Employment Practice

Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work (Amendment) Regulations 1994, employers are required in anticipation of a woman of child-bearing age entering their employ to carry out a pregnancy risk assessment. The risk assessment process (which covers those who have recently given birth and are breastfeeding, as well as pregnant women) requires employers: a. to assess all risks to which such employees might be exposed; b. to ensure they are not exposed to those risks; and c. if a risk remains despite preventative and other actions, terms of work (hours, place, etc.), to offer such employees alternative work or grant them paid leave if this is not available. The Equal Opportunities Commission recently noted that in 2001 there were 1,387 maternity related discrimination claims regarding breaches of Health and Safety legislation (96% of the discrimination claims). The average compensation claim paid was £9,871. The HSE identify 5 general risks that there are to pregnant women in the ...

Female employees are entitled to a range of rights before and after giving birth. Close attention to the rules is needed since breach could generate a claim for sex discrimination. Leave and Pay: Evidence A woman must produce form MATB1 to her employer. This form is available from the 20th week before her EWC (Expected Week of Childbirth). A woman wishing to exercise her entitlements must notify her employer in or by the 15th week before her EWC, giving the employer a copy of the MATB1 if the employer requires this. She must also state to her employer when she wishes her maternity leave (and her Maternity Pay - if she is eligible) to commence. She must give 28 days notice of the leave/pay start date. Within a further 28 days her employer must confirm to her, in writing, her rights to: i. pay; ii. preservation of contract; and iii. return (see below). If the baby is born before the expiry of the woman's 28 day notice period the leave (and pay if applicable) commences at the date of ...

Whilst the majority of employers avoid granting loans to their employees, many will be asked at some time or another to assist employees. The rules regarding the granting of authority, as well as the purposes for which loans will be granted, need to be carefully laid down and controlled. As far as ad hoc loans are concerned, some employers may prefer not to advertise the fact that the Organisation is prepared to assist, fearing this could encourage additional applications. Ideally, this type of loan should be the exception. In addition to ad hoc loans, an increasing number of employers make loans to assist employees with travel costs - e.g. season ticket loans. These would normally be dealt with in a far less investigative manner, although a repayment authority, such as that set out below should be completed in each case. Example of Policy Whilst [the employer] believes that employees can and should manage their personal finances successfully, it recognises that at times short-term fin...

Until fairly recently the number of instances in which an employer was liable to pay an employee when he was not working were few - e.g. time off to seek other work and/or be trained when redundant was virtually the only instance for many years. Since then a whole range of rights to both paid and unpaid leave have been introduced. Holidays All employees are entitled to receive 4 weeks paid holiday within their employers holiday year. This statutory holiday must be taken within the holiday year to which it relates and can neither be carried forward, nor be paid in lieu (except where the employees leaves during the holiday year with unused entitlement). Statutory holiday can be offset against paid contractual holiday to which an employee is entitled. Sickness Subject to the production of an acceptable self-certificate for the first seven days (and the production of certificates from a medical practitioner for periods in excess), employers are responsible for paying Statutory Sick Pay for...

The Challenge? A quote from the CIPD's report 'Impact of People Management Practices on Business Performance' neatly summarises the challenge for the Board: 'If managers wish to influence the performance of their companies the most important area they should emphasise is the management of people. This is ironic, given that our research demonstrates that emphasis on human resource management is one of the most neglected areas of managerial practice.' As American management guru, Stephen Covey, comments: 'management is about doing things right but leadership is about doing the right things'; whilst in his 'Seven habits for highly effective people' he suggests that: 'Management without leadership is like arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic.' Practical Means of Retaining People If there is inspiring leadership once a team has been created its members are more likely to stay together since most people wish to be associated with success, and ma...

Reworking the phrase 'the best way to make more money is to stop losing it', the easiest way to ensure we have a good team working for us is to stop losing them. In the UK we have a shrinking working population, a growing skills shortage and a tendency on the part of many employers to assume they will always be able to fill vacancies. Competition for the above average or 'best' employees is likely to become increasingly fierce. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's (CIPD) 'Annual Labour Turnover Survey' discloses that over 50% of all recruits leave within 2 years and 75% leave within 6 years of joining.' The Hay Group's research in 'The Retention Dilemma' indicates that: employee turnover has increased by 25% since 1996; the main causes of voluntary termination of employment are a lack of leadership and a lack of a career path; and the cost of labour turnover can equate to 40% of an employer's annual profit. Many personne...

When it is necessary to conduct an interview to discover facts affecting an event concerning an employee (e.g. for the proposed application of DISCIPLINE , CAPABILITY, counselling etc.) it is safest before making any decision to ensure a proper and full investigation of the reasons is undertaken, in order to discover the background,. With most investigations the ultimate aim is to attempt to find a solution - to do this, information is essential, as is keeping any meeting as informal as possible. Suggested Checklist 1. Find as many facts as possible before the meeting, including as many personal details as possible. Knowing these may aid rapport and encourage a feeling that here is someone who understands and cares. 2. Although a one-to-one meeting is helpful, this may be impractical if the two parties are of different sexes and the subject matter is personal. The intervention of any third party should not, however, be forced on the subject who may resent it. If the subject is directly...