FAQ’s

A Contract of Employment is deemed to have been created when an employee accepts a job offer.

Terms may be written, oral or implied or a combination and may be found in a variety of sources such as the original job advertisement, offer letter, written statement of terms, company policies,  an employee handbook or oral agreements. It does not have to be in writing to be legally valid, however, written terms will reduce the possibility of disagreements in the future.

Even if no written Contract is provided, an employee is entitled to receive a Written Statement of Terms within 2 months of the start of employment and where the employment is going to last for one month or more. (For employees whose employment began prior to 30^th November 1993, they are only entitled to a Written Statement if they request one.)

Implied terms may include:

• a duty of mutual trust and confidence between the employer and employee
• terms necessary to make the contract workable eg someone employed as a driver will have a valid driving licence
• custom and practice (ie conditions that have been consistently applied over a significant period of time)
• statutory requirements such as minimum holiday entitlements and national minimum wage.

For help with contracts of employment, click here: http://www.courtneyhr.co.uk/services/contract-of-employment/

There are a number of reasons which are considered justification for dismissing an employee. They are:

• The conduct of the employee
• The capability of the employee
• A statutory requirement, for example where they are not legally entitled to work in the UK
• Redundancy
• Some other substantial reason

However, the dismissal could be unfair, even if it is justified through one of these reasons, unless the employer followed fair and reasonable procedures. This is generally taken to mean procedures  which follow the principles outlined in the ACAS Code of Practice on Discipline and Grievance.

There are also a number of reasons which are automatically considered unfair grounds for dismissal. They include:

• Trade Union membership or acting as an employee representative
• Family reasons including parental or dependants leave
• Pregnancy and related maternity /paternity/adoption rights
• Discrimination
• Making a protected disclosure
• Pay and working hours such as requesting flexible working , National Minimum Wage or statutory holiday entitlements.

For more information, click here (http://www.courtneyhr.co.uk/areas-of-expertise/disciplinary-and-grievances)

An employee may instigate an employment tribunal claim where an employment dispute has arisen which has not been resolved by other means such as the employer’s grievance or disciplinary process. Some of the most common reasons for employees making a tribunal claim are:

• equal pay
• unfair/constructive dismissal
• discrimination
• breach of contract
• working hours
• failure to inform and consult in a redundancy or business transfer situation
• redundancy pay
• unauthorised deductions from wages.

It is possible to reduce the potential for disputes by:

• providing a Written Statement of Terms of employment
• having clearly written policies and procedures and following them

For information on putting strong policies in place, click here (http://www.courtneyhr.co.uk/services/employee-handbooks-policies/)

TUPE refers to the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations which protect employees’ terms and conditions of employment when a business (or part of a business) is transferred from one owner to another. In most cases the employees of the original business will automatically transfer to the new employer on their existing terms and conditions. Continuity of service and any other rights are preserved. Both the original and the new employers are required to inform and consult with employees affected by the transfer.

An employee cannot have their contract transferred to a new employer against their will and may object before the transfer takes place. If they refuse the transfer, the employee is regarded as having resigned with effect from the date of the transfer. In that instance there is generally

• no dismissal
• no redundancy (and therefore no entitlement to statutory redundancy pay)
• no obligation for the new employer to take them on.

However if the transfer would result in a significant and unfavourable change to an employee’s working conditions, they could resign and claim unfair constructive dismissal

For more information, click here (http://www.courtneyhr.co.uk/areas-of-expertise/tupe/)

The law on age and retirement changed on 6^th April 2011 and the Default Retirement Age (DRA) is being gradually phased out over a transitional period which runs to 30^th September 2011.

The changes mean that the last day employees can be compulsorily retired using the DRA will be 30^th September and must have been given the required 6 months notice by 30^th March 2011. Employees will be able to request to work beyond their notified retirement date however if an employer wishes to give an extension that still ends with dismissal under the DRA, it must be for a fixed period of 6 months or less. The employee’s right to request to work beyond DRA ceases on 5^th January 2012.

From 1^st October, employers will be able to use the DRA to compulsorily retire employees. There may be exceptions if an employer can show that they are acting in the interests of the business and their actions are appropriate and necessary. They must be able to defend their actions at tribunal if required.

For support in that and any other HR area, contact Courtney HR (Link to http://www.courtneyhr.co.uk/contact/)

1.  Ensure the redundancy situation has arisen as a result of

• a cessation of business
• a cessation of business at the employee’s site
• a reduction or cessation of a particular type of work

2. Consider whether there are any viable alternative solutions.

3. Identify the group from which employees will be selected for redundancy (the selection pool)

4. Consult with employees – collective consultation is required with recognised trade unions or elected employee representatives and varies with the number of employees affected:

• 100+ employees, at least 90 days consultation
• 20-99 employees, at least 30 days consultation
• less than 20 employees, the consultation period should be ‘reasonable’ however there is no statutory minimum period.

An employer is legally required to provide the following information:

• the reason for the redundancies
• the number proposed and their job types
• the total number of employees affected
• the proposed methods of selection
• the procedure to be followed
• the method of calculating redundancy payment.

5. Selection – based on objective criteria. The individuals selected should be notified in writing that they are ‘at risk’ of being made redundant and invited to a meeting to discuss it. There must also be at least one further consultation meeting and any alternatives suggested by the employee must be given reasonable consideration.  The employee has the right to be accompanied at all individual consultation meetings by a trade union representative or colleague.

If the redundancy is to proceed, the employee must be notified in writing and details of the notice period (statutory or contractual) and the redundancy payment included.

6. Appeals – it is good practice to allow an employee to appeal against the decision to make them redundant.

In short, yes. Any service that another person is providing your business should be formalised in a contract, otherwise you run the risk of relying solely on verbal agreements. This contract needs to outline the terms of the service, including the agreed rate, timelines and any restrictive covenants. We can provide a one-off service to create tailored contracts for your needs.

For Associate Contract support, click here http://www.courtneyhr.co.uk/services/associate-freelance-contracts/

Employee happiness or engagement at work begins at the recruitment stage. If an employee is in a role and an environment that plays to their strengths, they will add value to the organisation and equally will feel valued. Secondly, employees need to be stretched and developed. This doesn't necessarily mean promotion, but it requires regular dialogue between the employee and their Manager about their contribution and opportunities to learn and grow. Finally, organisations are more and more recognising the value of measuring employee engagement. Ask yourself 'What motivates your employees?' and 'Where is their level of satisfaction against those motivating factors?'

For more information, click here (http://www.courtneyhr.co.uk/services/strategic-hr-solutions/)

If you believe there is an incident of misconduct that needs to be managed through the disciplinary process, the first action you must take is to review the disciplinary policy to ensure all actions you take comply with your internal procedures. Next an investigation needs to be conducted to establish the facts. The investigation should involve interviewing the employee making the allegation; it should involve putting the allegation to the employee in question; and finally to interview any witnesses or review any other evidence.

Should the investigation conclude that there is a disciplinary case to answer, the employee should be invited to attend a disciplinary hearing, giving he/she 24 hours notice and the 'right to be accompanied'. The Disciplinary Manager should be impartial and where possible not involved in the investigation process.  The purpose of the hearing is to provide the employee with an opportunity to respond to the allegation and to hear any mitigating factors. The Disciplinary Manager should take time to review all the points raised prior to making and communicating the outcome. This should be communicated in writing stating the employees right to appeal.

For more information & support in this area, click here (Link to http://www.courtneyhr.co.uk/areas-of-expertise/disciplinary-and-grievances/)

Employees have statutory rights under Employment Law and as an employer you must ensure full adherence to such statutory rights. Use the following questions to assess your current standpoint:

• Do all employees have contracts of employment, stipulating the terms of their employment and their statutory rights?
• Does the Company have an Employee Handbook that contains the Company Policies in relation to statutory rights?
• Are you clear about how you would approach changes to employees terms and conditions or manage lay-offs?
• Do you understand your obligations under health and safety and how to manage employees with a disability?
• Are you aware of your legal responsibilities when it comes to recruiting employees?
• Are you aware of your legal responsibilities in managing maternity, paternity, adoption leave and flexible working requests?

We can carry out an assessment of this for you for just £95 + VAT or you can take our free online HR Health Check http://www.courtneyhr.co.uk/free-hr-health-check/

If you have just employed staff for the first time or are about to take the plunge in hiring staff, here’s what you need to know...

All new employees should receive an offer letter outlining their start date, the role they are being employed to do and their rate of pay.

You must issue a contract of employment within 13 weeks of the employees start date, as this is a legal requirement.  The Company should also have an Employee Handbook (this details all the Company’s policies and procedures, including statutory rights).  To ensure your employees hit the ground running, you should develop an induction framework.  This doesn’t have to be too detailed but it should contain all the key areas that your employees need to know, from the signing in and out procedure, to the equipment and the health and safety policy. You should also consider how you are going to measure your employees inputs.  How will you know if they are doing well?  Outline some key performance indicators to discuss with them and review on a regular basis.

We can provide a New Employer Tooklit for just £295 + VAT – For more information click here (http://www.courtneyhr.co.uk/services/employ-toolkit/)

The best way to ensure that your HR practices and procedures are fully compliant and up-to-date, is to take professional advice.

Courtney HR can establish compliant policies and procedures and can put in place processes to ensure that your HR is future proof and going forward can be managed in-house.

For information on putting strong policies in place to help you manage your HR moving forward, click here (http://www.courtneyhr.co.uk/services/employee-handbooks-policies/)