Embrace HR regulation changes April 2020

Get ahead of the game and ensure you are aware of legislation changes coming in April 2020…

When it comes to keeping up with changes in HR law, we always look to April for new requirements – usually it’s things such as adjustments to the Living Wage and Minimum Wages, but in April 2020, keep an eye out for some slightly different amendments. Get on top of them once you are back at work after the Christmas break and you’ll be ahead of the game this spring!

Recording employees’ hours

First is a ruling by The European Court of Justice. This states that all employers must have established a system to record every hour that their employees are working.

The good news is that there is no ambiguity on this – whenever Brexit goes ahead, this ruling will still apply to UK organisations.

SMEs will be held accountable, just as much as larger organisations, so if you don’t have a suitable system in place, now is the time to look at it. You may need to implement some form of HR computing system to help – it can also enable you to keep up with holiday requests, performance reviews, communication and other HR requirements. Do contact us to find out more about our HR cloud software.

It’s something you don’t want to ignore – if your organisation doesn’t keep track of working hours and staff breaks, they could find themselves with a hefty fine or even facing a criminal conviction.

The new legislation was prompted by a case brought against Deutsche Bank by Spanish trade unions. The bank only recorded overtime hours, while the unions argued that the bank had a duty to record all hours worked.

The case went to the European Court of Justice, which supported the trade union’s claims. The legislation was passed while the UK was still a part of the EU, so the ruling will apply to UK companies.

Section 1 Statement

The other big change will apply to you if you are taking on new staff. It maintains that workers must have a written statement of main terms and conditions from the first day of their employment. What is required is a section 1 statement [legislation.gov.uk: Employment Rights Act 1996] (but with additional information), and this applies to both employees and workers.

The good news for those working in HR is that it still offers the chance to provide some information in instalments the following two months.

What has changed is that the law used to allow employers up to two months to provide all of this information, and that the law only applied to employees not workers.

However now, the section 1 statement will also need to include the following:

  • The working pattern and whether hours or days may be variable
  • What the employee is entitled to in terms of paid leave (to include maternity and paternity leave)
  • Details about the probationary period and its length
  • Whether there is any mandatory training offered by the employer

While this new law applies to new workers, do bear in mind that existing employees are also entitled to make a request for a section 1 statement that includes the new information. You must provide this within one month.

The new requirements stem from the government’s 2018 Good Work Plan, with the aim of increasing transparency between workers and employers and helping to enforce employment rights.

Should a company fail to comply, this could result in an employment tribunal claim from any staff affected.

What now?

Make sure that you conduct a review of your existing section 1 statement and ensure that by 6 April 2020 it includes the extra information listed above.

Also bear in mind that this could be the first in a long line of requirements requiring employers to make available information to workers, so that may be worth investigating sooner rather than later.

You might also like to read our blog entitled: The benefits of HR software.

If you would like to discuss this subject further and how it could help your business, please contact Cecily Lalloo at Embrace HR Limited.

T: 01296 761 288 or contact us here.

If you would like to receive our quarterly newsletter, please sign up here.

Based in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Embrace HR Limited supports business owners who do not have their own HR department or those that do but need help from time to time. We also work across the Home Counties of Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, and also SMEs based in London.

Embrace How to retain staff

Considering most of us spend more time in our workplace than anywhere else, including home, it’s no surprise that workplace culture is so important…

This statement is validated by a recent survey by Speakap [Speakap Research Study – The Culture Factor: Improving Employee Loyalty and Relationships] which revealed that 42% of those questioned would rather work a 60-hour week than work for an organisation that doesn’t value its culture.

So what is so important about workplace culture? Well, top of the list for the UK respondents was respect and fairness, followed by trust and integrity and teamwork.

If your organisation is ‘stuck in its ways’ don’t expect to keep your staff for long – this is how a third of those questioned described their employers – and they thought there was no hope of their employers considering how to improve the culture in the workplace.

It’s vital to get the balance right – many companies think that offering free lunch and the odd outing is enough to keep staff morale up, but at the end of the day, if your staff are unhappy, feel their voices aren’t heard, and their opinions are not valued, no amount of free grub is going to fix that.

Conduct a review

So is it time you took a review of your workplace culture? Look at the things that staff value – open and honest communication between them and senior staff, opportunities for upskilling and training, and ensuring that the workplace is a fair place to work and progress.

One of those most attractive phrases when trying to attract the right staff is flexible work hours. According to a study by Fractl [Harvard Business Review: The Most Desirable Employee Benefits 15/02/2017], flexible hours could influence 88% of respondents to choose a job with a lower salary than your competitors.

With two salaries needed to pay the mortgage these days, more and more of your staff are trying to juggle a work life and a family life. According to FlexJobs [Flexjobs: Survey: Parents Rank Work Flexibility Ahead of Salary 12/08/2016], around 80% of parents listed flexibility and work-life balance as the most important factors when looking for a new job.

Options such as more maternity/paternity leave and work from home possibilities for emergencies such as a burst pipe, or help for those trying to help elderly relatives as well, will mean you not only attract, but also retain your experienced staff – the staff you may have spent both time and money training to do their jobs well.

For more on flexible working see our blog Is Flexible Working Your Friend?

If you fancy being even more flexible, you could emulate media streaming giant Netflix. The industry leader offers unlimited vacation time. Rather than keeping track of time off, the organisation trusts that its employees will use their judgement wisely to take time off when they need to, and gauges this by staff being productive at work and meeting their performance objectives.

Nurture your people

Nurturing your talent is also vital. If you have made the effort to attract top talent, you are going to have to work hard to keep them. Look at what career pathways are open to them, offer opportunities to experience different parts of the company where possible. After all, if you expect them to eventually manage at a high level, they need to know how all areas of the organisation work.

You should also ensure you help to challenge them and broaden their experience.

You might like to read an earlier blog on the subject here including five ways to assess your workplace culture.

If you would like to discuss this subject further and how it could help your business, please contact Cecily Lalloo at Embrace HR Limited.

T: 01296 761 288 or contact us here.

If you would like to receive our quarterly newsletter, please sign up here.

Based in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Embrace HR Limited supports business owners who do not have their own HR department or those that do but need help from time to time. We also work across the Home Counties of Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, and also SMEs based in London.

Embrace World Mental Health Day

Make a date for World Mental Health day on 10 October to review how your organisation treats and offers support for mental health issues in the workplace.

World Mental Health Day aims to raise awareness of mental health and advocate against the social stigma associated with it.

It’s important for HR professionals and anyone who manages others at work to be aware of the issues surrounding mental health, so this is a good time for us to address the subject.

The cost to business

In 2018, the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) discovered that poor mental health was the most common cause of long-term sickness absence in UK workplaces. It also learned that stress-related absence had risen in more than a third of organisations. Read more about dealing with stress in the workplace in our previous blog.

Mental Health charity Mind, meanwhile, found that one in 10 employees rated their current mental health as poor or very poor.

From a business point of view, mental health issues are expensive. Thriving at Work: the Stevenson-Farmer review of mental health and employers found that the ‘economic costs to employers, directly to Government and to the economy as a whole are also far greater than we had anticipated’. Analysis concluded that mental health illness can cost businesses between £1,205 and £1,560 per year per employee – a cost to UK business of between £33 billion and £42 billion a year due to absenteeism, presenteeism and staff turnover.

Culture change

Mental health is far-reaching, it covers issues such as anxiety, depression, OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), panic attacks, phobias, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and more.

The problem with mental health is that people can be reluctant to talk about it – particularly if they feel it will expose a weakness. They are worried that it could lead to them losing their job, being demoted, or passed over for promotion. Unlike a broken leg, others are not always so understanding about mental health issues. But you can help to change that culture within your own organisation.

Your responsibilities

Employers have duties under health and safety legislation to assess the risk of stress-related poor mental health that could arise from work situation and to take measures to control that risk. See the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) Management Standards [HSE: What are the management standards?] for more details.

The Equality Act also covers mental health issues under disability – even if the person concerned doesn’t consider that they have a disability, it is good practice to put things in place to accommodate them.

However, the law doesn’t always offer the best protection – the Equality Act states that a disability must be long term – 12 months. This may not be the case for some mental health issues, but it doesn’t mean they have any less of an impact on the employee.

Apart from the human cost of not dealing with mental health issues in the appropriate way, an organisation could find itself lumped with a hefty fine. For instance, it cost an NHS Trust £100,000 when they threatened a suicidal member of staff with legal action [Mail Online: Ex-NHS worker wins £100,000 payout after former bosses threatened legal action when he wrote to say he felt suicidal following his unfair dismissal 12/09/2019].

So for many reasons, HR professionals should be tackling this subject in the right way.

How can you help?

There are a number of ways you can support your people:

  • Work with line managers to develop their people management toolbox.
  • Train managers and employers to be aware of early signs of mental health issues. Make sure they know how to respond and where to go for help. The Mind website is a useful place to start.
  • Mental health first aiders – get willing staff trained as mental health first aiders, who can spot the signs of mental health issues – and sometimes just be there with a cup of tea and a chat. Find out more in one of our previous blogs.
  • Does your organisation offer counselling services? Make sure staff know how to access them.
  • Is the workload too heavy on some of your employees? This can lead to mental health issues if they feel under too much pressure. Make time to review job descriptions and workloads.
  • Make employees aware that your organisation promotes a healthy work-life balance. Employees who are drained and burned out are not giving their best to the company. Do you have a gym on-site or could you negotiate a special rate with the local gym for your employees?
  • In similar fashion, offer flexible working if it is an option for your industry. Read more on this in our blog here.
  • Promote work-life balance. If your staff work long hours and have no home or family life, they will burn out quickly. Make sure your organisation recognises the importance of a healthy balance.
  • Be aware of the risk of suicide and include it in the organisation’s health and well-being programme. Business in the Community’s suicide prevention toolkit is useful.

Find more help by downloading the People Manager’s Guide to Mental Health from the CIPD.

If you would like to discuss this subject further and how it could help your business, please contact Cecily Lalloo at Embrace HR Limited.

T: 01296 761 288 or contact us here.

If you would like to receive our quarterly newsletter, please sign up here.

Based in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Embrace HR Limited supports business owners who do not have their own HR department or those that do but need help from time to time. We also work across the Home Counties of Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, and also SMEs based in London.

Embrace HR Aylesbury No Deal Brexit

As the UK goes hurtling towards a no-deal Brexit – general elections, resignations and repeat referenda notwithstanding – what are the issues for employees, especially the EU citizens, and how can HR professionals help?

EU Settlement Scheme

If your organisation employs people from the EU and Switzerland, they can apply for the EU Settlement Scheme – this is something you can support them with. The scheme is designed to help them, along with their family members, attain the correct immigration status needed to stay in the UK.

This is not only vital for them but will enable your company to retain its experienced staff, allow for continuation, and avoid the costs and time taken to recruit new staff.

There is an employer’s toolkit online [GOV.UK: EU Settlement Scheme: employer toolkit], which will help you to help them to find the right information and guidance.

More than a million people have been granted the correct status through the scheme, and should we end up with a no-deal Brexit, the deadline for applying will be 31 December 2020, so it’s important to get on this as quickly as possible.

If we leave the EU on October 31, your employees must be resident in the UK by that date to be considered, so if you are in the middle of recruiting, you will need to get a move on!

Those who have been resident here for more than five years are likely to receive ‘settled’ status, while those with less than five years of continuous residence are likely to be awarded ‘pre-settled’ status. Once they complete five years, they can apply for settled status.

What about your staff members who work abroad in EU Member states? How can you help them?

You will be responsible for letting them know about any changes to visa or residency requirements. In the short term, each state has been advised to give resident permits to any UK citizens living in the EU, but what will happen in the longer term is not so clear. You will need to keep up to date with each country’s policies, which are published by the European Commission.

What will happen in the future?

If you employ EU/Swiss citizens after the October 31 deadline, they will still be able to stay here for up to three years, by applying for European Temporary Leave to Remain. After that time, they will be subject to the UK’s new immigration system – which is set to apply from January 2021.

The system will have requirements such as job offer, minimum salary and skills – you can see all the details here [GOV.UK: The UK’s future skills-based immigration system]. However, it is still open to change.

Travel abroad

Does your company send staff abroad for meetings or to speak at conferences? The good news is that UK citizens will be exempt from any visa requirements for visits of up to 90 days if they are business related.

Workplace rights

No changes will be made straight away, but you should ensure you have plans in place and a degree of flexibility to deal with any changes without interrupting your business operations.

Keep them informed!

Nobody likes to be kept in the dark. Keep your staff informed about possible changes, and company actions that are being taken to manage Brexit. Senior management should be instrumental in being as open as possible about contingency plans, being reassuring about any changes, and demonstrating that the organisation is prepared for whatever happens. This stops rumours circulating and affecting morale among staff members.

You can find more information on how to plan for Brexit with the CIPD’s Continuity Planning for HR Brexit and beyond.

You might like to refer to our other articles on Brexit here:

If you would like to discuss this subject further and how it could help your business, please contact Cecily Lalloo at Embrace HR Limited.

T: 01296 761 288 or contact us here.

If you would like to receive our quarterly newsletter, please sign up here.

Based in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Embrace HR Limited supports business owners who do not have their own HR department or those that do but need help from time to time. We also work across the Home Counties of Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, and also SMEs based in London.

Embrace HR Aylesbury water bottle heatwave

As the weather heats up again this week, experts predict UK summers will continue to get hotter, keeping staff happy, healthy and motivated will be ever-more important…

The latest research suggests that the next three years could be ‘anomalously warm’ [BBC News: Next few years ‘may be exceptionally warm’ 14/08/2018].

The years up to 2022 could see extreme temperatures according to the research, which appeared in the journal Nature Communications [Nature Communications: A novel probabilistic forecast system predicting anomalously warm 2018-2022 reinforcing the long-term global warming trend 14/08/2018].

With the trend expected to see some of the hottest-ever summers in the UK, it is important that employers consider how they will ensure their staff remain comfortable and happy during hot weather.

This is especially key in a country where air coolers and conditioners are not the norm.

As many modern buildings are made from glass, it is unsurprising that offices can start to feel like greenhouses. Of course, manufacturing and warehouse buildings have similar issues. So much so that the TUC (Trades Union Congress) is calling for a change in the law to ensure that no indoor workplace temperature is higher than 30°C (27°C for strenuous work) and that employers bring in cooling measures when the temperature hits 24°C.

At present, no legislation exists – instead government guidance [GOV.UK: Workplace temperatures] says that indoor workplaces must be a ‘reasonable’ temperature, with a suggested minimum of 16°C (13°C for physical work) but no maximum temperature suggested.

It makes perfect business sense to ensure your staff are not too hot. After all, it is hard to be productive in a stuffy, hot building.

And you are more likely to see absenteeism during a heatwave – watch out for a rise in sick days on Mondays and Friday. It’s understandable that it’s hard to feel motivated when the sun is shining, the office is boiling and a day in the garden or a trip to the coast is more inviting than a sweaty, long commute and hours stuck in the office.

So what can HR departments to do help? Here’s a few ideas:

Flexible hours

If your business allows for flexibility, let staff come in and leave earlier or later to avoid the hottest parts of the day and the rush hour. You’ll see a difference on Fridays if staff know they can set off early for a weekend trip, barbecue or pub garden!

Relax the dress code

Keeping cool is the priority, but you need to set the boundaries – and remember it needs to be a fair and non-discriminatory dress code. Spend some time compiling a straightforward and easy-to-follow dress policy to keep things simple. For instance, shorts are allowed but not swim/gym wear or hot pants or denim – but of course it depends on the workplace. Sandals are on the list but not flip flops (due to health and safety concerns). In more formal settings, look at where the rules can be relaxed a little to make everyone more comfortable – do people really need to wear ties?

Hydration is key

Your staff need to stay hydrated. Ensure your water coolers are full and refilled regularly. Make sure your staff have water bottles with them and that they are keeping them filled.

Cool treats

If the mercury is really rising, consider a cool treat for your staff. Maybe provide a cool box filled with ice creams and lollies. Perfect on a really hot Friday afternoon when everyone is starting to wilt.

Aircon matters

Air conditioning – if you have it – should be well maintained so that it can cope with extreme temperatures. And if you are lucky enough to have it, windows need to be kept shut, so the air con can work as efficiently as possible.

For buildings without the benefit of air con, circulate the air by opening windows – and bring in some oscillating fans to help.

Turn it off

Finally – it may seem silly, but turn off the lights! Keep the heat down by turning off non-essential electrical items – that includes lights, unused computers, photocopiers and so on.

If you would like to discuss the subject of trust or flexible working further and how it could help your business, please contact Cecily Lalloo at Embrace HR Limited.

T: 01296 761 288 or contact us here.

If you would like to receive our quarterly newsletter, please sign up here.

Based in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Embrace HR Limited supports business owners who do not have their own HR department or those that do but need help from time to time. We also work across the Home Counties of Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, and also SMEs based in London.

Embrace HR Aylesbury Workplace Cultire

Workplace culture is the most important driver for staff, according to recent research…

We often write about the importance of looking after staff and investing in creating the right kind of workplace culture, and a recent survey conducted by Speakap has confirmed just how vital this is.

How important is workplace culture?

According to the survey [Speakap: Research Study – The Culture Factor: Improving Employee Loyalty and Relationships], 42% of employees would rather have a 60-hour working week, than work for a company that doesn’t value its workplace culture.

The study asked 1,000 employees from the UK and the US how important workplace culture can be when it comes to attracting and retaining staff – a massive 58% said they would move to a rival company if the workplace culture was more attractive.

And the most important part of that workplace culture, according to those employees? Respect and fairness, trust and integrity, and teamwork.

How can HR departments help?

And this is where HR departments come in… does your workplace culture need reviewing? How often do you do this? Do managers think that offering the odd free lunch or team night out is enough? Clearly, this survey shows that this is not what people are looking for.

While the social aspect may be attractive, especially if you have a young workforce, for older employees with other commitments outside of work, it is the way they are treated during the working day that will be most important.

When you are in a workplace for seven hours or more each day, being able to benefit from open and honest communication with more senior staff is far more rewarding than a couple of free drinks on a Friday afternoon. And, in the long term, knowing that your company is committed to helping you to learn new skills and invest in training you is far more valuable than an annual big party, which costs the staff member money in childcare and a hangover the next day on the school run!

Five ways to assess your workplace culture

  1. Take a look at your onboarding process: make sure your process is up to date and engaging, and helps the new member of the team learn everything they need to know to get up and running in a speedy and efficient manner.
  2. Are your senior staff open with employees? Times have changed and leadership needs to be open to change too.
  3. Take a look at reward schemes – it doesn’t all need to be about bonuses – especially if they mean your staff pay more tax. Think of more personal ways to say thank you.
  4. Encourage teamwork – work with staff to help teams work better with each other – to be supportive, co-operative and to communicate better.
  5. Ask your staff! Feedback from employees about how they feel about work, the company, their everyday challenges, will give you a great picture of your workplace culture – a lot of negative feedback will tell you there are some changes to be made!

Stop Press

As you may be aware, on Tuesday 16 July, MP Helen Whatley used the 10-Minute Rule to bring her innovative Flexible Working Bill into parliament. The bill was given approval to go to a second reading today on Wednesday 17 July – this development is a triumph for the organisations behind the campaign, who have been working tirelessly for the past 5 years to bring this to fruition [The House – Helen Whately: Employers should make all jobs flexible by default 15/07/2019].

Mother Pukka, Pregnant then Screwed, Fatherhood Institute and Fawcett Society joined forces to create the Flex For All campaign, calling on government to demand flexible working, meaning that all job roles must be advertised as flexible from day one of employment.

Anna Whitehouse aka Mother Pukka commented: ‘We have been campaigning over 5 years for effective flexible working and today it seems the tide is turning. It feels like the Government is listening, businesses are listening and that the people are being listened to! Finally flexible working is being seen as something for people – all people – and not just ‘mummies who want to see more of their babies’. Crucially, this is now being seen as something that is not just good for employees but ultimately it’s proven to be very good for business too. Flexible working is simply for people wanting to live and often those with responsibilities beyond their control. Those people who want to get off the 9-5 hamster wheel, those who want to work the odd day from home, those living with disabilities, those with medical conditions, those with caring responsibilities – the list goes on. Today is a huge moment for the #FlexAppeal #FlexForAll campaign. Today is the first day we have been heard.’ 

You might also be interested in reading our other blogs related to this subject matter:

Is Flexible Working Your Friend?
Laughter is the Best Medicine
Being the Best – Starting at the Top
Is Yours a People Company?

If you would like to discuss the subject of trust or flexible working further and how it could help your business, please contact Cecily Lalloo at Embrace HR Limited.

T: 01296 761 288 or contact us here.

If you would like to receive our quarterly newsletter, please sign up here.

Based in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Embrace HR Limited supports business owners who do not have their own HR department or those that do but need help from time to time. We also work across the Home Counties of Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, and also SMEs based in London.

Embrace HR Aylesbury adult-brainstorming-businesswoman

Focusing on employee experience is vital if you want to improve recruitment and retain your team. We look at some simple ways to help you make your employee experience better…

How often have you looked at how you can improve your customer’s experience? Whether it is updating the online buying process or improving sales aftercare, it is probably something you do as a matter of course.

And yet while you are busy ensuring that your customers have the best experience – acknowledging that they live in the 21st century and can make the most of all that technology can offer them – many companies are just not doing the same for their staff!

Of course, it is easier for the big names, such as Google, to offer flexible working, staff incentives, team building days out, social opportunities and so on, but there are things that smaller companies can focus on too.

Making sure that your employees get the best possible experience ensures that you will be able to recruit the best people – and retain them on your payroll too. Not only that, but if they are getting the best experience from work, this will be passed on to your customers, with staff being more focused, more efficient and more likely to be enthusiastic ambassadors for your brand.

After all, in so many sectors – retail, sales, media, hospitality and so on – your staff are your best asset. Surely it makes sense to take care of them, including their health and safety etc – the same way you would ensure your lorries were well maintained if you were a transport company, or your servers were looked after if you were an IT company.

Research also shows that a positive employee experience results in better productivity. [IBM Smarter Workforce Institute: The Employee Experience Index, September 2016].

Keep up to date

First, take a look at the tools you expect your staff to use. In a world where virtually every home has a laptop, smartphones, tablets and even smart TVs, coming to work and having to use an out-of-date operating system, or slow laptop can be frustrating and can really impact on their productivity.

Allowing your staff access to social media – in the right environment and with guidance – shows that you respect their work ethic and besides, so much work contact goes on around social media now – LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and so on are useful business tools now, not just time-wasting fripperies. However, it is important to recognise that in some workplaces and certain situations, this would not be appropriate.

You should also be open to your employees’ thoughts and opinions. Organise regular group meetings to bounce ideas around, or where they feel enabled to bring up any issues without fear of retribution. Or perhaps use technology – Microsoft Teams or Yammer maybe – to have group discussions. Particularly appropriate if you have staff who work at home, or from other remote locations.

Stay flexible

Ensuring the satisfaction of employees who don’t come into the office or who work from a less central location is key. Allowing them to book holidays using cloud software, or to update documents and project paperwork held in a central location will enable them to feel more engaged.

Talk to us if you would like to learn more about HR cloud software.

Offering flexible working will also help to retain staff, especially those who may have family commitments. Allowing the opportunity to work at home, or to stagger hours to enable them to drop the kids at school, or look in on an elderly relative can make their lives a lot easier, resulting in less stress for them, and allowing them to concentrate on work during their allocated hours. They are also far more likely to stay loyal to a company that acknowledges that they have a life outside of the office.

Thanks for everything

Recognising your employee contributions is also vital. And it needn’t cost the earth. Just a compliment about someone’s work can be enough – maybe some lovely fancy biscuits by the kettle to say thanks to the team for a job well done? If you can afford a lunch out for the team – great – but grand gestures are not always necessary. If someone has done something to really raise your productivity or made a major sale, a bonus or pay rise may be in order, but it’s amazing how just an acknowledgment of a great idea or creative effort can really boost someone’s mood. As can a chance to advance their career. Offering your staff opportunities to improve themselves and advance within your company will ensure they don’t move on elsewhere.

Not all positions lend themselves to promotion, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t offer training to help people broaden their skillsets. And in order to help them keep up in an ever-changing world, ensure there are opportunities to gain skills in the latest technological advances – social media skills for the marketing team perhaps, as well as training in any new software that you bring on board.

Employee experience

The user experience for your employees should be as good as the user experience for your customers. Think about the processes within your company. How easy is it for new staff to find out how everything works, how they can apply for holidays, or overtime? If a member of staff needs to take maternity leave, how easy is it for them to access the necessary information?

And how easy is the day-to-day experience at work? Is there car parking? If not, how does your company help them to find or pay for a space? Is the commute to your office a nightmare? Could you stagger office hours to make this easier?

These little things can make a big difference to your staff and allow them a better work/life balance – which ultimately is what many of us are looking for.

If you would like to discuss this subject further and how it could help your business, please contact Cecily Lalloo at Embrace HR Limited.

T: 01296 761 288 or contact us here.

If you would like to receive our quarterly newsletter, please sign up here.

Based in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Embrace HR Limited supports business owners who do not have their own HR department or those that do but need help from time to time. We also work across the Home Counties of Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, and also SMEs based in London.

Embrace HR Aylesbury Mental Health Awareness

How would you feel if your employees were putting their own mental health at risk in their bid to succeed at work? We look at how you can be aware of how workplace pressures can affect your staff and how you can help…

As May 13-19 is Mental Health Awareness Week, make this the time to take a look at the mental wellbeing of your staff.

How often do your staff work outside of their set hours? Is there a culture of ‘presenteeism’ in your workplace – where anyone who leaves the office at five, or works part-time, or has time off sick, is looked down on, or considered a slacker?

According to the CIPD, presenteeism has quadrupled since 2010 [CIPD: Presenteeism hits record high in UK organisations as stress at work rises 02/05/2018] and according to Personnel Today the trend is rising for employees to go into work when feeling mentally unwell [Personnel Today: Mental health presenteeism on the rise 10/10/2018], and yet more staff are taking time off sick.

What has come to light in research from wellbeing charity CABA, is that as many as three-quarters of HR professionals believe that making a good impression at work is having a detrimental effect on the wellbeing of employees.

Technology has a part to play in this – thanks to smartphones we are all available 24-7, at the end of the phone or contactable via email. And businesses can be guilty of expecting staff to check emails or take calls over weekends and evenings when they are not officially contracted to work.

Take a walk through your workplace after the official end of the day. How many staff are still in the office? If there are more than you expected, ask yourself why – ask them why! Being realistic, there will always be someone who has a deadline or a major project coming up who is likely to put in more hours, but this should not be the norm.

Encouraging this culture puts stress on your employees. They end up working late, maybe drinking to wind down after the day, or not having time to spend with family, exercise, or enjoy a hobby.

Having well-rested staff is only going to benefit your organisation. A well-rested team with a good work/life balance will perform better, be more focused and less likely to make careless mistakes. They are also less likely to suffer from physical or mental illness.

Think about how you can help your staff enjoy good mental wellbeing. Conduct a survey to find out how much they feel they must stay behind after working hours, discover how much work is actually done during that time, and why people feel they need to work past their normal hours.

Ensure that senior managers and line managers are on board and understand the issues, as they will have a great impact on preventing these unhealthy working practices.

Establish guidelines around contacting staff outside of working hours and when they are on annual leave.

Finally, work out whether there is a culture of presenteeism or if there are too few staff to deal with the workload. HR can be the champion of promoting a healthy work/life balance. Have some fun with it – maybe if working overtime through the week is an issue, think about introducing an early home time on a Friday afternoon, or as some companies do, turning Friday afternoon into a social downtime.

If you would like to discuss this subject further and how it could help your business, please contact Cecily Lalloo at Embrace HR Limited.

T: 01296 761 288 or contact us here.

If you would like to receive our quarterly newsletter, please sign up here.

Based in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Embrace HR Limited supports business owners who do not have their own HR department or those that do but need help from time to time. We also work across the Home Counties of Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, and also SMEs based in London.

Embrace HR Aylesbury changes April 2019

It’s vital that HR professionals keep up to date with changes in the law – here’s a rundown of the most recent updates…

Itemised pay statements

The right to receive an itemised pay statement has been extended to workers, rather than just employees from 6 April 2019.

If you have staff whose pay varies depending on the hours worked, the pay statement will have to include the total number of hours worked as well.

There are two ways to show this: it can be included either as an aggregate figure or as separate figures for different types of work.

Increase to National Minimum Wages

Both the National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage have risen as of 1 April 2019. Hourly rates are now as follows:

 

Under 18

18-20

21-24

25 and over

National Minimum Wage

£4.35

£6.15

£7.70

National Living Wage

£8.21

Apprentices now receive £3.90 an hour and a daily accommodation offset of £7.55.

Statutory sick and family pay

The rate for statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental pay has also increased. From 7 April 2019, it has upped to £148.68 a week.

Statutory sick pay has increased to £94.25.

Remember to update any of your policies or documents that mention these rates.

Statutory redundancy pay calculations

There are also new limits on statutory redundancy pay. Members of staff who have been employed for two years and are made redundant must be paid based on their weekly pay, length of service and age. The maximum weekly pay is now £525.

Employment tribunal award limits

Likewise, the limits on tribunal awards and other amounts payable under employment legislation has increased. The maximum amount of a week’s pay for calculating the basic award for unfair dismissal is now £525, and the maximum amount for unfair dismissal has upped to £86,444.

Pension contributions

The minimum amount for auto enrolment has increased since 6 April – to 8% of an employee’s qualifying earnings, with at least 3% coming from employers, with employees making up the difference.

It is also important to note that employers must complete re-enrolment every three years. The date for this will depend on your original staging date.

If you would like to discuss any of the above points further, please contact Cecily Lalloo at Embrace HR Limited.

T: 01296 761 288 or contact us here.

If you would like to receive our quarterly newsletter, please sign up here.

Based in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Embrace HR Limited supports business owners who do not have their own HR department or those that do but need help from time to time. We also work across the Home Counties of Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, and also with SMEs based in London.