Employment Practice

It is often difficult for employees, particularly newcomers, to understand where their department fits within the whole Organisation and their departmental relationships, even though such knowledge may be essential to understand priorities and procedures. One way of overcoming this problem is to publish charts showing such relationships. Format In the two examples shown below, the same structure has been depicted. The 'vertical levels of authority' are widely used but this suffers from two drawbacks. It is usually shown (as here) as a pyramid, with the chairman/chief executive at the 'top' and the ordinary employees at the 'bottom' - an inference which maybe against the ethos of the Organisation. This can be overcome by simply inverting the pyramid - the relationships do not alter, but the psychological overtones of being at the 'top' and 'bottom' are at least blurred. The other disadvantage is that being drawn in vertical levels it implies that ...

Most organisations use notices and notice boards to convey much of the information that they feel their employees should have, in order to keep them informed. Unfortunately, very often there is no control over the issuing of notices and many notice boards become swamped, with the effectiveness of new material impaired by numerous old notices, many of which may be well past their effective date. The challenge is to keep notices fresh and uncluttered so that notice boards are read, rather than passed by. This may be easier with electronic notice boards operated via an intranet but research indicates that most people do not like reading on-screen text. Procedure Whether traditional or electronic notice boards are used, the following guidance may be helpful in attempting to keep the messages required to be displayed, fresh and pertinent. Suggested Checklist 1. To be effective, data for display must be written in the language and for the understanding of the recipient, and be presented in a...

Until the early 1990s, wage rates for many industries were set by industry-specific Wages Councils most of which have been abolished. The introduction of a National Minimum Wage (NMW) returns employers to the type of controls set out above but with one marked difference. Wages Councils operated within each industry and could reflect the terms of business of those industries. The NMW applies across the UK and has severe implications in industries which operate on low margins. It also ignores the lower cost of living in parts of the UK. Implementation The NMW is currently £4.85 per hour (October 2004) and is reviewed annually. This rate paid cannot be varied on any basis (e.g. area, region, business size, occupation) except age (as set out below). No doubt the rate will continue to rise but no commitment (e.g. to link it with the Retail Price Index or any other index) has been given. There is no requirement to pay NMW when the worker is taking part in industrial action - this is regarded...

Employees who are called up for active service in the Armed Forces, under the Reserve Forces (Safeguard of Employment) Act 1985, are entitled to resume their employment on their return - effectively their contract continues during their service. Obligations Most employees protected by the law covered by this section are volunteers. However, recently whenever there has been a need to use such volunteers, their participation in active service has been made compulsory by the State so that it is clear that their rights are protected under the above Act. There is no obligation on the employer to pay for the time away from work - the reservist will be paid by the State during that period. On returning from service, a reservist must re-apply to his or her employer in writing by the third Monday after the end of the service, giving a date within the period ending with the sixth Monday after the end of the service for return to their previous job. The reservist must be taken back on terms no le...

Traditionally there has been no requirement to allow employees to see the records that the employer generates concerning them - although this has been changed by the passing of the DATA PROTECTION Act 1998. However, for some time legislation has governed the provision of medical records and reports, and grants to employees rights of access to them. Access to Medical Reports Act 1988 This Act primarily covers reports originated prior to employment - for example, where an employer asks a prospective employee to undergo a medical examination. A person has a right of access to any medical report concerning him which is prepared by his own doctor. If the subject requests access to the report then the doctor may not send the report to the company for 21 days which gives time for the subject to inspect the report. If the subject disagrees with anything in the report then (s)he has a right to request alteration or, should the doctor refuse, to attach their objections or alterations to the repo...