Thank you Blogger

We are delighted to announce that our blog has now been moved to our newly designed website.

You will find the Preventing People Problems on our new blog each week by subscribing here: http://hrdept.co.uk/blog

The HR Dept blog contains weekly comments on all things HR and employment law, amusing employment tribunal stories and top tips on how to 'prevent people problems'.

We'd like to take this opportunity to thank Blogger for playing host to our website, and we hope you'll continue reading on our new blog.

Follow us on twitter for further updates: www.twitter.com/thehrdept

Looking forward to connecting with you.

Stripped of the job

The truth comes out... and hurts!

Getting the facts straight at an employment tribunal is a key part of any defence if you go to the expense of time, money and effort in defending a tribunal claim. We really don’t have to go very far to find some eye-rolling employment tribunal stories that make you hold your head in your hands.

A sacked manageress of a strip club near Windsor Castle challenged the decision by her employer and brought a claim of unfair dismissal. The employer in question, Mr Lumba, argued he dismissed Ms Harris for misconduct because Ms Harris had assaulted him by striking him over the head with a diary.

When the issue of misconduct came up in tribunal, Ms Harris appealed by maintaining ‘I struck Mr Lumba AFTER he sacked me’.

Taking the lack of evidence into account, the employment tribunal found that there was no substantiated reason for the dismissal of Ms Harris and awarded her almost £25,000 based on unfair dismissal, unpaid holiday, loss of earnings and not having written terms and conditions.

Lesson: record everything in dealings with your employees and maybe use an online diary instead (!)

What to do when two colleagues are at each other's throat

What happens when two members of your workforce don’t get on? What could be consequences of not dealing with it? Equally so, bashing heads together might not be the best answer. Left to fester, it can create a hostile and difficult working environment for everyone, whether in a small business, department or building. Therefore it is vital for employers and/or managers to know how and when to step in and sort out issues that could potentially cause a lot of harm to the business. Here is an example of a situation we recently came across and advised accordingly:

Scenario: Two of my staff members really don’t get on, and I’m finding that I’m getting caught in the middle of their antagonism towards each other. I don’t want to get rid of either of them, but I’m at the stage where I feel I have no choice as it is affecting my customers. Do you have any advice on how to deal with this situation?

Answer: Bad atmospheres and attitude can be contagious, so tackle the issue now..

Call them into a meeting and explain how their behaviour is impacting on work, their colleagues and you and that you are not going to allow this to continue. To improve the situation, hold individual meetings with them to try to understand the cause of their antagonism, and then all meet together to agree a positive way forward. Remind them that these meetings will be confidential and they must not involve other staff at all.

Meet again together and discuss the key issues. Try to get them to understand the impact of their behaviour on the other without saying who is right or wrong. Put the agreed action plan in writing to both and set a review date. Stress that breaches of this agreed code of conduct will result in a disciplinary action. The situation won’t magically improve overnight, but hopefully they can learn to respect each other, and you, within the workplace.

If the Olympics has taught us anything, it is that we build a stronger brand by being in a team with mutual respect heading in an agreed direction, therefore a delay in action could result in much deeper and painful consequences for all concerned.

For further advice, speak to The HR Dept

Holiday sickies

A lot has been made of recent European rulings that declare employees must have time off again if they are sick during their holiday. Naturally as employers we immediately imagine our employees with a box of tissues in hand, lying on a sun bed and pulling a sickie. The ruling came about because the law says people need a break from work for their health and wellbeing but in these days of austerity how many are actually getting a proper break? Many parents take alternate weeks off during the school holidays and end up trying to catch up on all the jobs at home; hardly the way to energise yourself for work. 

Alternatively they spend an absolute fortune on a “day out” to one of the attractions, it pours with rain, the lions hide and the souvenirs bought with Granny’s money cause world war three in the back seat on the way home. It’s no wonder that the Smartphone soon comes out of the drawer where it was placed with such good intentions at the start of the break. Fear is a contributory factor to staff staying connected during evenings, weekends and holidays but this is not good for them. 

So a bit of advice from The HR Dept: tell your staff to switch off and above all have some fun and laughter away from the office so they can come back refreshed and ready to hit the ground running. That is if the gardening did not do their back in!

Sleeping on the job

Have you ever seen someone in public who should have been working or wearing company uniform doing something they shouldn’t have? If you did, would you report this to their employer?

Well that is exactly what happened when a local business man snapped not one but two workers catching 40 winks when they should have been emptying Birmingham’s dustbins? The photographs were sent in to the employer, Birmingham City Council, who then took swift action to dismiss the workers.

Nowadays, it is worthwhile remembering that the world is a very small place thanks to the internet, social media, camera phones etc. Keeping the travel mugs topped up with coffee might have been a better idea than parking their boots on the dashboard and dozing off.

Bear in mind as well, falling asleep in the workplace can be a hazard…

Would you like feet with that burger?

We’ve warned both employers and employees on several occasions about how the misuse of social media can land you in hot water. Taking to facebook or twitter to have a moan about a colleague is unlikely to do you any favours when a colleague takes a screen print of the comments to the boss’ office.

But we wonder what an employee of fast food chain Burger King was thinking when he posted a photo on the internet of himself stepping in lettuce. The picture was captioned with ‘This is the lettuce you eat at Burger King’. As you can imagine there were some disgruntled customers that were appalled by the image! The GPS data was tracked so that the location of where the image had been taken could be pinpointed and subsequently emails and phone calls were directed to the Burger King in question.

©4Chan

Upon hearing the commotion, Burger King took action and dismissed three of its employees who were involved.

It goes to show the damage that can be done by clowning around at work and employees and employers take note: anything that is posted to the internet is public and can be seen by anyone, and used by anyone! Naturally, having a social media policy in place to work alongside a disciplinary policy will endeavour to combat this happening to you. Go to our website for more information: www.hrdept.co.uk

A dream job

We have found a delightful story of Jessica, aged 5, who has been employed as the ‘official toy tester’ by toy manufacturer Tomy, a dream job for any 5 year old. 

Secretly we suspect that there were a few adults who applied for this work experience role, as playing with toys all day would probably be in our top ten of any roles!

Work experience is a vital part of helping younger workers acclimatise to the realities of the working world outside of the classroom. Businesses can link up with a local school, college or university to offer work experience or internships which can be a rewarding experience for all concerned and help a younger person get the essential experience necessary for competing in the real employment market.

We’d like to hear from you! As an employer, what are the key things you look for in a potential new recruit? Leave a comment below or tweet us @thehrdept and check back soon for a feature blog post with your comments.

The gracious winner

What a wonderful lesson the outcome of the Wimbledon men’s singles final gave us on Sunday. Not only was Murray graceful in defeat (the sign of a true professional), but how gracious Federer was too. The champion did not crow and had such empathy for Murray’s disappointment. In business, too often when two good candidates go for the top job internally, the organisation ends up losing the one who is not selected and sometimes even more staff. This is either because the successful one fails to recognise that their lack of humility alienates those who would have preferred the other candidate or because the losing candidate becomes negative and sets out to undermine the other. 

Senior Managers need to handle these situations with sensitivity, as the workforce will know what is going on and have their own allegiances. When announcing the result to each one, stress the importance of the team being united and ensure public announcements do not in any way detract from the abilities of the other. Give honest and constructive feedback so they both can improve their areas of weakness, this way hopefully you can keep both members of the team

With the Olympics only weeks away it is a good time to reflect how good sporting behaviour can teach business a lot.

Can music bolster workplace productivity?

Research brought to our attention last week found that 65% of managers felt that having music on in the office boosted workplace productivity and encouraged a more creative atmosphere.

Some psychologists claim a completely silent work environment can lack stimulation, interest and for many people, a dynamic and creative source of energy, but it would depend on what is appropriate for different businesses. If it is a car garage, you would most likely find mechanics with the radio blaring and most customers would expect this. For workers in a telephone counselling office on the other hand, the person on the other end of the phone probably doesn’t want to hear Lady Gaga’s newest track in the background during their session.

Whatever is best for your business and your employee’s productivity, just beware that it comes at a price as businesses require a licence from the PRS (Performing Right Society).

So the next argument is: should it be Radio 1, 2, 3, 4 etc?

Why men die first

This week we have a compilation of images depicting the possible reasons why women outlive men.

A balancing act?

Looks like a game of Jenga!

Holding on for dear life?

Some might say resourceful?

Crikey!

I suppose we should appreciate they are protecting themselves from the sun?

Looks as if these employees did not read their health and safety manual! Or more worryingly perhaps, that these employers did not consider that balancing on a ridge to paint windows might be dangerous?!

For all health and safety queries, it’s best to speak to The HR Dept’s health and safety experts www.hrdept.co.uk 

Ageism is alive and well

Ageism appears to be alive and well and no we’re not referring to the thousands of older workers who face discrimination in their search for work. We are talking about the veiled questions faced by candidates who are regularly asked “do you think you have enough life experience to do this role?” which could be misconstrued as “are you old enough?”

A BBC Points West interviewer even asked the new Bristol Labour prospective mayoral candidate Marvin Rees this on TV. Instead of looking at age, interviewers should look and evaluate the candidate’s real experience. Is 15 years in one job going to give a candidate more experience than one who has travelled and perhaps worked for three different employers experiencing a range of management styles and roles?

Whatever the position, whether it is The Mayor of Bristol or an office manager, interviewers need to base their decisions on a person’s knowledge, skills and attitude. Just as important is a candidate’s drive, energy and motivation as this can’t just be taught. Above all, the old adage that The HR Dept lives by is “if you are good enough you are old enough”

How sickness absence excuses can be misinterpreted by an employer

In a recent poll we asked employers if they thought workplace absence would increase during the UK’s ‘Summer of Sport’ and whether they had a plan in place to deal with this. We can now reveal that 42% of respondents expected workplace absence to increase during the summer due to the Olympics and Euro 2012. Of these respondents, a further 47% said they didn’t have a plan to deal with unauthorised absences. British employers now need to get to grips with managing all those employees who come knocking on the door asking to leave early to watch the match.

In a previous blog post we criticised creating a policy for the sake of creating a policy. Employers should use existing policies and procedures for dealing with holiday requests, unauthorised absence and so on. It would be useful to have an IT/social media policy which would prohibit employees misusing the internet to live stream the games while they are meant to be working.

Employers should absolutely not accuse their employees of pulling a ‘sickie’ without reasonable evidence (seeing one of your ‘sick’ employees appear in TV coverage would be evidence enough!).

Here are our top 3 excuses from employees and what employers might interpret them as:

Employee: [Monday morning] I can’t come into work today as I have come down with food poisoning.

Employer: Probably too much alcohol rather than bad prawns!

Employee: [Friday] My child is unwell and there’s no one else to look after them

Employer: Looks like they want a head start to their weekend

Employee: I have to go to my Gran’s funeral

Employer: Again? How many grandmothers can one person have?

If you would like more information or would like further help, contact The HR Dept

'The Beecroft'

There has been much discussion this week about the controversial proposals for compensated no-fault dismissals, where an employee could be sacked with a payment of a set amount of compensation, otherwise a yet to be defined ‘pay off’.

Adrian Beecroft’s proposals have also been criticised by the CIPD. We strongly believe that these proposals will only undermine staff morale. It is morally irresponsible for employers to simply point the finger and exclaim ‘you’re fired’. This isn’t Lord Sugar’s board room.

Smaller businesses are driving the economy forward. SMEs and micro businesses will lose out on talent because they cannot compete on salary and benefits packages.

So if statutory employee rights are going to be reduced or removed within these businesses, why would employees want to work for them?

The TUC have launched a campaign to protect employee rights which will in turn protect smaller businesses © TUC

 

SMEs are able to offer more flexible working, and close performance management so both employee and employer get the best out of each other. However instilling fear into employees will not motivate them.

There is no denying that employment law is complicated, but watering down employment law will only do more harm. For help and guidance in all HR issues go to our website www.hrdept.co.uk

Top 5 tips for managing difficult conversations at work

Dealing and handling difficult conversations within the workplace isn’t the most pleasant of tasks, although it is a necessary management tool to identifying and resolving issues. Regardless of whether it is bad or sensitive news, every situation needs to be managed with dignity, care and respect but also to avoid damaging consequences further along the line. In the reconstruction video provided by Acas, it appears this particular manager clearly did not read our top tips on how to best discuss an employee’s recent drop in performance. 

Carole was obviously upset by the accusations made by her manager Nick, who didn’t appear very sympathetic and clearly didn’t prepare for the meeting beforehand.

Here are some top tips on how to deal with a difficult conversation:

1. Keep an open mind and positive mindset – plan what you are going to say and what you want to achieve from a meeting. If you are prepared you will be calmer.
2. Consider your body language - your body language can speak a thousand words so it should reflect your tone and the attitude you are trying to express to the person.
3. Be honest – this is key, regardless of how uncomfortable it is.
4. Listen carefully to an employee.
5. Be proactive – if there is a problem, identify the root issue so you can make the first step to solving it.

The HR Dept prides itself on supporting managers and employers through these difficult situations. Find out more here about how we can help: www.hrdept.co.uk

  

Should employees bring their own computer to work?

We recently came across research that suggested that employees are more engaged with their work when they bring their own devices to work - click here to read more. Whether it is the latest iPad or bringing in a laptop, in our advancing modern society this doesn’t seem surprising. Employees are likely to be more productive if they are using equipment they are most comfortable with. Simply allowing employees to work on their own devices might demonstrate that the employer recognises the needs of the workforce and the fast moving technological advances. Plus, it cuts the computer equipment bills down by not having to fork out for the newest computer when one of your employees complain they don’t have a fancy operating system!

On the other hand, it is important to consider the health and safety aspects of this. There are legal requirements to ensure your employees are safe in work. Any equipment required for work needs to be maintained in safe condition. This could be done by administering PAT testing (which The HR Dept can do for you).

Security issues need to be considered too – if employees bring in their own pc’s etc, then they are also bringing in potential virus threats! Also, what happens if your employees take advantage and play ‘Words with Friends’ or other games on their iPad rather than working? Could this open up a can of worms?

Do you think your workforce would be more engaged if they brought their own devices to work? Leave a comment or tweet us @thehrdept

Pooch power

We often comment on a lot of statistics and stories surrounding workplace absence as a result of stress, however the following piece of research is one of the most original.

Fudge - The HR Dept's office pooch

Nicely timed with Ashleigh and Pudsey, the lovable dancing dog trick act being crowned the ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ winner at the weekend, new research suggests that taking dogs to work ‘reduces employee’ stress. According to the scientific study, those who had dogs in their workplace were less stressed throughout the day compared to those who didn’t – woof indeed! Realistically, it has to be appropriate to the workplace but dogs seem to have a positive impact on employee morale and create a more enjoyable working environment, but what do you think? 

Do you have an office dog? Leave a comment below or even better tweet us a picture of your workplace office pooch! @thehrdept

No Olympics holiday policy required here

We appreciate the Olympics is a one off event, however all business owners should be planning ahead while remaining flexible and consistent in plans or procedures with regards to managing staff holiday or absence.

Time off and holidays should be booked in advance in accordance with existing holiday procedure/policy. We have heard a lot about advising business owners to create one off policies for the likes of the Olympics, but why create more paperwork and administration?! Our advice is to use the same rules that apply throughout the year when it comes to requesting holiday/leave. Unauthorised absence or ‘sickies’ should be treated in the exact same way as any unauthorised absence throughout the year.

If someone is volunteering during the Olympics, leave should be treated either as holiday entitlement or unpaid leave.

Though a special event, an employer has the right to refuse any request for holiday, but would have to grant it another time. Here is the reality: be fair, consistent and make sure people aren’t watching it on the internet at work if they are supposed to be working!

Keep calm and carry on really...

p.s. We are running a very quick poll to find out our reader’s thoughts on the impact of the Olympics. We’d really appreciate if you could take 30 to answer our poll here https://qtrial.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_5vvcfNPUU0HhDhi

Conflict at 30,000 feet

This week we came across a unique unfair dismissal case which was heard recently at Exeter employment tribunal involving two pilots who were dismissed for having a bust up mid-flight. 

Both pilots were dismissed for ‘endangering passenger safety’ while engaging in an argument in the cockpit. You can view the whole story here

We thought we would share this one with you, but sorry to anyone reading this who is a nervous flyer!

Summer of sickies? Our quick poll

Extra bank holidays, the Olympics, school summer holidays and the enjoyment of the European Football Championships, it would appear it will be a busy summer this year! We have been giving lots of advice recently on how these events might impact on SME businesses across the UK, especially around managing holiday requests and the reinforcement of a business’ sickness absence policy.

We have set up a really short poll for you, just to see whether you think these events will have an impact on your business. We would appreciate 30 seconds of your time to answer the two questions set up via this link.

As a thank you, please follow these links for more help, guidance and advice from The HR Dept on how to manage this unusual but exciting British summer. Our major word of advice is like with most things: be prepared.

Guidance and advice on what employees are entitled to for bank holidays and for the Diamond Jubilee

Top tips on how to deal with unauthorised absence during the Olympics/EURO 2012

We would love to do something about the summer weather, but miracles are out of The HR Dept remit.

It’s a pod life

Have you ever dreamt that your employees were so committed to their work that they never went home at the end of the day? Well now it appears there is a solution with these newly designed, futuristic pods where employees can spend the night at work. We have recently come across a London based data centre employer who has installed 'sleeping pods' in their offices. The pods have been designed so that employees need not leave the office and can be on site 24/7. These futuristic pods come fully equipped with a handy mirror, magazine rack, a night light, plug sockets and a stereo system.

Photo: PodTime

Originally implemented to avoid long commutes during the Olympics, perhaps these sleeping pods could act as a safety net each time there is strike action/snow/world cup?

The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth

Ever thought someone wasn’t telling you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth in a disciplinary meeting? How do you get the truth from that person? Well... in South Africa we have discovered you are able to use lie detectors in disciplinary meetings!

It certainly is different to our ‘reasonable doubt’ judgement when looking into disciplinary matters.

With theft, fraud, blackmail and sexual harassment cases, lie detectors are brought into disciplinary meetings which in South Africa is considered legal. Permission is always sought from the person being interviewed and it is always made clear that the person has the right to refuse. Naturally those that were taking medication and pregnant women are excluded. However, as with refusing to do an alcoholic breathalyser test, the inference might be that they had something to hide. This sub-technique works wonders.

Naturally on the occasions when the detector went off the scale, this could indicate that the person was being a little economical with the truth. When this was pointed out to them, on about 99% of cases; they then confessed all to the offence.

Using a lie detector in UK disciplinary meetings is likely to attract unwanted attention and we have yet to find reference to it in the best practise guidance of managing difficult disciplinary meetings!

Swiss holidays

If we had a referendum in the UK about increasing our statutory holiday entitlement, it would perhaps cause a huge rush at the polling stations and the clamour would cause a stampede! In Switzerland, if more than 100,000 citizens speak up about a particular issue, they get their voice heard in a referendum, giving citizens the opportunity to have their say on changes to laws, budgets etc.

Recently, voters in Switzerland opted ‘out’ of proposals to increase employee statutory annual entitlement from 4 to 6 weeks a year, to bring them in line with other Western European neighbours.

Are British workers lucky to get nearly 6 weeks off a year?

In the UK, employees currently have a statutory right to 5.6 weeks annual leave and public holidays can be used to make up the 5.6 weeks (20 days plus 8 days). In Switzerland however, the proposals were voted against because business groups warned that it could be too costly to the economy.

Perhaps us Brits should consider ourselves lucky, especially since last year we enjoyed an additional bank holiday to celebrate the royal wedding and again this year to commemorate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee – though it doesn’t mean that everyone will be paid for this time off!

So if the additional bank holiday for the Jubilee has thrown your business into confusion, find out more information and some tips here

Fuelling the strike

Earlier this week the Unite union announced that fuel tanker drivers have voted to go on strike to improve terms and conditions. The army have been called into training should they have to take over fuel deliveries. What would happen if members of your staff claimed they were unable to get to work because of fuel strikes i.e. there was no fuel left in the local area or they couldn't afford to put fuel in the car? We were asked recently this very question so we thought we would share it with you:

Employer: I’ve heard the news that there may be strike action on fuel. What if one of my employee’s comes to me claiming they have run out of petrol and could not afford to pay the premium on the short amount of fuel left in the pumps? In the short term they have suggested working from home, but I need them in the office so this wouldn’t work. What should I do?

The HR Dept: You’ve answered it for yourself; you need them in the office. Contractually they are obliged to turn up to work on time and perform their duties. You could consider your compassionate side with them and at least they were being honest and didn’t pull a sickie, but can you afford to sub wages? The reality is they need to find a way in to work – it is their responsibility. You could also suggest using public transport, share a lift with a colleague, share a lift through a car sharing website or like this GP did, walk the 18 miles to work. There are always practical ways around this disruptive event. Make it clear however that you expect them to be on time each day as well as understanding their predicament. Ensure they recognise that any unauthorised absence will be treated seriously as being AWOL.

Straight forward stuff really, but a good practical example of how to deal with these one off situations.

Top tips on flexible working requests

Could a small business ever really guarantee part-time work for new parents following family friendly leave? Probably not!

Guaranteeing part-time work for returning parents from maternity, paternity or adoption leave is one step to enhance your brand’s image. However the reality is very few businesses could ever actually follow HSBC’s recent announcement in the same vein.

The HR Dept receives plenty of calls about handling requests for flexible working following a working parent returning to the workplace. Employees have a statutory right to make a flexible working request and have it considered, in line with statutory procedures, but not for it to be accepted by the employer. If it is rejected, the reasons for grounds for the refusal are strict.

It is the employee who must put forward a suggestion for a flexible working pattern, outlining its impact and how it could be handled. Flexible working requests and their scope can be broad, such as;

• Working less than normal days and or fewer days
• Times of work could change – flexi-time for example
• Job sharing
• Home working

The problems (tribunal claims) that arise from flexible working request cases are mostly due to the failure to communicate properly and the failure to follow the statutory procedure, not necessarily because it was rejected on genuine grounds.

There are varying different views in the media so we thought we would share them with you:

Professional women who have children 'forced to accept low paid and unskilled roles'

Working Mum's feel men are discriminated against on flexible working

Micro maternity leave

The HR Dept’s top tips:

• Get advice on how to handle flexible working requests from the onset
• Remember that it is someone's right to make a flexible working request, but not a right to have it accepted
• Explore all options when considering the request
• Always be fair and consistent

‘No-fault dismissals’

You may have seen a consultation will be opened for discussion on the UK’s apparently ‘too complex’ dismissal rules this week.

Business Secretary Vince Cable has called on evidence to discuss the idea of ‘no-fault dismissals’ for businesses with fewer than 10 employees, in an attempt to instil new confidence of hiring new staff. This would mean an employee could be sacked with a payment of a set amount of compensation, otherwise a yet to be defined, no fault ‘pay off’.

The Government has said the idea was that small firms would be able to dismiss a worker where no fault had been identified on the part of the employee, without taking into account performance or meeting of targets etc.

We are going to put our two pence worth into the consultation. Our concern is that this will, like the increase of the unfair dismissal qualifying period to two years post 6^th April, mean a hike in discrimination claims, i.e. aggrieved employees will look for another route to make a claim against an employer. Furthermore it simply means more hassle, which is the exact notion that the Government is making attempts to combat.

From an individual perspective, would you want to work in a business that could sack you at any point through no fault of your own? 

Feel the burn

Making an employee who fails to meet a performance standard do squats or press ups seems about the most unusual way to discipline staff in the workplace!

Well this is the approach taken by the flagship Abercrombie & Fitch shop in Milan.  Staff who failed to greet customers with ‘sufficient cheeriness’ were ordered to do 10 press ups (male employees) or 10 squats (female employees). We won’t even comment on the sex discrimination occurring here with regards to ability of male and female employees!

Could this Abercrombie & Fitch model be 'cheerier'?

We must admit though novel, we would struggle to write this into any disciplinary policy!

Why a quiet word wouldn’t be sufficient in cases like this we are not sure, but some sort of ‘cheeriness competency framework’ would have to be developed.

We smiled after we read this, so no press ups or squats for The HR Dept!

Extra pay for a leap year??

Should employees be paid more for the ‘extra day’ they will be working on the 29th February due to the leap year?

We were recently asked whether an employer needs to pay their employees more in February because of the ‘extra day’ due to 2012 being a leap year. The last leap year in 2008 saw campaigns by protestors for a ‘National Duvet Day’ which gained considerable interest!

The reality is that these kinds of campaigns are unlikely to gain any footing. It really depends on how employees are paid. Salaried employees will be paid as normal, as they have since 1582 when we saw our first leap year. Those employees lucky enough to be paid on a weekly basis will receive an extra day’s pay.

There have been suggestions of granting employees the 29^th February as a day off as a gesture of goodwill. Let’s think about this practically. Given there are normally 30 or 31 days each month, employers could argue that they themselves are being short-changed for paying employees the same each month, regardless of how many days are in the month.

If any of your employees come to you to talk about extra pay, remind them that they knew when they signed their contract at the beginning of employment that some months are longer than others and their pay has been and will always be the same every month. 


After all the UK workforce has had a while to get used to the idea of an extra day every four years.


If you would like to find out more information please go to our website.

Office gossiping - They did what in the stationery cupboard?!

Fact: Everyone gossips

Whether it's done verbally, via email or more recently via social media platforms like Facebook and twitter, it doesn't matter what form gossiping has. Gossiping in the workplace, especially when it is about other work colleagues, has all the negative downsides associated with the following words:

Tribunal
Harassment
Money

These are three words to make any employer jump to attention. Why? Because gossip usually becomes their problem after a fallout or incident. Read more about how inappropriate behaviour between two employees at a staff function became idle talk in the office and led to an employer landing claims of sex and pregnancy discrimination, harassment and constructive dismissal on his desk.

Does this look familiar?

Socialising and interaction in work is all part of fostering teamwork as well as building a culture of openness and transparency, but when rumours and malicious gossiping start to affect a workplace, it can become increasingly uncomfortable for everyone.

Here are our top 3 tips for businesses dealing with office gossip:

• Cut it out - Warn everyone that it won't be tolerated
• Make your staff aware of boundaries. You don't want all your staff to be robots - after all it's human nature to get things off your chest.
• Don't participate yourself!

Cupid in the office?

The HR Dept has many a time dealt with issues around relationships in the workplace. As today is Valentine's Day, we thought we would share some Q&A’s to highlight how relationships in the workplace can often be a troublesome issue for employers:

Last week I caught two of my young employees getting too close for comfort in the stationery cupboard! What do I do?

Whose comfort, yours or theirs? If you have a policy about workplace relationships, see each of them individually and make sure they understand the rules. If not, then spell out the rules in the meeting i.e. not wasting working time canoodling or sending loads of emails and text messages. We will send you some HR Dept tissues as the course of young love never does run smoothly.

Around 20% people meet their long term partner in the office

One of my employees is saying they don't want Valentines flowers or chocolates around the office because of her beliefs, I’m at a loss.

Whilst we may believe that this is a commercially exploited event, St Valentine’s Day has been around since the Middle Ages and is a Christian celebration. Realistically disliking it is not going to count as a philosophical belief. Tell her to ignore the flowers and say you will eat her share of the chocs if they are handed round.

One of my staff is hoping her partner is going to propose on the 14^th and wants to provisionally book the 15^th off but able to cancel it if he does not.

Well let’s hope he does then or she will be absolutely no use to you on the 15^th if he does not. Better she takes the holiday come what may.

If workplace romance is destroying productivity in your business, then speak to us!

National Apprenticeship Week 2012

No this isn’t a blog about a reality TV show where young apprentices are sacked with the ominous words “You’re fired”, but to promote National Apprenticeship Week (#NAW2012). National Apprenticeship Week has been going full steam this week, raising the profile of the benefits of taking on an apprentice in a business. Apprenticeships are a great way for individuals to gain qualifications and workplace experience due to the on-the-job learning alongside a mentor. Though an apprenticeship doesn't guarantee a permanent role at the end of it, it is a great positive endorsement of creating more apprenticeship schemes as well as helping reduce the catastrophic million 16-24 year olds currently unemployed. An apprentice becomes trained to a high standard in a profession or trade. Research has shown recently that older workers, not your traditional school leaver at 16-18 years old, are turning to apprenticeships to gain new skills and an actual job.

From a business perspective apprenticeship schemes are great if you get a good, hard working apprentice and there is program of learning and development. Modern apprenticeships usually include a day release to a local college to enhance further the vocational learning with industry specific NVQ’s. This means apprentices can get on-the-job training leading to a nationally recognised standard, developed by industry. There is a minimum wage for an apprentice currently set at £2.60 an hour, but to take on an apprentice/employee for cheap work is not a traditional or modern apprenticeship. As the old saying goes, you only get back what you put in. Business Secretary Vince Cable announced earlier this week that from next week small firms will be able to apply for an incentive payment of £1,500 to take on their first apprentice in 2012/13. 

If you have never employed an apprentice before, naturally you may not know the ins and outs of apprenticeship schemes. The CIPD have released a comprehensive guide on apprenticeships. Download for free here

Be warned though apprenticeship contracts are usually for a period of time, i.e. until the apprenticeship is served. Dismissing an apprentice prior to the completion of their time has hit the news before

Apprenticeships are a great way to help train and give skills in an industry or trade and we would be delighted to help anyone considering doing so with more information on how to set an apprenticeship up.

Have a good weekend, Lord of The HR Dept.

To tie or not to tie?

We recently ran a poll that stated 63% of respondents (SME business owners) stated they have an enforced dress code policy in their business, though the formality of the code varied depending on the industry and nature of employee. This week Britons were accused by the newly appointed chief at the Victoria and Albert Museum of being scruffy in their ‘dress down’ approach at work, specifically the lack of men wearing a tie. 

First impressions still count and whilst having a relaxed dress code for creative staff for example may seem ‘cool’, the people they are selling to are often less tolerant and consider ‘laid back’ to be scruffy and assume the quality of the work will be the same. We are not suggesting dress codes should include formal suit and ties; after all the likes of David Cameron and Prince William often wear open necked shirts, in a bid to relate to their audiences.

Having a policy and enforcing it consistently is the key, but what does your dress code say about your business?

What is the oddest request you have seen in a dress code policy; Send us a tweet @thehrdept 

By the way;

We believe Mickey Mouse could be in line for 'beard of year' in the annual Beard Liberation Front awards in 2012, following the story that cast members at Disneyland can now grow facial hair which had previously been banned under their strict dress code since 1955. 

It's a number's game

We have compiled a weekly round-up of HR and business news in numbers: 

0.2% - UK growth contracted 0.2% in the last three months of 2011. What does 2012 hold for everyone?

£300 could be what businesses in a Scottish city are charged for their own parking spaces provided to employees. A reserved car parking space at work is often highly prized... Early bird catches the worm!

At the time of writing, it is 182 days, 10 hours, 56 minutes and 6 seconds until the British Olympic Games begin.  Basically, it is 6 months today that the hype of the Olympics will reach its peak. There could be an opportunity for your business to take advantage of the Olympics, but also be aware of employees wanting time off to attend /watch/volunteer at the games, so plan ahead.

£963,000 - The bonus paid to RBS chief Stephen Hester, who will be receiving the hefty sum as a bonus in shares. It has caused an outcry given the bailout provided to RBS and their ongoing cost cutting exercises.

2.69 million is the unfortunate number of rising UK unemployment. Without wearing rose coloured glasses, it is positive that the government has announced its’ Youth Contract to help and support employers in recruiting young people. This needs to get moving quickly.

£68 million is the substantial amount of compensation given to ex-Woolworths staff. An employment tribunal ruled that administrators had failed to follow redundancy procedures and awarded ex-workers a protected award for failing to consult.

£158 million - You will read more information about salary sacrifice schemes in our upcoming newsletter (which you can subscribe to here for free) but this week we find recruitment firm Reed could lose up to £158m in a ruling in a tribunal that it’s tax bills were incorrect when providing a salary sacrifice scheme to its’ temporary workers.

£1 trillion – British debt hits £1 trillion mark in December.

Difficult to comprehend really because written out it is - £1,000,000,000,000

Balancing the books is always a priority!

Time to Change - let's talk about mental health

It was during a TV advert break this week that a particular advert appeared that caught our attention and led us to discover more and promote the ‘Time to Change - let’s talk about mental health’ campaign launched by the Department of Health. The advert focuses on an employee returning to work following a period of absence due to a mental health issue. A colleague asks them, ‘how are you?’

It is a powerful advert and no doubt many people have been afraid to ask the same simple question in a situation where they know someone has been away from the workplace due to mental illness.

There is a stigma attached to mental health, and we are encouraging all organisations  to sign up to find out more about the campaign and dispel that stigma by talking about the issues.

Handling these often sensitive subjects can be tricky for anyone within a business and often we are unaware of any issue until something happens or an individual confides in you. Being supportive, understanding and pointing someone in the right direction of support is imperative.

Just saying ‘cheer up’ or ‘you have got to pull yourself together’ are not effective methods of support – being non-judgemental, confidential, supportive and listening is a good place to start.

You can make a pledge of support by clicking here, we have.