Age inclusion: Are you welcoming to older workers?
Due to the pandemic and other economic factors, it’s becoming more commonplace to hear from ex-staff members wanting to work for their employer once again. These are also known as “boomerang employees”.
If you saw our article back in May, you will know that rehiring an ex-employee could turn out to be a mutually beneficial arrangement, with all considerations met.
What if the employee wants to come out of retirement? Pre-2020 this question was less likely to be asked. For most people, retiring has been a long time coming, and they usually aren’t planning to return to work.
Times have changed, however. New data analysis from Rest Less, a digital community for the over 50s, suggests that employers can expect to be hearing from job seekers who are leaving retirement to re-enter the labour market.
One in three 50–64-year-olds surveyed are considering going back to work. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a key motivator for this was reported to be financial. It wasn’t the only one though, and some people simply miss the mental and social stimulation that comes with employment.
Hiring someone who was retired, or “retire and return” as it’s also known, is possible. You can also hire an ex-retiree who is completely new to your business. Either way, you will need to ensure that your company is age inclusive to allow them the best possible start for success.
There are many benefits to having a multi-generational workforce. An inclusive company culture that allows everyone to thrive can reap real benefits.
Multiple perspectives can bring new ideas and problem-solving abilities to your weekly meetings. It gives younger employees the chance to learn from their more experienced co-workers and vice versa.
When developing an age inclusive company culture, it’s also important to be aware of the unique challenges that can arise. You’ll want to be prepared so that you and your team leaders can manage effectively.
Watch out for negative stereotypes or bias that can lead to discrimination. Age is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, and a person should not be treated unfairly because of their age. This is also known as ageism.
Examples of this might be passing an older employee over for training or promotion because of a perceived low flight risk. In fact, we have seen this play out at a recent Employment Tribunal in which the employee won a whopping £96,000 for unfair dismissal and age discrimination.
Employee development is just one area for attention. You’ll also want to ensure that employees communicate effectively and with respect. If you hear Twitter’s favourite ageist slur “Ok boomer” in your workplace, it would be wise to call it out to make sure that all of your employees feel welcome at work.
Holiday pay update
A landmark ruling by the Supreme Court in The Harpur Trust vs Brazel has provided clarity on how employers should calculate holiday pay for part-year workers.
Prior to this ruling the advice was to pro-rate holiday pay at 12.07% of wages for hours worked. Dividing the value of holiday entitlement over the usual working year of 46.4 weeks.
This has now been rejected. The Supreme Court has said that holiday should be based on the statutory entitlement, regardless of how often the employee actually works. This means that an individual who is under a contract of employment throughout the year is entitled to 5.6 weeks a year holiday, no matter that they may work far less than the usual 46.4 weeks. The most obvious example being term time workers.
This has potentially created an avenue for seasonal, event and term-time workers to claim for historical underpayment. To calculate a week’s holiday pay you need to find the average week’s pay going back over the previous 52 weeks, ignoring weeks not worked. You may need to go back further to a maximum of 104 weeks if they are very casual. If the employee has recently joined, you average the pay over the weeks they have worked.
For staff who do not work a full year, we need to consider whether offering contracts just for their working period is more appropriate, rather than having long-term permanent contracts.
This could also be employment contracts which terminate at the end of each term, with the individual reapplying before the next term. This is cumbersome, however, and could result in duplicate criminal record checks needing to be performed if they are a requirement of recruitment. If you have questions, do contact us, as holiday pay is an important issue.
Helping your team to minimise distractions
Workplaces are buzzing once again with many people now regularly attending their place of work. It’s good for several reasons; improving social connection and communication for starters.
Another positive of being back in the office is that it removes the distractions that can come with working from home. That is, only if they are not directly replaced with office-based interruptions instead.
From chatty co-workers excited to reunite, to impromptu meetings, or even just the general buzz that comes with an open plan workplace, employees may not be as focused on their work as you had hoped.
What can you do then to help your team minimise these distractions?
Time management training can help. By introducing your team to time blocking, where they block out time in their calendar to focus on specific tasks, you can help them to keep track of how they are spending their day. This practice also lets co-workers know when they are available to collaborate or if they are in the zone and need to focus.
If, after this, an employee continues to struggle with distractions, a 121 is a good opportunity to address this. You may find that you need performance management to get them back on track.
Employment status checklist
The UK Government recently released a response to its consultation on employment status. It’s a tricky area of HR that can cause employers to slip up on compliance, as you may have seen from several high-profile tribunals on the matter.
When assigning someone their employment status, you are also determining their entitlement to employment rights, so it’s vital that this is done correctly and with confidence.
A particular area of confusion has been around the difference between someone who is self-employed and someone who is a worker. A worker is entitled to basic employment rights such as minimum wage, holiday and sick pay, whereas a self-employed person is not.
Recognising the complexities of employment status and how this has caused some confusion for employers, the Government has released more detailed guidance on how to correctly assign employment status.
You can see the latest advice on the Government website here, but do let us know if you would like help when applying it to your business.
What makes a winning team?
When the Lionesses made history and brought home the Euros trophy, celebrations could be felt nationwide in support of England’s winning women’s football team. It’s the first time England has won a major football tournament since the men’s World Cup win in 1966.
Lionesses’ head coach Sarina Wiegman has been praised for her calm, clear and direct leadership style. It’s an approach that can be applied both on and off the pitch, and one that anyone looking to develop a winning team can take inspiration from.
Strong leadership is crucial for a team to reach its full potential, but for a winning formula there are other key elements that should also be in play.
- A shared vision – provides direction and a bigger picture perspective for all members of the team. It keeps everyone on track to achieve one main objective.
- Clear communication – helps team members to keep in touch and provide updates or ask for help if needed.
- Conflict resolution – removes barriers that could otherwise derail the project or interrupt important timelines.
- Collaboration – is necessary for team members to problem solve and innovate.
- Responsibility – allows individuals to learn and improve, benefiting the team.
People management has an important role in developing and managing a successful team. If you want to know more, get in touch today.
Summer style

Last week’s heatwave had us all seeking ways to keep cool at work, but for some, a strict dress code made this more of a challenge.
When council bosses banned wearing shorts for health and safety reasons, a frustrated binman found a loophole in the code.
There was nothing in the rules to say he couldn’t wear a kilt, and so he ordered a fluorescent hi-vis one to match his uniform.
A kilt may not be permanently seen making the rounds, but it did get the message across. His employer has said that they plan to review operations during extreme weather.
With summer in full swing, it’s worth considering if a relaxed dress code would be suitable before more employees take matters into their own hands.