The recent 'Living with Covid Plan' set out by the prime minister means big changes to how Covid is managed in the workplace. But how will this impact your business? In general, the new guidance puts emphasis on the employers to manage the health and safety of their employees, rather than the rules being set by law. Here's a breakdown of the changes. Covid policy changes at a glance From 24 February: People who test positive for Covid-19 will no longer have to self-isolate. Those…
Summer is around the corner and as more countries begin to open their boarders to tourism, are we ready to start thinking about holidays again? For almost two years, the Covid-19 pandemic has put a stop to most types of holidays, especially long-haul travel. This has been devastating for the travel industry in particular, which relies on everyone enjoying a summer holiday or two. The government has set out the “Living with Covid-19” plan and as part of this the need to self-isolate has been…
Allowing staff to take unlimited paid time off work might seem like a fantastic benefit to improve employee wellbeing. But does this perk do more harm than good? What is unlimited holiday The trend of unlimited holiday started in Silicon Valley in the US, and is now being taken up by some companies in the UK - with a 148% rise on Indeed between 2017 and 2021, and 1% of jobs on the site offering it. When it began, unlimited holiday was heralded as being a…
Data shows that nearly two thirds of UK businesses offer maternity pay above the statutory minimum, and three-fifths offer enhanced paternity pay. But would it be effective – and cost effective - in your business? Families have faced many challenges in the past few years, with childcare labelled the leading cause of stress by people working from home during the pandemic. And during this, many businesses are facing recruitment and retention issues as employees look for stable roles with better benefits. Supporting colleagues taking maternity and…
Many organisations can face challenging times where employee reductions are inevitable, once all other options are exhausted. When it affects those on maternity leave, things can get complicated. We advise how to manage this effectively and sensitively, and how to avoid any potential discrimination claims. The introduction of the Equality Act 2010 meant that pregnancy and maternity became a protected characteristic – rather than having to raise claims under “sex discrimination”, which happened prior to 2010. This means that any woman who is treated differently…
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced many employees to revaluate their values and priorities. This has led to employees switching jobs in droves. I’m sure you’ll agree that the skills, knowledge, expertise and experience of your employees is your most valuable asset. Losing your top employees is likely to have a detrimental impact on your organisation’s growth. So, what can you do to retain your talent? Offering more money may seem the obvious way to prevent resignations. However, in a post-pandemic world where values and priorities…
Robert Carlin, a former payroll clerk, has been jailed after ‘abusing his position’ and stealing thousands of pounds from the employees of two organisations. The 40-year-old fraudulently transferred more than £55,000 from Reflex Labels into six of his own bank accounts. This was across 34 transactions between July and November 2018. He stole final salary payments being made to employees who were leaving the business. One former employee queried why they failed to receive the higher settlement payment they were expecting, and at this point,…
If you’re making redundancies in your business, you might be wondering what to do about your employees’ final redundancy payments regarding their pension. Do employers have to take pension contributions from redundancy pay? Can employees choose to add more into their pension pot? Sit back and relax as we go through the process below. If you make an employee redundant, do you have to take pension contributions from their redundancy pay? When an employee gets made redundant, they’re usually entitled to a redundancy payment, separate…
What happens to someone’s private or company pension when they go on maternity leave? The basics Due to Auto-Enrolment, all employers have to enrol their staff into a company pension scheme and contribute at least 3% of their annual salary to the pension each year. And when taking maternity leave, an employee is allowed to benefit from all the things they usually would such as paid holiday, employee protection from unfair dismissal, employee benefits - and employer pension contributions. So, we’ve established the employee should receive the…
With one in 15 people in the UK affected by seasonal affective disorder (SAD), it should be a priority when it comes to managing mental health in the workplace. Here's how you can help staff affected by SAD as an employer. What is SAD? NHS defines seasonal affective disorder (SAD) as a type of depression that comes and goes in a seasonal pattern. It's sometimes known as "winter depression" because the symptoms are usually more apparent and severe during the winter between September to April,…
