Yes you can sack an Apprentice, but this blog is about ending apprentice employment for other reasons. If you have concerns about the performance or behaviour of an apprentice and you are thinking of ending apprentice employment, you must do it fairly and reasonably . Otherwise, you may find yourself being challenged by the Apprentice. This blog is more about what you tell an Apprentice up front about their apprenticeship. So that when it comes to ending apprentice employment, there are no surprises. We’ve put together some tips for you. These are based on recent enquiries that we’ve received from employers experiencing difficulties with an apprentice. We are often surprised at the minimal contracts that employers give to Apprentices. Often they seem to have been simply drafted by the Apprentice’s training provider. The Apprentice is your employee. You need to clarify the terms on which you engage them, not the Training Provider. Metis HR offer clients an Approved English Apprenticeship Agreement. This has been drafted to take account of legislation which came into force in May 2015. It introduced an ‘approved English apprenticeship’, which replaced apprenticeships under the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 in England. However, does not include Wales). This document clarifies responsibilities […]
Halloween can be a fun time of the year, especially for employees in the workplace. Here’s a short guide on how to celebrate Halloween at work without causing offence. Sometimes though employers can be faced with challenging and sensitive issues. Here’s some tips on coming up with safe, clever and inoffensive ways to observe a classic children’s festivity in an adult setting. Halloween celebrations can range from those focused on employees’ children, like a trick-or-treat parade to those with a more grown-up flavour. Such as, employee fancy dress parties. The trick to successful Halloween celebrations at work is providing fun without alienating employees who find it offensive or frivolous. There’s no hiding from Halloween these days and employers may find it hard to ignore. It’s becoming big business in the UK as well as in the US. Halloween’s popularity in the workplace is growing, too. Some of you may ask, why celebrate it? Or how do my staff or myself benefit from something as apparently lighthearted as a Halloween party? In demanding workplaces, filled with high workloads and expectations, Halloween celebrations maybe a way to defuse tension. It can introduce fun into the workday and help reduce stress, build teams […]
Cannabis and drug misuse at work, whether intentional or unintentional, can harm the user physically. As well as mentally and through the misuser’s actions, harm other people and the environment. Drug misuse can be a serious problem. Not only for the misuser, but also for the organisation where they work and possibly for their co-workers. As an employer, you could be breaking the law if you knowingly allow drug-related activities in your workplace and fail to act. You could raise your awareness and that of your managers or supervisors on how to spot cannabis and drug misuse at work. Drugs can affect the brain and the body in a number of ways. They can alter the way a person thinks, perceives and feels. Therefore, this can lead to impaired judgement and concentration. Also there is a possibility of general neglect of a person’s health and well-being. This may create poor performance at work, even when the misuse takes place outside the workplace. Signs of cannabis and drug misuse at work which you might look for include: ❑ sudden mood changes; ❑ unusual irritability or aggression; ❑ a tendency to become confused; ❑ abnormal fluctuations in concentration and energy; ❑ impaired job performance; ❑ poor […]
Handling employee smoke breaks can sometimes be tricky. A worker has no right to a break specifically for the purpose of smoking. An employee who works more than six hours per day has the statutory right to a rest break. The minimum is 20 minutes away from their workstation under the Working Time Regulations 1998. So, an employee may use their statutory rest break to smoke outside the workplace. However, this may be subject to any restrictions imposed by you and the company on smoking outside workplace buildings. All enclosed workplaces are required by legislation to be smoke free. As an employer you must also display ‘no smoking’ signs in all workplaces and vehicles. No smoking signs in Wales must be in both Welsh and English. If signs are not displayed, a business could be fined up to £1000. Make sure people don’t smoke in enclosed work premises or shared vehicles. Staff smoking rooms are no longer allowed, smokers must go outside. You cannot prevent a member of staff from taking their statutory rest break though. If a worker takes any breaks in addition to their statutory rest break or any contractual break, you may treat this as misconduct. In practice, most statutory […]
What do you do if you smell alcohol on a worker? Besides the smell being potentially unpleasant, there are worrying statistics that show how common the problem actually is. A recent survey has found that 85 % of 2,600 people surveyed have been drunk in the workplace in the last year. 31% of them admitted to being drunk at work, or being unable to work as well due to alcohol, at least once a week. These figures also showed that employees working in public facing jobs were more likely to stay sober. The Statistics are quite Frightening There are 31,767,000 workers in the UK. Based on that 31% sample. This means that 9.8 million of the British workforce in any one week is drunk at work or has impaired capacity to work. That’s a massive 1 in 4 British businesses that have, on average, at least one worker per week at work who is drunk. Or incapable of carrying out their job properly because of alcohol. According to the institute of Alcohol Studies, office professionals are far more likely to drink alcohol during the working week. They are also prone to drinking at work and it is estimated that £7.3 billion is lost each year in business productivity due […]
Smelly workers – how many are actually in the workplace? And How do you let a smelly worker know without hurting their feelings? The statistics from the research by the University of Bristol into body odour helps us work out that 0.5% of the working population of the UK smell. That’s 109 500 UK employees who should use deodorants but don’t! The study also tells us that a lucky 1 in 50 people have a gene that means they don’t produce body odour at all. The fact that they’ve got dry ear wax is an indication that they carry this gene! Now there’s something to think about asking on your application forms! 1 in every 200 British employees has a body odour problem which means that 6% of UK employers are likely to have smelly workers. That’s 1 in every 17 workplaces! It’s a problem nobody likes talking about. Even fewer like working with smelly workers, but it’s a problem that employers need to address tactfully. Rather than leave it to their less tactful employees. A survey by Australian Recruitment Employment Office found that 75% of people found it difficult to work alongside someone with bad body odour. What causes smelly workers […]
There is no change to the minimum wage (National Living Wage) planned for people over 25 on 1 October 2016. But other categories of workers will see rises. You must be at least school leaving age to get minimum wage rates. Minimum wage rates from 1 October 2016 are as follows: Adults between the age of 21 and 24 will see their pay increased from £6.70 per hour to £6.95. (a 3.7% increase) 18 – 20 year old’s will get a 4.7% rise from £5.30 per hour to £5.55 16 – 17 year old’s will get £4.00 per hour, an increase of 3.4% from their current £3.87. The apprentice rate will increase to £3.40 per hour. It’s a criminal offence to not pay someone the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage. As well as to fake payment records. HMRC and The Minimum Wage Employers who discover they’ve paid a worker below the correct minimum wage must pay any arrears immediately. Use the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage calculator to work out arrears. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officers have the right to carry out checks at any time. They can also ask to see payment records. They […]
Many of us are unaware that there are job interview questions you shouldn’t ask, legally. As an employer and interviewer, it’s crucial that you understand parts of Employment Law. You need to know your interviewees rights. Job interviews can be a stressful situation at the best of times. Attempting to articulate whilst under pressure is difficult even if you are naturally a confident person. However, asking inappropriate and illegal questions, could be disastrous for you and your company. Even if it’s the wording of the question that has made them illegal rather than it was your intention. If an interviewee feels that you have asked inappropriate questions and they haven’t been offered the job, you may find yourself facing a claim for discrimination. Here are 9 interview questions that are illegal under existing employments laws: – How old are you? Perhaps the most common of the job interview questions you shouldn’t ask that does get asked. Although you may keen to determine your candidate’s age, the person conducting the interview doesn’t have the right to directly or indirectly ask a candidate their age during the process. As an employer you can only reference age if it is to guarantee that […]
The benefits of using exit interviews is to help your company retain and recruit the right kind of talent. A well-designed exit interview process is both a qualitative and quantitative tool. It is a practical and a relatively inexpensive way to take the temperature of your business. One of the benefits of using exit interviews is that they are a good way to gauge the emotions of a departing employee. Therefore, to get the most out of the process it is important that you conduct them carefully. Because that way you can get frank and honest feedback. Exit interviews will help you assess and improve all aspects of working environment, culture, policies and practices in your business. They can even be useful in helping you to design training and development to move your business forward. An exit interview is helpful in understanding the positive and negative aspects of employment within your business. It is, therefore, important to follow some simple guidelines in how you approach it. This way you can maximise the benefits of using exit interviews in your business. Think about who should conduct the exit interview. If you want to maximise the benefit of the interview, consider not […]
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that all unfair dismissal claims need two years’ continuous employment. Certain cases need no qualifying period of employment. These are called automatically unfair reasons for dismissal. To date there are many reasons for automatically unfair reasons for dismissal. Because the employee was, or proposed to become, a member of an independent trade union. Or because the employee refused to become, or to remain, a member of an independent trade union. Where the employee was dismissed for having taken, or having proposed to take part in the activities of an independent trade union. Whether it is outside working hours or within working hours, if permitted by the employer Because the employee participated in official industrial action in certain circumstances As a result of pressure from a trade union, by way of the threat of industrial action A reason connected with the performance by an employee representative, or a candidate in an election for representatives. Or of their function as such an employee representative or candidate, on a transfer of an undertaking (TUPE). Or where the employer proposed to make collective redundancies For a reason related to the employer contravening the rules prohibiting the compilation, use, sale or […]
