Breakfast seminar success

It was, as always, wonderful to see so many of you willing to suffer an extra early start in order to attend our annual employment law breakfast briefing.

It is testament to the quality of information passed on by the experts from our partners Hegarty LLP Solicitors that we, once again, scored a record attendance at the event at the East of England Showground.

I’m sure Martin Bloom, Tim Thompson and Emma Carter will forgive me for saying the subject matter can sometimes be a little dry, But, by using case law and their own experiences, they manage to make the information both accessible and incredibly useful.

One of the key points this time was the change in the qualifying period for unfair dismissal introduced in April this year. The government has been keen to reduce the amount of tax payers’ money spent on industrial tribunals. In a bid to do that, it has increased the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims from one year to two.

This means a company can dismiss an employee at any time during their first two years of employment without fear of comeback.

There are always exceptions of course. Under the Equality Act 2012 there is no qualifying period for claims of discrimination. So, someone dismissed within the two year qualifying period could still claim discrimination and that could still lead to a tribunal. For that reason, Tim believes the move may not necessarily make much of a dent in the volume of claims. I’m sure he’ll keep us posted in the effect the change has at future updates.

The presentations also covered bonuses, a contentious issue in many companies, and a case law update. 

These are particularly useful illustrating, as they do, the real life interpretation of important HR legislation we all make it our business to be aware of.

Do let us know by emailing info@annecorder.co.uk if you wish to be kept informed of future events – or if you’d like to suggest topics to be covered.

Unemployment crawling in the right direction

The drop in the UK’s unemployment rate by 0.1 per cent represents a crawl in the right direction rather than a freefall – but at least it is the right direction. And it represents an ongoing downward trend which can only be positive.

Levels of unemployment are still high at 8.1 per cent and they do also need some clarifying. For instance, the number of people out of work for more than a year stands at the highest for 16 years and the number of people working part time hours is the highest since records started in 1992 at 8.12 million. Around 1.42 million of those are working part time hours because they can’t secure a full time post.

However, the overall figures do reflect the resilience of the current labour market, while also suggesting that those companies operating in the private sector are perhaps more confident than many commentators are suggesting.

Certainly we’re finding locally that the recruitment market is improving in specific areas. In particular, local businesses in the engineering sector are on the hunt for new staff in a number of different departments. And smaller IT companies are obviously coping with larger work loads as there has been an increase in demand for those with IT sales and web developer experience. Interestingly, that reflects the national situation in those industries.

Even cautious employers are hanging on to staff, obviously anticipating an upturn so making it financially worthwhile to pay staff through the lean times rather than go to the expense of re-recruiting in the near future.

It does feel that these two elements of the market are shoring up the continuing poor performances in the public sector and industries including construction and hospitality leading to the almost static overall figure.

Bonus payments, tribunals and bacon butties

The finishing touches are being put to the plans for this year’s employment law breakfast briefing.

As usual it means an early start for the ACR team, but one that always feels worth setting the alarm clock for!

Presenters Martin Bloom and Tim Thompson will be joined for the second year by their colleague from Hegarty LLP Emma Carter. All three are experts in their field ensuring that delegates receive the most up to date information. Martin’s role as an employment tribunal judge gives him a valuable insight into the most frequently occurring issues and the challenges employers face which makes him the ideal person to address a room full of HR professionals.

The subjects on this year’s agenda are bonus payments and the proposed changes to employment tribunals. 

There will also be discussions around case law and recent changes to employment law legislation.

The seminar has grown in popularity over the 15 years or so we’ve been holding it. We now have well over 130 companies represented and around 200 attendees who, we like to think, don’t only come for the bacon butties and coffee!

If you haven’t booked your place, there are a few seats left so do get in touch. The date for your diary is Thursday, September 20 with registration starting at 7.30am.

Recruiters from ACR inspired by the Olympics

We may not be as fit as Jessica Ennis or as fast as Mo Farrah but there was a lot of Olympic inspired enthusiasm when I suggested to the team we came in early to work and walked to the local park and back one morning.

We’ve signed up to take part in the Starlight Hike in September – a 10km midnight walk in aid of Sue Ryder Care so this was the perfect training session.

This is all part of ACR’s 2012 Wellbeing Initiative, designed to encourage the team to make their health and wellbeing a priority.

We’re doing our bit as an agency, providing fruit baskets rather than biscuit tins in the office and introducing healthy eating days.

This was everyone’s chance to take their fitness into their own hands.

So we opened the office early for everyone to change into their trainers and then set off at a fair old pace down to Central Park, round the perimeter and back again.

Waiting in the office was an Olympic sized breakfast including fruit, yoghurt and muesli.

Walking isn’t a team sport but getting together to do it made it feel like one. We talked the walk away and came back full of fresh air and energy. I exercise regularly but that didn’t stop me feeling the benefits and everyone else said the same.

There has now been a commitment made to hold regular power walking sessions in preparation for the charity walk.

If you feel able to support our efforts financially, please visit our Virgin moneygiving page: 

Evening of excellence

Guest blog from Nel Woolcott

  

I was delighted to represent ACR at this year’s Peterborough Regional College award ceremony last night.

We have sponsored the business student categories for the last few years and it’s always an excellent evening.

There have been some first class guests at the awards in the past and this year was no exception. Peterborough’s own secret millionaire Mike Greene took to the stage and he was nothing short of inspirational. He’s a self made man and was one of those people who just naturally commands respect.

But of course the evening is about the students and their achievements.

It was fantastic to see so many enthusiastic, talented youngsters at the ceremony and to hear the glowing testimonials from their lecturers. From business to plumbing, accountancy to hairdressing, these are the people who are going to shape the future of Peterborough.

I was delighted to announce Justyna Sapeta, best full time business and management centre student and Martin Brunt, best part time business and management centre student. Both are, rightly, very proud of coming out top of their classes. They have lots of plans for their future and we’ve invited them to visit us at our Park Road offices to see if we can help them forward those. I shall certainly enjoy those conversations.

There were a lot of business people at the awards and, chatting to them afterwards, the overriding opinion was that with students like this entering the city’s workplaces the future looks bright!

Employment Law Briefing -Social Networking and the Workplace

I’m just back in the office following our Employment Law Briefing and I’m half way through drawing up a list of action points on the back of it!

The briefing, organised in partnership with Hegarty LLP Solicitors, was on the subject of Social Networking and the Workplace.

We know this is an area of concern for many employers in the city by the huge response we had to invitations.

From my point of view, it is the pace of change on the internet and of social networking platforms that creates so many challenges. And that was echoed by our speaker Martin Bloom, a very experienced employment law expert.

As he said, five years ago, the kind of cases tribunals are dealing with now were unthinkable. People dismissed for posting comments about clients on Facebook, issues over ownership of connections on LinkedIn, cyber bullying of former colleagues on Twitter… even that sentence would have meant very little a decade ago!

Martin touched a chord with many delegates – myself included – when he mentioned the importance of a company having a social networking policy. An internet usage policy isn’t enough.

Every employer needs to have a well thought out, detailed and regularly reviewed policy governing the use of social media at work. This needs to be written into contracts and – vitally – employees need to be trained in it.

The easiest solution may be to ban the use of social networking in work time on work equipment completely. You may also need to consider the rules you wish to set governing people using their personal mobile phones to access Facebook or Twitter, for instance, during their working day.

Of course, in some sectors, the use of such websites is necessary. In those cases, policies need to be even more specific. And again, training needs to reflect that.

Martin discussed a number of cases of inappropriate use of Facebook and emails out of hours – employees discussing clients, employees emailing former colleagues – which had resulted in employment tribunals.

Again, these issues are all relatively new and the law, courts and tribunals are having to evolve around them. Many employers are playing catch up with their staff on this but thought must be given to getting ahead.

I’d be interested to hear the stance other employers take on the use of social networking. Feel free to leave a comment.

Salary Survey 2012

The Salary Survey was one of the first ‘added value’ services we launched back in the early days of ACR. It is testament to its usefulness that it is still going strong 15 years later.

And the 2012 survey is being launched this week.

Our partners at Paydata Ltd are currently sending out the questionnaires to a number of companies in the region, big and small, from a wide range of sectors.

The data provided on the salary and benefits of hundreds of employees will be collated, analysed and used to produce a comprehensive snapshot of remuneration packages for use by recruiters and companies.

While the headline results will be published, participants will receive a detailed analysis enabling them to make a direct comparison with similar companies.

It’s this kind of information which is crucial for companies wanting to attract the very best candidates who will be looking for a competitive offer.

We have been working on this annual project with Paydata Ltd, another Peterborough company, for the last few years. They are national experts in the field so are able to see how Peterborough shapes up against other regions. Outside the public sector, they have reported seeing a modest rise in salaries across the UK so we shall wait to see if that is reflected locally.

It’s not too late to take part in this year’s survey. If you’d like further information, do get in touch.