Employing a Reservist

Thursday February 2, 2017

Employing a member of the Reserve Forces (formerly the TA, Royal Navy Reserve or RAF Reserve) has numerous benefits – the rigorous training they undergo develops key skills that can be invaluable to your business, as well as preparing them for their Reservist roles.  Leadership, teamwork, organisational skills, problem solving, communication… the list goes on.  If you put your employee through similar training it could cost your company over £9000 a year!

However, businesses with Reservists should ensure they are prepared and have a policy to deal with Reservist issues.  By law, you don’t have to give Reservists additional leave for training. But many employers do so, because they realise the benefit that these transferrable skills provide to the workplace.

You also need to consider your procedures to ensure you know what steps to take in the event that your employee is mobilised.  Mobilisation is what occurs when your employee is called up under The Reserve Forces Act 1996 to support a Defence operation.  You are required by law to release your employee for mobilisation, unless you are eligible, in certain specific circumstances, for an exemption or deferral of the call-out order.

Wherever possible, the MOD will give you at least 28 days’ notice and will provide financial assistance to cover salary, pension contributions and additional costs such as recruitment and additional salary costs for temporary replacements.

It is a great help for both employer and employee to stay in regular contact during their deployment, making integration back to work smoother when the time comes.

A set of written guidelines will:

  • ensure that line managers and Reservists understand your company policy
  • make sure that you are prepared as a company, and
  • allow you to manage Reservists in a consistent way.

The HR Dept can support you and your business in making sure you have all bases covered – contact us  and speak to one of our HR professionals. Also, more information about Reservists can be found here.

This post was written by Alison Schreiber. Click here to see what Alison provides to her local business community with The HR Dept Durham and Darlington

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