Employment Newsletter
HR matters Spring 2015 In this edition:
Workplace temperatures Shared parental leave (ShPP) Untaken holiday Fit for work April and October statutory payments Health and Safety round-up Automatic enrolment
Spring 2015
Employment Newsletter Untaken Holiday When must you allow employees to carry over untaken holiday?
Because of long term sickness absence Maternity, additional paternity or adoption leave (Shared Parental Leave)
At the end of the holiday year an employee must be allowed to carry over up to 4 weeks statutory leave if they have not been able to take it due to a sickness absence reason. If it’s due to maternity, additional paternity etc. then they can carry over the full 5.6 weeks of statutory leave. (Additional holiday entitlement over the statutory is in your control, but will depend on your contractual arrangements). For the reasons listed above there are clear rules applied under the Working Time Regulations.
HR Admin Systems If you are currently experiencing Excel spreadsheet overload from managing your HR administration have you stopped to think that a simple of the shelf HR system might save you time and money? Prices start from as little as £9 a month or £97 per year. What do they cover:
Where you have an employee who just doesn’t take their holiday where do you stand? There have been cases brought to tribunal that have tried to answer this question. What we know is that where an employee is prevented from taking their holiday entitlement they are likely to receive financial damages for loss of holiday entitlement. What do you need to do to ensure you manage your employee’s holiday entitlement properly and they take responsibility for taking it?
Have a policy that states holiday entitlement must be taken by the end of the holiday year or it will be lost (explain employees have no general right to carry forward holiday – unless for example you allow a 5 day carry forward) Ensure you cover your holiday rules during probation Set up a holiday request and authorisation process and communicate to employees Maintain communication throughout the year and remind staff that holidays need to be taken Do not prevent employees from taking their holiday. (Where you have rules that prevent more than 2 people being off at the same time for example, make sure there is enough time during the year when holiday can be taken)
By setting up clear policies and procedures you avoid employees trying to suggest you prevented them from taking their holiday and taking a claim against you.
Holiday booking on line with line manager authorisation
Holiday calendar
Absence management and sickness bookings
Target, one to ones and appraisal management
Simple reports
Uploading of documents
Managing training courses
Logging employee data such as previous roles, salaries, qualifications and training
Linking to payroll
Time logs
Expenses management
To name but a few. If you would like more information or to set up a demo. Please contact Kerry McGowan 07970 489321
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Spring 2015
Employment Newsletter Workplace temperatures A hot topic may be the temperature of your workplace if the predicted scorching summer days materialise this year. You may therefore, have requests from staff to go home because they may suggest that temperatures are too high to work.
National Minimum Wage
Whilst there are rules about the minimum workplace temperatures (16C for sedentary work or 13C for physical effort is involved), there are no such temperatures identified as a maximum. The law says the temperature has to be reasonable based on the working environment. Employees have no right to go home (even if they tell you they do).
From 1st October 2015
What does reasonable mean in practice?
18 to 20 years (the “development rate”) £5.30
Put measures in place for staff to alleviate discomfort
Increase ventilation
Supply fans or air conditioning units
Provide cold drinks
Give additional breaks
Be conscious of pregnant workers and those with medical or other problems and give additional support if required
16 to 17 years who are no longer of compulsory school age £3.87
21 years and over (the “principal rate”) £6.70 Apprentices who are in their first year of apprenticeship or under 19 (the “apprenticeship rate”) £3.30
The only time an employee can walk off the job is if there is a serious or imminent danger to their health and not because they feel too hot. Disciplinary action is a last resort but can be used where employees unreasonably refuse to work. Generally speaking there is a compromise somewhere that can be reached.
Apprentices who are not in their first year of apprenticeship and are 19 and over. Standard worker rates according to age Accommodation offset rate changes from £5.08 to £5.35
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Spring 2015
Employment Newsletter Shared Parental Leave Legislation has now come into force that will give effect to new shared parental leave. The rules apply to those babies due, or who will adopted, on or after 5 April 2015. It is therefore a good time to remind employers of the main changes. Employers need to familiarise themselves with leave notification arrangements and change their maternity and paternity and adoption family leave policies, procedures and processes. This is a completely new scheme – parental leave that shares leave between “parents” a man and a woman or same sex partners in a relationship who give birth or adopt children. What is happening? The new system will replace additional statutory paternity leave and pay What do we currently have?
Maternity leave (52 weeks)
adoption leave (also 52 weeks)
ordinary paternity leave (2 weeks) and
‘ordinary’ unpaid parental leave (18 weeks)
The maximum unfair dismissal compensatory award Rises from £76,574 to £78,335 The maximum amount of a week's pay for the purpose of calculating a statutory redundancy payment and the basic and additional awards for unfair dismissal increases from £464 to £475 from April 2015
What will change? When the new system takes effect, the mother of a new baby will be able to convert part of her statutory maternity leave and statutory maternity pay entitlement into shared parental leave (ShPL) and shared parental pay (ShPP). ShPL and ShPP will also be available to adoptive parents and intended parents through surrogacy. It will be possible to convert up to 50 weeks of the full (52 week) maternity or adoption leave entitlement into ShPL and up to 37 weeks of the full (39 week) statutory maternity or adoption pay into ShPP.
Do you know your Staging Date? http://www.thepensionsregulator. gov.uk/employers/what-is-mystaging-date.aspx
ShPL and ShPP will be available for two parents to share, provided they both satisfy the eligibility tests. They will be able to decide how to split the leave and pay between themselves and whether they want to be off work together or at different times. The reason for taking leave must be to care for the child and it must be taken before the child’s first birthday or, in the case of adoption, before the first anniversary of the child being placed for adoption.
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Spring 2015
Employment Newsletter Fit for work? The government has started the roll out of the step by step plan to get employees back to work who have been off for more than 4 weeks. The scheme won’t be rolled out to much of the country until the autumn of 2015. When in place GPs could refer your employees, with their consent, to an occupational health professional. You may then start to receive step-by-step Return to Work Plans tailored to your employees’ needs, to help them return to work. How will Fit for Work benefit the employer? Fit for Work is free to use and confidential. It will help your employees return to work and contribute in an effective and managed way by working with you and your employee. Fit for Work will help you to manage the impact sickness absence can have on your business and help you to improve productivity and sustain growth. The Government has also introduced a tax exemption of up to £500 (per year, per employee) on medical treatments recommended to help employees return to work. This will be applicable to treatments recommended by occupational health professionals within Fit for Work and health professionals within employer arranged occupational health services. Referral
An employee must have given explicit and informed consent to be referred and for personal information to be shared.
Their consent must be obtained at each point of the referral process.
How do your employees report sickness absence? Unfortunately more and more employees are using text, email and even social media to report their absences. How can you manage behaviour to ensure appropriate reporting methods are followed. Our absence policies cover the requirements for absence reporting. However, if you have a policy that is silent on reporting now is the time to update it. It is always best to ask employees to contact their manager or Hr personally and only on exceptional occasions allow someone else to call in on their behalf. E.g. been taken into hospital.
It will be appropriate then if rules are not followed to use the disciplinary policy. However, it is very important that your employees know about and have read the policy and good processes are required to ensure this happens and is recorded. Then where appropriate a first written warning may be issued.
They must also meet certain criteria such as at least four weeks of sickness absence, and must be in paid employment.
Employees will usually be referred by their GP, but soon employers will also be able to make a referral after four weeks of absence. Fit for Work will contact the employee being referred within two days.
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Spring 2015
Employment Newsletter
The assessment will be carried out by an occupational health professional focusing on health, work and personal factors stopping the employee from returning to work. They will then work with the employee to agree a plan about returning to work. The plan will address all the factors that are stopping them from returning to work and provide recommendations to help them on their road to recovery.
Statutory Payments (April 2015) Statutory Sick Pay (SSP),
What is a Return to Work Plan? £88.45 a week for up to 28 weeks. A Return to Work Plan is a step by step plan that has been agreed with the employee. It provides recommendations and advice to support and help them back into work.
Shared Parental Leave (ShPP)
The plan could also include some recommendations from the occupational health professional as to what changes could be made at work to make sure the person is supported. However it is the employer’s decision as to whether to implement these changes.
Statutory maternity pay (SMP)
What do I do if I receive a Return to Work Plan? If your employee consents to their plan being shared with you, you will receive it via an email with further information on what you should do. The plan will include actions that can be implemented by you, your employee and their GP to help support a return to work as quickly and as appropriate. You can accept a Return to Work Plan as sufficient medical information for the purposes of determining entitlement to Statutory Sick Pay. Return to Work Plans may therefore be accepted in place of a fit note. If your employee chooses to not share their Return to Work Plan, or if you choose not to accept it, your employee’s GP can consider if a fit note is required.
Statutory rate or 90% of employee's weekly earnings if this is lower.
First six weeks - 90% of employee's average weekly earnings. Remaining weeks at the statutory rate or 90% of employee's weekly earnings if this is lower. Statutory adoption pay (SAP) Statutory rate or 90% of employee's weekly earnings if this is lower. (First six weeks - 90% of employee's weekly earnings - from 5 April 2015). Statutory paternity pay (SPP) Statutory rate or 90% of employee's weekly earnings if this is lower. ShPP, SMP, SAP & SPP are all £139.58
For more assistance please contact Laura or Kerry
Laura Hopson laura@thehrspecialists.co.uk 07940 506411 Kerry McGowan Kerry@thehrspecialists.co.uk 07970 489321 www.thehrspecialists.co.uk
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Spring 2015
Employment Newsletter
H&S Round-up Over the coming year we are planning to introduce new services and a wider range and number of training courses available both to clients and others who would like to improve their skills and knowledge in the area of Environment and Health and Safety. Can you afford not to protect your staff? The Government is proposing tougher sentencing guidelines which will substantially increase fines in Health and Safety cases. Where large firms are convicted of corporate manslaughter, they could face fines of up to £20million. However, proportionally it is going to be smaller firms which are hit hardest. Are you a landlord or tenant? Commercial and domestic landlords may face extra costs as they are required to improve buildings’ energy efficiency rating. From April 2018 it will be unlawful for a landlord to grant a new lease on both commercial and domestic properties that have an energy rating lower than E on the energy performance certificate. The Energy Act 2011 set out requirements for regulations to be made setting out efficiency standards for buildings. These have now been approved by Parliament. Court orders UK to reduce NO2 pollution levels. A recent decision by the UK Supreme court could have a significant impact on drivers of diesel vehicles. For several years the UK has been set targets by the EU to improve air quality and reduce the number of deaths caused each year by poor air quality. One of the key pollutants is Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) and, following the case brought by a group of environmental lawyers, the Government has been ordered to prepare and consult on new air quality plans to be submitted to the European Commission by December 31 2015. School Governors fined over injured pupil Governors of a Kent school have been fined following a prosecution in relation to an incident in which a 14 year old boy was severely injured by a shot put thrown by a fellow pupil. The pupil was left with life threatening injuries that required major surgery and has left him with a permanent indentation in the base of his skull. www.thehrspecialists.co.uk
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Spring 2015
Employment Newsletter
Automatic enrolment Over the next 3 years all employers will need to implement a Qualifying Workplace Pension Scheme (QWPS) and automatically enrol eligible staff. As payroll is the data source for the assessments that need to take place for each pay-run, the ongoing management of automatic enrolment must be integrated into your payroll process. In a recent survey by The Pensions Regulator 22% of employers surveyed in April who were due to stage between June and November this year hadn’t yet drawn up a plan to meet their new automatic enrolment duties. With many providers only reviewing whether they will offer terms to companies with over 6 months before their staging date this is a worrying statistic. Combine this lethargy with the below staging profile that shows how the number of employers needing to comply with these obligations is soaring month on month and you can clearly see the ‘capacity crunch’ that is being predicted by the market.
Enlightened employers are finding there is an easier way. Companies are able to set up a QWPS now without bringing their staging date forward. This protects companies from the potential introduction of provider set up charges and gives them the reassurance that they have a QWPS in place. Contact us for further details. www.thehrspecialists.co.uk
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