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Employment Law News - July 2008 Newsletter |
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| FLU VACCINATION PROGRAMME |
 Influenza is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus which then attacks the respiratory tract (ears, nose and throat). Symptoms such as shivering, extreme tiredness, high fever, aching body are debilitating and complications can arise, particularly for those suffering from an existing condition, for example asthma.
Unfortunately, people suffering from the virus spread the infection before they begin to feel ill themselves. Each year, 10 to 20% of the population become ill with influenza, resulting in increased sick leave and lost productivity. Each healthy employee who contracts the virus is likely to have at least three days off work, and perhaps further time to look after family members who contract the disease too.
Flu vaccination is one of the simplest and most effective ways for individuals and companies to protect their health. It provides protection for the whole flu season and protection lasts for a whole year. Vaccination programmes are usually undertaken between September and early November. Rest assured that the viruses used in the vaccination are inactivated and so do not cause the flu. Once given, the influenza vaccination can take up to 14 days to reach a protective level.
Crispin Rhodes works in partnership with an occupational health professional and are delighted to make these vaccinations available in Buckinghamshire to companies who would like to offer the protection to their staff and their businesses. Please email for more information. |
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| EMPLOYEES FIGHTING FOR JOBS |
The “credit crunch” is being felt across the country and many workers are facing redundancy as employers react to the slow-down in business.
Fewer organisations are recruiting at the moment and so employees are more willing to fight for their jobs and are equally determined to fight for compensation if unsuccessful.
Employers must take care to manage the process correctly to protect against the inevitable legal claims to come. Here are some tips for getting it right.
1. Document ‘fair’ reason
Redundancy is a fair reason for dismissal but make sure you have evidence to prove that a redundancy situation really did exist and that the job really disappeared as a result.
2. Justify selection criteria
Selection criteria must be capable of objective justification. Being a “good team player” or “well liked” are too subjective as they are often based simply on the person views of individual Managers
3. Don’t discriminate
Redundancy selection criteria must be non-discriminatory so make sure it’s not more difficult for any particular group of employees to score highly. For example, if sickness absence is a criterion, exclude any that is maternity-related.
4. Consult employees
Consultation with employee is key to a fair procedure. There must be sufficient opportunities to consult employees on an individual basis to explore your reasons for selection and seeking alternatives or possibilities for avoiding redundancy.
5. Plan ahead
Avoid allegations of the process being a sham and that the decision has been made in advance by planning ahead with a realistic timescale, building in sufficient flexibility to allow employees to discuss their issues.
6. Gather ideas
Discuss selection not only with the employees selected for redundancy but also with those reamining. These employees may have ideas of their own that could help reduce the need for dismissals. For example, someone not selected for redundancy may wish to take voluntary redundancy or opt for a job share which could save someone else’s job.
7. Follow the procedures
Don’t forget the statutory dispute resolution procedures which require employers to invite employees to a meeting to discuss the proposed redundancy, allowing them to be accompanied by a colleague or trade union representative. Listen to employees’ concerns, tell them the outcome of the meeting in writing, and allow them to appeal. If they do appeal, they must be invited to another meeting with a manager not involved in the hearing, again having the right to be accompanied, and the outcome must be confirmed in writing. Failure to follow this procedure will make the dismissal automatically unfair.
8. Seek alternative employment options
You are obliged to see alternative employment options so any vacancies should be notified to employees at risk of redundancy.
9. Air any grievances early
Give all employees the chance to air their grievances as part of the consultation process before being selected for redundancy to avoid later claims.
10. Check contracts
Make sure employees receive their contractual entitlements to bonus, unused holiday, etc on termination. |
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| RIGHT TO WORK OVERTIME TO CONTINUE |
 The right for UK workers to choose to work longer than 48 hours a week has been secured, after ministers reached a new agreement in Europe.
The landmark agreement on the Working Time Directive at the EU Employment Council allows the UK’s vital labour market flexibility to continue.
Business Secretary John Hutton said:
“This is a very good deal for the UK. It provides a fair deal for workers, without damaging Britain’s economic competitiveness or putting jobs at risk.
“This agreement means that people remain free to earn overtime and businesses can cope during busy times.
“Securing the right for people to work longer if they choose to do so is hugely valuable to the British economy.
The agreement represents security for people to work more than 48 hours a week, an arrangement that has been used successfully in the UK for a decade and also addresses long-standing issues around on-call time.
If you have workers who are likely to work in excess of 48 hours per week, then please contact for guidance on dealing with this. |
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| MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE |
It is that time of year again and the new National Minimum Wage increases have been published. These increases come into effect on 1 October 2008 and are as follows:-
Adults over the age of 22: from £5.52 to £5.73
Employees between the age of 18-21: from £4.60 to £4.77
Employees aged between 16-17 (with the exception of apprentices): from £3.40 to £3.53 |
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| HOLIDAY - OFFICE SHUTDOWN |
| Angela will be on holiday from 14th to 25th July inclusive. Clients requiring assistance in an emergency during this time should telephone 01908 230969 to seek appropriate advice but it would be appreciated if non-urgent enquiries could be made on Angela’s return. |
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| DID YOU KNOW? |
| Q: How do we deal with an employee who suffers badly with BO and other employees are refusing to work with him? |
A: This is obviously a very sensitive issue and one that could potentially be very embarrassing for everyone concerned, particularly if the employee is not aware of his problem.
Ask the employee to attend a one-to-one meeting, ideally with a male manager. Explain that one or two employees have noticed that his personal hygiene is not what it might be. One explanation for this could be that he doesn’t wash his clothes regularly enough. Listen to what he says. Try to find out if he has a known medical problem. Suggest he visits his GP to discuss the problem and give him the time off to do this. Make it clear that you expect a certain level of personal hygiene in the same way that you expect a certain level of behaviour within the company.
If there is no improvement, another meeting should be arranged to find out why. If no reasonable answer is given then the problem is becoming an issue of poor conduct in refusing to follow a reasonable request made to him by you. If a lack of co-operation continues, you may have to resort to disciplinary proceedings with dismissal being a possibility if he fails to comply. Give him a deadline for improvement before you invoke any disciplinary proceedings.
In White v Newsquest (Stourbridge) Ltd, 2001, White, a journalist, had been given a final written warning to improve his personal hygiene problem after a number of complaints from other employees. He did improve but then his standards of hygiene slipped back again and he was dismissed. It went to tribunal and was found to be fair. |
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Crispin Rhodes, a UK based company that provides human resources and outsourced personnel services in Milton Keynes and surrounding areas. |
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