Friday 26 November 2010

Winter travel advice for your staff

It is inevitable that you and your staff will face difficulties getting to and from work when either severe weather conditions, accidents close motorways or there are disruptions to public transport through strikes. Whilst the health and safety and wellbeing of all our staff is in the forefront of our minds, we must also ensure that the business runs effectively and are customers are not disadvantaged due to these external problems.

All staff have a contractual obligation to report for work regardless of the situation. Staff should therefore make every effort to get to work in all circumstances. When severe weather conditions or major disruptions to public transport are forecast in advance, take appropriate advice and allow extra time for your journey or make alternative travel arrangements if possible. Staff are expected to attend work on time and uacceptable absence or lateness may give rise to disciplinary action so it is important to discuss any concerns with management in advance.

Accepted Absence or Lateness

Naturally there will be occasions where even the best attempts to attend work will be in vain and in this case staff should contact their Manager as soon as possible to discuss the position.

For all staff who have genuinely used their best endeavours to attend work but are unable to do so or are late one of the following options may be offered:-

• Make up the time at a later date.

• Take any absence from work as part of that staff member's annual leave entitlement.

• Take any absence from work as special unpaid leave (in this case, that member of staff's pay will reduce accordingly to take account of the hours/days they have not worked).

• Be paid as if they had attended work on the day(s) of absence.

• Work from home or otherwise work remotely.

You as the company owner, manager or director reserve the right to allow different solutions to reflect an employee’s individual’s circumstances. You must take into consideration your staff's distance from home to work, their mode of transport and how viable it is for them to work from home, and on the needs of the Company.

Leaving Work Early to Avoid an Oncoming Risk

Where there is a risk to staff travelling safely home a manager will decide whether to allow staff to leave work early (and to make up the time at a later date if necessary). As a responsible employer you will again base your decision on staff members individual circumstances.

Find out more by watching the video!



Wednesday 24 November 2010

Don't call Time on the Christmas Party

The Christmas party still remains a strong tradition amongst small and medium sized business (SME’S) customers of The HR Dept, a national outsourced HR business.

Despite the Queen cancelling her staff Christmas party this year, in a recent survey 58% of The HR Dept SME customers surveyed stated they would be holding a Christmas party in some form.

Despite the past couple of years being particularly economically challenging and businesses looking to match austerity measures felt by the country, the Christmas works party season is nearly upon us. Newspapers and blogs fill with stories of the tales of the Christmas party night and would make make any business owner wince if it happened anywhere near their own organised Christmas party. Given the stories about employers being liable for third party actions at events, grievances against members of staff who act inappropriately and the token photocopying body parts story or not asked for kisses under the mistletoe, the Christmas party can leave an unwanted staff legacy and a cost.

The Key to a Xmas Party

The HR Dept advises that “though letting your hair down" may seem like a good idea, many firms shy away from providing open bars or organising pub crawls in the modern times because of the religious sensitivities and potential HR issues that can come from the party with too much alcohol involved, whether the behaviour of people or even how they get home. The key is to always remind your staff that a Christmas office party is still an extension of the workplace; normal rules about behaviour still apply.

Though Santa traditionally delivers presents, it appears this tradition is not continuing in the workplace as nearly two thirds of SME’s surveyed, decided against buying gifts for their staff. With the rise of office ‘secret Santa’s’ and a potential focus on a staff party as a reward, it is not unsurprising that many employers are deciding against presents. 66% seem to be aware that you can spend more money per head on a party itself than buying gifts at certain higher values and making it deductable to HMRC for both employers and employees. The HR Dept clarifies that “the basic position is that employers can spend up to £150 per head on annual staff events without it being treated as a taxable perk.”

End the Year on a High, Avoid a New Year Tribunal! 

Cue the inevitable HR and legal policies about behaviour at Christmas parties, but remember, if managed properly, it can be a great high to end the year on, whatever the economy and of course the cold winter weather.