FAQs

Incorrectly identifying the employment status of an individual can lead to problems. The simple list below will provide guidance on whether an individual should be classed as an employee or a worker.

Employees:

• Have a mutuality of obligation (they are required to work contractual hours and are unable to refuse work)
• Have full employment rights

In contrast workers:

• Have no mutuality of obligation (i.e. cannot expect to be asked to work and can refuse work if asked)
• Have no right to claim unfair dismissal or other employment rights except for statutory benefits such as paid holidays

Both employees and workers are required to carry out the work personally and are unable to provide a substitute for their services.

Employees have various rights including:

• Payment of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
• Maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave and pay
• The right not to be unfairly dismissed
• Statutory redundancy pay
• The National Minimum/Living Wage
• Protection against unlawful deductions from wages
• Itemised pay statements
• The statutory minimum level of paid holiday
• The statutory minimum length of rest breaks
• Receiving notice of termination of employment
• Time off for family emergencies
• To not work more than 48 hours on average per week or to opt out of this right if they choose
• Protection against unlawful discrimination

All employees must be issued with written particulars of employment on or before their first day of employment.

The best time to outsource your HR is before any tricky people issues arise. As you would expect, it’s much easier to manage people issues when you are proactive rather than reactive.

Ideally you should outsource your HR at the point of taking on your first employee. That way, you can have your employment contracts and other employment documentation drafted by a professional. They will ensure your documents are legally compliant and protect business interests.

Realistically, we understand many organisations look to outsource their HR when there is a people problem that needs to be resolved (such as a grievance, redundancy, or performance management issue). That is fine. The HR Dept are happy to help whenever a problem arises.

People management is more complex than ever before. Human Resources (HR) will need to spend more time focused on people challenges arising from:

• New employment legislation
• Remote working
• New working practices
• Skills and talent shortages

This will be made possible using technology designed to take away much of the administration burden from HR professionals.

We also believe that more organisations will look to outsource their HR activities to bring in HR specialists as and when required.

HR is all about the effective management of people to enable an organisation to meet its strategic aims. There are many activities associated with an HR department including:

• Resource planning and recruitment
• Writing employment contracts, policies and procedures (sometimes organised into a staff handbook)
• Dealing with staff issues such as grievances
• Managing discipline issues and performance management
• Restructures and redundancies
• Psychometric assessments and team building
• Organising staff pay and benefits
• Training and career development

The type of HR work varies from business to business and HR professionals can choose to specialise in a particular area (e.g. training or recruitment), or become a generalist and get involved with the full range of HR activities.

HR operates at all levels of an organisation from the board room to the shop floor. HR professionals need to demonstrate a range of abilities including:

• Problem solving
• Clear and sensitive communication
• Strategic thinking
• Administration and organisational ability

HR outsourcing is an alternative to having an in-house HR team. For many organisations, it is not cost effective to have an in-house HR team so outsourcing HR is a great option.

All organisations that employ people require some level of HR support.

When taking on your first employee, your business needs to provide employment contracts and other documents to ensure compliance with employment legislation. Well drafted employment documentation can also help protect an organisation’s interests.

HR businesses like The HR Dept offer packages such as the Flying Start (for new businesses) or HR Advice Line (telephone and email support). It is up to you to decide which package is the best fit for your business.

TUPE is a legal requirement. Failure to comply could lead to an employment tribunal awarding 13 weeks pay to each employee.

There are several reasons why a company might restructure:

• Cost reduction: As its name suggests, a cost reduction restructure is about reducing costs. This could involve selling assets, letting employees go, or restructuring departments to reduce management needs.
• Debt restructuring: A debt restructure will look to help restructure any debt and keep a business trading.
• Legal restructuring: A legal restructure may be required if there is a change in responsibilities at the top of the hierarchy. This could be a change in ownership or investors.
• Mergers and acquisitions: Mergers and acquisitions may be required if a business is incorporated into an existing one.

Making one person redundant still requires a formal process. The same rules for consultation apply however there is no strict timetable.

As an employer you will need to prove the redundancy is genuine and that you are not using redundancy as an excuse to dismiss an unwanted or underperforming employee.

While there is no legally-binding time period before you can rehire for a redundant role, employers should wait at least six months to recruit into a role they have made redundant. If your business has taken the difficult decision to make a role redundant, it is usually because you cannot see your business situation changing in the foreseeable future. This period is widely accepted as being six months.

Employers are also more likely to find themselves at risk of an unfair dismissal claim if they rehire for the role they made redundant too soon. In this instance an employer will need to prove the original redundancy was genuine, unavoidable at the time and that the financial prospects of the business have changed significantly since then.

In the UK, there are typically five separate categories of fair dismissal. While each of the following is considered a fair dismissal, one thing to bear in mind is that you must also act fairly during the dismissal process to avoid a legal claim for unfair dismissal.

The 5 fair dismissals are:

• Conduct
• Capability or performance
• Redundancy
• Statutory illegality or breach of a statutory restriction
• Some other substantial reason

Employee benefits are usually non-financial compensation offered to employees in addition to their salary. These could include things like Employee assistance programmes, cinema tickets, additional holidays, gym membership, cycle-to-work schemes, health care, child care, travel passes, etc. As well as helping to motivate employees, employee benefits help with general wellbeing.

When deciding on your benefits package, there isn’t one rule that fits all. As an employer, you can make your benefits package as unique as you like. We can help make this happen. For more information, get in touch via phone or email.

Yes, we can support and guide you in choosing the right employee benefits packages for your business and its employees. We’ll get to know you and your business and help you create a package that’s 100% tailored and guaranteed to attract, retain and motivate employees.

As well as this, we can offer support and guidance in the medium and long term, too, ensuring your benefits packages are up to date and legally compliant. Whether you already have an idea of what you want to offer or not, we can help you tackle the maze of employee benefits — and give your employees what they truly deserve.

Yes. If the grievance involves allegations against another individual such as a colleague or manager, then disciplinary action may be appropriate. The grievance should be investigated thoroughly before taking any disciplinary action.

If an employee is absent, whether they are off sick for a few days or on long-term absence, it is important to communicate with them to understand their situation and when they plan on returning to work. This will also help you to manage your workforce and business operations and plan accordingly.

The former employee has to register their complaint at the Employment Tribunal on form ET1. They can go straight to the tribunal without going through your company grievance policy if they choose, but if their failure to do so is deemed unreasonable they risk a 25% reduction in any award made to them. Both parties will be invited to take part in a conciliation process, but if this fails it will go to the tribunal procedure.

Tribunal procedures are less formal than going to court but you may wish to call witnesses to back up your case. The tribunal’s decision will be given at the end of the case or a few weeks later. If you do not like the decision you may be able to appeal.

In general, each party pays their own costs. This usually means that if you win you will still have a large legal bill to pay. It is rare for a Tribunal to award costs in the employer’s favour and even when they do, getting your money back can be difficult. With our Advice Line package you can protect your business from the unexpected legal costs of employment tribunals. 

While employers are not required by law to provide an EAP, EAPs play a vital role in supporting employee wellbeing, minimising absenteeism and demonstrating your duty of care as an employer.

The policies a company needs will vary, depending on the culture, legislative environment and also industry. However, these policies are must-haves for most companies:

1. Code of Conduct
2. Policy on Equality
3. Policy on privacy and Data Protection
4. Policy on Use of social media and the Internet
5. Policy on Working Times, Pay, Absences and Holidays

Companies should always introduce policies based on company and job-specific risk assessment.

They should be regularly reviewed, and if necessary, new ones should be implemented when there is a change to the workplace or environment.

Nothing is stopping you from writing your own employee handbook, though we advise against it. It is one of the many things in HR that’s better left to the professionals. 

Company policies included in an employee handbook need to be expertly drafted to ensure they meet the requirements of a company, as well as the legal requirements set out by the government.

HR has quite a big role to play in training and development. As well as providing orientation and evaluating performance, they should assign appropriate training, handle succession planning and improve organisational processes.

There are several types of HR software that focus on helping the user complete different types of tasks. Most of the software falls into one of two categories: comprehensive or specialised. Comprehensive software focuses on the broad HR management tasks, whereas specialist software helps with one or two specific HR tasks. 

HR software includes but is not limited to: 

• Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS)
• Human Resources Management Systems (HRMS)
• Human Capital Management (HCM)
• Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)
• Payroll Systems

The software you require will depend on the tasks you need to complete. If you’re struggling to pinpoint which type of software you need, drop us an email or give us a call — we’d love to help you out.

With SMEs, work dependency on each employee can be extremely high. HR tasks are managed through endless spreadsheets and folders due to lower budgets and restricted resources. While this may appear manageable, a small error or slight drop in concentration can lead to a much bigger problem, like delays, fines and penalties due to non-compliance. 

This is where HR software comes in. With everything in one place, nothing will be missed, and you can easily manage all your day-to-day tasks. This results in a streamlined workflow, better employee experience, more informed decision making, and compliance with statutory laws.

No, performance appraisals aren’t a legal requirement. However, we highly recommend them for every business, as they give you and your employees the chance to talk about work issues and support them with the training and development they need to excel in their role.

Employee reviews also offer an opportunity to check in on staff wellbeing and uncover any personal issues that could be impacting work.

When planned and done correctly, performance appraisals should be productive for both employee and employer. Here are some top tips for delivering effective appraisals:

• Be prepared: Preparation is key. Give employees plenty of notice so they can prepare for the appraisal and come armed with any questions they might have.
• Listen carefully: Give employees plenty of time to speak. Listen carefully and take note of non-verbal cues such as body language.
• Hone your skills: Practice, practice, practice. If you haven’t received any formal training on performance management, now’s the time to think about learning how to design, plan and deliver effective appraisals.
• Offer regular feedback: Giving regular feedback to your employees is a great way to ensure everyone is on track, and that training is offered when needed. Also, celebrating successes can regularly boost morale and motivation, which in turn, can improve performance.
• Encourage open discussion: Ask your employee questions regarding their performance. Opening the appraisal up for discussion is a great way to make employees feel involved. It also allows them to raise any concerns or ask questions.

Contracts of employment should be signed by the employee, however where the employee has failed to sign it but continues to work under the terms and conditions laid out, a tribunal is likely to find that they have accepted the terms.

There are two parties involved in an employment contract: the employer and employee. The contract is a legally-binding agreement between those two parties where each party will agree to a set of conditions, duties, rights and responsibilities. If either party breaches the contract and cannot resolve this directly, it may lead to mediation or legal action. Given the complexity of employment contracts – and costly repercussions if they are breached – the importance of involving HR professionals from the outset cannot be underestimated.

There are two types of recruitment:

• Internal Recruitment — is the recruitment that happens within the organisation. There are two primary sources of internal recruitment, and they are transfers, from another department or promotions. This type of recruitment can lead to a spike in productivity as the employee’s motivation increases. Because internal recruitment only considers existing employees, a potential downside is that not all the requirements can be met — meaning you might have to make sacrifices. Many companies insist that all opportunities are externally advertised.
• External Recruitment — is the recruitment that happens outside your organisation. The advantage being that you can attract a wider pool of candidates and build a more diverse workforce.

All types of businesses benefit from using an HR professional, but none more so than start-ups and SMEs. It’s not uncommon for start-up founders to be less experienced when it comes to hiring, so an HR professional will keep everything in check and ensure you recruit the best possible candidate.

As well as helping hire employees through creating inclusive job roles, conducting structured job interviews and protecting businesses from lawsuits, HR professionals help start-ups and SMEs develop and retain employees by fairly compensating workers, creating training programmes and more.

Ask us about our dedicated HR package for start-ups – Flying Start.