Employment Contracts

19 12 2023

Draft legislation will bring the Carer’s Leave Act into force in 2024 | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds

Matthew Chilcott Blog, Employment Contracts, Employment Law, General, Handbook #bedfordshirebusinesses, #hertfordshirebusinesses, #outsourcedhumanresources, #outsourcing, bedfordshire, Business, Business Owners, employment law, hertfordshire, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Small Business, SME, SME's, stevenage

The Carer’s Leave Act received royal assent on 24 May 2023 and requires secondary legislation to bring its provisions into force.

The Government has now published, as a draft Statutory Instrument, the Carer’s Leave Regulations 2024 (available at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2024/9780348254808) which will bring the Act into force on 6 April 2024 in England, Wales and Scotland.

Under the Act, which inserts new provisions into the Employment Rights Act 1996, carer’s leave will be available to eligible employees from the first day of their employment. Staff will be able to take the leave flexibly to suit their caring responsibilities and will not need to provide evidence of how the leave is used or who it will be used for, ensuring, the Government said, a smoother process for both businesses and their employees.

Employees taking their carer’s leave entitlement will be subject to the same employment protections that are associated with other forms of family related leave, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) confirmed, meaning they will be protected from dismissal or any detriment as a result of having taken time off. They have the right to return to the job in which they were employed before taking a period of carer’s leave.

The draft regulations set out the details of how the new system will operate.

They include conditions for entitlement which must be satisfied by the employee in order to take carer’s leave and which include substantive requirements for the entitlements such as falling within the definitions of a dependant with a long term care need (set out at 80J(2)(a) and 80J(2)(b) of the 1996 Act).

The regulations also give details of the procedural requirements to be satisfied by the employee, such as appropriate notice to the employer before taking leave. The required notice period is twice as many days as the period of leave required, or three days (whichever is longer), in advance of the earliest day of the leave and does not need to be in writing.

The one week of carer’s leave is to be taken within a 12 month rolling period with employees given the option to take the leave as half or full days, up to and including taking a block of a whole week of leave at once.

The process by which an employer can postpone a period of carer’s leave, where this would unduly disrupt the operation of their business, is explained. Employers must give notice as soon as is reasonably practicable and, following consultation with the employee, confirm a new date on which they can take the leave within a month of the original date(s) requested.

While the details are unlikely to be changed, it is important to note that the above relates to draft regulations which have still to be formally adopted by Parliament. It is expected that, when they are adopted, the Government will provide accompanying guidance.

Our HR Comment / Advice – Draft legislation will bring the Carer’s Leave Act into force in 2024 | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds

Matthew Chilcott , FCIPD, ACEL, BA(Hons) Owner of Consensus HR comments: “Following our blog yesterday which can be obtained by Clicking Here and all the changes to Employment Law we announced which are planned to come into effect in April 2024, here is another much needed one in relation to careers. However, business owners and managers are going to find it extremely difficult when managing their teams and will need support from their HR Departments or HR Consultants like Consensus HR. All HR Employment Law needs to be practiced correctly and to best practice and the law for the benefit and success of the business and all members of the team by ensuring companies act reasonably.”

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At Consensus HR, we provide support when it comes to all areas of HR and Employment Law and full detailed information can be found by Clicking Here

Planned / Proposed Employment Law Changes for April 2024-

Extended redundancy protection for maternity, adoption or shared parental leave.
Proposed rates of SSP and family friendly leave announced – On 28 November 2023, the Government published its proposals for pay rates for family friendly leave, statutory sick pay, and the lower earnings threshold to be applied from April 2024.
Employment Law Newsletter November 2023 (Click here)
- Consultation for Acas new Code of Practice
- Bonus clawback clause in contract not a restraint of trade
- Menopause Manifesto published.
- Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 now in force.
- Remote working claims increase.
New employment laws: update – 2023 /24 (click here)
- The new Laws are:
- Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023
- Carer’s Leave Act 2023
- Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023
- Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023
- Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023
- Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023
- Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023

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19 12 2023

Code of practice proposed to help with fair distribution of tips | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds

Matthew Chilcott Blog, Employment Contracts, Employment Law, General #bedfordshirebusinesses, #hertfordshirebusinesses, #outsourcedhumanresources, #tips, bedfordshire, Business, Business Owners, hertfordshire, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Small Business, SME, SME's, stevenage

The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 aims to ensure that all tips are passed on to workers without deductions.

The Act requires that tips be passed on to workers in full, with very limited exceptions; that businesses have a tipping policy and provide this to their workers; that businesses keep records on distribution of tips; and gives workers a new right to request a copy of their tipping record, enabling them to bring a claim to employment tribunal in order to enforce their rights.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has now decided that a statutory code of practice is needed to provide guidance to employers and workers in tipping industries on the fair and transparent allocation and distribution of tips.

It has therefore issued a draft code, which will apply in England, Scotland and Wales and invited businesses, workers, customers and other interested parties to comment on its provisions.

Details of this consultation, together with a copy of the draft code, can be found here and the deadline for responding to the DBT is 22 February 2024.

The code defines qualifying tips, qualifying workers, transparency and the key principles of fairness and methods of allocation and distribution (including troncs).

It states that an employer should ensure they have fair processes in place for resolving issues and responding to queries from workers who have not received the share of tips they expected to. For the purposes of fairness, employers should ensure they give equal weight to queries from agency workers as they do to their own, directly employed, staff.

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At Consensus HR, we provide support when it comes to all areas of HR and Employment Law and full detailed information can be found by Clicking Here

Our HR comments- Code of practice proposed to help with fair distribution of tips | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds

Matthew P Chilcott, FCIPD, ACEL, Owner of Consensus HR comments: “This is a long overdue piece of legislation and is great to see that they are currently consulting. Having had the opportunity to work within the Hospitality industry within the bars and restaurants and Heathrow and Gatwick airport, we always had a few tips for service and the products we were offering, and this would be totalled up at the end of each day and divided equally between all team members who were working. The Charity did not take any, but this was in the days when cash was king and credit / debit cards were never used. Nowadays with cash not being king but credit / debit cards, I can be a lot harder to manage and companies need to have a detailed Policy & Procedure to follow and manage. At least this Act will help to ensure that all members of the team get their tips, but it will still be down to the company / management who gets the tip! Is it the team as a whole, or the person that served them? Personally, I prefer it to be split between all the team who were working on that day, because you are all part of a team and all play a part and if there is anybody that continually does not play their part, the team will tend to react, and management / business will need to take the appropriate action.!”

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18 12 2023

Extended redundancy protection for maternity, adoption or shared parental leave | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds

Matthew Chilcott Blog, Employment Contracts, Employment Law, General, Handbook, Redundancy #adoption, #bedfordshirebusinesses, #employmentlaw, #hertfordshirebusinesses, #maternity, #outsourcedhumanresources, #redundancy, #sharedparentalleave, bedfordshire, Business Owners, hertfordshire, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, SME, SME's, stevenage

Published in May this year, the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 requires secondary legislation to bring its provisions into force and full details can be seen below, together with a number of other planned employment law changes.

The relevant statutory instrument, the Maternity Leave, Adoption Leave and Shared Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024, has been laid before Parliament in draft form and is expected to come into force on 6 April 2024.

The draft regulations amend the Maternity and Parental Leave, etc Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/3312) (MAPLE), the Paternity and Adoption Leave Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/2788) and the Shared Parental Leave Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/3050).

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At Consensus HR, we provide support when it comes to HR areas such as Redundancy and full detailed information can be found by Clicking Here

Under current rules, before offering redundancy to an employee on maternity leave, shared parental leave or adoption leave, employers have an obligation to offer them a suitable alternative vacancy where one exists. This is set out in Regulation 10 of the MAPLE.

The new legislation will enable this redundancy protection to be extended so that it applies to pregnant women as well as new parents returning to work from a relevant form of leave. This will, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said, help shield new parents and expectant mothers from workplace discrimination, offering them greater job security at an important time in their lives.

The aim is to extend the MAPLE protections through an expanded period covering from when an employee tells their employer they are pregnant until 18 months after the birth.

The 18-month window will ensure that an employee returning from a year of maternity leave can receive six months’ additional redundancy protection. The 18-month window will also apply to adoption leave and shared parental leave.

For those taking shared parental leave who have not taken maternity or adoption leave, there is a six-week threshold of continuous leave that needs to be met for the requirements to apply for a period of time after shared parental leave has ended. Where the six-week threshold is not met, the requirements apply during shared parental leave.

While the details are unlikely to be changed, it is important to note that the above relates to draft regulations which have still to be formally adopted by Parliament.

Our HR Comment: Extended redundancy protection for maternity, adoption or shared parental leave.

Matthew P Chilcott, FCIPD, ACEL, BA (Hons), Owner comments: “We knew this was on its way, when it was published in May this year and it is nice to get some further information from our Chartered Institute & HR inform. This is another piece of legislation that we now know will be coming into force in April 2024, together with Flexible Working from day one of employment. Click Here to read our previous blog on Flexible Working, a day one right.

Other planned Employment Law changes

Proposed rates of SSP and family friendly leave announced – On 28 November 2023, the Government published its proposals for pay rates for family friendly leave, statutory sick pay, and the lower earnings threshold to be applied from April 2024.
Employment Law Newsletter November 2023 (Click here)
- Consultation for Acas new Code of Practice
- Bonus clawback clause in contract not a restraint of trade
- Menopause Manifesto published.
- Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 now in force.
- Remote working claims increase.
New employment laws: update – 2023 /24 (click here)
- The new Laws are:
- Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023
- Carer’s Leave Act 2023
- Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023
- Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023
- Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023
- Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023
- Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023

To view our range of Employment Law services, Click Here

At Consensus HR, we provide a range of Employment HR & Employment Law services for companies of all sizes and sectors.

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12 12 2023

Increase in minimum salary needed – skilled worker visas | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds

Matthew Chilcott Blog, Employment Contracts, Employment Law, General, Payrol #bedfordshirebusinesses, #consensus hr, #consensushr, #hertfordshirebusinesses, #minimumwage, #outsourcedhumanresources, bedfordshire, Business, Business Owners, hertfordshire, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Small Business, SME, SME's, stevenage

Government to increase minimum salary needed to get skilled worker visas | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds

Responding to the recent figures showing increases in annual immigration, quite apart from those entering the UK in “small boats”, Home Secretary, James Cleverly, has told Parliament that the Government intends to increase the minimum salary needed to get a skilled worker visa.

It will go up, next spring, from £26,200 to £38,700.

Mr Cleverly said his aim was to stop immigration undercutting the salary of British workers. However, he went on, those coming on health and social care visa routes will be exempt “so we can continue to bring in the healthcare workers on which our care sector and NHS rely”.

“We will scrap cut-price shortage labour from overseas by ending the 20% going-rate salary discount for shortage occupations and reforming the shortage occupation list (SOL),” the Home Secretary told MPs.

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At Consensus HR, we provide information on all areas of HR - the employee lifecycle and full detailed information can be found by Clicking Here

He said that the Government intends to create a new immigration salary list with a reduced number of occupations in co-ordination with the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC). The MAC is being asked to review the occupations on the SOL because of the new higher-skilled worker salary thresholds.

Among other changes to the rules, Mr Cleverly said that the Government intends to ensure that people only bring dependants who they can support financially by raising the minimum income for family visas to the same threshold as the minimum salary threshold for skilled workers.

From January 2024, he continued, the right for international students to bring dependants will be removed unless they are on postgraduate courses designated as a research programme. In addition, care firms in England must be regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in order for them to sponsor visas.

Taken together, this package will mean that around 300,000 people who came to the UK last year would now not be able to do so.

Chief Executive Officer of Care England, Professor Martin Green, said: “If the Government now wants to move away from international recruitment as the solution to fixing the social care workforce crisis, it must act swiftly and invest in improving the pay and conditions to drive domestic recruitment.”

HR Inform – 7-Dec-23

Our HR Comment: Government to increase minimum salary needed to get skilled worker visas | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds

Matthew P Chilcott, FCIPD, ACEL, Owner of Consensus HR comments: – “This is a very interesting article, and we wait to see the outcome on the Jobs Market. At Consensus HR, we always ensure that our clients are paying what is expected within the workplace and to the law with the changing pay rates whilst looking at the company’s recruitment strategy to attract and retain the best talent for the business and employee’s success.”

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Retail union calls on Low Pay Commission to be ambitious on minimum wage rates | Consensus HR in Herts & Beds

29 11 2023

Proposed rates of SSP and family friendly leave announced | Consensus HR | Herts, Beds

Matthew Chilcott Blog, Employment Contracts, Employment Law, General, Payrol #bedfordshirebusinesses, #familyfriendly, #hertfordshirebusinesses, #outsourcedhumanresources, #payroll, #ssp, bedfordshire, Business, Business Owners, hertfordshire, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Small Business, SME, SME's, stevenage

On 28 November 2023, the Government published its proposals for pay rates for family friendly leave, statutory sick pay, and the lower earnings threshold to be applied from April 2024.

The proposals are:

Statutory maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental, parental bereavement pay will rise from £172.48 to £184.03 per week.
Statutory sick pay will increase from £109.40 to £116.75 per week.
The lower earnings threshold, at or above which employees must earn in order to receive various statutory payments, will remain unchanged at £123 per week.

These rates are yet to be confirmed and are provided for information only at this stage. Until they are confirmed, they should not be relied upon for financial planning, however it would be highly unusual for the government not to implement the increases as currently proposed.

As a reminder, the following changes to national minimum wage were confirmed last week:

The national living wage age band will be expanded from 23 year olds and over, to 21 year olds and over.
National living wage will rise from £10.42 to £11.44 an hour.
National minimum wage for 18–20-year-olds will increase from £7.49 to £8.60 per hour.
The apprentice rate and rate for those below 18 but over school leaving age will increase from £5.28 to £6.40 an hour.

CIPD – News Article.

Our HR Comment: – Proposed rates of SSP and family friendly leave announced | Consensus HR | Herts, Beds

Matthew P Chilcott, FCIPD, ACEL, Owner of Consensus HR comments: “Here. is some very valuable financial information for business owners so that they can prepare for the new proposed rates of pay applicable from April 2024 and budget accordingly.

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If you need any HR support with managing your team and adapting to the new proposed salary information outline in this article, click us now. Consensus HR – Helping companies take the pain out of employing people whilst preventing people problems.

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22 11 2023

UK’s highest court rules Deliveroo riders are not employees |Consensus HR Herts, Beds

Matthew Chilcott Blog, Employment Contracts, Employment Law, General, Recruitment #bedfordshirebusinesses, #employed, #hertfordshirebusinesses, #outsourcedhumanresources, #selfemployed, #workingstatus, bedfordshire, Business, Business Owners, hertfordshire, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Small Business, SME, SME's, stevenage

The Supreme Court has ruled that people working for Deliveroo cannot be considered employees because they don’t have specified hours, can work for rival companies, and can appoint someone to work in their place. A case brought by the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWUGB) argued that Deliveroo riders should have collective bargaining rights, but the Supreme Court ultimately ruled they cannot benefit from union membership as they do not meet the definition of a worker or employee. A Deliveroo spokesperson said: “UK courts repeatedly and at every level have confirmed that Deliveroo riders are self-employed, and this now includes the highest court in the country. This is a positive judgment for Deliveroo riders, who value the flexibility that self-employed work offers.” The IWUGB, which represents thousands of gig economy workers, said it was disappointed by the decision and was considering its options under international law.

Previous blog writing on Employment status:

Employee, Worker or Self-Employed … What’s the Difference

Our HR comments / advice: – UK’s highest court rules Deliveroo riders are not employees |Consensus HR Herts, Beds

Matthew P Chilcott, FCIPD, ACEL, Owner of Consensus HR comments: “The working status of a person has again been considered in a judgement by the Supreme Court in relation to Union Status. In the case ‘Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (Appellant) v Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) and another (Respondents) Case ID: 2021/0155 where the CAC refused to accept the Unions application to be recognised by Deliveroo for Collective bargaining interfere with the rights of Deliveroo riders to form and join a trade union under Article 11 of the European Convention of Human Rights. This is another prime example of when the employment status plays a major part in what Employment Law is applicable and refers me to the previous blogs, we have written on the subject that can be found below as Deliveroo drivers are Self Employed:

Previous blog writing on Employment status:

Employee, Worker or Self-Employed … What’s the Difference

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21 11 2023

AI ‘hit squad’ to cut size of UK civil service | Consensus HR Herts, Beds

Matthew Chilcott Blog, Employment Contracts, Employment Law, General #AI, #bedfordshirebusinesses, #consensus hr, #hertfordshirebusinesses, #outsourcedhumanresources, bedfordshire, Business, Business Owners, hertfordshire, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Small Business, SME, SME's, stevenage

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden plans to establish an artificial intelligence “hit squad” unit with a remit to shrink the size of the UK civil service and bolster public sector productivity, including the speeding up of government processing of asylum, immigration and welfare claims. The Cabinet Office, which coordinates government departments, proposes to employ between 20 and 30 experts in a so-called “incubator for AI,” at an initial cost of about £5m. “Welfare and tackling welfare fraud, looking at what we can do around the interface with the health service, and looking at what we could do around asylum and immigration processing are three obvious areas where we’ve tasked them initially,” Dowden said. “What I see with this is a transformative tool to be able to enhance the pace of technology in a way that can help us deliver better outcomes with fewer inputs, and ultimately, that should be able to save taxpayers money,” he said.

Bloomberg

Financial Times

Politico

Our HR Comment: – AI ‘hit squad’ to cut size of UK civil service | Consensus HR Herts, Beds

Matthew P Chilcott, FCIPD, ACEL, Owner of Consensus HR comments: “Artificial Intelligence – AI seems to be in all the news lately and how a cross sector of businesses are beginning to use it and we have written numerous times in our blogs about the subject. I believe AI has a place but at Consensus HR none of our work is currently provided using AI and I do not see this changing for a very long time. At Consensus HR we pride ourselves in offering a personal corporate HR service covering all areas of the employee lifecycle from recruitment, employee relations, training and development to rewards and benefits with our USP (Unique selling point) being employment law and business knowledge front and back of house.”

We would love to know your views and please comment using the function available.

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07 11 2023

UK to legislate for minimum service levels during rail strikes | Consensus HR | Herts, Beds

Matthew Chilcott Blog, Disciplinary & Grievance, Employment Contracts, Employment Law, General #bedfordshirebusinesses, #hertfordshirebusinesses, #rail strikes, #railways, #striking, bedfordshire, Business, Business Owners, hertfordshire, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, Small Business, SME, SME's, stevenage

About 40% of rail services will run during strikes under planned minimum service rules for train operators in Great Britain, the government has said. Ministers are hoping the legislation will come into effect before Christmas. It will also specify minimum service levels for ambulance workers in England and border security staff in England, Wales and Scotland. Under the new law, employers will be able to issue notices to people “who are reasonably required to work to ensure minimum service levels are met,” the government said. It will also make unions “take reasonable steps and ensure their members who are identified with a work notice comply” – with the statutory guidance set out by the Department for Business and Trade following a consultation. The TUC’s general secretary, Paul Nowak, said: “These anti-strike laws won’t work. The crisis in our public services is of the government’s own making. Rather than engaging constructively with unions, they are attacking the right to strike. And they are punishing paramedics and rail staff for daring to stand up for decent pay and better services.”

BBC News

Our HR comment: – UK to legislate for minimum service levels during rail strikes | Consensus HR | Herts, Beds

Matthew P Chilcott, FCIPD, ACEL, Owner of Consensus HR comments: “With Christmas approaching as I write this, is this the answer to deal with strikes? Our current Government believes so. At Consensus HR, one of the main areas of HR that we are continually supporting out clients and their teams with, is employee relations. This is one of the most important areas of any business who are fortunate enough to have a team and managing them for the success of the business and them can sometimes be extremely hard. Business owners and managers need to consult, consult and consult to find an amicable way forward or as in this instance with the railways, the inevitable may happen, Strikes, which are not the answer for the team or the business and its customers.”

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If your business would like to discuss the best way forward for your team and business and how to ensure you are working to best practice and the law, whilst being an employer of choice, give us a call now for a now for a non-obligatory chat – 01438 576750. Consensus HR | Helping companies take the pain out of employing people whilst preventing people problems.

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03 11 2023

Musk tells Sunak that AI will mean people no longer need to work | Consensus HR | Herts, Beds

Matthew Chilcott Blog, Employment Contracts, Employment Law, General #AI, #artificialintelligence, #bedfordshirebusinesses, #bletchley park, #consenushr, #hertfordshirebusinesses, #outsourcedhumanresources, bedfordshire, Business, Business Owners, hertfordshire, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Small Business, SME, SME's, stevenage

Rishi Sunak and Elon Musk sat down for talks about the future of artificial intelligence as the UK’s summit on AI safety came to a close on Thursday. The wide-ranging discussion included questions about the future of work, with the Tesla billionaire suggesting that AI will one day eradicate the need for jobs. On the topic of robots, Musk emphasised the need to have an off switch for humanoid cyborgs. “A humanoid robot can basically chase you anywhere,” he said, adding, “it’s something we should be quite concerned about. If a robot can follow you anywhere, what if they get a software update one day, and they’re not so friendly anymore?” Elsewhere, Sam Altman, the founder of ChatGPT developer OpenAI, has said that older workers could be squeezed out of the job market because they will lack the artificial intelligence skills of their junior colleagues. Speaking at the University of Cambridge, Altman said younger workers are starting to outperform more experienced staff because they are more comfortable using AI tools in their job.

Our HR comment: – Musk tells Sunak that AI will mean people no longer need to work | Consensus HR | Herts, Beds

Matthew P Chilcott, FCIPD, ACEL, Owner of Consensus HR comments: “Following the latest news since the Bletchley Park meeting of the UK Summit on AI, I am not surprised to see this in the press and the range of stories that are currently being told in the news. AI is definitely going to make a change to the way we all work but can you ever really take the personal management and customer service out of a business? At Consensus HR we like to work with our clients to ensure that their culture includes their team playing a key part in the business and the service that it offers to the customers and cannot really ever see the personal, human contact ever disappearing, well not in my lifetime anyway. We wait to see, but what are your views and the latest that in the future, humans will not have to work, only for fun, if they wish to?

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If you run a business and wish to look at your HR Strategy and how it can get its team to play a big part in the success of the business with areas such as performance management (Appraisals) introduced, give us a call now. Consensus HR “Helping companies take the pain out of managing people whilst preventing people problems.” 01438 576750

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01 11 2023

Government plans to wipe criminal records of offenders to aid employment | Consensus HR | Herts, Beds

Matthew Chilcott Blog, Employment Contracts, Employment Law, General, Recruitment #bedfordshirebusinesses, #criminal records, #hertfordshirebusinesses, #offenders, #outsourcedhumanresources, #outsourcing, bedfordshire, Business, Business Owners, hertfordshire, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Small Business, SME, SME's, stevenage

Offenders who have served jail sentences of more than four years will no longer have to tell employers about their past crimes under a new law. Previously, individuals jailed for more than four years were required by law to disclose their criminal past to prospective employers, who were also entitled to conduct criminal records checks. However, under the new provisions of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, these crimes will become “spent” seven years after completing the sentence. This change affects nearly 125,000 people sentenced in 2022 alone. Violent, sexual, and terrorist offences will remain exempt from this rule. Justice Secretary Alex Chalk stated that the reforms will help ex-offenders reintegrate into society and reduce reoffending rates.

Daily Telegraph

The Times

Our HR comment: Government plans to wipe criminal records of offenders to aid employment | Consensus HR | Herts, Beds

Matthew P Chilcott, FCIPD, ACEL, Owner of Consensus HR comments: “This is an interesting, planned change to the records of offenders apart from Violent, sexual, and terrorist offences and should help those offenders who have “spent” their conviction from biased and discrimination back into the workplace. At Consensus HR we say that everybody should be treated equally, reasonably and to best practice and the law. This can be achieved by ensuring your company has a thorough, user friendly recruitment & HR strategy and your business should be getting the best people for the job whilst ensuring their development and all other areas of the HR Employment lifecycle are covered.

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If your company is currently experiencing problems with recruitment and HR in general and would like to have a non-obligatory discussion to look at how it can be approved, give us a call now. ‘Consensus HR – Helping companies take the pain out of employing people whilst preventing people problems”. 01438 576750

YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.

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30 10 2023

87% of staff mix WFH with childcare | Consensus HR | Herts, Beds

Matthew Chilcott Blog, Disciplinary & Grievance, Employment Contracts, Employment Law, General, Handbook, Health & Safety #bedfordshirebusinesses, #hertfordshirebusinesses, #outsourcedhumanresources, #workingfromhome, bedfordshire, Business, Business Owners, hertfordshire, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Small Business, SME, SME's, stevenage

Research from Capital One has found that 87% of remote workers regularly look after their children while trying to do their day job, with 85% of remote-working parents having to work in the same room as their children. The study shows that parents working from home are also cleaning (56%), cooking (55%), helping with homework (44%) and doing the weekly food shop (44 %). The Capital One research shows that 91% of parents find it stressful juggling work duties and parental responsibilities and 37% are able to concentrate more on their work when in the office full-time. It was also shown that 64% of working parents have seen covering childcare costs become more difficult amid the cost-of-living crisis. Adam Myers of HR consultancy Stellamar says the findings point to an area of concern over remote and hybrid working, saying: “It is important to remember that if people are working at home, then they should be working, and if they are being carers to young children in particular, how much work is actually happening?”

Daily Mail

Our HR comment / advice – 87% of staff mix WFH with childcare | Consensus HR | Herts, Beds

Matthew P Chilcott, FCIPD, ACEL, Owner of Consensus HR comments: “This is an interesting article in the Daily Mail in relation to parents working from home and having to juggle their work responsibilities with their parenting duties at the same time which must be extremely hard with a detriment to one or the other as shown in the statistics. At Consensus HR we have had to support businesses and their employees on a number of occasions when it has come to parenting and work and finding suitable childcare. Unfortunately, this can be a very complicated scenario for a business when it starts to affect their work and the business and has to be managed correctly to best practice and the law or could result in drastic financial, reputable and legal problems.”

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If you run a business and have a team and wish to be able to speak to a HR consultant when dealing with any HR / Employment areas, give us a non-obligatory call now – 01438 576750 ‘Consensus HR – Helping companies take the pain our of managing people whilst preventing people problems.”

YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.

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27 10 2023

Councils told not to adopt four-day working weeks | Consensus HR | Herts, Beds

Matthew Chilcott Absence Management, Blog, Employment Contracts, Employment Law, General, Recruitment #4 day working week, #bedfordshirebusinesses, #councils, #flexibleworking, #hertfordshirebusinesses, #hybridworking, #outsourcedhumanresources, bedfordshire, Business, Business Owners, hertfordshire, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Small Business, SME, SME's, stevenage

Ministers have formally warned councils in England against adopting four-day working weeks for staff. Government guidance says local authorities that have adopted the work pattern should end the practice immediately. While supporters of the four-day week argue that it improves staff wellbeing and productivity, the government believes that it does not represent value for money and is concerned service quality will decline. Lee Rowley, the Minister for Local Government, warned that councils which opt to disregard the guidance “are now on notice” that ministers “will take necessary steps” to ensure that the practice is ended within local government. Noting that more than nine in 10 councils are experiencing staff recruitment and retention difficulties, Pete Marland, chair of the Local Government Association’s resources board, said: “It is councils who know what works best for their community, workforce and in their wider labour market conditions.”

The Guardian

Our HR comment: – Councils told not to adopt four-day working weeks | Consensus HR | Herts, Beds

Matthew P Chilcott, FCIPD, ACEL, Owner of Consensus HR comments: “We have written a number of blogs of hybrid / flexible working and their pro’s / cons and this one in the ‘Guardian’ highlights the action that Government / Ministers are taking against local councils and them adopting a four-day week. It is a subject that has been spoken about many times in a lot of media since the Pandemic and is totally specific to each company and the service is offers. Unfortunately, / fortunately, there is no one policy that will suit all businesses and each business needs to thoroughly investigate the overall pros / cons of adapting this working practice and the working week and take the necessary action. All parties should be included in the decision so as to not create an environment where quality members of the team feel not listened to and only have the option of seeking alternative employment.

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If your company is experiencing continual discussions / problems about changing the working week to less days but maybe with more hours per day and wish to fully consider how this would be managed and the action that needs to be taken, give us a call 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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