Cost of Living Crisis: What Should I do Next?
The cost-of-living crisis is affecting us all, however, employers need to take action to help employees who may be struggling. Every employer has a legal duty to look out for the health and safety of its employees, and if employees make it known that they are struggling because of this employer need to take the next step.
Increasing Salaries
Many larger employers have made the news recently by announcing that they will be increasing salaries, paying one-off bonuses, or making home energy cost contributions. An example of this, Barclays, is rewarding 35,000 of its staff a pay rise from 1st August. However, it is understood that this is not feasible for all businesses.
Legally, there is no obligation on employers to raise employees’ salaries in response to the cost-of-living crisis. Employers should look at non-financial ways of helping staff.
Communication
It’s important for employers to recognise that the crisis will affect different employees in different ways. A good first step would be to ensure that there is good communication between you and the employees so that they are encouraged to voice their concerns and issues. Only after listening to employees can an employer understand what solutions the right ones are.
Home or Hybrid working
Some employers are repositioning home or hybrid working flexibility as a solution to the cost-of-living crisis because of the saving on commuting costs rather than a more traditional work-life balance solution. It’s important that an employee’s contract is updated or varied to reflect their true current working arrangements.
Bright Contracts software has a hybrid working policy in the “Terms and Conditions” section of the handbook which is completely editable to your business’ needs.
The Importance of Having a Social Media Policy
Social media platforms may be fun and can keep us connected, especially in most recent times. They are also used as an effective marketing tool for many businesses. We should be mindful of the dangers of social media. A social media policy is ideal for laying out your expectations for how workers use social media in the workplace.
The pandemic introduced new ways of staying connected with colleagues and customers. You may have introduced additional social technologies to assist employees with team communication and project collaboration. You may have promoted more usage of professional social media platforms like LinkedIn in absence of face-to-face networking possibilities.
Employers without a social media policy face risks. There are many advantages to using social media however, it is understandable why an employer may wish to provide instructions on utilising and handling work-related social media accounts.
Employees must understand that while online they are representing the company. They must act in a way that promotes the brand, whether it is through posting or how they interact with other users.
Like many other aspects of employment law, a well-drafted policy can make the difference. Bright Contracts software has a preformatted social media policy in the “Terms and Conditions” section of the Handbook, which is completely editable to your business needs.
