Thomas-James and others v Cornwall County Council and others, has been one of the first cases to examine the application of the service change provision regarding transactions on or after 6 April 2006. These provisions were designed to cover contracting in, contracting out and re-tendering exercises. There are still difficulties with the “amended” TUPE, however, which this case illustrates, when the identification of a transferee for the transferring activities cannot be traced between the outgoing contractor and the new contractor.
Cornwall County Council were one of seventeen service providers contracted by the Legal Services Commission to provide a free legal helpline service. Under this scheme, callers would be routed to the next available adviser from any one of those seventeen with the required category of legal specialism. The LSE put the contracts out for re-tender in 2006 and Cornwall County Council decided not to bid. The Council’s contract and the claimants’ employment contracts with the Council terminated in 2007. The contractors operating the new contract numbered nine rather than seventeen and consisted of some of the past contractors plus a number of new contractors. The claimants and the Council claimed that the contracts of employment had passed to the new service providers, which they denied.
The Employment Tribunal accepted that the claimants had been part of an organised grouping of employees whose purpose would be to carry out activities on behalf of the Legal Services Commission. It could not, however, ascertain which new service provider had taken over the activities previously undertaken by the outgoing contractor – the council. As it was not possible to identify to which of the nine new service providers the council’s former activities had transferred, the claimants were not protected by TUPE as there could be no service provision change.
This is a first instance decision and the case may go to appeal, but it does illustrate the continuing difficulties presented within TUPE.
In the Employment Appeals Tribunal case of Robinson and Tescom Corporation, Mr Robinson was employed as a territorial manager for Tescom, selling systems and components. Tescom formulated a restructuring plan that involved expanding the territory covered by Robinson. Initially this required national travel but, as he did not agree with this proposal, it was amended to cover the whole of the south of England.
Robinson subsequently raised a grievance about the changes stating he wished to remain in his existing position. At the conclusion of the grievance Robinson said that he would take on the extended sales territory, but would review the situation over a 12 month period. Two months later, he said that he would work under the new job description, but under protest, and that he was treating the change as a breach of contract.
He subsequently refused to work to the new terms and Tescom dismissed him summarily for failure to follow a reasonable management instruction. Robinson brought claims for unfair dismissal and breach of contract.
The employment tribunal dismissed the claim, as Robinson had agreed to work under the terms. On appeal, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that having taken the position that he would agree to work under the new terms albeit under protest and reserving his rights, he was required to in fact work under those new terms. The employment tribunal had been correct to hold that there was no unfair dismissal when Tescom terminated the employment in response to Robinson’s refusal to work under the new terms.
This decision confirms that an employee who is faced with an attempt by the employer to unilaterally vary the contract of employment has four options:
1. To agree to the variation
2. To resign and claim constructive dismissal
3. To refuse to work under the new terms (thus forcing the employer to either permit the employee to continue working under the old terms or to dismiss
4. To ‘stand and sue’ by working under protest and seeking damages (either for breach of contract, or for unfair dismissal).
This case illustrates that employees have to choose one course of action and, having done so, can’t then change to another.
From 6 April 2008 Statutory Maternity Pay will increase from £112.75 to £117.18 per week and Statutory Sick Pay increases from £72.55 to £75.40 per week.
From 1 October 2008 the minimum wage will increase. The adult rate will go up from £5.52 to £5.73 per hour. The rate for 18-21 year olds will rise from £4.60 to £4.77 and the 16-17 year old rate will increase from £3.40 to £3.53.
The CIPD’s latest survey, published in their Labour Market Outlook, looked at the implications of the EU Agency Workers Directive. This would grant agency workers equal rights to permanent staff after six weeks.
Asked about the effects of the directive, 37 per cent of employers said they felt it would have a negative impact with another 42 per cent feeling uncertain.
39 per cent said it would change their recruitment strategy, with the majority saying that they would take on fewer agency workers as a result.
Speaking at the report’s launch in Westminster, Alan Duncan, shadow business secretary, said he did not think the directive was good for work or for the economy. “The point is that most people are already protected by a great many pieces of legislation and so, fundamentally, I think there is no need for this”, he said. The TUC general secretary Brendan Barber disagreed, however, and said he wanted the equal treatment to apply from day one of employment. “It’s simple justice that if you are doing the same job then you ought to be entitled to the same rights. If you set a qualifying period of any length then unscrupulous employers will abuse that”, he said.
The full survey is available at www.cipd.co.uk/surveys.
Implementation of this Directive has been opposed by the UK Government and no EU agreement has yet been reached.
The TUC has called on the Chancellor to increase the weekly limit on statutory redundancy pay from £330 to £500 in the forthcoming Budget as a major step towards restoring the real value of the limit when it was first introduced at £40 in 1965.
Anyone who has worked for the same employer for more than two years is entitled to redundancy pay, but there is a statutory maximum limit to what counts as a week’s pay – anything earned in excess of this limit is not counted when working out statutory redundancy pay. This is set annually and is currently £330 per week. Official figures show that more than half the working population earn more than this a week (53 per cent). Mean pay is £452 a week, so the current limit is just 73 per cent of average pay.
When redundancy pay was introduced for the first time in 1965 the limit was set at £40, more than twice the average wage (£19.60). If the limit had been uprated in line with prices it would now be a little over £500, and if increased in line with earnings it would now be in excess of £1,000.
The TUC General Secretary has asked that the Government’s manifesto pledge at the last election to boost redundancy should now be implemented, with a one off rise to £500 and a link to earnings rather than prices in the future.
The Court of Appeal has upheld the decision of an Employment Tribunal with regard to James v London Borough of Greenwich.
Ms James was an agency “temp” supplied to Greenwich Council but, following a period of absence, was replaced and subsequently brought a claim for unfair dismissal. As she was not an employee of Greenwich Council she did not have a right to bring a claim. Although she did not have an express employment contract with them, she contended that there was an implied contract as she had worked there for several years and had been treated as though she were a permanent employee.
An employment tribunal found that there was no basis for implying that a contract existed, and the Employment Appeal Tribunal agreed. It said that there could be times when a contract of employment can be implied between an agency worker and the user of that temporary worker (Dacas v Brook street Bureau (UK) 2004 and Cable and Wireless plc v Muscat 2006), but these would be the exception rather than the rule. It will not be down to the length of time the agency worker has been has been placed with the end user but whether it is necessary for that to give business reality to the arrangement. The Court of Appeal agreed with the EAT, in that issues must be decided in accordance with common law principles of implied contract, and that “mutuality” would be necessary.
The Court of Appeal did make reference to the current discussions concerning the lack of job protection for agency workers but said that it would be for Parliament, government bodies, employers’ organisations and European institutions to debate rather than for courts and tribunals.
A recent survey (2008) by consultants Talentdrain provides interesting information about the difficulties 75% of participating organisations reported – retaining their employees.
Data suggests that 1 in 4 employees leave their jobs within 6 months while over 50% stay for less than 2 years. Low levels of unemployment, increasing job vacancies and widespread skills shortages give staff plenty of opportunity to change jobs if they are dissatisfied in their current role. The average annual rate of staff turnover quoted in a CIPD survey in 2007 is 18.1%, and average replacement costs are estimated at £7,750, so reducing turnover leads to significant savings.
Why do employees leave? HR generally assume it is “lack of promotion prospects” or “level of pay” whilst the survey of leaving employees shows that “personal growth” (defined as challenging work and opportunities for training and development) regularly tops Talentdrain’s surveys when employees are asked to identify the most important factor to maintain their commitment.
What are organisations doing to improve retention? Improving employee communication and involvement; improving the induction process; and improving learning and development opportunities, are cited as the most popular ways to increase employee buy-in and commitment.
Although the CIPD believe that 2008 will be a much tougher year for job-seekers, and the softer labour market may ease overall retention pressures, organisations faced with difficult trading conditions will need to retain their best talent to enhance their performance and competitiveness.
We have exciting trainee opportunities in our St Albans, London (Tax only), Milton Keynes and Northampton offices for bright, focussed individuals wishing to obtain a professional qualification and pursue a rewarding career with countless prospects/opportunities.
See our trainee recruitment page for more details.
Changes to legislation affecting HR scheduled for the early part of this calendar year include:
February
From 1 February 2008 a number of limits applying to tribunal awards and other amounts payable under employment legislation will increase (Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2007). Amongst these, the minimum amount of basic award of compensation where dismissal is unfair by virtue of the Employment Rights Act 1996 increases from £4,200 to £4,400; the limit on the amount of a compensatory award for unfair dismissal rises from £60,600 to £63,000; and the amount of a week’s pay for the purposes of calculating a redundancy payment or for various awards including the basic or additional award of compensation for unfair dismissal goes up from £310 to £330.
A new criminal offence of knowingly employing illegal workers is effective from 29 February 2008. Prosecution and fines of up to £10,000 can be actioned against employers who employ illegal workers.
April
Legislation to strengthen the rights of vulnerable agency workers (the right to cancel accommodation or transport which has been provided to them, with adequate notice, for example) comes in to force on 1 April.
Various amendments to UK sex discrimination legislation are expected to come into force on 6 April. These better reflect the broad protection offered by the Equal Treatment Directive.
The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 create an offence of corporate manslaughter that allows, from 6 April, organisations to be prosecuted for management failures that lead to deaths of employees and others.
Standard rates of statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay increase from £112.75 to £117.18 per week, and statutory sickness pay increases from £72.55 to £75.40, from 6 April 2008.
Requirements giving employees the right to be informed and consulted about their employer’s business, and the right to be consulted on major changes to pension schemes, are extended to cover undertakings with 50 or more employees, from 6 April 2008.
Contrary to the belief of many, there is no statutory obligation on employers to observe Bank Holidays. However, across the UK, they are widely enjoyed as a contractual right and for reference, these are the 2008 dates for your diaries:
New Year’s Day 1 January
Good Friday 21 March
Easter Monday 24 March
May Bank Holiday 5 May
Spring Bank Holiday 26 May
Summer Bank Holiday 25 August
Christmas Day 25 December
Boxing Day 26 December
Regardless of the fact employers are not even obliged to observe the ones we have, there is still a petition circulating via email and social networking websites, asking the Prime Minister for another one! Well, as they say… “If you don’t ask…”!
EU ministers have recently failed to reach agreement on the Agency Workers Directive which aims to give temporary workers full employment rights. It was proposed that temporary workers would gain equal rights to permanent employees after a six-week qualifying period, and the UK government were one of the few to oppose this. The aim of this Directive has been supported by the Unions but employers’ groups have campaigned for a one year temporary placement with the same company before such a ruling applied.
There are cases within the UK legal system whose outcome could mean that our domestic laws will determine this matter – James v Greenwich Borough Council – for example which is at the UK Court of Appeal, so the likelihood of legislation change within this arena has not receded.
We’re probably all familiar with The Working Time Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/1833) with regard to staff working more than an average of 48 hours per week and the controversial matter of whether opt out provisions should be allowed. We may not be so aware that these Regulations and the various associated legislation also concerns young people, night workers, expectant mothers, road transport drivers as well as statutory annual leave.
The right to paid holiday has been four weeks per year but, as public holidays could be included in the figure by employers, employees who worked a five day week had only 12 days of annual leave left.
The Government have taken steps to ensure that workers will be able to havea minimum of four weeks plus public holidays via the Work and Families Act 2006 and the Working Time (Amendment) Regulations 2007 (SI2007/2079). The Amendment Regulations increase the total general holiday entitlement rather than specifically referring to public holidays. They bring in an additional 1.6 weeks annual leave which, for a person working a five-day week, is eight days. This is being implemented in two stages – 0.8 (4) days from 1st October 2007, giving 24 days, and 0.8 (4) days from 1st April 2009 giving the full 28 days.
As organisations’ holiday years start at different times of the year, a holiday entitlement ready reckoner is available on the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform website which shows entitlement against leave year start date.
The average number of public holidays within EU countries is 11.35 – Slovakia wins with 18 and the UK comes bottom of the list with 8. The TUC launched a search for a new Bank Holiday back in 2004 with a vote to find the most popular day and the T&G Union presented a 10,000 strong petition for an “International Women’s Day” in 2005, but we haven’t seen any addition yet. Let’s continue to hope!
We are currently looking to fill 3 exciting opportunities within Mercer & Hole’s London, St Albans and Milton Keynes offices.
For more information on these roles please refer to our vacancies page available here
Two new exciting career opportunites became available today.
For more information please refer to our vacancies page available here
Currently, we have a number of career-defining opportunities awaiting excellent candidates who appreciate being able to balance work and home life.
If you are seeking:
- Greater responsibility and career progression
- Acknowledgement and recognition for your efforts
- Fast-moving culture
- Family friendly benefits such as Flexible Hours and Childcare Vouchers
- Excellent working environment
and the chance to work alongside similar minded people, please take a look at our vacancies page.
- “Passion“ — This is the icing on the cake and very rare.
Candidates who can transfer their sense of passion without being overbearing or insincere attract attention immediately and can draw the interviewer into their world much more easily.
Can anyone think of any more “P“s for a perfect interview?
I’d be interested to hear from candidates’ experiences too in terms of what their best interview has been and why.
Wendy.
- “Positivity” – at all times. Interviewers love discussing issues with people who are enthusiastic and positive during the interview. There is nothing worse from my perspective, than someone sitting in front of you constantly moaning about their current/old employers or about personal problems they are having with their partners/children etc. Obviously, it is sometimes necessary and appropriate for this information to be discussed, however, candidates need to recognise that they are trying to sell themselves and need to think hard about how they portray their personality. Employers are sympathetic in the main to the fact that everyone tends to have some degree of problems in their life but candidates who fail to keep this to a reasonable level risk putting the interviewer off.
- “Propriety” – It’s very hard in this day and age to be untruthful on job applications, however, it never ceases to surprise me how many candidates will put experience on their CVs and are unable to back it up with reality. A classic example that I keep coming across is individual’s use of Excel. When asked for examples, they might suggest they use “Pivot Tables” and “Macros”. Maybe rather cruelly and unexpectedly for the candidate, I am a MOUS Excel expert and therefore always make a point of asking them what these functions do. Imagine my delight when candidates actually can respond to further probing accurately and how embarrassing it is for those who are forced to admit they don’t know. Lying about experience is more difficult now, particularly because we use Verifile to do thorough background checks.
- “Personality” - it is so obvious when someone is trying to portray a personality that is not really theirs in an aim to provide what the candidate thinks I will want to see. Don’t be afraid to be yourself as this will make it easier for you to sell yourself. We use personality profiling to assess candidates’ profiles now and this has proven to be very useful in determining whether or not someone is portraying the person they are.
Part 3 soon – The icing on the cake
There’s been a lot in the media recently about a backlash to anti-discrimination legislation.
Of course, I can understand that it might seem that employees appear to be gaining ever-increasing rights which can make, if nothing else, the legislative burden on an employer somewhat onerous. Further, I can to a certain degree understand why some employees might feel left out in the rights stakes.
However, there have been a few prominent figures (interestingly usually women) espousing rather negative views about mothers in the workplace which personally, I find disturbing and retrogressive.
Those holding these views seem oblivious to the fact that their businesses operate within a society and in the field of life and therefore should expect to accommodate all of its seven characteristics (for those who don’t remember this from GCSE or O-Level Biology, these are Respiration, Irritability, Nutrition, Growth, Movement, Excretion and Reproduction). Organisations accommodate R to E so why should Reproduction be such a contentious issue?
Unlike male seahorses, human men cannot gestate and after all, without future generations, where will the business be then? The world has changed too – families often are reliant on a dual income and the days of a parent being able to stop work for several years is for many, simply not an option these days.
It will be interesting to see how things develop. Forthcoming changes to maternity/paternity rights (probably at the end of this year), should lead to more men taking time off to look after their families or sharing some of the provision with their partner so at least the heat might be taken off mothers a bit. Isn’t their role hard enough already?
One of the more “personal” areas of HR that my job requires me to become involved with is dealing with very sensitive areas such as an individual’s hygiene or undesirable habits.
Thankfully, I’ve only had to deal with this a handful of times but it remains one of the areas I dread having to manage. My advice for how to deal with this scenario is as follows:
Never forget that someone may be suffering from a medical issue that has caused the problem and they may be unaware of this. Therefore, ensure you do not make the individual feel that lots of people have commented or are aware. It’s best to suggest that you want to help the individual sort out a delicate problem that you’ve noticed and that often people prefer that this be brought to their attention.
It should go without saying that this conversation needs to be kept confidential and conducted privately.
Agree a plan for resolution of the problem which may include the most basic of items such as regular washing of clothes, daily showering etc or even a vist to the doctor.
Obviously some managers shy away from dealing with problems of this nature as they find it awkward. However, a quick and timely chat can save a lot of embarrassment in the long run.
The news recently has been somewhat alarming for me having responsibility for health & safety within the firm. You are probably aware that there has been a series of letter bombings (thankfully with minimal injuries) in various areas across the country. What’s worrying for me is that one of the organisations hit was Vantis, another professional services firm. Although at present it’s unclear what is the motivation for these attacks, I’ve issued guidance to those in the firm who are responsible for dealing with the post.
I’ve found some very useful guidance on the Hertfordshire Police website which I’ve issued to those concerned. There is also quite a useful poster out there too which comes from the US, giving a picture of what suspect post might look like.
I’ve reinforced to my colleagues that the risk of anything such as this affecting our organisation is very remote and that there’s no harm in being just a bit more vigilant than usual. I’d be interested to hear if anyone else has taken similar measures or what other approaches have been adopted.
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Have you ever wondered what it feels like from an HR Manager’s perspective to interview a fantastic candidate? This is a subject I love to talk about because leaving the interview room with a buzz is so rewarding and unfortunately all too rare these days.
The following list exemplifies in my experience, the “P” elements I experience during an interview that make me happy!
- “Punctuality” arrival and ensuring that should disaster strike, I’m informed in advance of potential lateness (one candidate turned up an hour late after having been drenched by a lorry with no explanation, call etc which did not go down at all well). With all the forms of communication available to us today, there is not often a justification for unexpected or unexplained lateness.
- “Politeness” - this very much includes punctuality but candidates who take the time to show an interest in you as an interviewer, shake hands and wait to ask to be seated makes such a fabulous impression and it doesn’t cost anything.
- “Preparation” - candidates that demonstrate they have taken the time to learn about the firm. There was an excellent example of this on The Apprentice last year. It was amazing that after twelve weeks of working towards their goal of working for Alan Sugar, very few of the candidates had actually taken the time to find out what his organisation did. Interviewers generally are enthusiastic about their firm and therefore expect candidates to show an interest too, otherwise, why would they want to work there? Further, candidates who use innovative and spontaneous questions, rather than those clichéd ones posted on agency websites stand out and makes the interview more stimulating for those conducting it.
Subscribe to my blog today and stay tuned for Part 2 soon
I was so excited earlier this year because I managed to introduce the provision of Childcare Vouchers to our employees. The response has been excellent and it has actively helped us retain some key members of staff.
In case you’re not aware, Childcare Vouchers in the U.K allow employees to not be liable for NI and Tax on up to £243 of their earnings per month as long as it is spent on registered childcare services. This can extend to items such as after school clubs etc. There is also talk of this arrangement being extended in future to the care of the elderly but I think the government has some work to do on this before anything comes into place.
Information can be found about this on the Inland Revenue’s website http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/childcare/ or on our service provider (Accor Services) at- http://www.childcarevouchers.co.uk
There are lots of providers out there – why not have a look and see if this is something you can offer to your staff. The administration involved in running the system is minimal for us and our staff really appreciate the benefit.
As you may have noticed, the arena of Employment Law is becoming increasingly populated with legislation aimed at making life easier for us all as employees and human beings.
In this light, the Flexible Working legislation will extend its reach to encompass those employees with a minium of 26 weeks’ continuous service and who care for an adult aged 18 or above who is their spouse, partner/civil partner, relative or an individual who lives at the same address.
Just for the purposes of clarification, this right was only open to those who had parental responsibility for a child under the age of six (or 18 for a disabled child). Of course, companies are not obliged to grant requests by employees to work flexibly but are under a duty to give proper consideration to the request.
In my opinion, the extension of this right to individuals caring for an adult is likely to have more of an impact on businesses than the legislation’s introduction a few years ago because we are living in an increasingly ageing population. If your organisation has not up until now, seriously entertained the concept of flexible working, I would suggest now would be the ideal time to start working towards cultural change. All the indicators out there suggest that the working world is moving towards fluid and less conventional modes of operating – see my blog re the Hampshire PA Hunt for example which explores a role for which the hours will be completely flexible.
You might be interested to read about a success story in the field of Flexible Working. Farrelly Facilities and Engineering have won awards for revolutionising the way they work – have a look at their website for more information http://www.farrellyfacilities.com/main.html
If you have between 100 and 149 staff and you haven’t got your organisation’s procedures and arrangements in place for consulting with your employees, you should start thinking about this now. You may find that you’ve already got good enough mechanisms in place but you should review or introduce a policy and formal procedures. From April 2007, it is possible that your own staff may make a request to negotiate an Information & Consultation Agreement so it’s best to be prepared.
The aim of the legislation is essentially to ensure that employees are kept informed and consulted about important issues which in theory should lead to staff that feel valued.
We at Mercer & Hole, put all our arrangements in place prior to the introduction of the original Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations, even though it did not cover us at that point in time. It has stood us in good stead because the legislation allows for pre-existing arrangements to continue if certain criteria are met.
For further information, you should refer to the DTI website.
It’s becoming increasingly obvious that at the very least, the role of the secretary is changing. In fact, in some industries, the role has almost disappeared. The effects of technology designed to increase self-sufficiency (Outlook, Lotus Notes, document management systems etc) and more widespread keyboard/computer skills are largely to blame and this trend is now starting to be seen within professional services, which has traditionally been heavily reliant upon the services of secretarial staff.
In terms of HR, the biggest challenge facing the profession is ideally to redeploy rather than make redundant. There are some valuable skills amongst this community, yet it seems that many resist or remain in denial about the changing working world and its relevance to their role. However, it is encouraging to see that others are being proactive, taking control of their own careers, demonstrating a more commercial outlook, volunteering change, diversifying, learning new skills and creating a new career path. A recent example of this is one of our secretarial team volunteering to become involved in our accounts department and new Practice Management software.
I’d be interested to hear others’ experiences and perspectives on this.
I thought I’d done all the hard work in finding a suitable candidate but it seems the work is just beginning. Well, at least, for our Facilities and IT people rather than me!
Our new PA has signed up and there is a mass of activity afoot, trying to ensure that her home office is set up with everything she needs. Broadband has been installed as well as extra phone lines and next week all the files and furniture will be delivered. The poor woman must feel like she’s been invaded but she seems to be happy enough.
The flexible hours system will be put to the test with this role and I’m keen to see how it works out. Holiday calculations etc seem to have been made easier by us agreeing a minimum number of hours over the year although we’ll have to see how we determine exactly what constitutes a day’s holiday which I guess might be the average number of hours worked per day.
I’ll be going down to visit our new recruit to do an induction in the next couple of weeks and may be I’ll be able to persuade her to write a blog too about the role and her experiences.
Day two of our telephone interviews and things seem to be going well.
My colleague Sarah and I are conducting first interviews by phone to see if we can screen candidates more effectively at this stage by using a defined questioning and marking system which leaves little opportunity, if any at all, for subjectivity to creep in. In theory, anyone should be able to conduct these interviews and objectively mark the candidates. It also should save lots of fee earner chargeable time (these interviews were previously done in person by a Manager) and will save the candidates having to make two trips to our offices.
So far, the same old issues are arising (as per my blog about the perfect interview). Candidates are failing to research properly the firm, role and the qualifications they will be taking which is very frustrating. However, the system itself seems to be working because contrary to my fears that we might get lots of candidates with the same marks, a range of scores has been generated.
We’ve made minor modifications to the scoring process as we’ve gone along (which has been retrospectively applied to all candidates) with the aim of ensuring it is completely fair to everyone.
Will keep you updated of our progress. We will sit down to decide on 9 March which candidates will come through to the assessment day stage.
S’no’w Holiday!
February 8 and the office experiences one of those more challenging days. The snow has caused havoc across Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire making it difficult for a lot of staff to come in.
Days like this are fascinating from a geeky HR Manager’s perspective. They highlight quite nicely conflicts between employment/contract and health & safety legislation.
On the one hand, employees are legally obliged to get into work but on the other, would we as employers be held liable should expecting them to come in put their health & safety at risk? Equally we don’t have to pay employees who don’t make it in but that seems rather harsh.
In recent years, it’s become noticeable that the trend for extreme periods of weather is increasing and I felt it was time we had a policy on this issue. In the past, we’ve always written off the time as “Allowable Absence” but the commercial reality of the potential financial impact of this could be significant if the trend continues.
Further there are human considerations to make. There has been a perception amongst staff that those who haven’t come in benefit from a day off whereas those who do, get a sandwich from the local greasy spoon and the opportunity to leave early which can leave a bad taste in the mouth (not the sandwich – our local café is excellent).
In an effort to redress the balance, I’ve devised a policy which hopefully maintains the balance between health & safety considerations and rewarding those who do make the effort to come in.
To summarise it, in future, our employees who don’t come in must expect to take the time out as holiday or unpaid and those who do will be able to use an element of Allowable Absence if they come in late or leave early (sandwiches will still be provided!). There is also an element of discretion for exceptional circumstances only. However, options like home-working (if agreed by a partner or manager), making up the time and using alternative forms of transport are also offered as alternatives. Those who do work from home incidentally, are expected to charge a full day or to charge half to holiday or unpaid and half to work codes as appropriate.
If you’d like to see my policy, subscribe to my blogs today and I’ll send you a copy. I’d be interested to see yours too as I couldn’t find any on the internet for comparison.
Wendy
I’m in the process of moving and one of my neighbours decided to plonk two bags of someone else’s rubbish which had been discarded on the green in my front garden. He had assumed it was ours due to the amounts we’ve been throwing out recently as part of our clearout after fifteen years! (why do we accumulate so much?). Obviously, we are considerate neighbours and do leave it in the requisite place at the requisite time. Rather miffed to put it mildly, I challenged him and asked if he might be able to explain this clandestine enigma. He admitted it. I think my look said it all but he did “graciously” agree to move it for me to which I took great exception. However, he duly did, tail between legs (with no apology offered) – he won’t do that again I suspect. The wonders of living and working with people I guess. That’s one of the things that makes HR in particular so rewarding – people always surprise you no matter how well you think you know them.
Anyhow, I digress (she says à la Ronnie Corbett). Luckily, this did not set the tone for the week as there’s a lot going on and it’s exciting. Michelle Golden of Golden Marketing came over from the states to talk to us all about the wonders of blogging. I was amazed to discover that there are experts in this field who know and understand the professional services industry inside-out. It’s all been quite a revelation to me.
I like to think of myself as a bit of a “geek” really. I’m into geocaching (don’t ask – you’ll probably be better off looking at (http://www.geocaching.com), have MOUS certificates and love complicated PDA technology and thought I was ahead of the game. I’ve experimented with a blog before but didn’t realise the full potential of this medium. Having now attended the presentation I am so enthused now that I have started blogging in earnest. It’s great fun and a wonderful way of sharing opinions and making contacts.
Looking at my diary, I will train a colleague to prepare some rather detailed Chargeable Hours Reports that I devised some years ago now. This will save me lots of time and hopefully provide her with something new, challenging and interesting to do. She was a secretary who recognised that this career path is in demise and has actively sought new areas of work and interest.
I’m also quite busy on the health & safety front. We’ve got a meeting in a couple of weeks and new issues such as the forthcoming smoking ban (http://www.smokefreeengland.co.uk) need consideration. I’ve issued some guidance on identifying suspect mail in light of recent letter bomb.
If anyone can recommend an excellent Absence Management system, please give me a call. I’ve been looking for a module or system that will allow multiple managers to be responsible for and authorise people’s holiday. So many of the systems out there seem stuck with the one-to-one ratio with limited flexibility. The system also needs to provide an overview of everyone’s movements for ease of reference. I’ve identified one or two but would appreciate hearing about your experiences.
The firm will recruit some new trainees this year and in November 2006, I delegated the responsibility for running this to my HR Officer, Sarah. I have proposed that for the first time, we conduct first interviews by telephone which previously were done in person by fee earners. HR will take this on and save chargeable time by devising a comprehensive and scoreable list of questions to segregate candidates for progression or rejection. Sarah’s working hard on this and it’ll be interesting to see how this works. The benefits could be invaluable in terms of time saving and convenience. Obviously there are downsides like not being able to read body language but in any case, we’ll review and amend for next year as necessary. I’ll let you know how this works out.
Friday’s going to be an extremely busy day for me. I will be in London during the morning conducting three interviews for a much needed Trustees role and I’m then back to St Albans for the afternoon to do an exit interview and discuss the interview questions for the Trainee Recruitment process with fee earning colleagues and my team.
Hopefully on top of all this, I will find someone to rent or purchase my house! I’m moving in a couple of weeks or so and have spent a lot of time renovating the house almost to the point I wondered why we are moving. Judging by the rubbish bags at dawn incident, it definitely will be worth it in the end.
I am so excited at the moment about a brand new role I am recruiting for. Apart from anything else, it’s unusual that I get to visit an old haunt of mine, the beautiful county of Hampshire and the role itself is part of the groundbreaking movement that’s taking force in terms of flexible working.
What’s really so wonderful about this role, I guess you’re probably thinking. Well, for me it’s the type of role that demonstrate’s the willingness and flexibility of an organisation and its culture to respond to social change and to adopt best practice. Most of all I am finding the process fun. For the last week or so, I’ve been helping our eminent Tax expert and lecturer, Robert Jamieson determine the best way to find his right-hand person who will organise his commitments and writing. Robert is an author and is well-known in the field of Tax because he trains those at the top of the profession today.
The role itself offers completely flexible hours (July and August off! – I’m so jealous) and the opportunity to work from home which will suit many people and the successful applicant will probably become typical of the country’s future workforce. There is a very strong desire out there amongst candidates for this kind of role. Anticipating a large response, I allowed only five days for application and have been thrilled to receive approximately thirty high quality candidates, which reinforces that perhaps this is indeed the way of the future.
