HR, or human resources, is about managing employees, and covers everything from recruitment to training, workplace disputes, performance reviews, diversity, succession planning and other aspects of work relations.
In today’s edition of Tips from the Experts, we asked Crescita HR & OD and ACAS for their advice on employment law, hiring people and keeping your HR affairs in order.
Crescita HR & OD – Helen Smith, Senior HR & OD Practitioner
5 Tips for Employing People
1. Know who you are employing
This is not so much about getting to know your employees (although that’s not a bad thing), but about understanding the legal status of those working for you. There are currently seven types of employment status: worker, employee, employee-shareholder, self-employed, contractor, director and office holder.
Most businesses will hire workers or employees, each of whom has different employment rights. It is vital that businesses understand those differences in order to ensure that they are compliant with legislation. For example, both workers and employees have the right to be protected from discrimination in the workplace, but only employees have the right to protection from unfair dismissal. Likewise, both are entitled to receive the national minimum wage and holiday entitlements, but employees have greater statutory rights to things such as minimum notice period, statutory leave and pay, and statutory redundancy pay. Keep in mind that an employee can also be a worker, but a worker won’t necessarily be an employee!
2. Zero-hour contracts do have a legitimate role
There has been much media frenzy in recent months about the use of zero-hour contracts and they have to some extent been demonised. However, if used appropriately, they do have a valuable role to play in businesses. For example, zero-hour contacts are ideal for businesses where there are significant fluctuations in the level of work available and it is genuinely difficult for employers to know how many hours of work they will have from one week to the next. The key thing to remember when using these contracts is that there should be no exclusivity demanded of the individual by the employer. In other words, whilst they offer a flexible solution for businesses, they should also be a flexible working option for individuals who should have the right to decline any work that may be offered to them under such a contract.
3. Know the facts when it comes to a written contract
As with all contractual relationships, a contract is formed once an offer is made and an acceptance is received. This is no different in an employment relationship; where a verbal offer of a job is accepted, it becomes binding on the parties concerned. The offer letter also forms part of the contract of employment and so it is important to be consistent at all stages in what you are saying to the potential employee.
4. Have appropriate policies in place
These do not have to be in the form of great dusty manuals, in fact, it is sufficient for some policies to be expressed in a few paragraphs within an employee handbook. The key policies to have in place as you begin to employ people are:
- A disciplinary policy
- A grievance policy
- A sickness absence policy
- An equality policy
The ACAS Code of Practice on handling Discipline & Grievances is a useful reference point when drafting your policies. Whilst it is not mandatory to follow this code to the letter, if you ever find yourself in a tribunal situation, the panel will look to see if your own disciplinary/grievance policy matches the ACAS code and may penalise you if it falls short. In terms of health and safety, you have a duty of care to provide a safe working environment for your employees when taking on your first employee, but you only need to have written health and safety policies in place once you reach 5 or more employees.
5. Make Use of Probationary Periods
When employing someone, it is helpful for you to have a period of probation over the first few months of their employment. This time allows you to assess the employee’s suitability within the role and normal rules don’t apply during this period – you can stipulate a shorter notice period and exclude them from the normal disciplinary procedure if it appears that they will not be suitable beyond the initial period. However, be sure to act within the specified probation period. If you fail to either extend the probation period or terminate their employment by the end date, then by default their period of probation will be deemed to have been successful and their employment will continue on that basis.
ACAS – John Palmer, Senior Guidance Managing Editor
Keeping your HR affairs in order will not only ensure the smooth running of your business, but will help keep employee morale buoyed. Payroll hiccups and mix-ups about leave entitlement do little to improve relations between employer and employees, and mistakes with contracts, terms and conditions, and other rights and entitlements can potentially be very costly. ACAS has some top tips to help:
1. Recruitment: don’t let it get personal
In making the final selection for employment, the main aim should be objectivity. Personal opinions, attitudes and prejudices must not be allowed to influence the choice. It is easy to be drawn into conclusions about an individual based on irrelevant factors such as appearance, the perceived ability to “fit in” (which is often based on personal attitudes rather than objective factors) or family circumstances. The focus of the selection process should be on facts and matters related to the needs of the job. Assumptions should be avoided, especially any assumptions about what a particular applicant might, or might not, wish to do in the future in terms of his or her career and/or personal life.
2. Contracts of employment: make changes the easy way
It’s inevitable that most contracts of employment will need to change in some way over time. Whether the changes are small or large, viewed as positive or negative, mostly fixed or negotiable – it’s important to remember that the best way forward is by getting mutual agreement for the change. A successful, mutually agreed change is good for morale and reminds employers and employees that a contract is an agreement between two parties.
3. Managing discipline: put your process in writing
This can save a considerable amount of time and money down the line. It can help a company if a claim does end up going to an employment tribunal or prevent claims from reaching this point. Making sure it is based on the ACAS Code of Practice on Discipline and Grievance and that it is available to all employees is essential, and will establish clear and consistent standards of workplace behaviour.
4. Managing absence: understand triggers
Most absence policies and procedures will contain a system that flags up or ‘triggers’ when an employee reaches a certain level of absence, often based on the total number of absences taken and/or the total length of an absence. Where some employers go wrong is assuming that an activated trigger is the same as saying action needs to be taken. In some cases, the absences may be justified, in others not. It’s crucial for employers to remember that a trigger is a call for an employer to investigate and consider further action if necessary.
5. Ending the employment relationship: giving notice
In many dismissal situations, an employer is required to give notice to end an employment relationship. Remember that once this notice is given, it can’t be ‘taken back’ if the employer changes their mind. Notice can only be cancelled if both employer and employee mutually agree to cancel it.
ACAS stands for Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, and they are a UK based organisation that provides information, advice and training to facilitate better employment relations.
Crescita HR & OD is also a UK based company that specialises in human resources and organisational development. They provide businesses that do not have a dedicated HR department with the necessary services, training and management advice.
Thanks to John and Helen for their valuable advice. Do you have any top HR tips for businesses? Feel free to comment in the section below.