Woodfines Solicitors’ Post

ICYMI: Latest figures show that working time lost to illness has reached a record high in the UK, and employment law specialist Furley Page Solicitors is advising employers to ensure they have clear processes in place when it comes to managing employee absences. #business #SouthEastBusiness #employmentlaw #employeeabsences

ICYMI: Latest figures show that working time lost to illness has reached a record high in the UK, and employment law specialist Furley Page Solicitors is advising employers to ensure they have clear processes in place when it comes to managing employee absences. #business #SouthEastBusiness #employmentlaw #employeeabsences

Latest figures show that working time lost to illness has reached a record high in the UK, and employment law specialist Furley Page Solicitors is advising employers to ensure they have clear processes in place when it comes to managing employee absences. #business #SouthEastBusiness #employmentlaw #employeeabsences

Latest figures show that working time lost to illness has reached a record high in the UK, and employment law specialist Furley Page Solicitors is advising employers to ensure they have clear processes in place when it comes to managing employee absences. #business #SouthEastBusiness #employmentlaw #employeeabsences

To round off our previous posts on putting together a sickness policy for your small business and understanding what long-term sick pay is, we’ve decided to talk a bit about disciplinary action when it comes to sick days. 📏 UK employment law doesn’t define how many sick days are ‘too many’, so the onus is on you as the employer to set a limit, whether that’s per month or per year, as well as the tipping point for disciplinary action. It’s never a good look to let an employee go because of sick leave, and it’s really not an action you want to take, especially when your team member is suffering, so you have to put a lot of thought into it. Although it's important to keep in mind what you need to do from a business perspective, we advise you to think first of ways to prevent this situation from happening and to make sure you support your team members throughout challenges. That being said, you can have a look at our blog to understand what you should do in case this happens for your business. https://hubs.ly/Q02JbHjg0

"The proposed employment law changes will mean additional costs for businesses." That's one of the main points raised in a guest blog that I read on HR News today. I also saw a representative from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) on TV expressing concern about the impact of the Government's Employment Rights Bill. Whether you believe that the proposals are for the good or not, there are some things that you can do now to minimise any additional costs to your business in the future: 1. Review your probation period procedure so that the investments you make in new staff bring good returns as opposed to unfair dismissal from day one disputes when the new legislation comes into place. Clear competency expectations, targets, objectives and regular reviews increase your ability to make the right decision at the end of the probation period. 2. Get in the habit of putting probation period review and decision deadlines in your calendar. I've seen plenty of situations where managers forget to make a decision at the end of the probation period, leading to uncertainty on the staff member's employment status. Not helpful if there are any doubts about their performance! 3. Create or review a simple but effective sickness absence management procedure that aims to manage sickness fairly and objectively. Effective sickness absence management helps to reduce levels of sickness, which in turn will help to manage Statutory Sick Pay being paid from day one rather than day four. 4. Review any zero hours or casual contracts that you currently use, in advance of the Government's intention to tighten up on them. Can the work be done in a different way? Would some of your workers bring more value if they were offered guaranteed hours? If you need any assistance in reviewing your HR practices, please send me a message. #HRConsultant #SmallBusiness #EmploymentRightsBill2024

Some time back, one of our colleagues was relieved of his position due to his consistent absenteeism following paydays, with unauthorized absences occurring for at least six/ seven days each month and without proper communication regarding to the reasons. Following this he decided to take matters to the court of law cause according to him, his dismissal was unjust and it was a breach of contract. Now according to section 50 of the employment code act no 3 of 2019,An employer shall not dismiss an employee summarily except (a)where an employee is guilty of gross misconduct inconsistent with the express or implied conditions of the contract of employment; (b) disobedience a lawful order given by the employer; (c)for lack of skill which the employee, expressly or impliedly, is warranted to possess; (d)for habitual or substantial neglect of the employee’s duties; (e)for continual absence from work with out the permission of the employer or a reasonable excuse;or (f)for a misconduct under the employer’s disciplinary rules where the punishment is summary dismissal. From close (e) and (f) it’s clear that the organization was acting within jurisdiction. It’s important that we learnt to have an introspection on our actions pertaining to your career path. Some of the choices we make might have a detrimental outcome not just on our career and growth, but to our wellbeing too #HRmanagement #labourlaw #careergrowth

𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗭𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮 '𝗖𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲'? This term is generally used when an employee has no guaranteed work and works as and when it suits them and the employer. It's important to note that each time a casual employee accepts an offer of work, it's considered a new period of employment. Despite being casual, employees have the same rights as permanent employees regarding minimum wage, rest and meal breaks, a safe working environment, and protection against discrimination and harassment. However, there are some exceptions to these rights, especially when it comes to holiday and leave entitlements. Sometimes, taking annual holidays may not be practical for casual employees, and an employer may agree to pay an extra 8% on top of their wages instead. Things can get tricky when an employee starts as a casual but ends up working regularly, and the employer relies on them to cover work. Failure to recognize the change in employee status could lead to compliance issues, such as not applying annual leave entitlements or other benefits like sick leave, bereavement leave, or public holidays. To ensure your business is not at risk of hefty fines, you should clearly understand what defines a casual employee. It's also essential to put processes in place to regularly review any employees who may be at risk of changing employment status. If you're unsure, engaging an HR/Payroll professional to help you understand your employer obligations is a good idea. Don't take any chances with your business's compliance - stay informed and proactive. #CasualEmployee #EmploymentLegislation #EmployeeStatus #ComplianceIssues #PayrollProfessional #NZpayroll

Leave requests got you stressed? ConfluxHR's Leave Management Menu is your admin BFF! See all requests at once ️ Approve/reject with a click ✅❌ Track employee leave balances No more leave request drama! Watch our video & master ConfluxHR's Leave Management Menu: https://lnkd.in/gP5qeBW2 P.S. Share your favorite HR admin superpower in the comments! #ConfluxHR #HRTips #LeaveManagement #HRSuperpowers #LeaveDramaIsOver

67 shares this one post has had.. I have come across this post quite a few times myself on social media – how many sickie excuses have you received especially during this Easter Break! 🤔 Do you have an employee who is on the sick at the moment? 🤔 Do you have an employee who needs to be managed because of their sick leave? ✅ Let me guide you into taking the right approach. ✅ Let me give you FREE HR ADVICE ✅ Let me prevent you from employment tribunal action. #sickie #sickleave #trending #socialmedia #absent #absentfromwork #easterbreak #free #hradvice #employementtribunal #employmentlaw #hr #humanresources