December 2008

24-hour recession news is making employees stressed

Employees’ stress may be increased because they come to work “bathed in 24-hour global news about the economic crisis”, delegates at the CIPD’s Managing Change at Work conference in London heard.
Psychologist Aric Sigman explained that since the last recession, the output of global news organisations has increased rapidly, and some of the messages from the financial crisis have been confusing – such as whether inflation or deflation should be a concern.
“TV images seem to affect people,” he said. “Employees will come to work with images that have seen the night before. And the inconsistency in coverage will make people feel far less secure.

November 2008

Disabled people, more likely to be bullied?

Disabled people are more likely to experience hostility and bullying at work, research has found.
More than 22 per cent of people with a disability or long-term illness said they had experienced persistently unfair or critical treatment at work, while nearly 12 per cent had been the victim of physical violence, according to a survey of nearly 4,000 workers published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
This compares with the equivalent figures of 13.4 per cent and 5.5 per cent for people without such an illness or disability.

Sickness

Air traffic controllers, pilots, train drivers and other transport workers are the least likely to call in sick, according to new figures.
Only 0.8 per cent of people working in the transport industry polled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) had taken at least one day off sick in the week before their survey interview. This compares with a national average of 2.5 per cent. The ONS surveyed 53,000 households.
Call centre workers are the most likely to call in sick, with a sickness absence rate of 4.8 per cent.

September 2008

SSP Update for Agency Workers

Please note that agency workers on short term contracts of less than three months will be entitled to SSP as from 27 October 2008.

National Minimum Wage Increase

• Adult rate for those aged 22 or over: £5.73 per hour
• Youth rate (18-21): £4.77 per hour
• Rate for those aged 16-17 (provided they are above compulsory school age and excluding 16 and 17 year old apprentices who are exempt): £3.53 per hour
• The maximum amount that can be offset where accommodation is provided will be £31.22 per week (£4.46 per day).

August 2008

HR allows smoking breaks, so why not time off for prayer?

Firms must take sharia law into account when drawing up HR policies, a leading law firm has warned. Employers who allow smokers to have cigarette breaks should also account for Muslim employees having breaks several times a day for prayers.
“The Muslim Council of Britain says it takes 10-12 minutes for a devotee to go through their prayers, which is about the time it takes for a smoker to get through a large cigarette or small cigar,” It was added that providing a prayer room was not a requirement and providing one purely for Muslims might be discriminatory to other faiths.

Absence Records

Only 40 per cent of organisations monitor the cost of absence and only 72 per cent keep any record of their average level of absence, according to the CIPD’s annual survey of absence management.
According to the analysis, based on responses from 819 UK-based HR professionals in the private and public sector, the average cost of absence is now £666 per employee a year.

July 2008

Rising Petrol Costs

Tips to cut fuel use
1 Green transport policies could include car pooling or car sharing, bike and season ticket loans, homeworking and flexible-working initiatives.
2 Company cars should be as fuel efficient as possible, and staff could be issued with guidance on efficient driving practices and the cheapest places to fill up.
3 Satellite navigation systems could help drivers to take the most efficient route.

Compulsory community work for long-term jobless people

Long-term unemployed people will have to perform community work to keep receiving benefits, according to proposals in the welfare green paper published today.

Claimants of jobseeker’s allowance who have not worked for a year will have to do one month’s work in the community, which could include picking up litter or cleaning graffiti. Claimants who have not worked for two years would then be expected to do such work full-time, under the plans unveiled today by work and pensions secretary James Purnell.

The green paper also takes a tough line with unemployed people who have drug addictions, proposing that they should have to seek treatment, or take a drug test to prove they are clean, before receiving handouts.

The plan is coupled with the government’s reform of incapacity benefits, announced previously, which will impose more stringent tests to establish who is unfit for work. Incapacity benefits will be renamed the employment and support allowance, while income support will be abolished and brought within jobseeker’s allowance.

“People have an obligation to work, and the benefit system is not there to give you a choice between benefits and work: it's there to help you when you can't find work,” Purnell said. “If you can find work you should take it; if there isn't work there you should take steps to get back into work.”

June 2008

Older Workers Happier

Older workers are happier and more motivated than those in their 20s, 30s and early 40s, research has found.

Vodafone’s Nature of Work survey of 3,800 workers, part of its Working Nation series of research projects, found that 97 per cent of those working beyond the age of 65 felt “enabled” in their work, compared with 61 per cent of 31- to 35-year-olds.

A further 70 per cent of workers of 50 and older said they were fulfilled, compared with 50 per cent of 31- to 35-year-olds.

Satisfaction levels peaked at 90 per cent among the oldest age group (65 and over).

The 31- to 35-year-old age group seemed the most unhappy in their work, with 59 per cent feeling undervalued, 49 per cent “unfulfilled” and 43 per cent “demotivated”.

February 2008

Are your staff looking for a new job?

Apparently a fifth (21%) of UK office workers are unhappy in their current job, and more than half (51%) are actively seeking a new job. When looking at moving jobs, 77% of workers find a higher salary the biggest attraction, followed by better benefits (46%), better prospects (42%) and flexible working (41%).

Another survey quoted in the CIPD magazine found that more than half of UK employees searched for a new job whilst at work. One in three had used the telephone at their desk to make enquiries about new jobs, half had used their work computer to search employment websites, and a staggeringly cheeky one in five had actually completed application forms whilst sitting at their desks! Reed Employment have been analysising their online database and found that Monday lunchtime is the peak time for job seekers to search for a new role, and Tuesday lunchtime is the peak time for job applications.

January 2008

New rates of SSP, SMP, SPP and SAP

The Government has announced its proposed new rates of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) and Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) - subject to Parliamentary approval.

For SSP, the weekly rate for days of sickness absence on or after 6 April 2008 will be £75.40 for employees earning £90 per week or more.

The standard weekly rate of SMP, SPP and SAP will be £117.18. As ever, rules apply as to the rate payable being the lesser of the standard rate or 90% of the employee's earnings, and rules apply to the first six weeks of SMP.

Employing Illegal Workers

As from 29th February 2008, the maximum penalty for employing an illegal worker will be increased to £10,000. Make sure you check the right to work in the UK of every new employee, whatever the job and however senior they are, before they commence employment with you and keep the appropriate records to prove this!

Privacy Invaded?

Recruitment hit the news in 2007 when it was revealed that employers were using sites such as Facebook to check out their candidates' private lives and thoughts! And employers are increasing the use of the Internet for screening applicants.

Holiday Entitlement Increase

The minimum statutory holidays were increased to 4.8 weeks as from October 2007 (24 days per year for those who work a five day week). Originally scheduled to increase in April 08, the final increase to 5.6 weeks (28 days for someone working a five day week) was postponed until 1st April 2009

• Ensure that, where this applied, your workers are aware of their increased holiday entitlements.
• Consider whether to aggregate the bank and public holidays into one overall holiday entitlement for future holiday years - thus making the calculation of holiday entitlement for part-timers, those on fixed-term contracts and those who join/leave during the year, easier, fair and straightforward. If you do this, then update your contracts accordingly for new starters, and you may need to amend your holiday form to include details of bank/public holidays paid.
• If the increase in statutory holidays will affect a large number of your workforce, then start planning now to see whether you will need additional staff to cope with the increase to 5.6 weeks.
• Review the working hours of your workers and consider whether the removal of the opt-out would create significant manning problems for you. Bear in mind that whilst the opt out means that legally your staff can agree to work more than a 48 hour average working week, you may well be vulnerable if you have staff who regularly work excessive hours as you are still responsible for their health and safety and any resulting injury due to exhaustion, stress, accidents etc.

Increases in Statutory Payment

From the 1st February 2008 the annual increase in tribunal award limits, including unfair dismissal is, a weeks pay for the purpose of calculating a statutory redundancy payment and guarantee pay will take place. Limit on guarantee payments with rise from £18.90 per day to £19.60 per day. Limit on a weeks pay will rise from £290 to £310. Maximum basic award for unfair dismissal with rise from £8,700 to £9,300.

October 2007

Marie Curie Cancer Care - Sponsored 28 mile cycle ride

The THS team all completed a 28 mile cycle ride in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care and raised a grand total of £370.00.  The THS team just want to say a great big thank you to everyone who sponsored them, it is a fantastic cause and the sponsor money will go to help the Marie Curie Cancer Care Team continue with the fantastic job that they all do.

Increase in statutory holiday entitlement

The minimum statutory holiday entitlement was increased with effect from 1st October to 24 days (working a 5 day week).  If you pay your employees four weeks holiday plus bank/public holidays then you do not need to increase their holiday entitlement.

Increase to the National Minimum Wage

The minimum wage rose to the following:

£5.52 for workers aged over 22

£4.60 for workers aged 18 - 21

£3.40 for workers aged 16 - 17

Flexible Working Requests

From 1st October 2007 more types of adopter and foster carer are entitled to make a request for flexible working to allow them to care for a child.  The definition of "adopter" now includes those who are adopting a child, whether domestically or inter-country, where the child has not been placed with the adopters by a UK adoption agency.

Interesting Tribunals

The first female and lay Director of the London Irish Centre in almost 50 years has successfully brought a claim against the Board of Trustees of the LIC, and the Co-ordinator of the Centre's Welfarre Services on the grounds of sex discrimination.

She worked as the Centre's Director for nearly two years until she was dismissed.  All previous Directors had been Catholic priests.  They asked Ms Mumane to resign, and she refused to do so, so she was suspended.  The tribunal noted that the communications with Ms Murnane were "unacceptable, vitriolic and almost abusive".  The grievances against her were judged to be vindictive and excessive and they failed to provide an adequate explanation for their course of action.

Hygia Professional Training v Cutter

Can fresh evidence make a previous unfair dismissal fair?

The answer is No.  In Hygia Professional Training v Cutter, the employee was dismissed for trying to poach customers.  At the tribunal hearing, the employee had no real evidence of the poaching - they said that they did not know they were expected to obtain such evidence.

After the decision, the employer obtained four witness statements which, if accepted, were evidence that their ex-employee had been approaching clients whilst still employed by them.  The EAT decided that this could not make the previous unfair dismissal fair.  They should have obtained the evidence first time round.

September 2007

Staff taxis could land employers with hefty tax bill and possible fine

Companies sending staff home in a taxi after they have worked late could soon find themselves with a hefty tax bill and possible fine. Professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has warned that HM Revenue & Customs is taking a more aggressive stance on the enforcement of tax rules. There are times when late-night taxis can be tax-free if certain conditions are met. For example, after 9pm, up to 60 times a year per employee and only if the late working occurs irregularly. Having a heavy briefcase or travelling home in the dark are not grounds to claim tax-free taxis, PwC said.

Employees at risk as businesses ignore flu pandemic planning

Most organisations would fail to protect their staff against a flu pandemic because of a lack of forward planning, research suggests.

A survey commissioned by pharmaceutical giant Roche found that seven in 10 respondents admitted their companies were not sufficiently organised to protect their workers. Roche questioned 515 managers, including 150 HR directors.

The group also quizzed 2,200 workers, and found that only 13% of respondents believed their employers had HR policies in place to tackle an outbreak.

Despite the awareness of a risk to employees, 69% of managers felt that up to one-third of their workforce would face increased stress in a pandemic. More than a third of managers did not have any plans for communicating with employees and customers in the event of an outbreak. Only two in 10 knew that their company had set up such a strategy.

August 2007

Learning difficulty can be classed as a disability

A Metropolitan police officer has won a landmark ruling, finding that dyslexia can be classed as a disability.

The Employment Appeals Tribunal ruled that chief inspector David Paterson could be called a disabled person under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 because his dyslexia had led to “a substantial impairment” in his career progression.

An employment tribunal had earlier ruled that Paterson was not disabled under the Act because dyslexia did not have “ a substantial adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day to day activities”.

Paterson joined the Metropolitan Police in 1983, and in 2004 found out that he was dyslexic. He has accused the force of discriminating against him because of his condition, particularly in the processes for deciding on promotion.

Paterson’s case will now return to an employment tribunal hearing to decide on whether he was discriminated against.

Number of claims to employment Tribunals drops

The number of claims to employment tribunals dropped by more than 4,500 in 2006 to 2007, according to Acas.

The conciliation service’s annual report reveals that there were 105,177 claims in the period between 1 April 2006 until 31 March 2007, in comparison with 109,712 from 2005 to 2006. Unfair dismissal continues to be the largest category of complaint with 35,583 claims.

July 2007

Interesting Tribunals

A Pentocostal teaching assistant in a primary school, resigned from her employment after she was disciplined for refusing to listen to a child read from a Harry Potter book. 

The teacher refused to listen to her reading it because she claimed that the book glorified witchcraft.  She claimed that listening to the girl reading out spells from the book would leave her cursed and it would compromise her religious beliefs.

The tribunal said that the teacher was entitled to refuse to listen to the book, but could have told the child that she would be happy to listen to another.

The teacher lost her claim for religious discrimination and constructive dismissal.

Increase in Holiday Entitlement

The Government has announced that there will be a delay in the second increase to holiday entitlement under the Working Time (Amendment) Regulatins.  The first iincrease from 20 days to 24 days will still come in to force on the 1st October 2007, the second increase from 24 day to 28 days will now take effect from the 1st April 2009.  This increase will apply to employees, temporary workers and agency workers.

National Minimum Wage

National Minimum Wage will increase again from 1st October 2007 as follows:

Adult rate (Workers aged 22 and over) will increase to £5.52

Development rate for £18-21 year olds will increase to £4.60

Development rate for 16-17 year olds will increase to £3.40

The rate for the accomodation offset will increase to £30.10 per week (£4.30 per day)

Transfer of Undertaking (Protection of Employment)

Part 3 of the Guidance has been amended to make it clear that changes to contracts which are entirely positive are not prevented by the Regulations.

Smoking ban in England

The smoking ban is now in place in England.  Experience in other Countries has shown that there are few problems with compliance.  A recent survey found that 90% of workers supported the ban and 80% of smokers were attempting to give up smoking as a result of the ban.

April 2007

Interesting Tribunals

Astavede v Reliance Security Services Ltd, the tribunal held that 24 hours' notice of a hearing at which dismissal would be considered was inadequate.  Always allow sufficient time.  If you are contemplating dismissal, remember the letter inviting the employee to the meeting should clearly state this.

Lister v Cedesa Ltd the tribunal found a dismissal to be unfair because the manager who dismissed also heard the appeal.  Acas guidance suggests if you are a small employer that it is OK, the regulations state "where practicable" the appeal should be held by someone more senior.  The tribunal insisted it should be someone different.

Miah v Shearer Darnell Recruitment Ltd Miah was finding it difficult to find suitable employment and thought this may be due to racial discrimination.  Miah sent many applications off in his own name and received no response.  He then sent applications as Mark Williams, which resulted in three voicemails and two emails expressing a desire to discuss his application further.  Please note there are individuals who have brought many claims to Tribunals due to interest shown by organisations when an application has been made in an English name and no interest shown in their own name.  The award for Miah was £95,917.00 and £7500.00 for loss of feeling.

April 2007

Smoking

On the 2nd of April 2007 smoking in public places - including offices, factories, shops, pubs, bars, restaurants, schools, voluntary workplaces, public transport and work vehicles (including cars) that are used by more than one person is banned.

There are some exceptions, these are workplaces where people also live, eg prisons, oil-rigs, residential care homes, although employees will still have to be protected.

Those employers who do not uphold the ban can be fined up to £2500.00.  Clear signage must be clearly displayed in the entrances to your premises, failure to do so could result in fines of up to £1000.00.  No smoking signs should also be in company vehicles.

Increases in rates and changes

• Statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay will increase from 1st April 2007 to £112.75 (from £108.85 current rate).
• Statutory sick pay will increase from 6th April 2007 to £72.55 per week (from £70.05 current rate).
• Maternity, paternity and adoption leave and pay all change for those due to give birth, or adopt , on or after 1st April 2007 (see News and Events March 2007 below)
• Employees will have the right, from 6th April onwards, to request flexible working if they are caring for an adult.

March 2007

Three new Customer Case Studies have been added to the THS website. Please visit the Case Studies Page to download.

March 2007

The Maternity and Parental Leave etc and Paternity and Adoption Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2006 come into force on 1st April 2007.

If a pregnant mother is expecting her child to be born on or after 1st April 2007 (even if born prematurely before 1st April 2007) she will be entitled to improved maternity rights.  Some key points include:

• All employed women are entitled to additional maternity leave - there is no longer a minimum service requirement
• The payment period for statutory maternity pay and maternity allowance has been extended from 26 - 39 weeks (to increase to 52 weeks by 2010)
• The notice a woman must give if she is changing her date of return from  maternity leave has been increased from 4 weeks to 8 weeks
• Keeping in touch days are introduced so a woman can work for up to 10 days during her maternity leave
• It is clarified all women have a right to return to work after maternity leave regardless of the size of the organisation

March 2007

Smoking will be banned in enclosed public places from 2nd April 2007 in Wales and 1st July 2007 in England.  Visit www.smokingbanwales.co.uk for more information

February 2007

Drivers who use hand-held mobile phones whilst driving will get three points on their licences from 27th February 2007, as well as an increased fine (from £30 to £60).

The Government are reminding employers of their responsibility to protect their employees and other road users by urging them to put appropriate policies in place to ensure employees do not fall foul of the new legislation.  They are emphasising that hands-free kits are not the answer because drivers are still distracted.  Ideally ROSPA would like to see hands-free kits banned also as people talking on the telephone pay less attention to the road, causing accidents.

February 2007

From 1st of February 2007, the following statutory rates were increased as follows:

• A week's pay for the purposes of calculating a basic award or a redundancy payment increased to £310.00
• Statutory guarantee pay increased to £19.60 per day
• The maximum compensation for unfair dismissal increased to £60,600.00
• The total maximum unfair dismissal award, including the basic award, in most cases is therefore £69,900.00

January 2007

The DTI has announced an increase in minimum holiday entitlement under the Working Time Regulation 1998 from 20 days to 28 days per annum.

Some employers currently include the eight bank holidays as part of workers' 20-day annual leave entitlement.  The change will require them to add the eight bank holidays to the 20-day annual leave entitlement.  Statutory annual leave entitlement will be increased in two stages, rising from 20 to 24 days on 1st October 2007, and from

24 to 28 days on 1st October 2008.  More information can be found on www.dti.gov.uk under employment matters.

October 2006
From 1st October 2006, new Government legislation means that you must not discriminate on the basis of age; this has implications for all businesses. If you fall foul of the legislation there is no limit on how much a tribunal can ask you to pay. For any further information on the act or for a free guide and CD please contact us

October 2006
After six years in business we thought the time was right for a new set of clothes and hence our corporate image, website and brochure material are all being revamped to reflect where the company is now.

July 2005
THS becomes the first organisation in Wales to be accredited to the Investors in People Leadership and Management model, we have a clear understanding of exactly how HR can truly increase the profitability of your business.

March 2005
THS becomes the first company in Wales to be accredited to the Investors in People Recruitment and Selection model, which demonstrates we are at the forefront of expertise within our market.