Matthew Chilcott

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23 03 2023

Protect your workers from violence and aggression

Matthew Chilcott Blog, General, Health & Safety #bullying, #Health&Safety, #outsourcedhumanresources, Business, Business Owners, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Small Business, SME, SME's

Violence and aggression at work can have a serious impact on your workers physical and mental health.

HSE has refreshed its guidance on violence at work to help you protect your workers. It has been updated to:

simplify the navigation to help you easily find the information you need
remove outdated content and replace it with up-to-date practical guidance
remind you that HSE’s definition of violence includes aggression, such as verbal abuse or threats – this can be face to face, online or over the phone

The guidance will help you assess the risks, put the right controls in place to protect workers and report incidents and learn from them.

We have specific guidance on how to support your workers after a violent incident. There are also examples drawn from typical situations.

We have separate advice for workers, which explains how they can help employers prevent violent incidents at work.

Health & Safety Executive guidance – Click here

Consensus HR – Our comments:

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott, Owner of Consensus HR comments: “Violence and aggression in the workplace and world in general seems to be on the increase with the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) saying that in 2019-2020 there were 688,000 reported incidents of violence at work. As part of our Employee Handbook and the HR Policies and Procedures we ensure a detailed section if written that provides clear and practical guidelines to businesses and their team on how to manage correctly, to best practice and the law. Nobody comes to work to experience bullying, violence or aggression and should this occur companies and their teams should ensure that s comprehensive process of action and recording is put in place for all member of the team. The HSE gives some excellent examples of this in the information shown in the HSE article above.”

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YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.

For further information on any of the HR subjects we provide, please click the heading below:

23 03 2023

Zero-hours contract staff to receive predictable working rights

Matthew Chilcott Blog, Employment Law, General, Rewards & Benefits #outsourcedhumanresources, Business, Business Owners, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Small Business, SME, SME's

A Government backed private member’s bill will award employees, agency staff and casual workers on short or zero-hours contracts the right to request predictable working hours. Under the Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Bill, after 26 weeks of service – either as an employee or a casual or agency worker – staff can make the request for a more predictable pattern of hours. Employers will also have to notify the applicant of their decision within a month, rather than three months, as is the case for flexible working. Wei-Men Ho, legal director in employment for the consumer sector at law firm Eversheds Sutherland, said that including casual and agency staff means the change “will have a broader impact”, adding: “It will impact start-ups and ecommerce businesses, as well as retail, hospitality and leisure — the types of companies that have peaks and troughs and have to call on both agency workers and employees at short notice.”

The Times

HR Comment:

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott, Owner of Consensus HR comments: “Since the introduction of Zero Hour Contracts, there have been many articles and opinions on them have changed over time. As previously discussed many members of the team and employers do find their uses and the flexibility they provide helpful. This new article in the Times makes some interesting proposed changes.”

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If you want to always keep up with employment law and wish to know more please get in contact now.

YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.

For further information on any of the HR subjects we provide, please click the heading below:

23 03 2023

Bad Behaviour Outside of Work

Matthew Chilcott Blog, Disciplinary & Grievance, Employment Law, General #badbehaviour, #bullying, #outsourcedhumanresources, Business, Business Owners, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourced hr, Small Business, SME, SME's

What action can an employer take if an employee’s behaviour outside of work is inappropriate?

Thanks to technology, people increasingly record events and then upload them to social media sites. This could show an employee displaying inappropriate behaviour. When does the behaviour of an employee amount to misconduct? Should employers get involved – and how?

It is well established in law that employees’ actions outside the workplace can amount to misconduct – provided there is a clear link between that behaviour and the employees’ organisation or their role within it. This could include, for example:

Behaviour which has bought, or has the potential to bring, the company into disrepute. For example – if the employee and employer have been identified in the press or other media. We have helped a client to manage an incident involving employees sending inappropriate pictures to a customer that had been emailed around the office!
Actions outside work which have a detrimental impact on the workplace or which are linked to work. For example, poor behaviour at a workplace party – again. we have experience of this, dealing with an incident when an employee acted inappropriately with a client!
Conduct which is incompatible with the role carried out by the employee – for example, cases involving dishonesty or theft outside work.

Before launching into any disciplinary process, employers should:

Consider carefully the allegations that they will put to the employee.
State the reasons why such behaviour has an impact on the employment relationship.

The general rule is that it may be fair to dismiss an employee for conduct outside the workplace provided that “in some respect or other it affects the employee, or could be thought to affect the employee, when he is doing his work”

Disciplinary action

When deciding what disciplinary action to take as a result of bad behaviour outside work, employers should:

Weigh up whether the incident is a one-off
Consider the seriousness of the incident
Decide whether the organisation could take any responsibility for the circumstances surrounding it.

Off-duty conduct which has no bearing on employment is unlikely to justify disciplinary action.

Employers can go some way towards preparing for anticipated misconduct outside work by ensuring that disciplinary policies cover behaviour outside work, particularly if it is potentially damaging to the business’s reputation.

As with any disciplinary action, conduct outside of work must be thoroughly investigated and the Acas Code of Practice / Company Disciplinary procedure followed. In cases involving the police it is normally advisable to conduct an internal investigation rather than relying solely on the police investigation and to aim to complete this prior to any action by the police such as removal of the employee from the business.

In addition, it always necessary for employers to act reasonably in such circumstances and they should have evidence to back up any allegation of reputational damage or potential damage to the business.

By following the above tips, employers should avoid falling into the trap of dismissing an employee as a knee jerk reaction to misbehaviour outside work. Such a response, in all but the clearest of cases, is likely to be unfair.

To find out more or discuss your company’s circumstance, contact Consensus HR

Contact us now

If you want to always keep up with employment law and wish to know more please get in contact now.

YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.

For further information on any of the HR subjects we provide, please click the heading below:

22 03 2023

Plan to raise state pension age shelved as life expectancy falls

Matthew Chilcott Employment Law, General, Payrol, Rewards & Benefits #outsourcedhumanresources, #pensions, Business, Business Owners, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Small Business, SME, SME's

NEWS ARTICLE: Plan to raise state pension age shelved as life expectancy falls

plan to bring forward a rise in the state pension age to 68 is expected to be scrapped amid a decline in life expectancy and fears the change would alienate a core demographic of Conservative voters. The state pension age is due to increase from 66-years-old to 67 between 2026 and 2028. It is scheduled to rise to 68 by the mid-2040s. The government wanted to bring this forward to 2037-2039, with the plan due to be confirmed in May. But key cabinet ministers now think the decision should be postponed until after the next election. Steve Webb, former pensions minister and partner at LCP, said: “In many ways, people in their 50s are probably your swing voters. Upsetting people in their 50s is probably not what you want to do just 18 months before an election, especially if you don’t get any money until the 2030s.” Baroness Ros Altmann, a former pensions minister, said the fall in life expectancy projections means the cost of long-term state pension provision may already be overestimated. “This is of course partly due to the pandemic’s impact on older people, but the ongoing NHS backlogs and crisis in elderly care are also likely to prevent a sudden resumption of life expectancy rises,” added Altmann.

The Financial Times

The Telegraph

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott, Owner of Consensus HR comments: “This is an interesting article from the Financial Times and The Telegraph in relation to pensions and especially if it applies to you and you were born when this would affect you and your retirement!

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If you want to always keep up with employment law and wish to know more please get in contact now.

YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.

For further information on any of the HR subjects we provide, please click the heading below:

22 03 2023

The Hard Facts of Recruitment

Matthew Chilcott Blog, General, Recruitment #outsourcedHR, #outsourcedhumanresources, #recruitment, Business, Business Owners, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, Small Business, SME

Employers must be aware of the actual numbers involved with recruiting new people and looks at options that can significantly reduce those costs.

What is the average cost of turnover assuming a salary of £40,000 average salary and average hiring costs of 12% per head, 20% attrition in first 12 months?

The cost of repeat hire: £960, Cost of productivity loss (11 weeks) £5,617 and management time £1,456.

Total cost of turnover per head using an agency of in-house averages £8.033 and using an in-house talent pool or ‘recommend a friend’ scheme, £955.

The real cost of recruitment is not just how much you pay for your recruiters, agency fees and adverts (see our earlier blog and the true cost involved).

A fairly typical £40,000 hire can cost well over twice that in combined headline and hidden costs, even based on average figures. Whether you use agencies, in-house recruiters or an RPO provider the bottom line is the same; hiring costs are approximately double the salary involved.

Only by using proactive sourcing and Talent Warehousing can employers drive down:

Time to hire
Management resources demanded
Attrition whilst bolstering productivity

Now, businesses can address the fundamental issue of recruitment costs.

Matthew from Consensus HR explains: “We are often heavily involved with the recruitment process, which often drives down the actual recruitment costs and timescales involved. We advise that the company retains all suitable applicants’ CVs. Our detailed recruitment process, including interview questions & selection criteria, is provided for future use. These steps ensure a reduction in costs.”

Matthew adds “The logistical cost of replacing an employee will probably come as not surprise to businesses. The financial impact of training replacement workers is a real cost which is often missed. Productivity will be affected whilst the necessary experience is gained. This is also a cost that most businesses have not considered before.”

Costs for recruiting new talent can be startling.

Consensus HR encourages businesses to place more emphasis on:

Retaining talent in the workplace
Continually performance managing the team
Developing employees in the skills required for their role
Actively encouraging team members to progress within the business and their roles

Good members of the team stay with employers who demonstrate that they value and care for their employees. Companies should operate – or ‘live’ – their values, which should be documented within their policies and procedures.

Financial reward is not always the answer.

To keep the perfect match for company roles, employers need to look at the overall benefits package offered such as pensions, gym membership and additional holidays.

How can you retain your employees and drive down your recruitment costs?

Talk to the team at Consensus HR

Contact us now

If you want to always keep up with employment law and wish to know more please get in contact now.

YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.

For further information on any of the HR subjects we provide, please click the heading below:

21 03 2023

Met Police: ‘boys’ club’

Matthew Chilcott Blog, Disciplinary & Grievance, Employment Law, General #equalityact2010, #equalityanddiversity, #metpolice, #outsourcedhumanresources, Business, Business Owners, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Small Business, SME's

Met Police: Women and children failed by Met Police: ‘boys’ club’

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott, Owner of Consensus HR comments: “So the Metropolitan Police report written by Dame Casey is out in the news today and having just read the BBC report written by Thomas Mackintosh & Lucy Manning, Special Correspondent it is extremely disappointing to put it mildly! We have written many blogs on Equality and Diversity in the workplace and how this is not a request for all employees to ensure it is followed but is the law and rightfully so as discussed previously. All members of the team should be treated equal regardless of any personal characteristics as outlined in the Equality Act 2010 such as:

age
gender reassignment
being married or in a civil partnership
being pregnant or on maternity leave
disability
race including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin
religion or belief
sex
sexual orientation

It is extremely worrying to hear that the Met. Police have been found to not be upholding the law and working to best practice and I for one, wait to see what the outcome is and the way forward, whether this is the breaking up of the force or taking other action and business owners and managers should be aware that action from an employee can be taken from day one of employment and awards, awarded by an Employment Tribunal (ET) can be unlimited.”

NEWS ARTICLE BBC:

Women and children have been failed by the Metropolitan Police, with racism, misogyny, and homophobia at the heart of the force, a blistering review says.

Baroness Casey says a “boys’ club” culture is rife and the force could be dismantled if it does not improve.

Her year-long review condemns systemic failures, painting a picture of a force where rape cases were dropped because freezers containing key evidence broke.

The Met’s Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has apologised to Londoners.

He said: “It is ghastly. You sit down and read that report and it generates a whole series of emotions. It generates anger, frustration, embarrassment.”

Rape cases ruined, officer’s beard cut… five findings from report

Baroness Casey was appointed to review the force’s culture and standards after the abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by serving police officer Wayne Couzens, in 2021.

During the course of her review, another Met officer, David Carrick, was convicted of a series of rapes, sexual offences and torture of women.

To read the full BBC report, click here

Here are a few of our previous blogs written on the subject:

Contact us now

If you want to always keep up with employment law and wish to know more please get in contact now.

YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.

For further information on any of the HR subjects we provide, please click the heading below:

21 03 2023

Recruitment: finding the perfect match…

Matthew Chilcott Blog, General, Recruitment #outsourcedhumanresources, Business, Business Owners, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Recruitment, Small Business, SME, SME's

Blog 2 of 3 – Recruitment: finding the perfect match…

For long-term success within the job market, employers should ask them selves these key questions:

Who is your vacancy reaching?

Almost all recruitment solutions are reactive, sourcing candidates when the need arises. This means that companies are entirely reliant on candidates already in the market: signed up with agencies, looking at ads, on job sites or on databases.

Studies have shown that this only represents around 20% of the qualified candidates in the marketplace. To access all of that 20% you have to use every agency, database and advertising medium. In fact, companies often access just 2-3% of the available talent pool to fill any given vacancy.

Having access to only people who really want or need a new job can have a major effect on the quality of hire. This situation can only be improved by having a company database of previous applicants. (Those who have specifically applied for a role with the company through choice whilst employed, or via a company employee recommendation scheme.) This offers a clear improvement in quality of hire and, as a result, a demonstrable increase in productivity per head of between 10-30%.

Are you keeping your new starters?

Up to half of new hires leave within the first 12 months, with an average of 20% leaving within this crucial period. The reasons are simple. A standard recruitment process involves six – eight weeks of contact time. This simply isn’t long enough to develop a cultural rapport between candidate and company.

In short, the ‘new hire’ can only finds out if they ‘fit’ after they’ve started in their new role. Plus – the pressure of the new job amplifies any concerns.

Longer engagement with candidates – allowing them to understand the culture and raise any concerns – can reduce the 12-month drop out rate by up to 90%.

Are you recruiting proactively?

Engaging with Talent Warehousing or recruiting employee recommendations are the only ways of tackling this.

What does your recruitment process involve? Could it be cheaper, quicker or more effective? Have an informal chat with Consensus HR and see how you can find the perfect match for your next vacancy.

Contact us now

If you want to always keep up with employment law and wish to know more please get in contact now.

YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.

For further information on any of the HR subjects we provide, please click the heading below:

20 03 2023

The True Cost of Recruitment

Matthew Chilcott Blog, General, Handbook, Recruitment #outsourcedhumanresources, Business, Business Owners, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Recruitment, Small Business, SME, SME's

Blog 1 of 3

People often believe that the cost of recruiting is purely the cost for advertising or using a recruitment agency. They rarely consider the other common costs such as management time or loss in production.

Unfortunately most companies underestimate the cost of recruitment by 90-95%. This can often lead to terrible decisions that can increase costs, even when the original intention was to reduce them.

What are the costs involved with recruitment?

Main Costs:

External expenditure such as recruitment agency costs. These can 15%-30% of salary involved – higher using an executive search company.
Advertising
Subscriptions to social media and database aggregators
Attendance at recruitment shows
In-house recruiters

Many companies seek to reduce their headline costs by taking recruitment in-house, hoping to avoid agency costs. They often deliver 8-15% costs compared to salaries – less of a saving than intended. Over 70% of in-house solutions fail to source all – this can reach 90% placement failure. This subsequently leads to working with agencies, driving the average cost up to 12-20%.

Cost of Recruitment

Assumes £40,000 average salary

Agency led solution (22% average)	£8,800 per head
In-house solution (12% average)	£4,800 per head

When is the right time to hire?

Many companies record how long it takes to recruit new members to the team, but fail to recognise it as a cost. Actually this is a huge business overhead.

The average hiring time is 10-12 weeks (from job opening to an accepted offer), during which time the role is unfilled. For that period there is either no productivity, or it is provided by diverting someone else, (if possible).

All these options have a tangible cost, plus if the hiring timeline slips the cost goes up. In-house recruitment teams take longer to hire with an average 12-16 weeks. This is due to a lack of extensive databases and wider industry contacts. This has a significant impact on the cost involved.

How can hire costs be reduced?

Proactive recruitment planning

Move away from the purely reactive model and understanding your recruitment demand. This can reduce the typical hiring times by 4-6 weeks. For the best results, operate a Talent Warehouse. By pro-actively sourcing and managing candidates before they are needed, hiring times can be cut by to 3-4 weeks.

“This approach offers a huge saving,” says Matthew from Consensus HR. “We actively encourage our clients to maintain a database of applicants – people who have been recruited and interviewed previously, but not offered a role at that time. These applicants should be told that that their details will be maintained on a database and contacted immediately should a suitable vacancy arise.”

Effective management involvement

Management time within the recruitment process is a major cost. This typically involves:

Specifying roles
Reviewing CVs
Interviewing
Repeating the process as over 50% of offers made are rejected

This cost is the same whether candidates are sourced by agency or in-house. A Talent Warehousing approach is the only cost-cutting option, reducing management time invested in recruiting by an average of 70%. Consensus HR offers effective recruitment support by:

Writing a detailed job description and advertisement for the role
Reviewing CVs received
Producing a detailed recruitment process and selection criteria
Attending interviews as required

These activities significantly reduce the management costs involved within the hiring process.

How could you reduce the recruitment costs in your business? How could you introduce Talent Warehousing?

Contact us now

If you want to always keep up with employment law and wish to know more please get in contact now.

YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.

For further information on any of the HR subjects we provide, please click the heading below:

17 03 2023

Compassionate Leave in the workplace.

Matthew Chilcott Blog, General #outsourcedhumanresources, Business, Business Owners, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Small Business, SME, SME's

One of the many questions we get asked by our clients is in relation to what is the law in relation to ‘bereavement / compassionate leave’ and what should they provide to a member of the team when informed and is the topic of our current blog.

Firstly you should ask yourself what is your company policy (if you have one) and what has been the Precedent in the past when people have told the company of a recent death or the need for compassionate leave?

The next question should be: Does it affect a close relative or dependant? If yes then an employee is entitled as a minimum to take a ‘reasonable’ amount of time off work without notice to deal with emergencies affecting their dependents under the Employment Rights Act.

‘reasonable’ can vary depending on the situation and can be anything from one day to attend a funeral to up to a week to plan an event for close family members.

While this can help an employee to focus on arrangements and the funeral itself, it is often once the funeral has taken place that they require additional support. Shock or the sheer exhaustion of dealing with a protracted illness can have a severe impact. While some people will appreciate the structure and distraction of work, many others suffer from anxiety and depression following bereavement.

With more staff staying in the workplace for much longer than previous generations, this is a situation that managers will encounter increasingly often. The question is: what more can employers do to assist at such a difficult time?

For employees who suffer from mental health illnesses such as depression, it is important to have a line of communication between them and the their line manager. Where possible, an early referral to the business’s occupational health provider is crucial, both as a pathway to accessing other medical assistance and in securing the best chance of the employee successfully returning to work in the future. The objective should be to have a referral and appointment within four weeks of the diagnosis of depression. This is an extremely delicate conversation to have with someone so recently bereaved.

For an employee who wishes to have the distraction of work, there can be issues with performance, which can dip substantially on their return. At this point, managers have a key role to play in discussing the support the employee wishes to have. A return to work discussion about workload levels and weekly catch ups are recommended, and it’s important to keep a watchful eye on the team member. You also need to consider whether the

employee has a mental health condition that would qualify as a disability. If so, there will be a requirement to make reasonable adjustments and not to take action that would discriminate against the person’s disability.

Financial matters can add greatly to the stress and anxiety experienced by a bereaved employee. The loss of a loved one who was the main breadwinner can have a devastating impact on them and their family, especially if there was not time to put financial affairs in order. Only by talking to them will this come to light. Some employers may be able to help with zero-interest loans or by directing the employee to additional sources of support and advice.

Managers and HR professionals are the key to dealing with staff struggling with bereavement. They can provide support and pass on vital information to the employee, including the fact that employee assistance programmes are much more than just telephone helplines. It will be for the manager or HR to tease out whether the employee has financial worries caused by their change in circumstances. However, employers must ask themselves this: have managers and HR professionals been trained to engage in these sensitive discussions with confidence?

Matthew from Consensus HR comments “In these difficult times it is vital that employers have a clear policy that is easy to follow and states what the procedure is for all members of the team so as to ensure in difficult situations that the appropriate action is taken and no further stress put on the individual or the business. Clear guidelines ensures that all members of the team are treated the same and managed accordingly. I always suggest that a clear documentation trail is also kept with payroll as unfortunately from past experience it has been known for a number of grandparents to pass way!”

If you wish to discuss your current policies / procedures in relation to compassionate leave or any other area of your companies HR Policies & Procedures give us a call or fill in the ‘Contact Form’ and we will contact you asap.

YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.

For further information on any of the HR subjects we provide, please click the heading below:

Contact us now

If you want to always keep up with employment law and wish to know more please get in contact now.

16 03 2023

Budget leaves household incomes stagnant

Matthew Chilcott Blog, General #budget2023, #outsourcedhumanresources, Business, Business Owners, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Small Business, SME, SME's

NEWS ARTICLE: Budget leaves household incomes stagnant, Resolution Foundation says.

The Resolution Foundation thinktank, which aims to improve the standard of living for low and middle-income families, says the chancellor has announced an “impressively broad suite of policies” to encourage more people into work, but the budget leaves household incomes stagnant and people paying more taxes despite public service cuts, and “Britain’s economy remains stuck in a deep funk.” The thinktank’s analysis of yesterday’s announcements notes the biggest increase in childcare support on record, which it said would encourage more parents to work and make it worthwhile for many to work longer. But it said the richest fifth of households are set to gain £180 on average from the extra childcare entitlement, compared to £130 for the middle fifth of households and £20 for the bottom fifth. Meanwhile, the thinktank’s report was critical of the chancellor raising the annual allowance and scrapping the lifetime allowance for tax-free saving, which it said cost around £1.2bn and were expected to increase employment by 15,000 – a cost of around £80,000 per extra worker. The Foundation observed: “even those employment gains may be overstated, given that giving very large wealth boosts will actually encourage some people to retire earlier than they otherwise would have done.” Meanwhile, the FT reports on Treasury plans to relax the curbs on foreign labour in certain sectors, starting with the construction industry, that weren’t mentioned in yesterday’s budget.

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott, Owner of Consensus HR comments: “Well the Budget for 2023 has occurred and this is just one of the many reports in today’s papers with their comments, but we wait to see how it will affect all businesses and their teams. The new childcare support sounds good and hopefully will allow parents to return to the workplace which may mean more flexible working requests from members of the team which still stands at one request per year, although there is talk of this being increased and from day one of employment. We wait to see if this change does happen. Currently employees must have worked for their employer for at least 26 weeks before they can make a request and should ensure that their request is dealt within a ‘reasonable manner’. Employers and business owners are advised to seek Employment Law advice to ensure they manage the process correctly and legally and not end up fighting a sex discrimination case which can be from day one of employment with unlimited awards.”

Sky News

Financial Times

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If you want to always keep up with employment law and wish to know more please get in contact now.

YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.

For further information on any of the HR subjects we provide, please click the heading below:

16 03 2023

Outsourced Human Resources (HR)

Matthew Chilcott Blog, General #outsourcedhumanresources, Business, Business Owners, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Small Business, SME, SME's

In plain English, we help SMEs to get the best from their teams and businesses whilst helping companies with their people solutions. Consensus HR understands the importance of how effective Human Resources can make a valuable difference financially, legally and operationally in the business environment. We understand that many companies do not have the luxury of employing a full time HR professional but at some point all business owners will need to provide people solutions.

We are able to provide our clients with a comprehensive HR service at a fraction of the cost of an in-house department.

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott, Director of Consensus HR says: “My experience has been within the public and private sectors, ranging from small family owned businesses to large international organisations. I have covered all aspects of the employment life-cycle from recruitment and selection, disciplinaries and grievances, performance management, training and development to being able to help problem solve and assist management in difficult times.

I am commercially, operationally and HR aware having managed and worked in a wide range of fast footfall/multi million pound turnover businesses with large teams of management and employees for UK & international companies. My career commenced at the coal face of industry but later moved into implementing HR & Development for a wide range of businesses having known what it was like to work at the forefront of business.”

Consensus HR are able to offer SMEs the benefit of having a HR Department that can offer everything you would expect from an in house team.

Whether it is managing a disciplinary, handling sickness absence, writing tailored contracts of employment for your staff or a redundancy issue, we’d love to help. We offer:

HR & Employment Law Advice Line
Contracts & Handbooks
Investigations
Disciplinary & Grievances
Recruitment
Absence Management
Training & Development
Redundancy Projects
Performance Management
TUPE Transfers
Management Consultancy
Business Consultancy

For a small monthly fee, you can have access to our HR / Business advice line service, where you will receive unlimited support through telephone and email and legally drafted letters.

Contact us now

If you want to always keep up with employment law and wish to know more please get in contact now.

YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.

For further information on any of the HR subjects we provide, please click the heading below:

15 03 2023

Starplan: Woman awarded £19k for Christmas party harassment

Matthew Chilcott Blog, Employment Law, General #outsourcedhumanresources, #sexual harassment, Business, Business Owners, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Small Business, SME, SME's

Starplan: Woman awarded £19k for Christmas party harassment.

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott, Owner of Consensus HR comments: “colleague from Starplan had touched her bottom, hugged her from behind without her consent and made comments about her breasts. This story has just be publicised on the BBC in relation to a Christmas Party where an employee was sexually harassed and has resulted in the employee being awarded £19,000. We have discussed this in previous blogs and employers, managers and all members of the team must ensure that inappropriate behaviour does not take place at any event or in the workplace. Equality is for all, at all times and is covered under the Equality Act 2010 with employees able to make a claim from day one of employment and the possibility of unlimited awards.

A woman who said she was left feeling unsafe in the workplace after being sexually harassed at a Christmas party has been awarded nearly £19,000.

Shirley Lyons claimed a colleague from Starplan had touched her bottom, hugged her from behind without her consent and made comments about her breasts.

An employment tribunal said that amounted to unlawful sexual harassment.

Ms Lyons worked as a designer and sales consultant for the furniture company in Portadown, County Armagh.

To read the full story, click here

Here are some of our other blogs written on the subject:

Contact us now

If you want to always keep up with employment law and wish to know more please get in contact now.

YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.

For further information on any of the HR subjects we provide, please click the heading below:

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Matthew Chilcott

About Matthew Chilcott

Posts by Matthew Chilcott:

Violence and aggression at work can have a serious impact on your workers physical and mental health.

Health & Safety Executive guidance – Click here

Consensus HR – Our comments:

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YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.

HR Comment:

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YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.

What action can an employer take if an employee’s behaviour outside of work is inappropriate?

Before launching into any disciplinary process, employers should:

Disciplinary action

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YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.

NEWS ARTICLE: Plan to raise state pension age shelved as life expectancy falls

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YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.

Costs for recruiting new talent can be startling.

Financial reward is not always the answer.

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YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.

Met Police: Women and children failed by Met Police: ‘boys’ club’

age

gender reassignment

being married or in a civil partnership

being pregnant or on maternity leave

race including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin

religion or belief

sex

sexual orientation

NEWS ARTICLE BBC:

Here are a few of our previous blogs written on the subject:

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YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.

Blog 2 of 3 – Recruitment: finding the perfect match…

For long-term success within the job market, employers should ask them selves these key questions:

Who is your vacancy reaching?

Are you keeping your new starters?

Are you recruiting proactively?

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YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.