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Posts for September 2009
Avoid the negative business impact of local transport disruption
September 29, 2009
Who is entitled to be paid if workers can't get to work due to strikes?
Many workers have recently been affected by local tube or rail disruptions. Technically it is their responsibility to find an alternative route into work, however in reality, many employers arrange home working (where appropriate) which reduces stress and improves productivity. If you have an established car sharing or lift sharing scheme, you can suggest this to employees as an alternative way of getting to work.
However you should be careful you don’t end up setting up liability for uninsured drivers. If you are unsure whether an employee is insured to drive, you should not be ordering or directing employees to get into a car with that person. If it is a fully insured company car that is different.
Hourly paid workers are usually paid only for the hours they work, though salaried workers may be paid on a different basis. You should check your contracts to see if you do in fact pay people on an hourly basis or in some other way.
Annabel Kaye is Managing Director of Irenicon Ltd, a specialist employment law consultancy.
Tel: 08452 303050 Fax: 08452 303060
Website : www.irenicon.co.uk.
You can follow Annabel on twitter – http://twitter.com/AnnabelKaye
Embrace diversity – but don’t fall foul of discrimination laws
September 24, 2009
McDonald’s, the company famous for employing pimply teens as much as its burgers has published a study that shows customer satisfaction is up 20 per cent in those of its outlets that employ workers aged over 60. According to the survey, managers believe older workers go further to provide good customer service than their younger counterparts. McDonald’s have reaped the benefits of an age diverse workforce, choosing to embrace both youth and experience.The company is now encouraging others to do the same.
While small businesses may consider this a good strategy, they must keep an eye on the rules relating to age discrimination. These make it unlawful to discriminate directly or indirectly on the grounds of age — including during the recruitment process. So while aiming for a diverse workforce may seem a good plan, you might end up in hot water if you hire a worker because they’re older rather than because they’re the best candidate for the job, regardless of age.
Read the Law Donut’s advice on age discrimination. Or join the discussion on our forum ‘Is there ever a good reason for discrimination?’.
Social networking: a blessing or a curse?
September 16, 2009
Many employers realise that Internet usage is important in the work place. I use the Internet every day to carry out my work, often jumping from Twitter to Ecademy to Facebook. These sites can be a double-edged sword for companies though. While they can be effective for business, they are also open to abuse by employees wasting company time by accessing them throughout the day for non-work activities. There can also be legal risks to allowing employees access to social networking platforms. Employees representing a company may post discriminatory or offensive material that may reflect the business in a bad light or lead to a claim. This has been the case with Currys and PC World, who may face legal ramifications after staff posted abuse at their customers via social networking site Facebook. Some organisations such as Portsmouth City Council, have taken action by banning their employees from using social networks. The council previously allowed their 4,500 employees to access Facebook during lunch breaks and non-work hours. Small firms in particular are faced with some difficult questions:
- How can they keep track of internet use by their employees?
- Should they restrict their employee’s use of social media sites even though they can add so much to the business when used effectively?
- Should they allow employees to use the internet at work for personal use?
These are tough questions for a business to answer, but what a firm should do in any instance is ensure they have a clear IT policy in place. This will help you review how online social networking is used in your business and where the main issues (legal or otherwise) may arise. An effective policy will help you to manage risks without missing out on the opportunities social networking can present.
Requests for flexible working – small business nightmare or an opportunity not to be missed
September 10, 2009
Do you employ parents with school-age children? If so, you’ll be familiar with the annual upheaval September can bring for those whose children are starting at school for the first time or moving up to secondary school. As an employer you’ll probably want this to have as little effect on your workforce as possible but the chances are it will bring requests for a bit of flexibility in the hours your employees work.
You only have a legal obligation to provide flexible working arrangements in specific circumstances – read our briefing ‘The law on flexible working’ to find out the details – however there are some clear business benefits, so it may be worth considering introducing it for all employees. That way you can also forestall the rumblings of ‘discrimination against employees that don’t have children’ which can be overheard in workplaces up and down the country (but see also the Law Donut forum post ‘Is there ever a good reason for discrimination?’).
Offering flexible working to your employees may attract employees to your company and can also help you retain existing staff. Flexible working patterns can boost staff morale and commitment to your company. It has been shown that the introduction of flexible working arrangements can reduce absenteeism and can even lead to noticeable improvements in employee productivity. A request for flexible working could comprise a change to working hours or time worked. Your employee could ask you to consider a job-share arrangement or change in location, for example working from home. Your employee needs to make a request to you in writing, well in advance of when they would like the change in their work pattern to start. They should clearly state when they would like the change to start, why they believe they are eligible and include a plan of how the proposed changes would work. In return, you must arrange a meeting with your employee within 28 days of receiving an application. You must then reply to your employee’s application, in writing, within 14 days of the meeting, stating your reasons for accepting or turning down their request.
You can refuse an application to work flexibly but only if there is a clear business reason.
For more information on flexible working please visit the Law Donut.
Opening Your Windows For Burglars
September 07, 2009
Business owners often feel quite hard done by when dealing with employment law. Many feel that in the current climate ‘all this red tape’ inhibits businesses and reduces their profitability. They feel that their key priorities have to be attracting new business and getting paid for work done – not worrying about ‘paperwork’.
If you’re one of these businesses – if you think that employment rights are something you can take care of later when you have more time and money to spare – then you’re making yourself a sitting duck for any employees who are better informed about employment law than you are! Of course the majority of employees aren’t there to ‘play the game’. But if you recruit a player and you aren’t on top of your employment-law rights and responsibilities, you are waiting for disaster to strike.
Think of it like leaving your house with all its windows open. In an ideal world you wouldn’t be burgled whether your windows are open or closed. But the obvious reality is that you’re asking for trouble if you don’t close your windows. The same is true for employment law.
You’ve left your windows wide open if you don’t:
- issue itemised pay statements to your staff
- have clear and simple contracts that deal with pay and bonuses
- understand how and when to give a formal warning or dismiss an employee
It is all very well complaining about employment law, but your rights as a boss flow from the employment contracts you issue. If you don’t issue contracts, or if you don’t word them properly, then you have a lot fewer rights than you need.
Annabel Kaye is Managing Director of Irenicon Ltd, a specialist employment law consultancy.
Tel: 08452 303050 Fax: 08452 303060
Website : www.irenicon.co.uk.
You can follow Annabel on twitter – http://twitter.com/AnnabelKaye
Business isn't always a bed of freshly cut roses...
September 02, 2009
In any relationship there is always the chance of things going sour. In business relationships, you really need to be prepared for the worst to ensure that you are not at unreasonable risk financially if it doesn't all work out. In practical terms, this means that you need to think about dispute resolution before you actually need to use it!
One of the first things you should think about when putting together a new agreement with a supplier, partner, client, or any other business for that matter, is how to deal with the relationship if it all goes terribly wrong. Some people might say that this is negative thinking, but it's actually about being sensible and well prepared.
This is especially important for business deals between close friends, as often both parties are pouring a lot of resource into the business and these close relationships are the last ones you would expect to end badly. Carefully drafted written agreements can help ensure that in the "unlikely event of a catastrophe" you both end out coming out of the relationship with as few bruises as possible.
The kind of dispute resolution topics a well drafted agreement might include are:
- What happens when a dispute arises?
- How does each business/person communicate their "issue" to the other?
- How long has everyone got to work things out, and what's the process?
- If it cannot be resolved easily, what's the next step? Arbitration? Mediation? Something else?
- At what stage might the dispute go to court?
- If it does, who pays costs, and in what circumstances?
You might be reading this thinking that sorting out dispute resolution clauses for your various business agreements probably isn't at the top of your ‘to do’ list. But it probably should be. You should give this high priority and make sure it gets done, now – dispute resolution could be an absolute saviour when you need it.
And you never know when you’ll need it.
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