HR issues of interest for businesses in Swindon & North Wiltshire

Agency Workers Regulations

hrdeptswindon — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:58:58 +0000

Agency Workers Regulations Communication

Details on the Agency Workers Regulations introduced on 1st October 2011. Click link above

National Minimum Wage increase October 2011

hrdeptswindon — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:46:10 +0000

National Minimum Wage Increase

Details on changes to National Minimum Wage levels introduced 1st October 2011. Click link above for details.

Equality Act 2010 – What you need to know

hrdeptswindon — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 14:58:05 +0000

Equality Act – What you need to know

A brief summary of the changes to UK employment legilsation resulting from the Equality Act 2010

Upcoming changes to UK employment legislation

hrdeptswindon — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:33:54 +0000

It’s that time of year again. Time for employers and small business owners alike to prick up their ears and take note of the important changes to employment legislation. After all, the ever changing world of employment law can be a minefield for any business owner.

People will be encouraged to work longer under government plans to scrap the default retirement age of 65 by October 2011. Under the measures, employers will not be able to dismiss staff because they have reached the age of 65.

The Equality Act brings together nine separate pieces of legislation, simplifying the law and strengthening it in important ways to help tackle discrimination and inequality. Implementation of the majority of the Equality Act will begin on 1 October 2010.

And don’t forget the changes to maternity and paternity rights which will come into force next April. This will mean that mothers of children due on or after 3rd April 2011 will be entitled to one year’s leave and 26 weeks of it can be swapped with a partner.

New Office Address

hrdeptswindon — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:03:08 +0000

After two years in our current location, we have decided to move office. As of 1st September 2010, we will be based at the following address:

14 Pure Offices
Kembrey Park
Swindon
Wiltshire
SN2 8BW

If you require further information, please do not hesitate to call Peter Jones on 0845 634 9155 / 07948 409112 or email at peter.jones@hrdept.co.uk.

We look forward to welcoming you to our new office soon.

Default retirement age update

hrdeptswindon — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:42:21 +0000

Last month, the government announced that the default retirement age of 65 could be scrapped by October 2011. A period of consultation is now beginning to assess the impact of the removal of the fixed retirement, this is likely to end in October 2010, with plans that no new notices of intended retirement can be issued after 6th April 2011.

Currently a business can force a worker to retire at the age of 65 if they follow the statutory process. This is going to have a big impact when finally decided and will affect succession planning, capability management, pensions and of course benefits.

Twitter

hrdeptswindon — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 15:12:53 +0000

The HR Dept backs new training wage for students

hrdeptswindon — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 12:28:23 +0000

With recently graduated students beginning internships all over the UK to gain experience with potential employers in their field of study, Swindon-based employment specialist the HR Dept has joined calls for the introduction of a new ‘Training Wage’.

Research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) shows that over a third of internships are currently unpaid, with a loophole in national minimum wage legislation creating confusion over whether interns should be paid. The CIPD is now calling for a £2.50 per hour guaranteed minimum training wage, in line with current minimum rates of pay for apprentices.

However HR professionals don’t feel the move goes far enough. The minimum wage should mean the minimum amount an employee is paid, whether they are gaining experience or not. Like all employees they still have to afford to get to work, buy clothes and eat! However £2.50 an hour is still better than some graduates not getting paid at all.

Research conducted by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found that a single person needs to earn at least £14,000 per year to be able to afford a minimum socially acceptable standard of living.

Interns are potential employees and whilst they are providing students with valuable practical experience, they are in return getting a recruit who wants to work in their industry and so is keen to learn. Internships also promote the opportunities within their firms to students. If the intern is later hired they will understand the company and at least some of the job they will be doing. When all is taken into account, paying a living wage seems only fair.

Summer dress code: advice for employers

hrdeptswindon — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 08:49:17 +0000

Summer’s here, dress codes are feeling the heat and employers may be getting added pressure to relax dress standards. A dress code at work is as much about your business culture as your public image. Suits, ties, shoulder pads and blouses have been replaced in some businesses with jumpers, open shirts and leggings. But it has to fit your business and rules must be enforced with everyone. Summer naturally means everyone feels more hot and flustered but coming in flip flops, board shorts or a bikini just may not be appropriate for a work environment. It’s important to consider that a drastically relaxed dress code coupled with vague standards, may also cause employees to relax their approach to dealing with coworkers, customers and the public at large. That puts your public image at risk and exposes you to perceptions of discrimination and harassment.

It’s vital that the employer’s dress code policy should be clear as this will be important when taking action against an employee whose fashion sense leaves much to be desired. An employer is perfectly within their rights to insist on a standard of dress or uniform. A quiet, sensitive word about dress codes is usually the first step to resolve any issue.

Care must be taken to ensure that a dress code policy is fair to all employees. For example, a similar standard of formality should be expected from both male and female workers. Other relevant areas of discrimination are race, religion and belief or even age. Over half of employees (55%) polled by YouGov said that women ‘get away’ with more casual clothing than men to keep cool. Employers must be sensitive to religious beliefs and care must be taken to ensure that these are not breached or offended e.g. slogans on t-shirts.

Overall, if employers wish to allow more flexibility to one group of staff but not to another, they must be able to show the business reason for doing so.

Father’s Day & upcoming changes to paternity

hrdeptswindon — Thu, 27 May 2010 12:23:14 +0000

June 20th is Father’s Day and according to recent research by insurance firm Aviva, the number of fathers who give up work to look after their children has soared tenfold during the past decade. Around 6% of fathers, or 600,000, now consider themselves to be their child’s primary carer. With the planned increase in paternity leave, it is believed it will encourage fathers and partners in same sex couples to take more time off following the birth of a child. It will apply though, only for partners whose babies are born on or after 3rd April 2011 and subject to mothers relinquishing six months of their maternity leave. A partner can then take it as additional paternity, as opposed to just the current two weeks paid leave, and receive statutory paternity pay of £123.06 per week. Though if the full six months is taken, the final 13 weeks of leave are unpaid as with maternity leave.

With this employment legislation that seems a step closer to equality, this will allow mothers who earn more than their partners to return to work earlier. However, business owners may experience these changes as an extra strain. Particularly for smaller employers, who may struggle with planning resources and will probably experience a greater administrative burden. Employers will need to obtain signed declarations from both parties about certain details when there is a request for additional paternity leave.

To conclude, despite the government’s reassurances that few fathers, an estimated 6 per cent, will take up the right, and that just 1% of small businesses will be affected, it is suggested that employers start to plan for these changes now in order to minimise the impact to their businesses.