Week 1 Summary of HR A-Z

Major airlines are cancelling flights as staff call in sick.

If I was in charge, none of their excuses would fly.

So As Promised im compling the A_Z each week for anyone who wishes to download and save.

A

This isn’t more travel chaos but the start of my A to Z of what we help companies with daily.

Some days one topic others a few. Feel free to ask for more details or suggest other topics in The comments and I’ll expand.

Kinda like heckling but nicer.

AAA no it’s not just the scouser in me so calm down.

Monday morning after a big match you can predict which will phone in with the “sick voice” we all can hear it not I bet.

Absenteeism and AWOL probably the two biggest pains for business.

Absenteeism what does your policy say as to how people should phone in sick?

How many actually follow this procedure ?

Do they just text their mate to tell you?

Setting standards early on is key here. If others see people getting away with it they all will or feel resentment at having to pick up the slack.

What happens when they come back into work ?

Having this laid out in your policy will give you grounds to deal with the issues head-on if they are having too much time off sick.

People can self certify without a doctors sick note for 7 days. Many don’t even call in.

Which is AWOL(absent without leave)

People “forget to phone in” yeah really you then chase them up no answer.

After a certain amount of time you are within your rights (following a correct procedure) to presume they have resigned and can send them an acceptance letter.

Obviously there’s a lot more to both of these not all absenteeism or AWOL is fake there are genuine cases and having consistency is key.

Has anyone ever had issues or what’s the best excuse you’ve had for phoning in sick?

One I had was that they had no pants to wear because the washing machine broke.

I told them come in shorts, jeans doesn’t matter I’d rather you were in than concerned about what you were wearing.

He didn’t though??

B

Never in my life have I seen so much corruption, bribery, bIackmail, jealousy, theft, fraud, deception, and outright bloodshed.

Honestly I'm wondering why I even play Monopoly with my family in the first place. (I always win buy the brown and blue)

Todays HR topics brought to you by the letter B

Bribery and Corruption

All companies should have a great policy on this. Bribery is broadly defined as “the giving or taking of a reward in return for acting dishonestly and/or in breach of the law”

The Four Offences

Under the Bribery Act there are four possible offences including the “corporate offence” .

1. Bribing another person

Offering, promising or giving a reward to induce a person to perform a function or activity improperly

2. Being bribed

Accepting, agreeing to accept or requesting a reward in return for performing a function or activity improperly

3. Bribing a foreign public official

A specific offence of trying to influence a foreign public official to obtain or retain business in a situation where this is not permitted

4. Failure to prevent bribery

This – the “corporate offence” – occurs when an organisation fails to stop people operating on its behalf from being involvedin bribery.

A company will have a statutory defence to this offence if it has adequate procedures in place to minimise the risk of bribery by its employees, consultants, agents, etc So get a policy in place

The above is the big one but others are

Benefits & Compensation

Also known as work perks, these are the benefits that employees receive for working at your company. They can be monetary, rewards-based, medical benefits, retirement, time in lieu, discounts, or wellness programs to name a few. These help create your culture

Burnout

This is fast becoming a hot topic with people doing more WFH and mental health issues it can cause

Bereavement Leave

This type of leave is issued to allow employees a period of mourning following the death of a family member or close friend.

What do your policies cover, If in doubt just ask me for some help.

Have you ever had an attempt to bribe you to select a provider or felt that you should choose something as they took you out etc .

C

Tis but a flesh wound, One of the greatest Scenes in comedy history. Tell me I'm Wrong ? Whats this got to do with HR.

Well moving onto letter C on the A-Z and this is the HOLY GRAIL (i can hear the groans)

CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT

Now while a contract isnt necessary needed a Written statement must be provided ON or BEFORE first day of work.

Failure to do so will result in a tribunal finding against you.

So what should be in it ?

There are a number of details that should be included:

* The employer’s name and address

* Job title or description

* Start date (and the date of a previous date if continuous)

* Place of work and whether they might have to relocate

* Hours and days of work

* Salary and payment frequency

*Holiday entitlement (and if that includes public holidays)

* Contract length (and what the end date is if it is a fixed-term contract)

* Details of the probation period

*Any other benefits

* Mandatory training and whether or not this is paid for by the employer

There is so much more that forms the Handbook but im jumping ahead. Stick with me till then for more.

When did you last do an update or review?

Please drop me an email or messgae on?[email protected]?and I can do a free review for you and see if we can help.

So ill finsh with one of the best insults ever from the film.

"Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries"

D

D????k pics and dress codes, disciplinary or dismissal. Just another day in the life of Hr and employment law.

So In my A to Z D is one of the fullest

Data protection

Discrimination

Disability

Data requests

Diversity

Development

I’ll cover some of these in other letters as they go well together. But I digress Back to what brought you here.

So we had a doozy recently, what would you have done in this situation.

I’ll let it all hang out for you.

A teams meeting was taking place and as with many remote meetings they did a team building exercise.

A male staff member (pardon the pun) when doing the exercise exposed himself accidentally.

Someone subsequently screenshot said staff members member (sorry can’t help it)

The company wanted to take action on him for his Ill fitting pj bottoms.

They never mentioned the person who did the screenshot (this came out later-stop it I know what your thinking)

But what was the working from home dress code ?

As no guidelines were in place we implemented a new policy and advised on a quiet word with Richard (not his real name) and no further action.

People who dress more formal as it going into the office are allegedly 80% more productive- go figure

What’s your worst zoom or teams experiences ?

E

There's a guy in the place who's got a bittersweet face and E goes by the name of Ebenezer goode.

Has anyone got any Veras lovely. EEEEEEEEs are good

What a tune this was in the 90s. (except for the glamoration of drugs)

I had nothing to do with last nights tory resignations. But what a stroke of Luck.

My post for E was already planned and by luck would have it I was planning on talking about EXIT INTERVIEWS !!

I had nothing to do with last nights tory resignations. But what a stroke of Luck.

But before I go onto that the other common E’s we deal with are:

?EAPS Employee assistance programmes (we even include one with our retainer package)

?Expense policies (what can staff claim)

?Employment tribunals (I talk a lot about them )

?Equal pay (more on this when we do G Friday)

?Equality, diversity and human rights (not opening this can of worms today)

So when someone is leaving the company carrying out an exit interview can help in many ways. They can help expose any potential weaknesses in your organisation’s process, culture, as well as to help provide evaluation over the management, and share suggestions to improve employee retention.

Employees often will be VERY honest when leaving an organisation as they know their responses won’t affect their position.

As a result, this is the main reason why exit interviews are critical to me.

Here are a few exit interview questions to ask that will help you get the most value from an employee who is leaving your company.

1. What prompted you to begin searching for another opportunity?

2. Do you feel your manager gave you what you needed to succeed?

3. What did you like the best and least about your job?

4. Do you think your job has changed since you were hired?

5. Did you feel your achievements were recognised throughout your employment?

6. What suggestions do you have for the company? How could we improve?

7. Is there anything that would have changed your mind about leaving?

Do you carry them out? Whats the best reason for leaving you've heard?

F

TFIF - FFS WFH request again. Swearing at work again

What may look like a jumble of letters is an email got last week from an exasperated boss.

To decipher he was really glad it was Friday, Not really pleased to receive another working form home request while he really wants people back in office

My F for today is Flexible working

eligible to make a statutory request (of which only 1 per year can be done), they have the choice of doing that, or making a non-statutory request.

A statutory application for flexible working must:

? be in writing

? be dated

? state that it is a statutory request for flexible working

? set out the working pattern they are asking for and the date on which they would like it to start

? explain how the proposed change would affect you the employer and colleagues and how they think any changes might be dealt with

? state whether they have made a previous application for flexible working to the employer, and if so, when

? say if they are making a request because they are put at a disadvantage because of age, sex, race, disability, religion or belief, or sexual orientation. For example, asking for flexibility as a reasonable adjustment to help with a disability

? say why they're making a request - they don’t have to give a reason, but it might help you make a decision. For example, if they need help with caring arrangements, their employer might realise that it could be discriminatory to refuse the request

They can make a statutory request at any time after they have worked for you for 26 consecutive weeks.

If they have made a statutory request in the previous 12 months, they have to wait until 12 months after the date of that request before they can ask again.

There is a bill going through parliament to change this allowing from day 1 and multiple requests but ill keep you informed.

Be careful though failure to follow correct process can cause tribunals and a recent simple request cost a company nearly ￡15,000 that could so easily have been avoided.

They had genuine reasons for refusal but went about it the wrong way.

The other big F is four day week is anyone doing a trial, How’s it going ?

See you next week for G-k