Harassment rules to be repealed

The government has confirmed the intention to relax rules relating to staff harassment by third parties.

At the moment, under the Equality Act 2010, employers have certain responsibilities relating to harassment carried out by third parties such as customers or suppliers. Although not held responsible for the act of harassment itself, the employer is in breach of legislation if it fails to take steps towards preventing third party harassment – or if it fails to act when it has taken place.

A consultation earlier this year recommended removing this provision, which it called "unworkable" as employers have no direct control over how third parties act towards their staff.

A date has not yet been announced for the repeal, but the move is one of a number of measures that will be made through the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill, in a bid to cut red tape for employers

Business minister Jo Swinson said the bill would help strengthen the business environment and boost confidence by getting rid of "needless bureaucracy".

Opponents of the repeal, however, are concerned that a relaxation in the rules will lead to an increase in harassment cases. They argue that the benefit of the third-party harassment provisions is that they have encouraged best practice among employers and this, in turn, helps to reduce potential incidents of harassment at work.

Dealing with harassment cases in your business can be time-consuming, upsetting and costly. It can lead to staff absence and reduced productivity. The message to all employers is therefore to have a clear policy which is positively enforced. If you would like to discuss this, or any other HR matter, please contact me on 023 8023 4222.

Managing staff stress

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has undertaken recent studies to gauge how the recession has affected stress in the workplace.

Stress in the workplace can be caused by a whole range of factors, including many which are not work-related. The CIPD studies showed that more than half of employees are currently facing personal financial struggles, which is affecting their stress levels, and therefore their ability to perform to full capacity at work.

This presents the employer with two challenges – firstly dealing with concerns for staff welfare, and secondly coping with potentially lower efficiency levels, especially if sickness rates have risen as a result of stress.

Around three-quarters of those surveyed reported that there was a lack of advice in the workplace, which has led to the CIPD producing guides on stress management and financial awareness. These aim to equip the employer with the tools required to support staff through times of difficulty.

Many business owners find such aspects of staff management a daunting prospect, especially if they lack experience in this field. Getting the balance right between supporting individuals on the one hand, but needing to maximise business efficiencies on the other, can be extremely hard.

HJS People can help in two ways. Firstly, we can give practical advice on how to handle specific situations which may arise within your business. Secondly, we run training courses covering various aspects of people-management, to help business owners and managers get the best out of their employees.

For more information please contact me either by email or phone.

Paying for Health & Safety inspections

Proposed regulations forcing businesses to pay for their own health and safety inspections are due to come into effect on 1 October 2012.

The new 'Fee for Intervention' (FFI), will allow the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to recover its costs for carrying out inspections, from businesses which are found to be in breach of health and safety law.

Businesses deemed to be in breach will be forced to pay for the inspector's hourly rates from the initial inspection, regardless of when the breach is detected. The proposed rate for 2012/13 will be £124 an hour.

There has been strong opposition to these proposals, from the Forum of Private Business (FPB), which argues that although it acknowledges the benefit of good health & safety practices, it wants the government to understand the significant financial demands on business at present. The FPB has lobbied the government to request that greater understanding be shown by enforcement officers, that firms face a number of inspections from multiple agencies across all aspects of their business.

A House of Lords committee is currently reviewing the plans, but at the time of going to press, the proposed FFI is still set to come into force in October.

Our advice is to take every possible step to ensure that your business is compliant with health & safety legislation. A review by an independent Health & Safety Consultant (working for you rather than the HSE) is a low-cost, efficient use of time. Very often, the suggested improvements need not involve significant cost – an improvement plan could involve steps such as changing procedures or moving equipment; it doesn’t necessarily involve expensive new purchases.

Avoiding tribunal claims

It has recently been announced that the second phase of a government initiative aimed at reducing the number of unfair dismissal tribunals brought against small businesses, will come into effect next year.

When the initiative was proposed back in 2011, it was positioned as a step towards "ending the one-way bet against small businesses" – protecting the business owner from a vexatious appeal to an employment tribunal, and therefore making it less risky to hire people.

Phase one (introduced in April 2012) stipulated that an individual must have been in the job for at least two years before being eligible to make a claim for unfair dismissal. Previously, the qualifying period had been one year.

Phase two will mean that from summer 2013, employees will have to pay £390 to take a level 1 or simple case to tribunal with level 2, a more complex case costing £1,200 to be heard in a tribunal.

The aim is to encourage cases to be resolved through mediation, rather than going to court, and the expectation is that the combination of these two changes will result in 2000 fewer tribunals each year, meaning a saving for business of £6 million.

Whilst this all sounds like good news for business owners, some critics feel that the relatively low level of fees may not cut the number of cases as significantly as expected. In addition, many unfair dismissal cases tend to be linked with discrimination claims, and these can be made from day one of employment.

The message to business owners, therefore, is that there is no room for complacency. Directors and managers need proper training and HR procedures in place. “Slip-up’s” can spiral out of control and lead to situations of conflict – which not only affect the employer and employee concerned, but can also become a morale issue amongst the rest of the workforce. It is therefore vital to take proper advice as soon as a potential issue arises.

Social Media – is your business protected?

The use of social media has grown phenomenally in the past few years and more and more businesses are using it as a tool to help market their business and talk to their customers.  Sites such as Facebook and Twitter reach global audiences very fast and can have significant consequences – good and bad.

But what about the use of social media in the workplace by your workers? 

The numbers of people who use social media and social networking sites presents us with a very strong case for developing rules and policies of how businesses should deal with the use of social media in the workplace.  Reports are already suggesting that the misuse of the internet and social media by workers is already costing our economy billions of pounds each year. So, what measures can you put in place to help protect the business? 

Protecting the business need not be about having draconian policies in place but should be about being sensible, reasonable and proportionate to the issues which your business may face.

Adopt a clear policy on the use of social media.  It is likely that you may already have a computer and internet use policy in the business so this would be a good starting point. 

Ensure that social networking sites are clearly covered by the policy and decide what access rights you will give for the use of the internet. Have very clear guidelines of what employees can and cannot say about the Company.  If employees do post on the Company Facebook pages or Twitter accounts and are representing the Company, make sure they know what they can or can’t do.

Remind employees about their own private social networking sites and that it is their responsibility to ensure that they do not include comments or photographs about the Company or its employees which could damage the Company’s reputation.

 

Set out in the policy how you will deal with issues surrounding the misuse of social media referring to your disciplinary procedure.  Make sure you update your disciplinary procedure to give examples of what would be considered misconduct and what would constitute gross misconduct.

Finally, communicate to your employees so that they are fully aware of your rules surrounding the use of social media sites.

Improve your business through your managers

Managing people effectively is a key factor in the success of a business and developing the skills of your management team can be a valuable investment.

Whether your managers look after one person or fifty people, managing people requires essential key skills.  In order to succeed in a management role, managers must be able to lead and manage their teams and maximise success through their people.

Those with people management responsibilities encounter a number of different scenarios on a day to day basis including managing employee absence, dealing with under performance, providing support and mentoring, along with managing employees’ expectations and motivating and praising staff.  All of these scenarios require managers to have confidence in handling sensitive issues and in supporting and leading their staff.

hjs|people runs Manager’s training sessions, to provide managers and team leaders with the skills which are essential for managing people; behaviour in the workplace, management styles, team dynamics, good team work and motivation.  The sessions  also provide managers with practical tips on conducting successful meetings including managing absence and discipline effectively in the workplace, active listening skills and dealing with difficult questions and difficult scenarios.

The training sessions are run from a practical and commercial perspective; our aim is to support and develop those with management responsibilities at any level - so that they are efficient and effective in the workplace.

Our next Manager’s training session will be held on Wednesday 20 June 2012 at a local venue in Southampton and will cost £175.00 per person including all course materials, refreshments and lunch.

If you would like further details of the training session or to book your place, please contact the hjs|people team on 023 8023 4222.

Will the Olympics result in increased absenteeism. Is there anything you can do to stop this happening?

The London Olympics are approaching fast with the main Games running from the 27^th July to the 12^th August and the Paralympics running from 29^th August to the 9^th September. There is no legal requirement for you to grant time off during the Olympics - it is up to you whether or not you want to allow it, taking into account the needs of your business. Whatever you decide, it is wise to plan and communicate now to your staff what will happen during the Games.

Several options are available to help you deal with any increased absenteeism and to ensure that your business is not adversely affected :.

• Firstly, you could operate a "business as usual" approach. Staff who want to take time off to watch or attend the Games must request annual leave in the usual way. You may, however, want to consider late requests for annual leave particularly if the employee’s national team does well during the medal stages of the Games.

• You could explore the possibility of screening some events in the workplace which could lead to the business benefiting from increased motivation and improved morale. However, you would need to ensure that non-English staff are given the same opportunity and flexibility to watch their national teams and be aware of the need to keep sport-free areas for those who have no interest in the Games.

• Be flexible. If there is a particular event which staff want to watch, it could be an ideal opportunity for them to use any time off in lieu owed, by allowing flexible start or finish times or by offering extended lunch breaks.

• Make sure that staff are aware of any specific rules or procedures which you may want to put in place to deal with any unauthorised absence. For example, staff who are off sick could be required to notify their absence to a specific person. This would allow you to monitor unauthorised absence closely during the Games and would also help with identifying absence patterns on certain days. Without fail, return to work interviews should be held as soon as the employee returns to work, to record the reason for their absence.

• Give staff advanced warning that unauthorised absences without a good reason, and sickness absences that are not genuine, will be dealt with under your controlling unauthorised absence procedures.

These approaches should help to discourage absenteeism during the Olympics period.

What can businesses expect from employment law changes during 2012

2012 will bring with it some important changes in employment legislation. It is important to stay updated on what is happening, when it is happening and how it may affect your business – as inevitably it will.

Important key changes which will take place over the next few months are as follows-

Award limits and payments under employment legislation (including statutory redundancy pay) increase from 1 February 2012

The maximum amount of a week’s pay used to calculate statutory redundancy pay and awards for unfair dismissal increases from £400 to £430. The maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal is also increased to £72,300. The daily rate for guarantee payments made when an employer is unable to provide work in accordance with an employee’s contract of employment is also increased to £23.50 per day for up to 5 workless days.

Parental Leave is extended from 8 March 2012

Currently eligible employees have the right to take up to 13 weeks unpaid parental leave during the first 5 years of their child’s life or, in the case of an adopted child, up to the 5^th anniversary of the adoption or the child’s 18^th birthday – whichever is sooner. This is set to be extended from 13 weeks to four months.

Statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and sick pay increases from 1 April 2012

Statutory maternity pay, paternity pay, adoption pay and additional paternity pay rates will increase from a weekly rate of £128.73 to £135.45 per week. In addition the weekly rate of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) increases from £81.60 to £85.85

Changes to the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims increases from 6 April 2012

Currently in order for an employee to bring a claim for unfair dismissal in an employment tribunal they must have been employed for a period of 1 year. The qualifying period will double and therefore employees will only be able to pursue claims for unfair dismissal after a 2 year period of employment.

Proposals on shaking up employment law..

Trying to help the small business owner has been on the agenda recently for the Government.The Business Secretary, Vince Cable announced that they want to reduce the costs of Employment Tribunals and ease the burden of employment law for small businesses

The Government believes that the proposals will help businesses expand by taking on new employees whilst cutting unnecessary bureaucracy when staff have to be let go.

The Business Secretary confirmed that from April 2012, the qualifying period in order to bring a claim for unfair dismissal will increase from 1 year to 2 year’s service.

Following consultation the Government is also considering a requirement that all employment dispute claims are to be dealt with by the conciliation service ACAS to give each party the opportunity to resolve the dispute before reaching an employment tribunal.

There were also other issues that the Business Secretary stated the Government will seek views on. These include:

* No fault dismissals for businesses with fewer than 10 employees allowing the business to dismiss employees without being taken to a tribunal if they pay a compensation payment.

* Allowing employers to have ‘protected conversations’ with employees about poor performance knowing that the discussion cannot then be quoted during an employment tribunal.

* Simplifying the current dismissal processes.

* Introducing fees to lodge employment tribunal claims