by Emma | May 15, 2023 | Newsletter
This week is Mental Health Awareness Week. The Mental Health Foundation are focusing on anxiety and the things that can help.
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a human trait that everyone experiences, this can help us to be aware of and respond to threats and danger. But when anxiety becomes problematic or even disabling this is when it’s considered an anxiety disorder.
Generalised Anxiety Disorder:
Chronic and excessive worry or anxiety about various aspects of life, such as relationships, health and work. Symptoms may include restlessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating and sleep disturbances.
Panic Disorder:
Recurrent and unexpected panic attacks, which are sudden episodes of intense fear and physical symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, trembling, sweating and shortness of breath. Someone with a panic disorder has feelings of anxiety, stress and panic regularly and at any time, often for no apparent reason.
Social Anxiety:
An overwhelming and persistent fear for social situations or performance areas which might be scrutinised by others. Symptoms include sweating, trembling, blushing and difficulty speaking.
Specific phobias:
An intense fear of an object, situation or activity that poses little or no danger. Common ones include spiders, flying, heights.
Health Anxiety:
Known as hypochondria, this is fear and preoccupation with having serious medical illness despite having little or no actual symptoms or evidence of illness.
When to see your GP?
When you feel like you’re worrying too much and it’s interfering with your work, relationships or other parts of your life.
Your fear, worry or anxiety is upsetting to you and difficult to control.
You feel depressed, have trouble with alcohol or drug use, or have other mental health concerns along with anxiety.
You think your anxiety could be linked to a physical health problem.
You have suicidal thoughts or behaviors — if this is the case, seek emergency treatment immediately.
Currently there is a long wait for Talking Therapies via your GP. While you wait try “the every mind matters”
by Emma | May 8, 2023 | Newsletter
With currently over 1 million vacancies unfilled and everyone I speak to telling me they are struggling to recruit, I often ask “are you offering the role as part-time/ job share/flexi-time/hybrid?” and 99% of the time they answer “no, that’s not an option for us”.
I started my business 10 years ago because I wanted to work part time and be a mom. At the time part time / flexi-time senior HR roles were not available to me and I felt that this was my only option for a work-life balance.
10 years on have things changed all that much?
You may believe that after Covid, things started to change and I agree to a degree. Covid and flexi-furlough allowed Companies to see that working from home and working flexibly can work for them. However, three years on and a large portion of Companies are asking for staff to return to the office.
Figures show that only 30% of vacancies advertised have some sort of flexible working and only 12% are part time roles. I have first-hand experience of businesses who believe that job shares or working part time won’t work for their Company, especially in more senior roles. Currently the job market suggests that the ratio between people wanting to work part time and roles available are 4:1.
I have heard many times “we would open the floodgates if we said yes to someone who wanted part time work” or “I can’t manage two people in that role, only one will work” or “a job share cannot work in that position” or “it won’t work for our industry”. So why are business owners and management so anti part time/ job share/ flexible working? There are a lot of prejudiced ideas around flexible working, I have had employees made to feel apologetic about their situation if they request part time/ flexi working. I know many people who have negotiated part time/ flexi working and now they are afraid to move company as they don’t believe they will have the same opportunity elsewhere.
Some larger Companies now have policies whereby all their vacancies have to be advertised as “part-time/ full-time/ job share”. These include all senior roles. By including these words on job adverts they have increased the job pool that they recruit from. These Companies have doubled their women in senior roles and tripled their male part time workforce.
10 years ago employees “needed” part time/ flexible working, today employees also “want” part time/ flexible working. Following Covid we have all experienced a different way of life and even those with no caring responsibilities would like shorter working hours.
When looking for a role, individuals seek out Companies who support part time/ job share/ flexible working roles. I recently had a great candidate refuse an interview because she wanted as a minimum a hybrid role, but the Company wanted them, 9-5, Mon-Fri, in the office. So why would a Company want to miss out on a great candidate?, again it’s attitudes like “this is what the next generation will be expecting” that means smaller Companies are not moving with the times and missing out on some really great candidates. Yes, it is what the next generation will be expecting and that’s why Companies need to change their culture and embrace flexible working.
Marks and Spencer’s have a female CEO who works a 4 days a week, she implemented a policy giving all employees the automatic option to work a 4 day a week or 9 day a fortnight.
A doctor instrumental in developing the UK’s vaccination for Covid-19, worked a four day week.
The counter-terrorism GCHQ have their first job share in a senior operational intelligence position.
These are a few examples where larger business have put policies in place to embrace the ever changing employment pool. Larger organisations understand that they not only have a larger pool of candidates to recruit from, but they will also retain staff, have a diverse workforce and can use job-shares because they understand that individuals have different strengths which strengthen their business in turn.
Small organisations will say “These Companies are larger, they have the ability to manage flexible working”. But what small businesses need to understand is that this is not going away, new recruits and employees will demand flexible working and if you as a business don’t have a plan, you will have a larger recruitment and retainment issue.
Recently we have had the 4 day week trial, where 61 business trialled a 4 day week (32 hours per week). After the trial, 92% of businesses said they wanted to continue, production levels were maintained and stress levels had dropped.
I would like to see more smaller businesses trial this, just to see what impact it would have on their business. I think they will be surprised at the positive effect it has on their business.
The government have plans to make it a “day one right” for employees to request flexible working, rather than at 26 weeks. Instead of paying lip service to these requests, I would recommend that businesses trial the employees request at the very least – be open and see the positives it brings.
If you would like to discuss flexible working / part-time working/ job shares / hybrid working/ working from home, then please contact me and we can look at a policy or work trial that suits you and your business. I’m not saying it will solve all your recruitment and retention issues, but I think it will definitely put you on the path to creating a culture whereby you will be seen as a Company that people want to work for.
by Emma | Mar 30, 2023 | Newsletter
In the recent case of Meaker V Cyxtera Technology UK Limited the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) found that a ‘without prejudice’ letter from an employer offering a settlement agreement amounted to an effective dismissal letter.
The without prejudice letter was sent to the employee, Mr Meaker, confirming the settlement offer and stating that his employment would terminate by reason of mutual agreement. While Mr Meaker refused the settlement payment offered, he was paid for his notice period and holiday pay shortly thereafter.
It was decided by the EAT that due to the way the letter had been drafted, it was entitled to read the letter in two distinct parts: one openly terminating Mr Meaker’s employment and the other offering a settlement payment subject to agreement.
This case shows that, if a ‘without prejudice’ letter is not drafted carefully, an employer could inadvertently terminate an employee’s employment. This could then give rise to a claim of unfair dismissal from the employee, who will be entitled to rely on the letter as evidence before a Tribunal. If the letter follows settlement discussions, it will not be enough to simply mark a letter ‘without prejudice’ and refer to the termination as by mutual agreement.
It is therefore imperative that ‘without prejudice’ letters offering settlement are drafted carefully, to ensure that the without prejudice protection extends to the entire letter and not just the offer of settlement.
For assistance on Settlement Agreements and without prejudice conversations please contact me.
by Emma | Mar 30, 2023 | Newsletter
New National Minimum Wage Rates |
The rates which will apply from 1 April 2023 are as follows: | Rate from April 2023 | Annual increase (£) | Annual increase (per cent) |
|---|
| National Living Wage | £10.42 | 0.92 | 9.7 | | 21-22 Year Old Rate | £10.18 | 1.00 | 10.9 | | 18-20 Year Old Rate | £7.49 | 0.66 | 9.7 | | 16-17 Year Old Rate | £5.28 | 0.47 | 9.7 | | Apprentice Rate | £5.28 | 0.47 | 9.7 | | Accommodation Offset | £9.10 | 0.40 | 4.6 |
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by Emma | Mar 20, 2023 | Newsletter
Are you dealing with flexible working requests correctly? |
| Since the pandemic, employers have reported an increase in the number of flexible working requests that they are receiving. This is no surprise, in a market where candidates are hand picking their employers, employees want flexibility and a work life balance. There are many benefits to flexible working from an employers point of view: - It can attract a wider pool of candidates
- It can help to retain staff
- It can help extend your working hours as a business
- It can help to reduce sickness
- It can lead to increased productivity
But when you receive a request are you dealing with it in the correct manner? There are many types of different flexible working options: - Job sharing
- Working from home
- Part time hours
- Compressed hours
- Flexi-time
- Staggered hours
- Annualised hours
- Phased retirement
When an employee requests flexible working, they must do so in writing. Your steps as an employer: - You must consider the request, within a 3 month time period as a maximum
- If you agree to their request you must change their terms and conditions of employment in writing
- if you are refusing their request, you must write back to the employee giving the reasons for the refusal and giving them the right to appeal the decision
You must as an employer deal with requests in a ‘reasonable manner’.Examples of handling requests in a reasonable manner include: - assessing the advantages and disadvantages of the application
- holding a meeting to discuss the request with the employee
- offering an appeal process
If you do not handle requests in a reasonable manner the employee has the ability to put in a tribunal claim. For advice on handling requests and documentation, please contact me now. |
by Emma | Mar 15, 2023 | Newsletter
Although a signature on a policy is not a legal requirement for evidencing agreement, it will be acceptable evidence in any tribunal proceedings that an employee has read and understood a policy.
An employment tribunal has ruled that a train driver who posted offensive and discriminatory comments publicly on his personal Twitter account was unfairly dismissed as there was a lack of sufficient evidence that he understood the company policy that he was dismissed for breaching.
The employee had a Twitter account in his own name with a profile picture of himself and mainly tweeted about weightlifting. Around the time of the Brexit referendum his account, which had posted more than 3,700 tweets, became “focused on Brexit and expressions of opinion against immigration”. During this time, he posted racially offensive tweets.
The employee had received various policy documents from his employer on harassment and social media, as well as a fair usage IT document.
However, the applicable policy documents were unsigned by the employee. The further difficulty for the employer in this case was that the employee was dismissed for breaching the Acceptable Use Policy, not for a failure to adhere to the Social Media Policy.
Whilst the employment tribunal found that the dismissal was unfair due to the failure to prove he had been briefed on this policy by the lack of a signed document confirming this, the tribunal found that the employee was entirely to blame for his dismissal and reduced his unfair dismissal award to zero for this reason.
The tribunal found that the employee would have known that posting offensive tweets in a public forum, which he knew was followed by colleagues, could by their nature damage working relationships, particularly in a multi-cultural workforce.
It is critical when dismissing an employee that the correct reason is cited. For further assistance in all things social media, please contact me now.
