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Autumn is well and truly with us and the leaves are turning.
We have seen some significant rulings this month relating to the default retirement age of 65 and sickness when on holiday - perhaps one piece of good news and one bad!
Also, have a look at the guidelines for employing children and also the opportunity to purchase swine flu testing kits from our associates, Screenetics.
Kind regards,
Angela
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Employing Children By The Book
Some of our clients employ children on a part-time basis and now they are back at school, we thought we would highlight some key considerations regarding the age children have to be to work legally, and also the length of time they may work for.
At what age can a child be employed?
You cannot legally employ a child under the age of 14, but many local byelaws allow for the employment of 13 year olds in certain occupations, where they will undertake light work. Typically these include agricultural or horticultural work, newspaper delivery, shop work, office work, waitressing, working in a riding stables and domestic work. Check with your local council if you are unsure about employing a 13 year old to do a specific type of work.
At what times during the day can a child under school leaving age be employed?
Not before 7am or after 7pm and they may not work before the end of the school day on normal school days. Again, this is sometimes relaxed by byelaws to allow the employment of children for an hour before the school day starts, so it is important to check with the local authority.
How many hours can a child under school leaving age be employed for?
- No more than two hours on a day that they go to school or a Sunday.
- A child under 15 cannot be employed for more than 5 hours from Monday to Saturday on a day when they do not have to go to school.
- A child over 15 cannot be employed for more than 8 hours on a weekday on which they do not go to school.
- No more than 12 hours in a week (seven consecutive days) if that week contains a day on which they have to attend school.
- A child under 15 cannot work for more than 25 hours in a week (seven consecutive days), where that week does not include a day on which they go to school.
- A child over 15 cannot work more than 35 hours in a week (seven consecutive days) where that week does not include a day when they have to attend school.
Different rules apply to children who are on work experience placements.
What about during holidays?
For every four hours a child works, they must have at least a one hour break, even if a shorter break has been had in the four hour period.
A child under school leaving age must have two weeks’ break from any employment every calendar year, which must be taken during the school holidays.
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Criticism For EU Sick Ruling
A decision made by the European Court of Justice, could mean that employees taken ill on holiday could claim time back as sick leave, leaving bosses to be cheated by dishonest employees.
The CBI said the decision was “open to abuse” and employees could see it as an easy way to increase their holiday entitlement.
The ruling was made following a case in Spain. The Spanish employee began his legal fight after he had been refused the right to change the dates of his holiday due to an injury he had sustained. A court in Luxembourg ruled that under the EU’s Working Time Directive, he should have been given the ability to change his holiday dates and should not have been forced to “take annual leave during a period of sick leave.”
Fears about the consequences of the ruling
The ruling could mean that employees off on holiday could phone in sick, giving them extra holiday entitlement. Katja Hall from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said “If this ruling is to become law, employers should be able to ask for a medical certificate.”
The court interpreted Article Seven of the EU Working Time Directive and said that when holiday coincides with sick leave, Article Seven overrides any national or collective agreements that prevent a worker rescheduling annual leave. The ruling did not specify when an employee would have to report their illness to their employer, nor did it say at what time during the illness, would they trigger the right to change holiday.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) said the ruling “is not from the real world” and in light of it, said that employees should phone their line managers daily when they fall sick on holiday to confirm that they are still not well enough to attend work.
The decision comes after another recent ruling that found workers who are on long-term sick could, in certain circumstance, still accrue holiday and carry it forward rather than losing it at the end of the year.
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Swine Flu Testing
Has your business been affected by swine flu? Do you have a plan in place to deal with it and have you thought about the impact it could have on your business?
Swine flu is expected to peak during the winter months, and this is expected to have a severe impact on businesses, with the Government advice stating it is best practice to have a contingency plan in place to cope with the effects.
The NHS is no longer testing specifically for swine flu due to lack of capacity, and businesses are now relying on staff to self diagnose based on a list of broad symptoms, often leading to unaffected people being quarantined for up to 10 days.
Why test for swine flu?
- Staff with a negative test result can return to work sooner, without being quarantined at home.
- Infected staff can be identified quickly and the necessary precautions taken to prevent the spread of the virus.
- It allows for the business to plan for the effects of swine flu.
Help With Testing
One of our associates, Screenetics, is offering swine flu testing for £99 per test. Once the test is taken, the sample is sent in a pre-paid envelope. Screenetics uses a leading London laboratory to analyse the results, which are available the next working day. Having a few test kits in the work place will allow you to test any staff who come in feeling ill and clarify if the H1N1 virus (swine flu) is present. It will also act as a deterrent to staff who may take advantage of the current situation.
If you’re interested, please call Lucy on 01908 576991.
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Success of the Ski-a-Thon
We would like to say a big thank you to all of our skiers, and everyone that supported and sponsored them for the mammoth SIA ski-a-thon on Saturday 12th September. The day was a huge success, and we successfully skied from 9am to 9pm. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and luckily our team members did not suffer any serious injuries, just some bruised bottoms and blisters I think!
If you have not yet sponsored us and would like to, our JustGiving page will be open for the next couple of weeks and you can make a donation by following the link: www.justgiving.com/crispinrhodesski/
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Your Questions Answered
Q: If an employee is made redundant and then reemployed, do they retain their statutory redundancy pay?
A: If an employee is reemployed after being made redundant, they can retain the statutory redundancy payment (SRP) whether they have been immediately reemployed or whether they return to work for the same employer at a later date. However, under section 214 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, receipt of SRP will break the employees’ continuity of employment for the purpose of the SRP scheme. Therefore, if the employee is made redundant again in the future, they will not be entitled to SRP unless they have accrued at least two years’ service. The SRP calculation will be based on the period of service after the first redundancy only.
If there is no break in employment between redundancy and reemployment, the employer should be cautious as this may cast doubt over the genuineness of the redundancy and may cause HMRC to question the tax-free status of the payment. The employer therefore needs to demonstrate that the redundancy was genuine.
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In Closing
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I hope you have found this month's newsletter useful and informative. If so, then why not forward it on to someone. if not, then do tell us how we could improve it.
Crispin Rhodes is a specialist human resources company that offers a wide range of cost effective HR services, tailored to the needs of small and medium size businesses.
We provide advice and tailored service packages embracing recruitment, HR policies and procedures, discipline and grievance, sickness, terms and conditions of employment, maternity, paternity and adoption, redundancy, psychometric testing and one to one personal development.
Thank you once again, and for now I wish you all the best.
Kind regards,
Angela Rhodes
Crispin Rhodes Ltd
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Tel 01908 576991 - Fax 01908 607533 - Free HR Resources - Newsletter Archive - Contact Us
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Crispin Rhodes Ltd, 4 Aldrich Drive, Willen, Milton Keynes, MK15 9JH - VAT Reg No: 690381621
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Crispin Rhodes Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 3336715
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