Preparing for the Olympics 2012

With the countdown now on for the London 2012 Olympics, employers need to consider how they will deal with the impact the games will have on workplace matters.  Although much of the games will be happening outside of normal office hours there will be many popular events happening during work time.

Annual leave

There are likely to be many more than usual requests for annual leave or flexible working during the games.  Some employers, especially those who are expecting an increase in busines due to the games, will struggle to function effectively with reduced staff numbers.  Other employers may see it as an opportunity to strengthen employee engagement.

When considering the requests, employers generally have the right to refuse, if they have taken the needs of the business into account, they do so in good faith and they have treated all requests consistently.

It would be sensible for employers to remind their staff of the procedures and the notice required for booking annual leave.  Confirming that there is no guarantee that all requests will be agreed but they will all be considered.  If the employer chooses to allow more staff than usual off at any one time they should clarify this is only due to the unusual circumstances and is not setting a precedent for the future.

Sickness Absence

Employers may suspect that some members of staff call in sick because of a major event, they should ask the employee to provide medical evidence of their illness.  If the sickness is not genuine or there is a pattern of sickness emerging, the compnay should refer to their sickness absence policy; such absences could result in disciplinary proceedings.

Travel disruptions

Businesses based in London and the surrounding areas may see their employee's travelling time to work, increase due to the games.  The employee who is late or unable to get to work because of travel disruption is not automatically entitled to be paid unless the travel counts as working time in the contract of employment. Employees can only be required to take reasonable steps to find an alternative route to work or to work remotely, they must however follow the company's notification procedures in relation to the lateness or absence.

TV at work

Allowing staff to watch some events at work could be a great opportunity to improve employee engagement and staff morale.  Employers are advised to re-iterate the terms of the IT policy to staff members and ensure there is a clear policy in place on  gambling at work.  The opportunities for staff to watch events must be available consistently across the workforce regardless of which nation the employees are supporting.

Behaviour

Employers will need to communicate clearly the standard of behaviour they expect from the employees during the games and when supporting particular teams.  Unwanted conduct based on the nation an employee is supporting could be construed as discrimination and the employer can be held liable for such actions of an employee, if they have not taken reasonable steps to prevent them.

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Fairness for Older Workers

As the default retirement age is being phased out employers need to ensure that their performance management and training processes focus as much on older workers as the rest of the workforce.  Recent research has shown that just over half of workers aged 65 and over have received no training in the past 3 years, compared to a third of the average general workforce.

The survey found that 27 per cent of the workers surveyed, said they had not had a perfomance appraisal in the last two years whilst 44 per cent of workers aged 65 and over had not had an appraisal in the same period.

Employers will risk falling foul of discrimination laws if they fail to address poor performance with older workers if there are capability issues.

To get the best out of employees, regardless of their age, employers must treat them fairly and consistently in terms of training and performance management.

The survey showed that reasonable adjustments by employers would benefit workers of all ages allowing them to continue to work regardless of physical or mental health problems or caring responsibilities.  Employers will be encouraged to provide modern, flexible workplaces by the government's plans to extend the right to request flexible working for all employees.

If you need any assistance or advice we can help.

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Bribery Act now in Force

The Bribery Act is now in force and it includes a new offence of "failure of a commercial organisation to prevent bribery".  Companies may be liable to prosecution if an employee gives or receives a bribe and the company is not able to evidence that they have adequate anti-bribery procedures in place.

Procedures that companies should consider are, including anti-bribery in their risk assessments, providing staff with anti-bribery training and choosing to trade with reputable customers.

A new British Standard is being developed in response to the new legislation.  The new standard BS 10500 will help businesses verify to their stakeholders that they are serious about implementing robust anti-bribery practices.  The standard will provide a benchmark to measure the strength of a company's anti-bribery practices.

The Bribery Act will make it easier to prosecute companies that make and receive corrupt payments at home and abroad. However, research shows that a third of UK companies have not prepared for the Act and have yet to carry out an assessment of the effect it will have on their business.

We can provide advice on the Bribery Act and help you assess the effect it will have on your business.

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Questioning Health during Recruitment

Recruitment processes to provide protection for disabled job applicants have to be tightened in line with the Equality Act 2010.

Prior to making an offer of employment the employer is not allowed to ask applicants about their health or ask referees about the applicant's absence record.  Practices need to be implemented to ensure that there is no form of discrimination during the recruitment process.

Although asking the questions themselves cannot be seen to be discriminatory, acting upon the answers can be.  An unsuccessful applicant could complain to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), who have the powers to intiate an investigation, the employer would need to prove that no discrimination had taken place, this could be difficult if the employer has failed to revise their procedures in accordance with the Equality Act 2010.

There are situations when health related questions are allowable without acting outside of the Act:

• An employer can ask if applicants need any reasonable adjustments to be made for them to attend interview or assessment.
• If the role entails certain elements of fitness to perform the job effectively the employee may ask specific health questions, i.e. heavy lifting or standing for long periods of time.

Employers need to be able to evidence a structured recruitment process, which will provide good reference points in the event of a claim from an unsuitable applicant.  A standardised interview sheet including questions, accurate recording of answers and a scoring system that is consistent, would verify good practice.

Employees that are found to have been untruthful during the recruitment process can be held accountable for gross misconduct and possible dismissal, but if the employer had received dishonest answers to questions that fall foul of the Act they are unlikely to be able to justify dishonesty as a reason for dismissal.

If you need any assistance or advice on recruitment processes we can help.

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Health & Safety

New Employees 

Research has shown that workers are most likely to have an accident in the first six months at a new job.

This is mainly because of the following reasons:

• Lack of experience in a new industry or workplace
• Being unfamiliar with the site layout
• Failure to recognise hazards
• Not understanding site specific rules

So, what can you do to reduce the risk, well appropriate induction training which covers the hazards and rules helps enormously and combined with a site tour showing where those hazards are goes a long way to meeting your statutory requirements under health and safety legislation.

To ensure the training is thorough include fire evacuation training, accident reporting and welfare issues.

As with all things, this should be proportionate, so for a small office this will be very simple and quick and for a chemical processing plant this may take many days.

If you require any assistance with any Health and Safety issues please contact either Rialto Health & Safety or Black Dog HR and we will be only too pleased to help.

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Special Points of Interest

Employment tribunals could cost The News of The World £14M

The sudden closure of The News of The World was not a genuine redundancy situation, merely an attempt to make the organisation disappear to avoid claims of corruption against senior management.

The legal profession is warning that a number of employees will be lodging unfair dismissal claims, which could each be as much as £70,000 and whistle blowing claims are also being considered.

H.M. Revenue and Customs targeting tax cheats

A recent news release entitled "HMRC extends tax cheats campaign" has been issued to warn individuals and businessses of the H. M. Revenue and Customs intentions of targeting tax cheats over the next year.

Racial harassment case by a child successful

A council was found to be liable for the harassment an Iranian Social Worker suffered by one of the resident children in a children's home.  The child regularly mocked the employee's accent and was racially abusive.

Many employers are now aware of their liability to protect their employees against harassment from customers and suppliers, but this case highlights the necessity to protect against third parties who the employee will come into contact with, during the course of their employment.

How can business be affected by Dis-Engagement?

Last months' Gallup Survey reported that the German economy was recovering the fastest of the G7 countries, however its continued growth is at risk of slowing down, due to employees being dis-engaged with their jobs.  The level of engagement in the country is only 13%, compared with an average in the UK of 30%. 

Benefits of Employee Engagement can increase this figure by up to 70%, why not ask about the Black Dog HR Engagement Programme?