SME

Development of your team.

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INTRODUCTION

We understand the importance of the development of your team and the effect it can have. A well trained team within your business is why we offer a comprehensive training & development package. All our products are written specifically taking into account your personal needs whether this be in management skills or skills for the entire team. We can adapt to suit your business and for the success of your business & team.

So what are the benefits of comprehensively investing in your team?

Our website discusses further.

Matthew of Consensus HR comments “This is one of the areas that is very close to my heart within the world of HR in businesses and when my Chartered Institute published it this week, reminded me of the importance of development within your team and unlocking potential, performance and productivity through learning.

This article highlights a report which surveyed over 700 global L&D leaders to understand their approaches to technology, skills, collaboration, tactics and strategy, to achieve higher performance and productivity. The report uncovered four key areas which are key to underpinning learning that drives performance:

  1. Setting Direction
  2. Getting There
  3. Leveraging Technology
  4. Empowering People

Development of your team to ensure retention & increased productivity is just two of the reasons why development can benefit businesses tremendously and this report highlights some excellent statistics & recommendations for your team which we have provided in the past for our clients.

Click here to read the Driving Performance & Productivity report

12 Steps – Preparing for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

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12 Steps – General Data Protection Regulations – GDPR

 

  1. Awareness

You should make sure that decision makers and key people in your organisation are aware that the law is changing to the GDPR. They need to appreciate the impact this is likely to have.

 

  1. Information you hold

You should document what personal data you hold, where it came from and who you share it with. You may need to organise an information audit.

 

  1. Communicating privacy information

You should review your current privacy notices and put a plan in place for making any necessary changes in time for GDPR implementation.

 

  1. Individuals’ rights

You should check your procedures to ensure they cover all the rights individuals have, including how you would delete personal data or provide data electronically and in a commonly used format.

 

  1. Subject access requests

You should update your procedures and plan how you will handle requests within the new timescales and provide any additional information.

 

  1. Lawful basis for processing personal data

You should identify the lawful basis for your processing activity in the GDPR, document it and update your privacy notice to explain it.

 

  1. Consent

You should review how you seek, record and manage consent and whether you need to make any changes. Refresh existing consents now if they don’t meet the GDPR standard.

 

  1. Children

You should start thinking now about whether you need to put systems in place to verify individuals’ ages and to obtain parental or guardian consent for any data processing activity.

 

  1. Data breaches

You should make sure you have the right procedures in place to detect, report and investigate a personal data breach.

 

  1. Data Protection by Design and Data Protection Impact Assessments

You should familiarise yourself now with the ICO’s code of practice on Privacy Impact Assessments as well as the latest guidance from the Article 29 Working Party, and work out how and when to implement them in your organisation.

 

  1. Data Protection Officers

You should designate someone to take responsibility for data protection compliance and assess where this role will sit within your organisation’s structure and governance arrangements. You should consider whether you are required to formally designate a Data Protection Officer.

 

  1. International

If your organisation operates in more than one EU member state (ie you carry out cross-border processing), you should determine your lead data protection supervisory authority. Article 29 Working Party guidelines will help you do this.

The Information Commissioners Office gives more details – Click Here

Contact us now if your business needs any support.

Our Annual Christmas Blog 2

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Five More Christmas HR Challenges

Christmas should be a time to relax. Many HR problems during the festive season are avoidable – employers simply need to be prepared.

Last week we discussed five festive HR challenges. Here are five more tips to help ensure that everyone has a truly happy workplace over Christmas…

  1. Do Christmas festivities discriminate against those of other religions?

It is unlikely that holding a Christmas party would in itself be seen as religious discrimination because generally these parties are more about having a staff get-together and boosting morale than celebrating religion.

Employers should keep a policy on religious observance during working hours and be supportive towards employees whose religious festivals fall at different times of the year.

  1. Can an employee insist on taking holidays during the Christmas period?

No. In the absence of an agreement to the contrary, workers must give notice equal to twice the length of the holiday that they wish to take.

The employer can then give counter notice requiring that the leave not be taken, so long as this counter notice is equivalent to the length of the holiday requested, and the worker is not prevented from taking the leave to which he or she is entitled in that holiday year.

Where an employee has accrued untaken leave and gives reasonable notice to the employer to take the leave, the employer must have valid business reasons for refusing the employee’s request to take leave.

Where an employee insists on taking leave and does so without approval, the employer should approach the issue sensibly and be careful not to impose a disproportionate penalty on the employee.

  1. What if an employee comes to work late or not at all the day after the Christmas party?

An employer can make deductions from employees’ pay if they turn up for work late the morning after the company Christmas party as long as the right to make deductions from wages for unauthorised absence is reserved in the employment contract.

If disciplinary action is to be taken for lateness or non-attendance after the Christmas party, employers should ensure that staff are informed that this is a possibility in the disciplinary policy.

Where an employee does not attend due to illness, the employer should follow its attendance management policy and procedures.

  1. Can employers compel their employees to work bank holidays?

There is no statutory right to time off during bank holidays. This depends on the contractual arrangements regarding bank holiday working.

Further, there is no statutory requirement to pay staff extra for bank holiday working, but employers should observe contractual terms or custom and practice regarding pay rates.

  1. What if a Christian employees refuses to work on Christmas bank holidays?

Employers should be aware of their obligations under the Equality Act 2010, which protects workers against direct and indirect discrimination because of their religion.

While employees do not have the explicit right to time off for religious observance, a refusal to grant Christian employees time off for any of the bank holidays with religious significance could amount to indirect religious discrimination.

Employers that do not already have a policy on religious holidays should consider introducing one

 

 

 

How to manage long-term sickness

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Matthew Pinto-Chilcott of Consensus HR comments “An excellent article written by Kevin Charles (People Management 5th Oct 2017) a leading Barrister gives some excellent legal & HR information on the correct way to manage long term sickness within your business and clears up some of the misconceptions of what can be done and what cannot especially in relation to when somebody goes on holiday whilst on sick leave and reminds me of many incidents I have dealt with over time. Many of the points raised and how to deal with them can also be related to normal sick leave such as the refusal to co-operate with occupational health or allowing us to write to their DP / Consultant for advice. In the past the need to ask their permission to write to their GP / Consultant is a necessity to ensure that the correct reasonable adjustments are made if needed to their job and the process needs to be completed correctly to obtain the best results as Long-term sickness can affect production and staff morale, and lead to discrimination claims. The key to tackling such concerns effectively is to be aware of the problems that commonly arise, and know how to deal with them”.

Questions answered within the article are as follows:

  1. An employee is not fit for work but everyone on Facebook can see they are taking part in leisure activities and trips abroad. What should I do?
  2. What happens to holiday entitlement when a staff member is on long-term sickness absence, especially if they are off for more than a year and the policy says holiday cannot be carried over?
  3. How do you deal with conflicting medical opinions about a long-term sick member of staff?
  4. What happens if an employee refuses to cooperate with occupational health or consent to a medical report?
  5. What help is there for small businesses that don’t have an occupational health service?
  6. Can I dismiss an employee if they are still in receipt of company sick pay?

If your business is experiencing problems with sickness or have employees that are on long term sick leave and you are unsure of how to manage it correctly, give us a call on 01462 621243 or alternatively complete our ‘Contact’ form and we will get back to you asap.

 

K Maxx employee fired after ‘fight’ over trainers wins tribunal

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This is a very interesting retail case in relation to an employee being dismissed over a fight over trainers and failure to obtain professional medical advice when needed.

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott MD of Consensus HR comments “This case highlights the importance to businesses of ensuring that medical advice is obtained when needed as too many times business owners make decisions that are not fully investigated whilst not seeking the advice / support of medical professionals and ensuring the correct action is taken. Throughout my career and especially in my operation days within Hospitality, I had to seek a medical professionals advice (GP / Consultant) to ensure the correct action was taken. In this case the issue of remedy will be determined at 10 a.m. on 18 September 2017 but as it includes discrimination the award can be unlimited.”

JUDGMENT – Case Number: 2200211/2017

The unanimous Judgment of the Tribunal is as follows:

  1. The claim of unfair dismissal succeeds;
  2. The claim of wrongful dismissal succeeds;
  3. The claim of Discrimination Arising from Disability (s. 15 of the Equality Act 2010) succeeds;
  4. The claim that there was a failure on the part of the Respondent to make reasonable adjustments (ss 20 and 21 of the Equality Act 2010) succeeds;
  5. The issue of remedy will be determined at 10 a.m. on 18 September 2017 save in the event of the parties advising the Tribunal that such issue has been settled between them.

For further information on this subject and how it may affect your business whilst ensuring you are seeking the correct advice, give us a call on 01462 621 243 or alternatively complete our ‘Contact Form’ and we will get back to you to discuss when there maybe a need for professional advice.

Employment Status – Employee, Worker, Self-Employed?

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The news is currently a blaze with the status of people within companies at the moment with Uber, Addison Lee & Pimlico plumbers all having been (or still going through appeal) to an Employment Tribunal (ET) to justify why they have Self Employed people in their businesses and not Employees or Workers.

But what is the difference? Matthew Pinto-Chilcott – MD of Consensus HR states “This is an area that has been a nightmare for business owners for an extremely long time with many believing that it is more tax efficient and easier to manage if you do not have employees / workers and make everyone self-employed and just pay their invoice. But is this really the case? Is it really not that simple? Unfortunately not as is currently being shown at the Employment Tribunals. It would seem that for too long the status of members of the team has not been fully addressed and now the Government / Employment Tribunals & people it ultimately effects are fighting back.”

An article by the Financial Times – 25th September titled Uber rival’s drivers are ‘workers’, Employment Tribunal (ET) rules discusses this further.

Also to assist people, I have listed below the differences of each of the statuses.

EMPLOYEE:

An employee is someone who works under an employment contract.

Employment rights

All employees are workers, but an employee has extra employment rights and responsibilities that don’t apply to workers who aren’t employees.

These rights include all of the rights workers have and:

Some of these rights require a minimum length of continuous employment before an employee qualifies for them. An employment contract may state how long this qualification period is.

SELF-EMPLOYED:

A person is self-employed if they run their business for themselves and take responsibility for its success or failure.

Self-employed workers aren’t paid through PAYE, and they don’t have the employment rights and responsibilities of employees.

Someone can be both employed and self-employed at the same time, for example if they work for an employer during the day and run their own business in the evenings.

Self Employed Employment rights

Employment law doesn’t cover self-employed people in most cases because they are their own boss.

However, if a person is self-employed:

  • they still have protection for their health and safety and, in some cases, protection against discrimination
  • their rights and responsibilities are set out by the terms of the contract they have with their client

WORKER:

A person is generally classed as a ‘worker’ if:

  • they have a contractor other arrangement to do work or services personally for a reward (your contract doesn’t have to be written)
  • their reward is for money or a benefit in kind, for example the promise of a contract or future work
  • they only have a limited right to send someone else to do the work (subcontract)
  • they have to turn up for work even if they don’t want to
  • their employer has to have work for them to do as long as the contract or arrangement lasts
  • they aren’t doing the work as part of their own limited company in an arrangement where the ‘employer’ is actually a customer or client

Worker Employment rights

Workers are entitled to certain employment rights, including:

They may also be entitled to:

If you find this area of Employment Law complicated and a nightmare and are unsure of the status of your members of the team, give us a call on 01462 621243 or alternatively complete our ‘Contact’ form and we will get in touch.

 

Do you know the background of your team? – Uber loses licence.

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An excellent article written by Emily Burt of People management (25th September 2017) highlights the importance to businesses of robust background of your team checking procedures, after Uber had its licence to operate in London pulled by Transport for London (TfL) on Friday 22nd September 2017.

In a statement released on Friday, TfL said the ride-hailing app was not fit and proper to hold a private hire operator licence. Among the reasons given were the company’s deemed failure to report alleged criminal offences carried out by its drivers and a lax attitude towards background checks and obtaining medical certificates.

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott, Managing Director of Consensus HR comments “Too many times businesses do not see the importance of carrying out back ground checks on new employees due to it being time consuming and not having the required information needed to make such checks. Employers need to ensure as part of the recruitment process that adequate information is received such as the names & addresses of former employers who can be contacted. This will help to safeguard the business and its employees and allow business owners to make the correct recruitment decisions. Business owners need to look at fully what background checks need to be made relevant to their business.”

“Dara Khosrowshahi [chief executive of Uber] has said the rejection is the cost of a ‘bad reputation’,” Keely Rushmore, senior associate at SA Law, told People Management.  “However, from TfL’s perspective, its decision is about reality and genuine concerns, not reputation. Uber would perhaps be better placed in its appeal against the decision by focusing on addressing those concerns, rather than on seeking the support and peer pressure of its users.”

At the beginning of September, TfL said it had found that up to 13,000 Uber drivers had insufficient background checks and a separate investigation by The Sun, published last year, claimed Uber drivers had been obtaining falsified medical certificates.

Over the weekend, The Sunday Times published a letter from the head of the Metropolitan Police’s taxi and private hire unit, which accused Uber of selectively reporting criminal offences committed by drivers, choosing to report only those that would be “less damaging to [its] reputation”.

Uber’s existing licence expires on 30 September, but the company has 21 days to appeal TfL’s decision, and can continue to operate until it has exhausted the appeals process.

In an open letter tweeted by the company’s media team, recently appointed Khosrowshahi apologised “for the mistakes we’ve made” and added: “We will appeal this decision on behalf of millions of Londoners but we do so with the knowledge that we must also change.”

Meanwhile, Nick Elwell-Sutton, employment partner at Clyde & Co, said the decision flagged further concerns about the limited rights of gig economy workers. “Because they are classed as ‘workers’ rather than employees, there will be no right to a redundancy payment and no obligation to consult,” he said “Instead, Uber just needs to serve contractual notice to terminate.

“40,000 [drivers] are potentially losing their jobs, and while in future they could work as traditional minicab drivers, without the technology overlay of the Uber app they would be self-employed and end up with no rights at all rather than the limited ‘worker’ rights they currently have with Uber.”

Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC, said the decision should act as a “cautionary tale” for employers of gig economy workers. “It is perfectly possible to run a taxi company without treating drivers poorly and cutting corners on customer safety… Unions will expose nasty schemes that cheat workers out of basic rights like the minimum wage and holiday pay,” she said.

On Wednesday, the company is due to head to the Employment Appeal Tribunal to challenge a 2016 ruling, which decided that two of its drivers were workers, rather than self-employed, and therefore entitled to certain rights such as the minimum wage and sick pay.

If you are unsure of what reference checks you should be making or how to conduct them legally / productively, call Consensus HR on 01462 621243 or alternatively fill in our ‘Contact’ form and we will contact you ASAP.

 

 

Is your employee holiday “messed up”?

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Holiday – Ryanair cancelled 82 flights on Sunday after admitting it had “messed up” the planning of its pilots’ holiday.

The budget airline said on Saturday 16th September that it would cancel 40-50 flights every day for the next six weeks.

Marketing officer Kenny Jacobs said, “Affected customers with bookings up to 20 September had been informed.”

“We have messed up in the planning of pilot holidays and we’re working hard to fix that,” he said.

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott from Consensus HR comments “Over the weekend I was amazed to see the news in relation to Ryan air and the mess up it has made of its employees holidays resulting in the cancelling of 40 – 50 flights per day. Holidays are such an important part of an employee’s employment together with their salaries and need to be managed accordingly. In all industries business owners / managers need to ensure that they are continually keeping an eye on what holiday has been taken & what holiday still needs to be taken by its employees and would suggest that the teams managers / HR have this as a subject / KPI in key business meetings.

Most of the cancellations are due to a backlog of staff leave, which has seen large numbers of the airline’s staff book holidays towards the end of the year.

Martin Callanan, the aviation minister, said: “I am very concerned to see all of these reports of stranded Ryanair passengers. We expect all airlines to fulfil their obligations to their customers and do everything possible to notify them well in advance of any disruption to their journey.

“In the event of any disruption or cancellation, airlines must ensure customers are fully compensated and every effort is made to provide alternative travel arrangements.”

The airline is changing its holiday year, which currently runs from April to March, to run from January to December instead.

 

Ryanair said the shift meant it had to allocate annual leave to pilots in September and October.

Passenger complaints

The cancellations could affect up to 285,000 passengers, who will be offered alternative flights or refunds.

Mr Jacobs said affected customers would have been sent an email.

“We advise customers to check the email address used to make their booking,” he added.

Matthew from Consensus comments “Wow! 285,000 customers affected & their plans ruined. Managing the team’s holidays is a relatively easy exercise if you have the right procedures in place whether this is a simple pen & paper exercise to a more sophisticated cloud based electronic method, which we can supply to our customers. Business Owners / Managers need to remember that employees request holiday and it is to be taken when it fits in best with the business as well as the employee. They also need to remember the law and the Working Time Directive which gives all full-time employees 20 days holiday + bank holidays (8). Business owners can also block out specific times of the year if needed and the team are informed appropriately.”

A page on the Ryanair website details flights cancelled up until 20 September. It says 56 flights are cancelled on Monday, 55 on Tuesday, and 53 on Wednesday.

Ryanair has said that less than 2% of its flights would be cancelled and the move would help it hit its annual punctuality target of 90%.

But passengers have complained about the resulting uncertainty.

If you are concerned about your holidays & the managing of them appropriately, contact us to discuss on 01462 621243 or by filling in our Internet ‘Contact’ form.

Consensus HR – ‘Helping Companies with their People Solutions’

 

Sports Direct resort to the use of the ‘Emoji’ to measure employee happiness.

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Sports Direct warehouse employee (s) who say they are unhappy with their working conditions are being identified by their fingerprints and asked to explain their grievances to management, according to the trade union Unite.

A recent article in the Guardian by Rob Davies titled Sports Direct workers invited to press sad or happy emboli clocking in highlights the way the company is now measuring the attitude of its employees whilst at work whilst ensuring it is brought to the attention of their manager so that the necessary action can be taken but is this an effective way to do this?

Matthew of Consensus HR comments “Business owners should surely not need the use of such gadgets to measure the attitude of their employees and should be down to the relationship they have with their teams. Regular constructive meetings / six monthly performance reviews should take place where the employee has the opportunity to have an honest, open & frank conversation with their manager where SMART objectives are set and any feedback received actioned upon. This should take place in a mutually friendly environment and not the manager’s office or an office where Disciplinaries generally take place.

Depending on the size of the company, a company could also get the team to nominate employee representatives and attend a monthly / quarterly meeting to discuss employee issues in a non-confrontational, anonymous way. An employee survey could also be conducted anonymously if required. However if the company culture is not correct you will still only be told what you want to hear and not the real feelings amongst the team. Too many times business owners / managers are extremely busy and do not have the time to manage correctly which results in a demotivated workforce who ultimately is one of their main business assets.”

The leisurewear company introduced a staff survey system at its Shirebrook warehouse, Derbyshire, which was at the centre of allegations of “gulag” conditions last year after a Guardian investigation.

When the warehouse’s 3,500 workers clock in, they are asked to press a touchpad featuring a happy or sad face Emoji to indicate whether they are satisfied with working conditions.

If they press sad, they are asked whether they are sure about their decision and, if they press it again, they can be called in by managers to discuss why they did so.

Staff can be identified because the touchpad uses fingerprint recognition technology to identify those who express discontent.

Unite said the staff survey system was “bogus” because workers were unlikely to be candid about their feelings if they could then be singled out for questioning.

“Would you risk having hours withheld, possibly losing your job and being called in by management because you indicated dissatisfaction with your work environment?”

Turner described the survey as “a bogus exercise to gloss over past failures and some of the problems” which he said still persisted at the warehouse.

Frank Field, the Labour MP who chairs of the work and pensions select committee, said an anonymous feedback system would be better.

“All it will reveal is how brave some staff are,” he said. “We ought to extend it to MPs and see how they feel about Sports Direct.”

Shirebrook became the focus of a parliamentary inquiry last year after a Guardian investigation revealed dismal working conditions, including body searches, pay below the minimum wage and constant fear of sacking for minor transgressions.

Unite said conditions were still poor and that the “vast majority” of workers were on contracts that guaranteed no more than 336 hours a year.

“With reports from agency workers of crowded aisles, defective warehouse equipment and products stacked dangerously high, we know that health and safety is still a major cause for concern,” said Turner.

“Gimmicks like using Emojis do not escape the fact that Sports Direct’s reliance on thousands of insecure agency workers still poses a reputational risk or that many are still owed money for non-payment of the minimum wage.

“Sports Direct still has a long way to go to clean its act up and risks the charge of ‘business as usual’ until it makes temporary agency workers direct permanent employees.

Sports Direct said it had put in place multiple ways to protect staff and allow them to provide feedback.

“We believe these comments by Unite do not accurately reflect the position at Sports Direct,” said a spokesperson. “We have a range of different measures in place to protect staff. These include a comprehensive system for staff to provide detailed feedback via an initiative called your company, your voice, plus a workers representative who attends meetings of the board.”

Sports Direct also had a “staff listening group, a staff health and safety committee and a staff wellbeing service”, said the spokesperson.

“Whilst we are disappointed with Unite’s stance we will continue to engage with the union, and we recently contacted Unite on this basis.”

If you wish to find out how your employees feel about your company in an appropriate best practice & friendly constructive way, give us a call on 01462 621243 or alternatively fill in our contact form an we will contact you.

Consensus HR – “Helping Companies with their People Solutions”

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Postman wins £22,000 at Employment Tribunal (ET)

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This is a recent case that took place at an Employment Tribunal in Manchester on the 3rd – 6th April 2017 concerning a Worker who had requested flexible working back in 2012 to cover childcare, which had been agreed by their then Line Manager but his days were then altered in June 2016 without consulting him.

The former postman, Mr Adam Gregory who had worked for Royal Mail since 1993 was unfairly and constructively dismissed when he resigned over a dispute about his shift patterns and a tribunal has decided and awarded him a basic award of £10,577.00 and a compensatory award of £8,486.29 for unfair dismissal & £3,008.43 for wrongful dismissal and breach of contract. Totalling £22,000 – Employment Tribunals Judgment.

Royal Mail also had to pay costs of £4,012.50 and this does not include the cost of employing a Solicitor, which on average is £8,500 per case. (Telegraph – 27th August 2017).

Matthew from Consensus HR states “This case is a perfect example of a company making unilateral changes to a persons Contract of Employment without ensuring the correct consultation takes place with the employees involved. It also demonstrates that the preparation for this exercise was not properly prepared as an employees current Terms & Conditions should be reviewed fully prior to any proposed changes happening. Current variable agreed terms should be identified such as ‘Flexible Working’ & Royal Mail by not preparing & managing this adequately has resulted in this award.

Employers need to ensure it is carried out correctly and not in a way that could be seen as undermining the relationship of mutual trust & confidence between employer & employee.

We would also suggest that a record is kept of variations to contracts and that the employee has accepted them with a signature / date prior to any changes happening even if they are on holiday. If the whole team are going through proposed changes then regular meetings (Consultations) should be held with employees / representatives and adequate minutes taken of what is proposed / covered and who is present. Only when this has been achieved should you proceed to the next step”

An article by Hayley Kirton – People Management Magazine (30th August 2017) discusses the case further:

Mr A Gregory had a daughter from a former marriage and under an access agreement saw her at weekends. Because of this, in 2012, Gregory approached his then line manager to limit his working days to Monday through Friday. The line manager allowed this and Gregory signed a letter acknowledging the new working pattern, but his official employment contract was not changed.

In 2015, Royal Mail started a restructuring exercise, which was likely to change the way duties were carried out at the Burnley office, where Gregory worked. A questionnaire to determine employees’ working preferences was sent out. Gregory was on holiday at the time, so his union representative picked his preferences for him and selected a duty, which would require Gregory to work three Saturdays a month.

When Gregory returned from holiday and discovered what had happened, he objected and submitted a new flexible working request. One of the postman’s managers considered the new request but rejected it, claiming it was partly because the work could not be reorganised among staff. Gregory appealed the decision, but this was also rejected.

Shortly after the failed appeal, around September 2015, the postman took time off sick with stress. In April 2016, while he was still off sick, his solicitor sent Royal Mail a letter to raise a formal grievance on behalf of his client. Royal Mail then acknowledged that Gregory’s contract, as far working hours were concerned, had been altered in 2012.

Gregory returned to work in May 2016 under a phased return and not working Saturdays. However, after Royal Mail sent him a letter in June 2016 confirming he was to work three Saturdays a month, Gregory resigned. Although he initially claimed jobseeker’s allowance, he started working as a painter and decorator in January this year.

Allowing Gregory’s unfair dismissal claim, Judge Holmes said “it was not physically impossible for [Royal Mail] to maintain his Monday to Friday working pattern, it was merely unsatisfactory, inconvenient, and more costly”.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “Royal Mail accepted the findings of the employment tribunal and the judgment has been paid out to the former employee some time ago.”

I you wish to discuss your current Contracts of Employment and any proposal you wish have, please contact us by filling in our ‘Contact Form’ or telephoning us on 01462 621243 to discuss fully your proposals. We are here to help ensure you do not end up with any unwanted fees / awards.

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Butchers ‘meal deal’ Award of £6,091.

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This is a case, which was recently at an Employment Tribunal (ET) & brought by a former employee for failure to follow the Acas Disciplinary & Grievance Procedures. It highlights the importance of ensuring that when managing employees you follow the correct / legal procedures or the repercussions can be financially damaging.

This case also highlights how the incorrect use of Social Media by an employee can result in the loss of their job but if not handled correctly by their employer has the opposite effect to what should have happened and end up costing the employer rather than the employee.

Michael Hayward had worked for Noel Chadwick in Standish as small and well-respected butchers in Wigan, for seven and a half years before he was dismissed for recommending a discount from online retailer Fresh Meat Packs North West to his then-girlfriend on Facebook.

Hayward was subsequently dismissed for gross misconduct and breach of contract by father and son directors John and Paul Chadwick for ‘advertising’ what they believed to be a competitor and breaching the company’s social media policy. The tribunal heard the pair, whose business did not have a formal HR function, had already decided to dismiss Hayward before they brought him into a disciplinary meeting in April 2016.

The 37-year-old said he was not issued a written or verbal formal warning, despite requesting one, nor was he given the opportunity to have someone with him at the meeting or given an explanation regarding his actions. As no appeal was arranged within a few weeks of his sacking, Hayward eventually lost confidence in Noel Chadwick and did not follow up the matter.

The tribunal also heard that Hayward had been ‘pulled up’ on his use of social media before he posted the offer, but there was no warning given to him that suggested such behaviour could lead to his dismissal.

Allowing Hayward’s unfair dismissal claim, Judge Keith Robinson called Noel Chadwick “fanciful” for suggesting it experienced any financial or reputational loss because of the Facebook post.

“Hayward’s misdemeanour, if one can call it that, was minor,” the judge continued. “This is not an advertisement; this [matter] was a wholly mishandled dismissal root and branch. The claimant was dismissed summarily in a process that was reprehensible.”

The judge awarded Hayward a £6,091 payout – £4,891 in lost wages and compensation, and £1,200 to reimburse his tribunal fees.

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott – Managing Director of Consensus HR states “This is an area that we are continually ensuring is adhered to in relation to the Acas Code of Practice On Disciplinary & Grievance Procedures when our clients are dealing with disciplinary issues in the workplace. The law is there to protect the individual as well as the company and by managing your team in the best way, your business benefits & your team become more productive & loyal and avoid unwanted claims being made to an ET.

Disciplinary & Grievance Procedures are just one of the many that employers should have within their business as well as a Contract of Employment, which an employee is entitled to within the first two months of employment. All members of the management team should have the relevant development to ensure all areas are covered correctly & reasonably.”

Chadwick added: “We would like to take this opportunity to urge other small-to-medium businesses to ensure that their HR team is doing their job properly and, if they do not have an HR team, to enlist the services of a professional HR consultancy for the protection of both employer and employee.”

If we can help your business in anyway and ensure you are not taken to an Employment Tribunal for not following the law & not having the correct Policies & Procedures in place, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01462 621243 or alternatively by completing our ‘Contact Form’

Consensus HR – “Helping Companies with their People Solutions”

A Hidden Cost!

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Recruitment within businesses can sometimes entail a hidden cost that business owners do not take into account such as the additional burden for the team to develop the new member in the role and systems of the business and is why the following survey information did not surprise us.

Around one in five employees (22 per cent) have left a job during or at the end of their probationary period, a survey seen exclusively by People Management has found.

The role ‘not being as expected’ was the most common reason given for quitting, cited by 43 per cent of respondents. This was followed by having found a better role (23 per cent), not liking the company’s culture (13 per cent) and not liking the boss (8 per cent).

Matthew from Consensus HR comments “Many business owners do not realise the overall cost of recruitment and the fact that they are paying for a considerable time for a new employee not just in the initial costs such as advertising & interviewing but also when the new member joins and the time being spent with them by their team. Business owners need to ensure that they invest in a new starter correctly so as to ensure they are motivated and happy in their new role / company.”

Recent recruitment figures obtained from the Cipd shows that on average businesses spend £5,433 on logistical costs, with the following factors contributing: Hiring temporary workers before the replacement
starts: £3,618. Management time spent interviewing candidates: £767. Recruitment agency fees.

Matthew also comments “In the past we developed a comprehensive 3 monthly induction / performance review process for new employees to ensure they are developed adequately in their new role and given the opportunity on a regular basis initially to discuss their performance & identify any areas that need to be addressed during their probationary period. We have found this to be very beneficial to the businesses and a reduction in turnover and also assisted one of our clients in a racial & discrimination case where awards are unlimited and ability for an employee to bring a claim from day one of employment prevented / managed. This also makes them feel valued & not just a number as their induction is written specifically for them but is also down to them to tell the employer in a constructive recordable manner what support / development they require to be successful in the role.”

The study, by CV-Library, also revealed that 12 per cent of people had been dismissed during a probation period, although almost half (44 per cent) of them agreed it was the right decision.

When asked why they were dismissed, the top reasons were poor performance (27 per cent), the company being unable to keep them on (22 per cent) or being the wrong fit for the company’s culture (20 per cent).

Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library, said HR teams should take responsibility for running on-boarding processes and making sure new starters settle in well. “Induction sessions are the perfect opportunity to take new starters through what makes the company unique and a great place to work,” he added.

The vast majority (86 per cent) of respondents to the CV-Library survey believed probation periods are a good idea, with 49 per cent saying they allow companies to ‘test the waters’ with the new employee, though the concept of a probation period has no legal basis. Just over half (56 per cent) thought that both employers and employees benefit equally from probationary periods.

As for those who do not believe probation periods are a good idea, a little under half (49 per cent) believe the time period is not long enough to monitor an employee’s contribution to the business and 39 per cent said it can be upsetting to an employee if they fail to pass their probation.

Our Recruitment page discusses how we can help businesses and can be reached by clicking here.

For further information and to discuss your recruitment or how you currently carry out productive inductions please contact us using our contact form or alternatively by telephone on 01462 621243

 

Consensus HR – “Helping Companies with their People Solutions”

 

 

 

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