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!

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.

Turn to the positive, big rise in new UK start-ups.

It is really encouraging to read the latest figures http://tiny.cc/vial6 that the number of small business start ups in the UK in the first six months of 2010 was the highest amount in a decade.

Good on them!

It is natural after a recession that there may be a boom of people starting their own businesses as they may have been fed up in their workplace; they may have access to capital due to redundancy or just have a brilliant idea and are running with it. Dragons Den may have a few more pitches in 2011!

This positive news makes a real difference and is welcome relief from the daily media outpouring of job cuts and losses. With the October spending review looming, there may be more people encouraged to start their own business when they find themselves without a job.

Running your own business can produce some of the biggest rewards in life and every entrepreneur who tries to start up their own business does so for different reasons. There is no right answer, but of course there is no kidding it always takes hard work, dedication and a few learning bumps along the way...

Some of the new start up businesses will face the daunting challenge of taking on their first employee potentially at some point and growing further.  Recruiting the right person can be a distraction initially but without a team your business may be limited in growth, therefore, taking the time to plan the job role and person specification will be important in the early stages and advertising cost effectively will be a priority. Word of mouth recruiting in the early stages of growth can sometimes be the most effective...

Whether you take on your first or hundredth employee, they should always be given up to date terms and conditions of employment within eight weeks from when they started.  Ensuring your contract of employments actually fit your business, role and the environment is crucial, most small businesses start off with giving the statutory minimum and look to expand on this further when they continue to grow and seeds of success are planted. Nothing wrong with that...

Policies and procedures do not have to be developed from day one; a start up grows and changes, this part of the dynamic business change that will happen over time.

Ok the reality is when starting a new business you should never be bogged down by employment and HR red tape but you should be aware of what you legally should be doing. HR and employment legislation won’t be a barrier to anyone wanting to set up their own business, it is just likely you may have to deal with issues that come up and getting it right so it doesn’t cost the earth.

Onwards and upwards for the start ups of Britain, The HR Dept salutes you!

HR Workshop - Equality Act 2010

You may or may not be aware that the Equality Act, which brings together various pieces of legislation in regards to diversity, discrimination and equality under one act, comes into force on 1st October 2010 and has implications for all sizes of businesses - small and big.
The HR Dept is keen to assist small businesses in understanding their obligations and making sure they are kept up to date and legal.
The HR Dept is running a workshop in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough areas for small business owners.

For more information follow the link.

http://tiny.cc/na8zu

Growing your business - those next scary steps!

When it comes to being a small employer, it can be quite daunting taking on your first couple of employees and growing your business. How should you recruit? What can I, and importantly,  what can't I say? There are also lots of confusing and horror stories about employment law mistakes for a small businesses and where can you get the most up to date and cost effective support from - without paying through the nose for it! Well the shocking truth is that whether you employ 1 or 1,000 people every aspect of employment law applies to you and your business.

You probably didn’t dream of starting and running your business so that you could spend hours embroiled in employment law issues, contracts, payroll problems and everything else that comes along with employing people!

Some practical tips to consider when considering the growth of your business;

Do you employ or could you outsource?
Round pegs in round holes! – How do you recruit the best person? Given there is a huge amount of talent currently in the marketplace you want to attract the best possible candidate and naturally retain them.

Can you afford it?

What is the return on your investment likely to be?

Have you got a job description and person spec for the roles?

We always say.. Think big and follow that dream!

Sue Isaacson - HR Dept Cambridge will be at the Evolving Business Roadshow in Biggleswade on 9th September from 6pm where you will learn the most common management myths surrounding employment law.
As a speaker at the event The HR Dept will be providing practical tips on recruitment, contracts of employment, your obligations as an employer and how to avoid costly mistakes!

To find out more and to book your place: http://tiny.cc/zyoja

Witch is wicked

Given that "sickies" cost the UK economy and businesses £2.5 billion a year - reality tv shows must add some cost to this figure ...

Take for example the wookey witch!

Recruited in a locally high profile campaign, the acceptable candidate was required to have skills such as potion-making, cat-friendly and be able to cackle ...

Well it appears the witch's curse has struck - the current witch was spotted on auditions for X Factor, by her bosses, and excuse the pun, has ended up in a cauldron of hot water!

http://tiny.cc/am5c4

I mean the story headlines can write themselves ... 'witch put's curse on employer' ... maybe as an afterthought.

The reality being, even a witch can be put through a disciplinary procedure for trying to pull a "sickie". Good on the employer for being consistent and not being left green in the face.

Win HR Starter Toolkit

The HR Dept – Guildford have a stand at the “Woking means Business” Exhibition on the 7th October 2010, come and visit us for the opportunity to win a “HR Starter toolkit” worth £275 packed with advice, sample forms and procedures for your employees. For more information click here http://tiny.cc/s9i9c