What is a disciplinary hearing? It’s an opportunity for the details of the disciplinary investigation to be considered a person not previously involved to review evidence gathered the person facing allegations to present mitigation or new evidence When should a Disciplinary Hearing be convened? After a Disciplinary Investigation is completed. The Investigating Officer should have concluded that the evidence gathered suggests that there is the potential for the allegation(s) to be proven. They recommend that the matter be considered in a formal Disciplinary Hearing. Your Disciplinary Policy probably outlines the process in your organisation for convening a Hearing. But typically, the employee is invited to attend the Disciplinary Hearing by letter or email given the right to be accompanied at the Hearing by a work colleague or trade union representative given a copy of the Disciplinary Policy sent an evidence bundle. Only evidence that the employee has been able to review should be considered at the Hearing Who attends a Disciplinary Hearing? Check your Disciplinary Policy. Different organisations have different standards. Our recommendation is that there should be a Hearing Chair. the Investigating Officer who presents their investigation to the Hearing. They will also answer any questions put to them. […]
What does the Job Support Scheme really mean for employers? Having read the detail of Chancellor’s announcement yesterday we’ve put together the main points for your information. The Job Support Scheme is potentially not as helpful to employers as it first sounded. The main pointers of the scheme are The government have said that further guidance “will be published shortly”· The Scheme opens on 1 November 2020 and closes in April 2021 (no specific date given)· You can use this Scheme even if you as the employer or the employee concerned have not previously used the furlough scheme (Job Retention Scheme)· The Scheme is only open to those businesses where turnover is lower now than before experiencing difficulties from COVID19· Employees must have been on your payroll on or before 23 September 2020 (so a Real Time Information (RTI) submission must have been made before 23 September 2020.· Employees will be paid for 77% of their contracted hours· The Government will pay a third of the hours not worked by an employee up to a cap of £697.92 per month· […]
More information on the Government’s new Kick Start Scheme initiative has been launched. By offering grants, the Government’s Kick Start Scheme aims to support 16-24 year olds to gain employment experience and learn new skills. Who is eligible for the Kick Start Scheme? The 6 month placements are open to those aged 16-24 who are claiming Universal Credit and at risk of long term unemployment. They will be available across a range of different sectors in England, Scotland and Wales. The first placements are likely to be available from November. There will also be extra funding to support young people to build their experience and help them move into sustained employment after they’ve completed their Kick Start funded job. What funding will employers get? Employers will receive funding for 100% of the relevant National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week. They’ll also get employer National Insurance contributions and employer minimum auto-enrolment pension contributions. There’s also £1,500 per job placement available for setup costs, support and training. Funding is available following a successful application process. What restrictions are there on the Scheme? Applications must be for a minimum of 30 job placements. If you’re unable to offer this many job […]
Alison Driver shares her opinion about what are the roles and responsibilities of an HR Consultant. What are the roles and responsibilities of an HR Consultant? The role of an HR Consultant is one of trusted advisor. An experienced professional who is able to talk with employers about their people related problems. HR consultants are professionals hired from outside a business or organisation tasked with solving or meeting a human resources-related need. Often they are hired to provide high-level solutions and recommendations to employers. Specialist or Generalist HR? HR is a broad professional discipline. There are HR Consultants who are specialists and HR Consultants who are generalists. Specialists are experts in specific areas of work. Generalists are broadly experienced in a number of aspects of HR. An HR consultant asks enough questions of a potential client to know that they have the right experience for that client. An HR Consultant is responsible for not taking assignments where the skill set lies outside their own. Advice An HR consultant delivers high quality support and advice to their clients. They must be able to think across the breadth of the organisation and consider the direction that the organisation is going. Advice from […]
Businesses outsourcing to reduce costs must remember TUPE may apply. The legal implications of outsourcing, particularly from the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (“TUPE”), are complicated. Businesses outsourcing to reduce costs must remember TUPE may apply. If you’re considering outsourcing any function you need to understand the practical implications of TUPE and how it might affect your plans. The Effect of TUPE TUPE protects certain employment rights where there is a ‘service provision change’. A service provision change is where a business engages a third party to carry out certain activities on its behalf (i.e. outsourcing). For example, if you previously did your social media marketing in house and you now want an external company to do it, you are making a “service provision change”. If you previously did your payroll in house and you now want an external payroll bureau to do it, you are making a “service provision change” TUPE Regulations state that employees who are engaged ‘wholly or mainly’ in carrying out the relevant activities or service will transfer from you, the employer to the new provider at the start of the outsourcing arrangement. You are obliged to inform and consult with affected employees, […]
The worst thing a manager ever has to do creates the popular question how to tell someone they are redundant. During this pandemic, while businesses across all sectors have been hit, we’ve seen a growing trend of companies using furlough or making employees redundant. How a company communicates its decision when thinking about redundancies is critical to how the news is received. It makes headline news when companies haven’t thought carefully how to tell someone that they are redundant. We hear quickly enough when companies don’t handle the communication of redundancy well. The company that tells people by text that they’re being made redundant, the employees who simply turned up for work to find the doors locked. It’s always how the news is communicated that creates the grievance, not what’s being communicated. People can usually accept business change; they often know it is coming. But how they’re told is how you’ll be judged. When you’re thinking about how to tell someone that they are redundant there are some communications issues to consider Sow seeds early about what’s happening in the business. If you’ve kept employees in the loop that the orders are not coming back as quickly as you’d hoped, […]
Should you bother using an HR consultant? Every business needs some HR function. Outsourcing that function to an HR consultant gives you the flexibility that you wouldn’t have otherwise. Some of the benefits of using an HR consultant are: You can get the best out of your employees Your company will be compliant with employment law Their expertise will benefit your business and help you improve productivity The recruitment process will be smooth and fair You will receive absolute impartial advice and total confidentiality You can find out exactly what an HR consultant does in this blog here. Let’s have a look at each benefit of using an HR consultant in more detail. Get The Best Out Of Your Employees If you use an HR consultant, one of the big benefits is you will be able to improve the effectiveness and efficacy of your staff. An HR consultant can help you with performance management and reviews, whether in response to a problem or as part of the annual appraisal process. An HR consultant can draw up the appraisal documents, write and distribute the letters, and ensure the appraisal process is fair. They can even attend the meetings with you or […]
Men’s Health in the Workplace isn’t just a moral issue, it’s a commercially sound issue too. One in five men die before they reach 65, so only four out of every five make it past the traditional retirement age 75% of premature deaths from heart disease are male three in four suicides are committed by men. A healthy workforce tends to be happier and more productive. Many health issues, mental and physical, are preventable especially by encouraging early identification. A proactive approach to men’s health in the workplace could help increase the lifespan of your male workers. So, what practical steps can you as an employer take? Raise Awareness Coronary heart disease is the biggest single cause of death in the UK. A lack of exercise, balanced diet, healthy weight, and stress are all contributors to poor heart health. How can your workplace help staff, make and female, in this respect? Everyone over 40 is entitled to a free NHS health check every five years. You could promote this initiative to your employees and encourage them to attend. Men over 65 are entitled to have an abdominal aortic aneurysm screen which assesses the risk of the aorta bursting. This is six times […]
Many employers are wracking their brains at the moment to work out what alternatives are there to redundancies. With the current COVID pandemic and the economic crisis that it’s created there’s a need to review costs. The knee-jerk reaction is often to consider job cuts rather than considering what alternatives are there to redundancies? Redundancies aren’t a cheap option. If you make mistakes in the way you handle redundancies, they can prove expensive if you lose tribunal claims. The cost that’s not as easy to quantify is the loss of valuable skills and experience that you’ve invested in. These very skills and experience are what allows your business to bounce back more easily. There’s also an odd impact of redundancy. Those remaining in the business can experience a level of guilt because they are still in a job but their friends aren’t. So here are six alternatives to redundancies that may be worth considering Changing terms and conditions Not without risk. An obvious way to reduce business costs without making people redundant is to change employees’ contractual terms and conditions. For example, an across-the-board pay cut. You must remember that working hours and rates of pay are express terms of […]
