- www.specialisedhr.co.uk
- 0843 1760266
Establishing a successful recruitment process and clear written employment contracts for new employees can have a major impact on your business.
Every business needs to be aware of its obligations under minimum wage and equal pay laws, as well as recent pensions auto-enrolment changes.
You must comply with legal restrictions on employees' working hours and time off, or risk claims, enforcement action and even prosecution.
The right employment policies are an essential part of effective staff management. Make sure any policy is clear and well communicated to employees.
While sick employees need to be treated fairly, you need to ensure that 'sickness' is not being used as cover for unauthorised absence.
Most pregnant employees are entitled to maternity leave and maternity pay, while new fathers are entitled to paternity leave and paternity pay.
As well as undermining morale, illegal discrimination can lead to workplace grievances. Employee discrimination is covered by the Equality Act 2010.
Home, remote and lone workers are becoming increasingly commonplace. Key issues include communication and how to manage and motivate people remotely.
The right approach to consulting with and providing information to your employees can improve employee motivation and performance.
Disciplinary and grievance issues can be a major burden to employers. Putting in place and following the right procedures is essential.
Following the right dismissal and redundancy procedures helps protect your business and minimise the risk of a legal dispute at tribunal.
Employment tribunal claims are a worrying prospect for any employer. A tribunal case is a no-win situation – even if the claim is unjustified.
Discrimination against employees is covered by the Equality Act 2010. As well as undermining employee morale, illegal discrimination can lead to employee grievances. If an employee makes a discrimination claim to an employment tribunal, your business could face substantial damages as well as the costs and distraction of the case.
Discrimination law has long applied to both racial discrimination and sex discrimination. These include discrimination on the grounds of colour or ethnic origin, gender, marital status (including civil partnership), pregnancy or childbirth.
More recently, discrimination law has been extended to include age discrimination and discrimination against disabled people both in terms of employment and as customers. Discrimination on the grounds of an employee's religious or philosophical beliefs is also illegal, as is discrimination against those undergoing gender reassignment.
There are a few narrow exceptions when discrimination is permitted: for example, to encourage under-represented groups into the workforce, or where employing someone of a particular race or gender is a genuine occupational qualification. If you feel you need to discriminate, you should take advice to ensure that you are not discriminating illegally.
Direct discrimination occurs when you discriminate against someone because of who they are: for example, if you decide not to recruit someone because of their skin colour. You must also avoid indirect discrimination, which involves applying an unnecessary condition that is likely to discriminate: for example, insisting that all job applicants must be at least six feet tall (and so more likely to be male).
As an employer, you can be held responsible for discrimination by your employees: for example, if an employee is abused or harassed with racist or sexist jokes.
Discrimination can occur at every stage of employment: recruitment, selecting employees for training or promotion, applying disciplinary procedures, dismissal and redundancy. To avoid illegal discrimination, you need to ensure that your procedures and policies are objective, focusing on work performance and the requirements of the job.
Under the Equality Act, you may need to make reasonable adjustments to enable disabled employees to work: for example, providing appropriate equipment or altering working practices.
You should publicise a code of practice dealing with discrimination, making it clear to everyone that discrimination is unacceptable and will be treated as a disciplinary offence. Managers and employees may need training to help them act fairly.
Treat any allegations of discrimination or harassment seriously. Investigate thoroughly and ensure that you follow your grievance procedure.