge impact on some businesses; do you know how it will affect yours? Do you know how to implement the changes so that you stay on the right side of the law?

Flexible working is seen as a benefit to many people, allowing them to achieve a better work-life balance. For many, this actually makes them more productive at work. Many small businesses have allowed flexible working as it helps them recruit good staff. However, for some businesses, the changes could have different effects. If you don’t fully understand how to use flexible working, your business or your employees could suffer.

The right to request flexible working is currently restricted to parents of children under the age of 17 and carers. This will be extended to all employees from 30 June 2014. It will:

  • remove the requirement for the employee to be a carer to qualify for the right to make a request
  • place a duty on employers to deal with requests in a reasonable manner
  • require you to notify the employee of your decision within three months of the application, or longer if this is agreed with the employee.

The provisions that implement the new rights will get rid of the statutory procedure for considering flexible working requests and replace this with a requirement to “deal with the application in a reasonable manner.”

The 26 week qualifying period for employees to make a request for flexible working will be retained and an employee can still only make one flexible working request in any 12 month period.

Acas has published some guidelines which say that as an employer, you should do the following:

  • Arrange to talk to your employee as soon as possible after receiving his or her written request (unless the intention is to approve the request)
  • Allow your employee to be accompanied by a work colleague at any discussion
  • Discuss you employee’s request with him or her, where possible in private
  • Consider requests “carefully looking at the benefits of the requested changes in working conditions for the employee and the business and weighing these against any adverse business impact of implementing the changes.”
  • Inform your employee of the decision, in writing as soon as possible
  • If your employee’s request is granted, or granted with modifications, discuss with them how and when the changes might best be implemented
  • If your employee’s request is rejected, ensure that the rejection is for one of the business reasons permitted by legislation and allow the employee to appeal it
  • Consider and decide on all requests, including any appeals, within a period of three months from initial receipt, unless an extension is agreed with you employee.

This means that you can’t just deny a request for flexible working because you don’t understand it, or think it will have a negative impact on your business! Acas has produced a guide that provides good practice advice for employers, which you can download by clicking here.

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.