by Emma | Mar 6, 2023 | Newsletter
The vast majority of companies taking part in the world’s largest trial of a four-day week have opted to continue with the new working pattern, in a result hailed as evidence that it could work across the UK economy.
Of the 61 companies that entered the six-month trial, 56 have extended the four-day week, including 18 who have made it permanent (93%).
Surveys taken before and after the trial found that 39% of those employees taking part considered that they were less stressed, 40% were sleeping better and 54% found it easier to balance work and home responsibilities.
The companies taking part were satisfied with productivity and business performance during the trial. Sick days fell by about two-thirds and 57% fewer staff left the companies taking part compared with the same period a year earlier.
Recently Sainsbury’s, the UK’s second largest supermarket, said it would trial offering some employees the chance to work four days a week. This trial does not involve a cut in total hours but allows workers to squeeze the same number of hours into four days.
The findings of the trial are due to be presented to MPs as part of efforts to promote a 32-hour week for workers in Britain.
If you are thinking about trialling a four day week or implementing contract changes, please contact me.
by Emma | Mar 3, 2023 | Newsletter
The government is backing a Private Members Bill, the Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Bill.
If passed the Bill will amend the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996) to give workers and agency workers the right to request a predictable work pattern. The circumstances in which they will be able to do this will be where:
- There is a lack of predictability as regards any part of their work pattern (fixed term contracts of 12 months or less are presumed to lack predictability);
- The change relates to their work pattern; and
- Their purpose in applying for the change is to get a more predictable work pattern.
Two applications may be made in a 12-month period. The service requirement to access the right, which is expected to be 26 weeks, will be specified in regulations.
Employers, temporary work agencies or hirers would be able to reject applications based on statutory grounds. Workers and agency workers would have the right not to suffer a detriment short of dismissal for making an application under the procedure or for bringing proceedings to enforce the statutory right to request a predictable work pattern. It would also be automatically unfair to dismiss an employee for making an application under the statutory procedure or for bringing proceedings to enforce the statutory right.
Watch this space
by Emma | Feb 17, 2023 | Newsletter
There is a war for talent at the moment, recruitment is difficult in most industries. How do you make yourself an attractive employer in todays market? How can you retain your existing talent?
Create a great culture
Employees do not want to turn up for work, do their job and clock out again. Employees want to feel part of something. Promoting team building activities, social gatherings, sports activities etc will help engage individuals. A positive culture will drive loyalty in a business and increase productivity. Promote your employee events on social media platforms and the company website, so it’s self-evident for candidates and new recruits to see what a great place it is to work – think about employer branding.
Master Internal Communications
One of the top reasons for exiting a company is poor communication from the leadership team. Employees want to be informed and always know what is going on in their organisation. They want to know where your company is headed. Be honest with your team, involve them in decisions and if they have any concerns address them as soon as you can, this will build trust.
“70% of employees felt more engaged in companies where information of value, company goals, objectives, and
individual / organisation execution are clearly communicated”
Be Flexible
Since covid, employees expectations have changed around their working day. Keeping pace with this new attitude is key to retaining and recruiting staff. Can employees choose their working hours? can they work from home? can they work four days instead of five? can you adopt a work from anywhere policy?
Offer Job Satisfaction
A recent survey suggests that only 23% of employees enjoy their job. That seems a very low statistic. What can you do to make an employee feel valued? firstly are they paid a fair wage and have you reviewed the benefits package recently? Do you engage with your staff? do you know what makes them tick? what motivates them?
Trusted Leadership
Trusting the leader of the business is one of the most important aspects of business culture. Approachable management is key to developing good relationships with staff. The way managers communicate with staff has a direct impact on their productivity.
Happy employees mean they are more likely to recommend you as an employer and remain loyal to you.
Ask your staff if they are happy by doing an employee survey. Ask them what motivates them (it’s not always the money!)
For assistance with employee engagement, recruitment, retention and all things benefits please get in touch.
by Emma | Feb 17, 2023 | Newsletter
The financial crisis is leading employers to look at their overheads and headcount. Redundancies are one option but there are a few others on the table:
Lay off and Short Time Working
If you have a clause in your contracts of employment, you may be able to ask your staff to reduce the number of days they work (short time working) or take whole days off (lay off). You must ensure that you pay your employee the statutory guarantee pay which is set by the government. This is capped at five days in any three month period.
Contractual Changes
You will need to consult with your staff if you wish to change their terms and conditions of employment temporary or permanently. You might wish to ask your staff to accept a temporary pay decrease as an alternative to redundancies. Asking staff to decrease their hours of work may also be an option (and reduces their pay at the same time). Overtime rates and redeploying staff to other areas of the business which are busier may also be options.
You must ensure that you consult and get written agreement prior to any changes to conditions being made.
If you would like to discuss the above or the redundancy process if thats the only option for you, then please contact me now.
by Emma | Feb 17, 2023 | Newsletter
Last year I informed you all of the changes to holiday calculations following the court ruling in Harpur Trust. The court ruled that holiday entitlement under the Working Time Regulations 1998 for permanent part-year workers should not be pro-rated so that it is proportionate to that of a full-time worker. As a result of this part-year workers are entitled to a larger annual paid holiday entitlement than part-time workers who work the same total number of hours across the year.
The government now proposes to introduce a holiday entitlement reference period of 52 weeks to ensure that holiday entitlement and pay is directly proportionate to time spent working. It proposes to include the weeks in which workers perform no work in the holiday entitlement reference period. The consultation closes on 9 March.
Once we have further information, I will update and advise you how to apply your holiday entitlements going forward.
by Emma | Feb 3, 2023 | Newsletter
Flexible working
Courtesy of the pandemic, flexible working has been fairly high on most employers’ agendas for some time now. The government has confirmed in its response to its consultation, ‘Making flexible working the default’, that a number of changes will be affecting the flexible working regime. Flexible working will become a day one right, and while the eight business grounds for rejecting a flexible working request will remain as they are, there will be a new obligation on employers to consult with the employee to explore the available options before rejecting a request.
In addition, instead of only being able to make one statutory request for flexible working in a 12-month period, an employee will be able to make two. Employers currently have three months within which to respond to the request; this will be reduced to a two-month period to make the process more streamlined.
The changes are expected to be in law in 2023.
The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill
The Bill provides that all retained EU law contained in domestic secondary legislation (for example, the Working Time Regulations and TUPE) and retained direct EU legislation will be revoked on 31 December 2023 unless a decision has been made to preserve it. It allows for an extension of the revocation date of certain legislation to a later date (which must be no later than the end of 23 June 2026) to enable departments to have additional time, where necessary, to assess whether some retained EU law should be preserved.
Consultation issued on calculating holiday entitlement for part-year and irregular hours workers
The government has just launched a consultation on calculating holiday entitlement for part-year and irregular hours workers as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision last year in Harpur Trust v Brazel. The Court held in Harpur Trust that holiday entitlement under the Working Time Regulations 1998 for permanent part-year workers should not be pro-rated so that it is proportionate to that of a full-time worker. As a result of this part-year workers are entitled to a larger annual paid holiday entitlement than part-time workers who work the same total number of hours across the year.
The government proposes introducing a holiday entitlement reference period of 52 weeks to ensure that holiday entitlement and pay is directly proportionate to time spent working. It proposes to include the weeks in which workers perform no work in the holiday entitlement reference period.
The introduction of carer’s leave
This Bill will introduce a new and flexible entitlement of one week’s unpaid leave per year for employees who are providing or arranging care and will be available to eligible employees from the first day of their employment. They will be able to take the leave flexibly to suit their caring responsibilities and will not need to provide evidence of how the leave is used or who it will be used for. Employees will be protected from dismissal or any detriment as a result of having taken time off.
The new entitlement to statutory carer’s leave will rely on the carer’s relationship with the person being cared for, namely a spouse, civil partner, child, parent, a person who lives in the same household as the employee (other than by reason of them being their employee, tenant, lodger, or boarder) or a person who reasonably relies on the employee for care. It will also depend on the person being cared for having a long-term care need.
Neonatal leave and pay
Neonatal care leave will be available to employees from their first day in a new job and will apply to parents of babies who are admitted into hospital up to the age of 28 days, and who have a continuous stay in hospital of 7 full days or more. Parents will have a right to neonatal care leave of at least one week and up to a maximum of 12 weeks regardless of length of service, and parents with at least 26 weeks’ continuous service will have a right to receive neonatal care pay at a prescribed statutory rate. Parents taking neonatal care leave will have the same employment protections as those associated with other forms of family related leave, including protection from dismissal or detriment as a result of having taken leave.
Sexual harassment in the workplace
The Bill introduces a new duty on employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace and reinstates employer liability for third party harassment. If the Bill is passed in its current form, an employee would be able to bring a third-party harassment claim against their employer after a single incident of harassment by e.g. a client or customer. Previously the legal test only imposed liability after the third incident which meant that successful third-party harassment claims were rare.
The Bill contains a 12-month delay period once it has passed, so it won’t come in until 2024 at the earliest.
Consultation on Statutory Code of Practice on Dismissal and Re-engagement
The government launched a consultation on a statutory Code of Practice on Dismissal and Re-engagement on 24 January. The Code sets out detailed steps that employers should take when seeking to make changes to contractual terms, including providing information, engaging in meaningful consultation and exploring alternatives. It makes it clear that employers should not use threats of dismissal as a negotiating tactic. Employment Tribunals will be required to take the Code into account where relevant in any proceedings and may adjust compensation by up to 25% to reflect unreasonable non-compliance. The consultation on the Code closes on 18 April.
