Parental leave can be used to enable parents to spend more time with their young families. The right to take parental leave is independent of the right to take maternity, paternity or adoption leave. It is available to birth and adoptive parents or to anyone who has or expects to have parental responsibility for a child. However, they must meet certain criteria. The parent must have been employed for at least 1 year with the same company. Employees are entitled to take 18 weeks of unpaid parental leave for each child they are responsible for. A part-time employee is entitled to parental leave pro rata to the number of days they work in a week. There is no statutory pay for parental leave. Therefore, any periods taken will be unpaid. However, the employee will continue to benefit from statutory rights. For example, accrual of statutory holiday. Parental leave must be taken in blocks of 1 week at a time. However, it may be taken one day at a time in the case of a disabled child. A maximum of four weeks’ parental leave per child is allowed in any one year. Up to a maximum of 18 weeks and until the child reaches its 18th birthday. Parental leave applies to each […]
Yesterday we were asked “What is the difference between an HR Consultant and an Employment Lawyer?” That got us to thinking. Cost is the obvious difference. An Employment Lawyer is possibly more expensive than an HR Consultant. We decided that the differences were probably more detailed than that if you’re an employer trying to make a decision. Obviously we are likely to be making generalised statements in this blog. We advise that whether engaging an HR Consultant or an Employment Lawyer you check out first their experience of dealing with your kind of issue. Why Choose an HR Consultant? An HR Consultant is likely to have spent many years “in the trenches”, dealing with employee challenges within organisations. They may even have been an operational manager and know what it’s like managing people on a day to day basis. They will likely have a proactive approach to managing your workforce. We would expect that they translate theory into practice for you, helping you to implement HR best practice, helping you to respond reactively to issues which arrive. You can expect that the HR Consultant will undertake continuous professional development. They’re unlikely to have a law degree but they should have a […]
Outsourced HR is when an employer pays a monthly fee to an external HR Consultancy Services company for professional HR advice and support. One third of small/medium sized companies now use outsourced HR support. Why should you consider using outsourced HR? If you already have some HR support in your business, consider what aspects of that support the Company would benefit from being improved? There are many different areas of HR. Different HR professionals will be experts in their own field. For example, an experienced employee relations HR professional will be effective at managing complex people problems. They do this whilst maintaining the reputation of your business. An HR professional experienced in recruiting will have the industry contacts to find the best places for recruiting talented employees and managing the candidate processes. Why use Metis HR for your outsourced HR? We take the burden off you letting you focus on your core business rather than your HR challenges. We’re likely to be more cost efficient than you employing an HR professional in house who potentially won’t be fully utilised. Using Metis HR for your outsourced HR will give you access to very experienced HR expertise that maybe isn’t available inside your Company. […]
How to be a better manager is not as trendy a question as it once was. How to be a better leader is a much more trendy question. Why is that do you think? Surely an organisation can only have so many leaders before they start falling over one another and confusing the direction? Effective managers are a key bedrock on which any organisation relies. So how do you become one? How to be a better manager in 5 steps Know your policies and procedures Be consistent Be brave enough to question your own management style Actively use reflective learning Earn the trust of your team Know your policies and procedures Become thoroughly familiar with your organisation’s HR policies. What are the rules on time off for Doctors appointments? How much notice of annual leave do people have to give? how frequently are you expected to meet individually with your team members. If you don’t know the rules, how can you respond quickly and with authority to your team? Be consistent Consistency builds credibility. It’s so important there was even a management theory devoted to it in the 1950’s. Consistency Theory tells us that people become uncomfortable when things are out […]
Managing an employee with cancer can be hard. An employee who has cancer is considered, in law, to be disabled. An employee who has had cancer and no longer has cancer is considered to be disabled. All cancers are included. Employees don’t have to tell you that they have cancer. If they don’t tell you your chances of managing an employee with cancer appropriately will obviously be affected. This isn’t just a problem of an aging workforce. 22% of people claiming income protection for cancer treatment or care are under the age of 40. There’s a strong legal, moral and business case for managing employees with terminal illness sensitively. This includes supporting people to stay in work with a terminal diagnosis, and/or helping them to leave work at an appropriate point. There are a number of benefits for the organisation of managing an employee with cancer sensitively: managing an employee with cancer effectively can help limit the cost of long-term absence and the costs of recruiting a replacement. you have a legal obligation to consider reasonable adjustments for employees with cancer. While reasonable adjustments are a legal obligation, they’re not always easy. What might be a reasonable adjustment one day, may not be […]
These are actual examples of HR Mistakes made by Employers in Hotels, Pubs and Restaurants. Seven HR horror stories that have cost these employers over £40000. In some cases, it severely damaged their reputation. A pub manager involved in a St Patrick’s Day beer promotion gave hats out to staff. They told a black employee that the hat he chose made him “look like a pimp”. A remark that cost his company £1200 at an Employment Tribunal. A Chef said a waiter broke his nose. He won a constructive unfair dismissal case and was awarded £750. A restaurant group paid £10 000 back pay to workers for failing to pay the National Minimum Wage A hotel was fined £15 000 for failing to pay the National Minimum Wage to two employees A Head Chef was awarded £14 000 compensation after his employers simply told he “there is no job and no money”. A restaurant manager told to replace “ugly, fat, old” staff with “young sexy blondes in short skirts” has won his unfair dismissal case. The amount of compensation is undisclosed. Three employees without the 2 year service required to claim unfair dismissal are taking a hotel to tribunal for unwanted treatment and harassment with their […]
We’ve been reviewing our 2017 files to find the 10 oddest non-work activities that employees have got up to at work when they should have been working! Our top ten list of the oddest non-work activities that employees have got up to at work is certainly memorable! The things that employees have been caught doing in 2017 when they should have been working include: An employee who was working on a scrapbook of her holidays that year. An employee who decorated their cubicle with chains of paper clips. The employee who used the privacy of his work cubicle to indulge his interest in origami. The female employee who brought her embroidery kit from home. She wanted to continue making embroidery items at work for a craft show that she was exhibiting at. The young worker who brought in a kitten she found outside the offices and tried to keep it quiet inside her large handbag. The employee working on her son’s school project that included using uncooked pasta shapes as decoration. The Care Assistant who was found lying on a patient’s bed talking to the patient while the patient sat in her wheelchair. The employee found watching YouTube videos of people shoving […]
Can I stop employees using their mobile phones at work is a very common question we’re asked. Employers don’t need research to realise that phone interruptions affect productivity at work, but just in case they don’t realise how badly the effect is, we’ve found some interesting research. Research shows that access to, and use of, personal mobile phones at work is significant. It causes A 48% impact on the quality of work produced A 38% reduction in morale of colleagues picking up the work of the those on their phones Missed deadlines (research suggests this is high as 27%) Up to as much as a 20% negative impact on relationships with clients How many employees have personal mobiles at work? Figures show that 8 out of 10 employees have smartphones that they bring to work. 82% of those with smartphones tell us that they keep their phone within eye contact at work for most of the time. When asked, only 10% of those with smartphones in the workplace believed that it was affecting their productivity at work. We’ve already seen the evidence which shows that they’re wrong! Whatever they try to tell you they are significantly affecting their productivity. How […]
Following on from our previous blog about transgender staff, we now look at how to deal with employees undergoing gender reassignment. Some employers don’t realise that it’s not enough just to cater for one group covered by the acronym LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people). Different groups can have very different needs. Employers need a diversity policy which is visible to all employees. Reference it in workplace memos or emails so that people remember it’s there. Staff need to know that you take your equality policy seriously. Giving employees a clear contact point in case they have concerns that the policy may be being violated is important. Measures also need to be in place to protect whistle-blowers to show that discrimination and harassment will not be tolerated. Research shows that transgender people face harassment all the time and it can be very damaging. It’s important to investigate all complaints. If the bullying or harassment stems from ignorance, training could help. However, problems won’t go away by themselves and transgender employees are entitled to their employer’s protection. How To Deal With Employees Undergoing Gender Reassignment Making transgender people feel welcome in the workplace isn’t just about avoiding words or comments that might cause distress. Employers can make a proactive effort to be inclusive by: Using terms other […]
Having an employee found to be driving over the limit is the time to take a deep breath. As an employer, when you get this news, pause! Think before you react. What you do or say now is critical, it may come back to bite you if you’re not careful. Over the festive period everybody’s out celebrating. Even though there’s plenty of publicity about drink driving, some people still take a chance. Some people don’t think about the morning after. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon to have an employee found to be driving over the limit the morning after they’ve been celebrating. When they give you the news what do you do? Your reaction will probably depend on whether or not your employee’s job involves them driving on business. Those employees who drive as part of their job are the biggest challenge for you as their employer. Potential Penalties The penalty an employee found guilty of driving over the limit may get is up to the magistrates who hear their case, and depends on the offence. Driving or attempting to drive while above the legal limit or unfit through drink may mean that the employee gets: 6 months’ imprisonment an unlimited fine a driving ban for at least 1 year (3 years […]
