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.
Calculating Holiday Pay for Part-Time Workers
In Harpur Trust v Brazel, the Supreme Court had to decide on the correct method of calculating holiday entitlement and pay for workers who work for varying hours during only certain weeks of the year but who have a contract throughout that year. The issue was whether their entitlement should be calculated on the same principle as full-time employees or whether their leave should be calculated by ignoring those weeks.
While this case specifically relates to a term time working arrangement, it could also be relevant to zero-hour contracts or other atypical working arrangements in which a worker only works for part of the normal working year.
A part-time worker’s annual leave must be calculated as 5.6 weeks, in the same way as everyone else. Calculating holiday pay based on 12.07% of annual earnings is incorrect and should no longer be used.
Employers need to check if they have any atypical workers whose holiday pay is being calculated on the basis of 12.07% of pay multiplied by 5.6 weeks or via another method that results in them having a pro-rata entitlement. If so, they will need to change how they calculate their holiday pay.
Employers should review the arrangements of term time workers who work normal hours when they are at work and check that their holiday entitlement and pay are being calculated correctly.
The decision by the Supreme Court is likely to affect many employers in the education sector but will also be relevant to other organisations that have employees working on a term-time-only basis.
Managing public holiday entitlement for part-time workers
Employers must ensure that workers receive at least the statutory minimum annual leave entitlement. If an employer is paying full-time staff not to work a public holiday, then part-time staff should be entitled to a pro-rated holiday entitlement to avoid any claims of less favourable treatment.
Example
An employee works three days a week, Tuesday to Thursday. The employee should be given a pro-rata entitlement to public holidays as part of their annual leave entitlement but can take their annual leave when they choose since very few public holidays will fall on their working days.
Employers often prefer to calculate pro-rated annual leave and public holidays based on hours rather than days when looking at different working patterns.
Changes to Right to Work Checks
Right-to-work checks are an important part of employment law, but the ways in which they are conducted have changed in response to the pandemic.
The Current Situation
Under UK Law it is illegal to employ individuals who cannot prove they have the appropriate right-to-work documentation. Those who choose to recruit illegal workers face criminal convictions and can incur fines of up to £20’000 per employee. It is therefore crucial for employers to follow the necessary steps and to be able to show evidence that the correct steps have been taken.
What’s Next?
Since the pandemic, the government announced new ways of conducting right-to-work checks as face-to-face checks were no longer an option.
From April 6th, the status of all foreign nationals who hold either a biometric residence card, biometric residence permit, or frontier worker permit now needs to be checked online rather than manually. All that is needed is a date of birth and a share code to verify someone’s eligibility via the government’s online checking service.
From 1st October 2022, employers will be asked to use certified Identity Service Providers (IDSPs) to complete digital right-to-work checks for any British or Irish citizen holding a valid passport, as an alternative to undertaking the manual checks. Employers must submit digital images of personal documents, rather than copying original documentation.
These amendments will leave employers with a choice: return to the manual process, which is more time-consuming, or revert to digitally checking which will have cost implications for future budgets.
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Case Law: Harper Trust v Brazel
In the case of Harper Trust v Brazel, the Supreme Court has confirmed that workers who only work for part of the year, but on permanent contracts, are effectively entitled to the same holiday allowance as workers who work all year.
Background to the case
Mrs. Brazel brought a claim against her employer, Harpur Trust, in relation to holiday pay. Ms. Brazel was a visiting music teacher, employed on a permanent, zero-hours contract. She was paid for the work she did. Mrs. Brazel did not work a full week and she was not required to work during the school holidays.
She argued that as a worker, she was entitled to a full year’s paid leave (5.6 weeks) in accordance with the Working Time Regulations 1998 and not a pro-rated holiday based on the weeks she actually worked. She also argued that her holiday pay should be calculated based on her earnings in the previous 12-week reference period (now 52 weeks). The Trust- as many employers have done- was following ACAS’ guidance which suggested that employers use a multiplier of 12.07% to pro-rate holiday entitlement for part-year workers. Since the Supreme Court ruling, this ACAS guidance has been removed.
Supreme Court Decision
Where a part-year worker works on a permanent contract throughout the holiday year but has irregular hours and pay they are entitled to 5.6 weeks statutory leave and their holiday pay should be calculated, not on a pro-rata basis, but based on a ‘week’s pay’ averaged out over the previous 52 weeks.
The effect of the judgment is that Mrs. Brazel ad other similar workers who work atypical working patterns or who don’t work a full leave year will be paid proportionally more by way of holiday pay than those who work full-time or part-time.
Next Steps
Firstly, employers must assess the number of workers that could be impacted by this decision. Employers should also ensure that when calculating holiday pay, they use the correct calculation moving forward and make any amendments to workers’ contracts to reflect how holiday pay will be calculated moving forward. Employers may also consider in the future, whether a fixed-term or a temporary contract rather than a permanent one.
Employers may want to use this as an opportunity to review the working patterns they have in place and particularly how permanent contracts are used for employees working different patterns.
The Five Steps in Risk Assessment
The five steps in risk assessment are identifying hazards in the workplace, identifying who might be harmed by the hazards and taking reasonable steps to eliminate or reduce the risks, recording your findings, and reviewing and updating your risk assessment regularly.
1. Identifying hazards in your workplace
The first step in risk assessment is identifying hazards. You must identify things in your workplace which pose a risk to the health and safety of staff or visitors. Walk around your premises to consider what could potentially cause a hazard and consult with staff about what they think the risks are.
When performing a general risk assessment, you should look for risks such as:
Slip and trip hazards like deliveries not put away, loose flooring, spillages, etc.
- Electrical equipment
- Fire hazards
- Risks associated with manual handling or lifting
- Environmental issues, such as ventilation, temperature, or noise levels
- General maintenance risks, such as damaged or defective equipment, storage, cleaning supplies, or presence of vermin or pests
- Risks associated with workstations
- Working at height or objects falling from a height
- Risks caused by visitors to the workplace
- Lone working
You must keep an open mind to any risks specific to your industry and premises.
2. Identify who might be at risk
Secondly, you have to identify any particular group of staff whose health and safety is at risk due to the work they do. For example, warehouse workers might be particularly at risk of falls from height or things falling on them, whereas your office staff are more likely to be affected by poorly arranged workstations.
Additionally, sometimes a group of people will be at risk due to a shared characteristic, rather than the nature of their roles, e.g., pregnant women or young people. For example, if you employ any women of child-bearing age, the nature of the work could involve a particular risk to a new or expectant mother or her baby. These risks must be considered in the general risk assessment.
3. Taking steps to reduce or remove the risks
As part of your risk assessment, you must decide what to do about the hazards and risks you uncover, and take action to deal with them.
You must get rid of any hazards that you can and try to reduce the risks posed by any that you cannot remove.
Some suggestions on how to reduce or remove hazards in the workplace include:
- Changing the design or layout of your workplace
- Providing different or better work equipment, including any protective equipment
- Having better premises or a better equipment maintenance regime
- Providing better welfare facilities, e.g., rest breaks
4. Keeping written records
If you employ more than five people, you are legally required to keep written records of your risk assessments. If you have less than five employees, you do not have to write anything down, however, it is good practice to always keep a record of your risk assessments in writing so you can refer to them if needed.
5. Reviewing your risk assessment
As soon as you become an employer you should perform a general risk assessment. You are then legally required to review and renew your general risk assessment if it is no longer valid or if there have been changes to anything that is covered.
As business changes over time, you should regularly review and update your risk assessment. Annual reviews are common for most businesses.
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Four Negative Workplace Factors Harming Retention
New research has identified the biggest negative habits harming employee satisfaction. Employees have been turning to Google for advice on coping with a negative working environment.
Let’s look at the four negative workplace factors that are harming retention.
Lack of career development opportunities
Over the last 12 months, there has been a huge increase in the number of google searches for ‘work progression’. Lack of progression and development opportunities at work can influence employee satisfaction and motivation levels. Some employees feel there is no more room to grow in their current role or opportunities to learn new skills which can negatively impact their well-being at work.
Employers should look to coach and develop their team’s skillset, building on each employee's individual strengths so they can reach their potential. Encouraging your team to develop their skills supports employee wellbeing, resulting in an engaged and motivated team.
Poor Recognition and Reward Systems
Google searches for ‘rewards in the workplace’ have increased by over 65% in the last year. Employees’ motivation can be increased with workplace rewards as they act as an acknowledgment of the employee’s behaviour.
Rewards don’t always need to be financial to be beneficial. A simple thank you or sharing news of an employee’s achievement can provide a team member with the recognition they deserve.
Limited access to health and wellbeing services
In the last year, there has been a 50% increase in the number of Google searches for ‘health and wellbeing in the workplace’. Employers need to place a greater emphasis on supporting their employee’s health needs. Whether it’s providing medical and dental cover or having access to mental health services through an EAP scheme, there are many ways employers can provide health benefits. In return, businesses will benefit from a healthy, happy, and motivated workforce.
Workplace Culture
A company’s working environment can have a huge impact on employee wellbeing, job satisfaction, and engagement. Negative workplace culture can be influenced by a lack of communication, a tense atmosphere, poor management, and a lack of work-life balance. Negative workplace cultures can lead to a higher staff turnover and impact your ability to attract and retain employees.
It's important for employers to listen to employees. Having focus groups or meetings with employees to get feedback will give you an indication of what your business is doing right and what needs to be improved.
Statistics have been provided by HR Director.
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Handling Workplace Complaints
Handling workplace complaints or grievances in the UK can be legally risky and expensive if UK employment laws are not followed. In this blog, we’ll discuss tips for employers on how to handle these complaints.
Tips for employers
Be proactive to prevent complaints
Encourage employees to raise concerns informally first with their line managers, many potential complaint/grievance issues can be resolved this way.
Have a written workplace complaint/grievance policy
This is required by law unless the complaint procedure is already set out on the employment contract. The policy should make it clear in a written procedure that an informal resolution should be considered before making a formal complaint/grievance.
Watch out for whistleblowing
Complaints that have a ‘public interest’ element may amount to ‘protected disclosures’ for the purposes of the whistleblowing legislation, and as such may be subjected to certain protection. Employees who are dismissed or suffer any detriment as a result of having blown the whistle can bring claims against their employer.
Complete an investigation
Failure to complete an investigation before making a decision on a complaint/grievance could make that decision unfair and leave the employer vulnerable to legal action. Once the investigator considers that they have established the facts surrounding the complaint/grievance, they will need to produce an investigation report that explains their findings.
Choose your investigator wisely
Don’t appoint someone who is personally involved in the matter being investigated, or likely to be influenced by the people involved, otherwise you risk arguments of a breach of natural justice.
Investigate a complaint/grievance sensitively
The content of an employee’s grievance should only be disclosed to the subject of the grievance, to the extent that it is absolutely necessary in order to conduct a reasonable investigation of the grievance.
There is no specific obligation requiring the employer to disclose any information or documentation that the employee requests during the grievance process. The employer should co-operate with the employee where possible.
How to Conduct a Risk Assessment for Remote Workers
Given the increase of remote and hybrid workers in the workforce, it is important to make sure you know how to conduct a risk assessment for remote workers. The usual health and safety duties extend to those working remotely and include identifying risks, ensuring workstation assessments are carried out and providing appropriate training.
Most people working from home are office workers which means it is a lower risk from a health and safety perspective, however, issues such as stress, fatigue, and poor posture can pose real dangers to homeworkers.
Risk assessments for remote workers
It is your duty as an employer to conduct risk assessments for remote and hybrid workers. The process of carrying out your risk assessment will be different. For example, you may not be able to visit the employees’ homes to carry it out, however, you may ask them to do a risk assessment themselves or send you a picture of their workspace.
Once your employees’ home workplace is passed as safe, it is their responsibility to ensure that it has been kept that way. However, the risk assessment must be reviewed periodically or whenever you have reason to believe that the risks may have changed.
Hazards to look for when conducting a risk assessment for staff who work from home
There are some risks that you should consider for most staff working remotely. Common risks include:
- Mental health risks such as stress and anxiety
- Risks associated with workstations e.g., the use of display screen equipment
- Electrical equipment
- Environmental issues such as noise levels, temperature, and ventilation
These are just some common risks homeworkers may experience, additionally you must keep an open mind to any risks specific to the work your employees are doing remotely.
Protecting the mental health of homeworkers
The following steps can help you reduce stress and mental health issues for staff who work remotely:
- Ensure that remote workers come into the workplace regularly so they can stay up to date with the business and stay connected with their colleagues
- Remember to include them in work socials to tackle feelings of isolation
- Have proper communication systems set up to stay connected with off-premises staff during the day. E.g., phone, email, instant messaging, videoconferencing, etc
- Provide helplines for IT support or equipment breakdown.
Health and Safety training for homeworkers
You must give enough health and safety training to all your staff to enable them to be safe at work, including those who work from home.
Regardless of where employees are working, all employers still have a responsibility for their health, safety, and wellbeing. Managers should be encouraged to regularly discuss this with team members, as employees should still take the first step in reporting any issues to their employer.
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Tips for Dealing with Underperforming Employees
Poor employee performance can affect not only their immediate team but also the wider business. When colleagues see an employee slacking, their own motivation can decrease.
In some cases, an employee may be genuinely trying but is struggling to hit their targets or meet the needs of the business. On the other hand, an employee may be more than capable but not as bothered when it comes to hitting their targets.
These tips may help you deal with underperforming employees.
Know what you want from the employee
To identify if an employee is underperforming you need to be aware of what you want from them. It’s important to know that the employee must be aware of the required standards of the business.
Informality
When addressing the performance issue for the first time, you should approach it informally with the employee. A simple conversation with the employee will make sure the issue is not unaddressed.
Let the individual know that there are concerns
The first practical step is to let the employee know that you have concerns regarding their performance in the workplace. This should be done privately with the employee. This isn’t a formal meeting so there is no need to formally invite the employee with notice. It’s best to approach this conversation in a friendly manner.
Identify the problem
There should be inquiries to the reason for the employee’s underperformance. This is necessary to establish what action you need to take. If they have the capacity to perform better but simply choose not to, they need to be told to improve.
If they’re trying hard to do the job but still can’t perform well, that’s the problem and you should identify how you can help them for example providing training or supervision. If it’s a medical reason, it may be necessary to obtain an expert medical opinion.
Make them aware of the consequences
Although you’re dealing with the issue informally, you should inform the employee that if there are no signs of improvement you may need to begin a formal procedure with them.
Revisit
If the employees’ performance doesn’t improve, the issue should be revisited. You should speak to the employee again, pointing out your previous discussion and any help that you provided and that it doesn’t appear to have any effect.
Formal Procedure
If no sufficient improvement or explanation is provided, you should consider implementing a formal disciplinary or capability procedure with the employee. Formal hearings should be held where the employee is permitted to respond to the concerns you have. Employees should be formally invited to these hearings, allowed the right to be accompanied and formal sanctions, e.g. warnings may be given where appropriate.
Additionally to these tips you need to remember to communicate clearly with each employee. Ensure the employee is clear on the objectives they’ve been set and on the consequences of their underperformance.
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What you need to know about Hiring Employees in the UK
There are a number of things to consider when hiring employees in the UK such as background checks, medical examinations, and the contract of employment all of which will be discussed in this blog.
Background Checks
Background checks are a standard procedure for a number of sectors in the UK. They are used to ensure that the candidate is qualified for the position and that they do not have any criminal records. When you are looking to hire someone, you should request a background check.
The Employment Background Check Act was introduced in 2008. It is a requirement for employers to conduct background checks on staff before hiring them. These checks can include criminal records, credit checks, and employment references.
Employers are legally obliged to follow the best practice when conducting compliance checks. This includes:
- Conducting a thorough check of criminal records and checking with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) for any previous convictions.
- Checking employment references
Medical Examinations
Pre-employment health checks or questions are regulated under the Equality Act 2010. In certain circumstances, pre-employment questions of or about an applicant for work are prohibited before an offer of work to the applicant is made, or before his or her inclusion in a pool from which candidates for work will be selected.
Individual offers of employment can be made conditional upon satisfactory health checks, but a recruiting employer may then render itself liable to discrimination claims if it appears that an offer is not confirmed based on the information disclosed by the health checks.
Medical reports given by a medical practitioner responsible for an individual’s care are subject to the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988, which essentially allows the patient the right of sight and comment on the report.
Hiring of employees
Employment Contracts
There is no statutory requirement for a written employment contract however it is common practice in the UK for all employees to have a written employment contract with their employers that contains the following terms;
• the names and addresses of the employee or worker and the employer;
• the start date and the continuous employment commencement date;
• the job title;
• the place of work;
• the length of the temporary or fixed-term work;
• terms relating to work outside the United Kingdom for a period of more than one month;
• remuneration details;
• the hours of work;
• the days of the week on which he or she is required to work and whether working hours or days may be variable;
• any probationary period that starts at the beginning of the engagement, including any conditions and its duration;
• holidays and holiday pay;
• sickness and sick pay;
• any other paid leave (eg, family related leave such as maternity or paternity leave, or time off for public duties);
• the pension;
• any part of any training entitlement that the employer requires him or her to complete, including any training that it requires but does not pay for;
• any other benefits provided by the employer;
• the notice period;
• whether the work is temporary or fixed-term;
• collective agreements; and
• the disciplinary and grievance procedures
Bright Contracts software has everything you need to create and manage professional contracts of employment. It provides all the employment law knowledge for you so there is no experience needed.
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