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.