Welcome to the June newsletter from Employment Law Solutions, the weather sure is dividing the opinions of our clients – interestingly lots of employees returned back to the office in search of aircon.
Royal Assent for new Family Friendly Legislation
Three Acts have recently received the King’s signature meaning they will shortly become legally enforceable.
- Eligible employed parents whose newborn baby is admitted to neonatal care to take up to 12 weeks of paid leave, thanks to The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act in addition to other leave entitlements such as Maternity and Paternity Leave.
- The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act allows the extension of existing redundancy protections whilst on Maternity Leave, Adoption Leave or Shared Parental Leave to also cover pregnancy and a period of time after a new parent has returned to work.
- A new statutory unpaid leave entitlement for employees who are caring for a dependant with a long-term care need will be created by The Carer’s Leave Act.
Finer details and the commencement dates for each Act will be laid down “in due course”.
It is, of course, great that Parliament is looking after the family and providing this extra protection for employees who might find themselves in difficult situations but it does place employers under more pressure. On top of the great many other Acts of Parliament, statutory instruments, codes of practice and other rules and regulations Employers will now need to learn and apply these three new Acts – OR you could simply let us learn them and help you to apply them, that’s what we are here for.
Remember – Recte faciendo neminem timeas – do it right and fear nobody!
We will keep you posted when updates are required to your staff handbooks!
We now offer health & safety services – you knew that right?
Employment consultant Mike shares some recent health & safety visits he has been on.
A warehousing and distribution client required an audit as the firm had recently undergone a reshuffle and needed to review what H&S they had in place.
All that was in place were some signage and a basic health and safety policy that did not really cover the bespoke needs of the organisation.
After visiting the site and conducting an audit, we recommended:
- A full redraft of the health and safety policy
- Setting up relevant health and safety communication channels with employees,
Risk assessments - Documentation to ensure that the organisation had a solid handle on the training necessary for their staff.
- A host of other recommendations
They are looking forward to creating a safer working environment for them and their staff.
Office audits
Another client was renting an office in a shared location alongside other organisations.
They had grown rapidly, and business had taken off to the extent that unfortunately health and safety had fallen to the wayside.
Their H&S audit involved drafting a full suite of documentation to help them get back up to speed to match their exciting level of growth.
The client really needed some guidance on bringing them up to compliance and we were happy to help with our plain English guidance.
Note to mention, sometimes forgotten but, businesses with five or more members of staff – including directors – need to legally have their health and safety documented – including policies and risk assessments.
If you want to check you are doing the right things and have the required health & safety in place get in touch with the team on 01270 781006
Discover our Health & Safety solution
Colleague Spotlight on Luke
How long worked here? Almost 8 months.
Job Title? Brand Ambassador
Can you send any free merch out? Sure! Contact me if you want a free water bottle, trolley token key ring or have any other ideas for merch we can distribute.
Where can clients bump into you? I’ve just joined the Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce, I spend time at NetworkIN meetings and I’m in the office. Pop in and see me for a brew any time.
What can clients ring you about? Any contract upgrade, service add-ons and referrals (please!). If you’re happy with the service our lawyers provide, why not make a referral to me and you could also cash in up to £100.
Quickly record accidents with Incident Book feature on HR Software
This month we wanted to draw your attention to one of our health and safety features that is available via our HR Software.
The Incident Book is very easy to use and can be found in your actions menu (Actions > Health & Safety > Incident book).
Our Incident Book makes it simple and quick to record any accidents that have occurred at work, so you can fulfil your obligations as an employer. You can note down the details of the incident, as well as any of the employees that were involved. You can write recommendations that will help prevent this type of accident in the future, and upload related files e.g., pictures or maybe even witness statements.
The benefit of recording this on the system is that it means that anyone (with the right permission level) can access it and add to it. It also means that – unlike a physical book – the information can’t be lost! This feature is a helpful asset when it comes to health and safety compliance and another HR Software tool to make your life a little easier.
Our HR software solution comprises all the online tools your business needs to effectively manage HR and dramatically reduce the internal time you spend on HR admin. Please contact us and we will be happy show you how the software could support your business.
School holidays are fast approaching
It’s that time of year when it feels like half the team want to be off, work from home and have intense childcare juggles. Ensure you stay on the right side of the law and get in touch should you have any concerns or want to run something past our lawyers.
Until next month, stay refreshed with plenty of fluids and remember the team are here to help you with your HR headaches 24 hours a day seven days a week.
Alf
