Recruitment

28 11 2022

100 firms move to permanent four-day week

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott Employment Law, General, Handbook, Recruitment, Rewards & Benefits #100firms, #4dayweek, #outsourcedhumanresources, Business, Business Owners, Hertford, hertfordshire, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, Small Business, SME, SME's, stevenage

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott of Consensus HR Comments: “Talk of the four-day week has been going on for some time now and especially since the Pandemic occurred but what are your views and the companies on this? It will be interesting to see the feedback in the future with this initial 100 British companies and the affect it has had on moral, health, motivation and company profits. We await the outcome, but have you considered it? Is it the way forward? Personally, I believe as long as the correct Policies and Procedures are put in place for the team and company and the required results are achieved, then why not have a four-day week? I look forward to hearing client’s views in the future and seeing how many do actually give it a go!”

NEWS ARTICAL:

One hundred British businesses have signed up for a permanent four-day working week that will see no loss of pay for staff. Around 2,600 employees are set to benefit from the new working pattern. The two biggest companies to have signed up are Atom Bank and global marketing company Awin, which each have about 450 UK staff. Accredited firms have demonstrated that they have genuinely reduced hours for workers rather than forced them into longer days. A global trial has seen more than 3,300 employees across 70 companies and charities taking part in a six-month experiment. At the half-way point in September, the trial – which involves researchers at the universities of Cambridge and Oxford, Boston college and think-tank Autonomy – saw 88% of the UK respondents say the four-day week was working well for their business. Around 95% said productivity had either stayed the same or improved. However, it was noted that only around half of those taking part responded to the survey canvassing opinion at the three-month mark.

The Daily Mail

The Guardian

The Human Times

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This article talks about 100 companies going over to a four day week, but what are your views? If you would like to discuss how this could be achieved from a HR perspective, give us a call email now.

23 11 2022

Investigation reveals harsh conditions at Boohoo factory

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott Blog, General, Health & Safety, Recruitment, Redundancy #hrstrategy, #outsourcedhumanresources, #workingconditions, Business, Business Owners, hertfordshire, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Support, Small Business, SME, SME's, stevenage

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott, Owner, of Consensus HR comments: Investigation reveals harsh conditions at Boohoo factory – “An interesting article in ‘The Times’ in relation to working conditions at a UK company where the team call themselves “Slaves”! How can any company employ a team where they make comments such as this and in extremely poor conditions. A reputation of a company is vital for its success and employees making extremely poor comments about it, does not help. In this article, they comment about temperatures reaching 32 degrees which I could understand in the height of summer but in November! There is no legal limit on how high a temperature can get in a workplace but surely if you had an environment like this, you would aim to get some sort of air-conditioning in so that the team felt comfortable when working and producing more!

This investigation gives perfect examples of how not to look after your team and how to go against everything a good HR strategy would provide. The current economic climate may not give companies surplus funds to provide excessive HR benefits, but all of these listed within this article are conditions that do not cost a fortune and are purely down to mismanagement by the team and failure to work to best practice and Health & Safety regulations. I dread to think what their sickness / absence and retention must be and the continual additional costs of recruiting more employees both financially and in view of their reputation!”

NEWS ARTICLE – Investigation reveals harsh conditions at Boohoo factory :

An undercover investigation by The Times has revealed the harsh conditions at Boohoo’s warehouse in Burnley, where workers label themselves “slaves” and have complained of racism, sexual harassment, gruelling targets, inadequate training and ill-fitting safety equipment. The investigation found the conditions, where workers are forced to walk the equivalent of a half-marathon per shift in a sweltering warehouse in which night-time temperatures can reach 32C, have led to workers collapsing in the aisles. An undercover reporter revealed staff complained they are treated as “fodder,” with managers timing their lavatory breaks and no allowances made for injuries they said they had suffered as a result of the manual work. Justin Madders, Labour’s shadow minister for employment rights and protections, said: “These shocking revelations must be a wake-up call for ministers. The government has repeatedly failed to deliver their promised Employment Bill to tackle conditions in warehouses run like Victorian workhouses.” He said there needed to be “urgent guidance for safe indoor working temperatures.”

The Times. The Human Times

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Has you company got an HR Strategy? If not and you want your company to be an employer of choice, why don’t you contact us now?

18 11 2022

National Living Wage rising to £10.42 in April

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott General, Recruitment, Rewards & Benefits #NationalLivingWage, #NationalLivingWage2022, #wages, Business, Business Owners, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, Small Business, SME, SME's

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott – Owner of Consensus HR comments: “National Living Wage rising to £10.42 in April – When writing this, it is November 2022, but I believe it is best for all businesses to know well in advance what the new National Living Wage (NLW) is going to be in the next financial year, so that they can plan accordingly. Wages / Salaries are one of the highest financial outgoings that companies face on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis and need to be fully considered and part of the plan when planning their Recruitment / Organisational structures. Employees are what helps make a business successful but having the funds available to have them, is key to a successful business and team. Business Owners / Managers have to ensure, as with all areas of HR and business in general that the correct measures are taken when faced with an increase in anticipated costs such as wages to ensure the growth / success of the business and motivation / culture of its team. Failure to plan can result in a demotivated team, poor customer service and sales and believe me, it is not easy as I have found during the past 10 years and the economic difficulties businesses have had to endure.”

The National Living Wage – the legal minimum wage for workers aged 23 or over – will increase from £9.50 to £10.42 an hour in April, a rise of 9.7%. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has also revealed that the National Minimum Wage for those aged 21-22 will increase from £9.18 to £10.18 in April; the rate for 18 to 20-year-olds climbs from £6.83 to £7.49; those under 18 will see minimum hourly pay increase from £4.81 to £5.28; and the Apprentice rate will be lifted from £4.81 to £5.28.

BBC

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If you are worried about members of your team and stress and would like some HR guidance, give us a call / email now.

16 11 2022

Over-50s head back to work

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott Blog, Employment Law, General, Recruitment, Training & Development #age, #agediscrimination, #equalityact2010, #returntowork, Business, Business Owners, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, Small Business, SME, SME's

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott – Owner – Consensus HR comments: “What has age got to do with being able to work if they have the ability to do so? This article in ‘The Times’, at a time when many organisations are experiencing difficult in recruiting suitable members to the team, just shows how many business owners judge a book by its cover. Thankfully peoples Date Of Birth (DOB) is no longer expected to be outlined on a Curriculum Vitae although many people still do. Age is one of the Protected Characteristics under the Equality Act with unlimited awards from day one of employment and should never play a part when recruiting for a new member of the team. Companies need to ensure that their recruitment processes and procedures are legal and to best practice and only take into account what is needed for the role for the success of their business and the member of the team. I remember when I worked in Operations for a well known Hospitality business and the majority of our team were older and this played a key part in the service we were able to offer, especially when new members joined in their development. Age is irrelevant!”

NEWS ARTICLE

Nine in ten economically inactive over-50s are considering returning to work due to the soaring cost of living. Data from online jobs website CV-Library show that 91% of inactive workers in the age bracket are considering re-entering the workforce due to record inflation, pension worries and higher energy bills. The report shows that since the beginning of the pandemic, the number of people aged 50 to 64 classed as economically inactive has risen by 3.6m, or 10%. Lee Biggins, chief executive of CV-Library, said: “With many vacancies still unfilled, it’s great news that a significant number of experienced workers are planning on returning to work.” He added that employing staff aged over 50 would allow companies to “add experience and stability, as well as diversifying the workplace.”

The Times. Human Times

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Why should age make a difference to whether people can work and return to business? If you are experiencing recruitment problems and wish to discuss this with us, give us a call or send us an email.

14 11 2022

Ethnic minority workers face pay gap

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott Employment Law, General, Recruitment #discrimination, #equalityact2010, #nationality, Business, Business Owners, HR, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, Small Business, SME, SME's

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott – FCIPD, ACEL Owner of Consensus HR comments: “Wow! Another report into discrimination in the workplace, following one of our last blogs on the 8^th November 2022 titled ‘One in five Britons faced workplace discrimination’, this recently placed news article in the press shows that many ethnic minority groups are suffering a large pay gap compared to their white colleagues. How can this be the case in 2022 when everybody should be treated equally regardless of any of the protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010? An employee’s Salary should be for the role and performance of the employee managed accordingly through the use of a consistent user friendly Performance Review process. Companies who are guilty of this should face the consequences of Employment Tribunal claims from day one of employment with uncapped awards. We have always encouraged open transparency of salaries for roles within a company and when advertising for a role, to ensure this is shown both internally and externally with details of salary or salary banding. This is an area in the future which may change drastically when ALL companies are required to publish salaries and ethnicity of employees.”

Most ethnic minority groups in Britain still suffer from a substantial pay gap compared with white employees, according to a study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). The study found that while young people from south Asian backgrounds and black African groups were now more likely to attend university than white peers, minorities still trail white people on wages. The IFS report shows that the average weekly earnings of Bangladeshi men were 42% below the white average in 2019. The figure was 22% for Pakistani men and 13% for Caribbean men. However, the average British Indian man earned 13% more than the average white worker. Professor Heidi Safia Mirza, of University College London, said that most minority groups “continue to earn less than their white British counterparts, and all earn less on average than we would expect given their education, background and occupation.” She added: “Evidence of discrimination in the labour market is clear, and wealth inequalities are likely to prove especially hard to shift.”

Human Times – 14^th November 2022 – Monday November 14, 2022, 12.01am, The Times –

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If you are concerned about your current pay structure for the team and how to do it correctly and to best practice, contact us now.

08 08 2022

7 HR – Back to basics – 1 – Recruitment

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott General, Recruitment Business, Business Owners, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, Recruitment, Small Business, SME, SME's

7 HR – Back to basics – 1 – Recruitment

1. Recruitment and Selection:

When making the decision to recruit, business owners need to ensure that a set company Policy and Procedure is in place that ensures you work to best practice, the law and maintain consistency throughout, when recruiting members of the team. This is step 1 of the 7 HR – Back to basics.

Companies need to be able to demonstrate why somebody got the job rather than another candidate.

Was it their qualifications?
Was it their experience?
Their Competence when answering questions?
Why?

Failure could result in somebody claiming they were discriminated against for one of the protected Characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 such as age, sex and disability.

Further information on what is included within Recruitment and the packages that we offer can be found by clicking below:

Our company mission statement is “Helping companies take the pain out of managing people, whilst preventing people problems” but what does this actually mean?

Continually, throughout industry and with the current climate, high inflation and the end of Pandemic support measures, such as Furlough. What ‘Back to Basics’ are we are hearing about when out talking to clients and businesses in general? What can you do or put in place to ensure you are proactive, working to best practice and an employer of choice?

Getting your companies ‘Seven HR – Back to basics’ and ‘Foundations (previous blog)’ in place is vital for the success of your business and helping you to prevent people problems. Whilst creating a company where people wish to work, which leads to an increase in the bottom line and productivity. Where there are no concerns for demotivating the team or threats of Employment Tribunal (ET) claims, plus bad working atmosphere.

05 08 2022

Seven HR – Back to basics

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott Absence Management, Blog, Disciplinary & Grievance, Employment Law, General, Handbook, Performance Management, Recruitment, Rewards & Benefits, Training & Development Business, Business Owners, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, Small Business, SME, SME's

Our company mission statement is “Helping companies take the pain out of managing people, whilst preventing people problems” but what does this actually mean? We can help you and your Company put in place the ‘Seven HR – Back to basics’.

Continually, throughout industry and with the current climate, high inflation and the end of Pandemic support measures, such as Furlough. What the ‘Back to Basics’ are we are hearing about when out talking to clients and businesses in general? What can you do or put in place to ensure you are proactive, working to best practice and an employer of choice?

Getting your companies Seven HR – Back to basics and ‘Foundations (previous blog)’ in place is vital for the success of your business and helping you to prevent people problems. Whilst creating a company where people wish to work, which leads to an increase in the bottom line and productivity. Where there are no concerns for demotivating the team or threats of Employment Tribunal (ET) claims, plus bad working atmosphere.

Seven HR – Back to basics for business owners / managers:

1. Recruitment and Selection:

As part of the Seven HR – Back to basics; Companies need to be able to demonstrate why somebody got the job rather than another candidate.

Was it their qualifications?
Was it their experience?
Their Competence when answering questions?
Why?

Failure could result in somebody claiming they were discriminated against for one of the protected Characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 such as age, sex and disability.

Further information on how we can help and what is included, can be found here. Plus, details on what is included overall in ensuring you recruit successfully can be found here.

2. Employment Contract:

Since the change in the law in April 2020, employees are entitled to an Employment Contract from day one of employment when previously it was within 3 months. We are still finding that many companies do not provide this on day one of employment, but this should be produced when the decision to employ the person has been made and signed, dated and sent to them for their viewing, with the agreement signed and dated.

It is important that your employee contract includes specific legal clauses and others which need to be adapted to suit your business and service/product you offer, such as the clause for deduction of wages. Unauthorised deduction from an employee’s wages can result in an employee, current or past making a claim to an Employment Tribunal regardless of length of service. Although this should make no difference, as companies need to work to best practice and the law or face the possible consequences that could occur, such as an award of £2,100.

We work with clients to draft a company specific Contract of Employment such as full-time, part-time, self employed, home working etc and by getting to know their business ensure clauses are adapted to ensure maximum usefulness for the employee and business.

As previously mentioned, failure to provide an Employment Contract from day one can result in a claim to an Employment Tribunal, claims for an authorised deduction of wages due to money being subtracted from an employees pay, and the company not contractually permitted to do so, even after consultation with the member of the team.

Areas which should be covered in an Employment Contract can be found by clicking here.

3. Employment checks: References and Right To Work in the UK

All employers within the UK have a responsibility to prevent illegal working. Since Brexit, there are additional needs for employers to check the legality of employees right to work in the UK and the correct checks must be made. We advise every client, to obtain copies of employees Passports and/or Visa’s and keep this securely on an IT system with the employees’ consent.

The Government now has a system that allows employers to check somebody’s legality to work in the UK and can be obtained by a job applicant giving you their ‘Share Code’. By visiting https://www.gov.uk/check-job-applicant-right-to-work and checking that the documents they have provided allows them to work in the UK.

Failure to ensure this is completed correctly can result in an employer being sent to jail for 5 years and pay an unlimited fine, if their found guilty of employing someone who they knew or had ‘reasonable cause to believe’ did not have the right to work in the UK.

This includes, for example, if you had any reason to believe that:

they did not have leave (permission) to enter or remain in the UK
their leave had expired
they were not allowed to do certain types of work
their papers were incorrect or false

Check your employees eligibility to work correctly:

You can also be penalised if you employ someone who does not have the right to work and you did not do the correct checks, or you did not do them properly.

If this happens, you might get a ‘referral notice’ to let you know your case is being considered and that you might have to pay a civil penalty (fine) of up to £20,000 for each illegal worker.

You’ll be sent a ‘civil penalty notice’ if you’re found liable and you’ll have 28 days to respond.

The notice will tell you how to pay, what to do next, and how to object to the decision.

Your business’s details may be published by Immigration Enforcement as a warning to other businesses not to employ illegal workers.

Read more about illegal working penalties.

4. Not following procedures and the law:

HR is covered under Civil Law and the ‘Balance of Probabilities’ and not Criminal Law and ‘Beyond Reasonable Doubt’. There are set procedures to follow which are outlined in the Acas Code of Practice which gives clear instructions on how to deal with employee issues within a business.

Failure to follow the Acas Code of Practice can result in claims for unfair dismissal, unauthorised deduction of wages as well as many other areas such as Age Discrimination, Sex, Gender, Race and all other protected Characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 where awards to an employee can be unlimited in certain circumstances.

Employers have to be able to demonstrate that they acted reasonably in dealing with an issue and followed the correct procedure of investigating the incident, holding the appropriate meeting and an offer to appeal should a penalty be place on an employee. It is up to the manager who is Chairing the meeting and making the decision to be able justify why the action they took is reasonable and what a reasonable employer would do and not HR. Questions to consider include:

What Policies and Procedures are in place?
Was the member of the team adequately informed and giving the appropriate development?
Are the right tools provided?

5. Failure to take an employee’s concerns/moans seriously:

As managers of a team, we all know that team members can raise a number of concerns that affect them and their motivation to do their job, which can result in certain people occasionally being ignored or seen as moaners.

However, managers need to ensure that they take the necessary action, as needed, as failure could result in the employee raising a grievance.

Grievances should initially be dealt with informally, if possible, but should this not resolve the matter, then the Acas/Company Grievance procedure should be followed as soon as possible. Managers should never just ignore it, as a mole hill could turn into a mountain and result in awards being adjusted by up to 25% by an Employment Tribunal (ET).

6. Not managing Performance of a team member:

Business owners and managers need to ensure that they have an adequate Performance Management Process in place to make sure that each employee is clear about what is expected from them in their job, whilst also understanding what they are doing well, to identify what the manager can do to support and coach the employee to work differently or better. Working towards the same company SMART goals ensures success for the business, as well as individuals working within it.

Each person should prepare for their Performance Management Meeting by reviewing their job description and any set objectives. These may be what were agreed during or since the last review meeting and completing a preparation form. Any discussions and comments for the previous year should be written down and discussed; with objectives agreed for the coming six months, using the job description relevant to the role and the company.

All members of the team should be working towards the same company goals whilst also having personal SMART goals to ensure success for the business, as well as individuals working within it.

We know that having a suitable performance review process in place helps to facilitate effective performance management – of your teams and your business. These steps allow for individual SMART objectives to be written and rewarded appropriately if achieved, development identified or corrective action taken.

Six-monthly structured one-to-one performance management meetings (appraisals) are recommended. These allow the individual and company management representative to sit down in a friendly environment and set SMART objectives. Both company and personal goals are agreed for the team member to achieve. Feedback should be sought throughout the year. Plus, everyone is fully aware of initial actions and steps of last resort.

SMART – Specific, Measurable, Accountable, Realistic, Time Based. Failure to manage a team members performance effectively can result in a range of issues for a company from demotivation, loss of sales, poor customer service, Employment Tribunals and high turnover in employees.

7. Employee Handbook:

Employee Handbooks are one of the key HR foundations for any business. They ensure that all your team members know what is expected from them. This includes holidays and hours to how poor misconduct may be dealt with in line with employment law. They set out the rules for ensuring that everybody within the team knows what action can be taken by the company, should expectations not be met. Two examples are Disciplinaries and Grievances; initial actions and steps of last resort, would be included.

Our Handbooks are legally written by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and our HR business professional. We consider all your specific business areas, ensuring legal adherence.

An Employee Handbook puts all the key information and rules in one easy place and allows them to access the information as and when required without needing to ask a member of staff which, during the first few days of a role, can sometimes be quite daunting. We encourage these to be easily accessible and available online through the use of our Breathe HR IT system

As part of the Seven HR – Back to basics; a Company Employee Handbook allows the team to gain an understanding of what is expected from them and the company with areas such as pay, hours of work and benefits to communication and team events to name a few. We also ensure that important company policies are included such as disciplinary & grievance, equality and sickness.

We work with our clients to ensure that the handbook is tailored to the business, reflecting the organisation’s values/vision, and on occasion, a welcome letter from the management team.

Failure to provide an Employee Handbook may result in members of the team claiming they were not aware of a Policy or where to find out about that Policy and can help managers manage more effectively as they can direct team members to the handbook for information thus allowing them to manage more effectively. We also suggest that all Policies and Procedures, Company Handbook, a member of the teams Contract of Employment and Job Description are easily accessible to them via a user-friendly IT system such as Breathe HR.

Are all your HR basics in place? If not and you need some help and guidance, contact us now by clicking here.

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