Jessica Freeman

King Charles III has declared Monday the 19th September 2022 a public holiday for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.  But what does this mean for you as an employer…..

As with all other Public or “Bank” holidays, you must look for guidance from you own company terms and conditions of employment or staff handbook.

If your organisation would normally close on a public holiday it will be expected that you will do the same on the 19th with all employees who regularly work on a Monday having an additional day of paid leave.  In this case, your annual leave policy will usually state the number of days holiday an employee is to receive with additional time for all public holidays.

However, if your business is usually trading for business on a public holiday, and your Ts&Cs state that employees will receive annual leave including all public holidays, you may chose to open as normal or with amended hours.

But should you make people work?  This is where sensitivity and discretion should be taken by all employers.

JFHR would recommend that, if you wish to remain open you ask for volunteers that are happy to work on that day – there can be many reasons why someone would volunteer especially with many people are facing economic hardship who do not get paid if they do not work, therefore judgements should not be made for individuals decisions.  Employers may also consider trading for reduced hours that day to allow for a reduction in staff levels rather than expecting people to work.

Please get in touch if you need any further guidance on the best course of action for your organisation.

No further details have been announced regarding the Coronation of King Charles III.

Jessica Freeman HR shares the sentiments of not just the nation, but the world at the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.  We send condolences to the Royal Family and all of those who served her over her historic reign.

At a moment as momentous as this, there will be times of sadness, reflection and confusion and questions are already being asked about plans for the coming weeks.  It can also bring on emotions relating to personal grief and mental health.

JFHR will support clients with a best course of action and when more details are finalised will stay in touch with any changes as information is made available – please get in touch with any questions or concerns.

With the new tax year, April sees updates that may have an effect on your business if you employ staff.

Various award limits and statutory benefits will increase but the key changes are;

National Minimum Wage increase

On April 1st 2022 the new rates of MNW are;

• £8.91 to £9.50 for workers aged 23 and over (the national living wage);
• £8.36 to £9.18 for workers aged 21 or 22;
• £6.56 to £6.83 for workers aged 18 to 20;
• £4.62 to £4.81 for workers aged under 18 who are no longer of compulsory school age; and
• £4.30 to £4.81 for apprentices under 19, or over 19 and in the first year of the apprenticeship.

Employers must ensure that new rates are calculated for working on the 1st April and afterwards if this falls between your pay period.

Statutory family-related and sick pay

From the 3rd April 2022, the statutory maternity, adoption, paternity, shared parental and parental bereavement pay increases to £156.66 while the rate of statutory sick pay rises to £99.35 per week from the 6th April 2022.

Redundancy pay limits

The maximum limit for weekly pay calculation will be £571 from the 6th April 2022 for those that qualify for redundancy payments.

Flexible apprenticeships

From April 2022 an apprentice may change their employer and complete a series of alternative English three month flexible apprenticeships that individually last a minimum of three months and combine to complete the required 12 month course.

Right to work checks

The temporary measure of verifying right to work documents has been extended to the end September 2022 as was due to end in April 2022.  There are also changes to the biometric online service where physical documents will no longer be accepted.

More than 30 companies will begin a six month trial of a four day working week to see if 100% productivity can be achieved in 80% of the time. If the results prove positive, this could be the next big change to working habits after working from home shaped flexible working policies.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/six-month-trial-four-day-working-week-companies-b977190.html

As more and more high profile companies in the UK are hitting the headlines for slashing sick pay benefits for the unvaccinated, many people are asking how they are allowed to do this?

Firstly, headlines can be misleading. Yes, changes to sick pay are being implemented but not for those who have actually tested positive for Covid 19. So far, the reduction of Enhanced Company Sick Pay to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is only for those that are unvaccinated (without exemption) and required by law to self-isolate as they are a close contact of someone who is confirmed as positive – if you are vaccinated you do not need to do this and can continue working.

This does raise questions as to how a company can simply change their terms and conditions of employment so easily without consultation but, as any good employment lawyer will tell you, it all depends on what is in the contract. If an Enhanced Company Sick Pay is described as discretionary, this policy can be amended or removed as long as the changes are implemented fairly across the whole company and not just targeted at one group or individual.

Although these decisions seem to be focused on the financial impact of losing employees from the work place, the moral questions can start to be raised on whether the UK is heading towards no-jab no-job becoming acceptable.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59930206

The BBC has pulled together various research conducted over the last few months relating to the attitudes of business owners on the change in working dynamics in a post pandemic world.

There seems to be this widening gap between employer and employee on why flexible working patterns or working from home should be allowed to continue. This article explores the difference between the productive and the emotional argument and is it just the employers fear of loss of control that is driving the decisions to bring everyone back to the workplace

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210908-what-bosses-really-think-about-remote-work

As yet another year flies by, it is easy to forget that the government Coronavirus job retention scheme (furlough) changes tomorrow, July 1st 2021. Although access to the scheme has not changed, the liability for employers has.

An employee who is still unable to work and is registered to accept furlough payments must still receive at least 80% of their income up to the value of £2500 per month, the government will now only pay up to 70% of the total up to the value of £2187.50 leaving employers liable for the shortfall.

It is expected that many employers will move their staff onto flexi-furlough and bring them back to work part time to prevent these additional payroll expenses with no hours worked. However the reality of the situation is that this will put financial pressure on already struggling employers which could lead to more redundancies in the coming months as the scheme reduces again in August to the end of September.

Failure to make these changes could lead to legal proceedings with HMRC launching 13,000 investigations into furlough fraud. Please contact Jessica Freeman HR if you need any support in the transitions from the furlough scheme and the issues around return to office work spaces.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme/changes-to-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme

In the last week we have received many calls from New clients concerned about managing the process of bringing employees back to the office post lockdown and how HR can help.

This is a great article explaining why HR is so vital but also dispels some of those frustrating myths about the role it plays in organisations….

https://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/content/comment/hr-isn-t-the-enemy

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has just announced the new qualifications to receive the fourth and fifth Self Employment Grant.

There will be two further payments made to those who qualify for the months February to April and May to September. However to target those that need it the most in the fifth grant, those with a reduction in turnover of more than 30% will receive the full 80% of average earnings per month up to a maximum of £7500, those that have had less than a 30% reduction in turnover will receive 30% of average earnings up to £2850. As yet, how to determine your turnover or the exact date to register your claims are yet to be announced. – UPDATE – The fourth grant will be processed from late April and the fifth from late July.

In addition, as long as you have filed your 19/20 tax return by midnight on the 2nd March 2021, you will now qualify for the scheme qualifying a further 600,000 people who have previously been unable to claim.

The furlough scheme has been confirmed as extended to the end of September with no change to the employing receiving 80% of their standard missed wages. However from July, as businesses begin to open in full, employees will need to make a contribution of 10% in July and 20% in August and September.

As profiles rise and more connections are made on LinkedIn and other social media platforms, so will the rate of unsolicited mailing list emails that start to appear in your inbox.

Although an aspect of GDPR aimed to prevent public information from being used in this way, there still seems to be confusion at best, or simple disregard at worst, on what information can be used for legitimate business interest.

Business information is made public for those who are genuinely looking to make contact for information about the business service you provide. So should your new connect take that contact information and add it to their mailing list?

In a word……no! Not only is it against the basic principles of GDPR but it also lazy networking hoping that you might just send something to someone and it will stick.

So how do you stop this influx in your inbox? Until morally individuals chose to stop or organisations are prosecuted for GDPR breach, these emails will always appear and all you can do is unsubscribe as frustrating as that is.