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.

'Blue Monday'

Producing a better workplace environment will increase productivity of employees. We've recently heard that workplace plants can ‘reduce depression, anxiety and overall stress’, as well as other suggestions like reducing the amount of the colour red within the workplace, and ensuring you sit so your back is not facing the entrance to your work.

These are all relatively minor suggestions to help employees/workers get over ‘Blue Monday’ - Monday 16^th January 2012 which apparently is the most depressing day of the year. After the highs of Christmas/New Year, people then tend to have a lull in emotions. Obviously this isn’t to be confused with depression.

Whether or not it will cost the UK economy £93 billion in lost productivity/absence is difficult to measure and imagine to be honest.

Having a physically better working environment as well as fostering a positive work ethic is naturally going to assist in the growth of a business and its’ personality too.

To give you food for thought, imagine if you worked here...

Health, happiness and prosperity for 2012 to all.

Youthful encouragement

Youth unemployment is already a growing problem and the Government are concerned that 16-24 year olds may become a ‘lost generation’ to the current and future workforce. This demographic has record high unemployment figures across the board, a staggering 1.02 million. Therefore much debate has started about how to create more jobs in general, but a focus has been placed on the younger generation in recent government initiatives.

This year we will see the launch of the £1 billion ‘Youth Contract’ which will provide 410,000 work places over a 3 year period for 18-24 year olds, with wage subsidies worth £2,275 handed to employers to take on 160,000 young people through The Work Programme. The subsidy will certainly be useful in its encouragement to get any size employer to take employee(s) on through this scheme and provide vital experience. More details need to emerge about the scheme in general but it is a positive step forward. The scheme will be open to the voluntary sector and there are also payment incentives to provide apprenticeships.

The HR Dept is encouraging business owners to sign up via a new website to get more information about the scheme when more details emerge.

For further information click here