Conversations about race can evoke strong emotions. But they can also help people to connect. Together, we must explore lived experiences, understand the historic and current context of race, and encourage commitment to work towards a more fair and equitable society. So, how should employers, HR teams, and people managers approach conversations about race? What are safe space conversations and how do you go about them? Keep reading for helpful tips and guidance. Safe Spaces You should conduct conversations about race in a safe space…
Due to the impact of COVID-19, the Equality and Human Rights Commission have announced an extension to the Gender Pay Gap Reporting deadline for 2021. Employers now have until 5 October 2021 to publish their gender pay gap data. This gives organisations some much-needed breathing space following a busy year of Job Retention Scheme implications, off-payroll working requirements, and the upcoming impact of budget 2021/22. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Gender Pay Gap reporting requirements were suspended completely for 2019 - 2020. But this…
Does the thought of calculating sick pay make you feel, well, sick? In 2020, the average level of absence in the United Kingdom was 5.8 days per employee. So unfortunately, sick pay calculations aren’t going anywhere. However, clever automation and bespoke auto-applied rules to your sick pay could save you time. What is Occupational Sick Pay? Businesses can opt to pay occupational sick pay, (OSP) based on individual employee earnings whilst an employee is off sick. This can be paid on some, or all of…
The European Commission has just published its preliminary ‘adequacy’ decision about data protection. It expects to confirm that UK data protection law is regarded as equivalent to the EU’s own (GDPR). This is really good news and will be a major milestone for any organisation with clients in the EU or EEA area. It’s equally important for organisations who have their HQ or other operations based there. As part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, interim provisions are currently in place. They are due to expire…
It’s been a very difficult few months since my last blog post as the impact of the pandemic continues to ricochet and touch us all. Day-to-day life is still incredibly challenging for many. You'll know from your own friends, family and professional networks that NHS staff and other key workers, including payroll professionals, remain under immense pressure. Meanwhile, those of us who can continue to work from home, are juggling jobs with home-schooling, childcare and life in lockdown. Hopefully you, like me, feel heartened by…
This new phraseology doesn’t mean your work environment is filled with poisonous gases. Instead, 'toxic workplace' refers to company cultures filled with poisonous remarks or actions – in short, bullying. Although the Equality Act 2010 gives the definition for harassment as “unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic, which has the purpose or effect of violating an individual’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that individual”, there is no official definition for bullying within the Act. So what…
The four-day working week was hot on the agenda back in 2019, but it's taken a backseat in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the rise of homeworking and the increasing desire for flexibility, is it time to dust off the idea? The four-day working week comes with plenty of benefits for employees as well as businesses. Let's remind ourselves of these and also ask the question: can the four-day working week help resolve gender pay issues? Reducing the Gender Pay Gap There are…
The new rules for off-payroll working (IR35) in the private sector are fast-approaching. If your business is busy preparing for the changes on 6 April, perhaps this blog post will help you. We've compiled the questions asked by attendees at our recent off-payroll working (OPW) webinar. Our in-house payroll experts have answered them all - we hope you find them useful. To help you find relevant FAQs, we've grouped them together under the following themes: General FAQs Qualifying Criteria Running a Separate OPW Payroll Intermediaries…
Are you doing enough to protect your workers and avoid HSE enforcement action? A recent BBC article reported concerning figures which suggest that either employers are failing to protect their workers from COVID-19, or failing to adequately communicate effective COVID controls to their employees. The report states that between 6 and 14 January, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) received 2,945 complaints about safety issues. Due to this, the HSE has had to scale up its efforts to check and support firms, and has carried out…
Following the formalisation of a trade deal and the end of the Brexit Transition period, what is the immediate effect of Brexit on UK health and safety legislation? And how will your business, and your processes be affected? The UK has been driving health and safety standards across the world for decades. Even prior to the Health and Safety Act 1974, the UK has been at the forefront of improving health and safety policies, so much so that many other countries follow our lead and…
