Best Practice Managing The Employment
Journey
Our team of HR consultants have the knowledge and expertise to help SME owners manage their employees through every aspect of the employment process. While remaining compliant and following the best practice procedures throughout.
Starting the Employment
Journey
Recruitment
Good recruitment is vital for every organisation – finding the right people for the right roles at the right time.
It ensures that teams have the relevant skills & abilities for current & future needs. Effective resourcing is not just about filling an immediate vacancy but about having an impact on the long-term success of the business.
Onboarding
Induction processes done well will get new employees up to speed & productive quickly.
It allows you to welcome new employees & build on their positive attitude & enthusiasm for their new job. Having a structured induction process helps improve staff retention.
Induction should be properly planned & consistent to ensure all new employees are treated fairly.
Employment Contracts
A contract of employment is an agreement between an employer & their employee detailing the terms under which they will work together.
These express terms will likely be pay, working hours, holiday entitlement and notice periods.
A contract should ideally be & normally are signed
but acceptance can be implied by an employee simply attending work.
Employee Handbooks
The Employee Handbook contains the policies & procedures covering areas such as
– Sickness
– Holiday
– Disciplinary Procedures
– Grievance Procedures
– Maternity & Paternity
– Alcohol & Drugs
– and more
These set of rules will show how both employees & employer alike should act throughout their relationship.
Managing Employment Issues
Investigations
– Interview all parties & witnesses in a logical order
– Be open as this will improve communication
– If a procedure exists, then be sure it is followed
– Do not delay
– Plan your meetings & questions
– Keep concise records of meetings, evidence, & conclusions
Only a comprehensive investigation will enable an employer to determine if there is a case to answer.
Disciplinary & Grievance
– Employers & employees should raise & deal with issues promptly & not unreasonably delay meetings, decisions or confirmation of those decisions.
– Employers & employees should act consistently.
– Employers should carry out any necessary investigations, to establish the facts.
– Employers should inform employees of the basis of the problem & give them an opportunity to put their case in response before making decisions.
– Employers should allow employees to be accompanied at any formal disciplinary or grievance meeting.
– Employers should allow an employee to appeal against any formal decision .
Sickness Management
Businesses should have in place an effective absence management policy & procedure which all employees & managers will sign up to.
Taking a consistent approach to managing absence will have an enormous impact on reducing absenteeism and unauthorised absence.
Occupational Health
Good occupational health services are central to the effective management of workplace health by
– Protecting & promoting the health & well-being of the workforce, hence protecting & enhancing your image & reputation as a good employer.
– Providing support &early intervention to the process of effective absence management, & improved opportunities for timely rehabilitation.
– Fulfilling the statutory requirement to have access to ‘competent’ occupational health advice as part of the organisational arrangements to ensure that the health of staff & others is not adversely affected by their work
Managing Change
Restructuring
Changing circumstances & recently lockdown has meant that many businesses have suffered financial & organisational disruption.
It may be that you want or need to make permanent changes.
Remote working, will it become permanent?
Work patterns may need to change.
Potential savings on commuting & premises costs?
All these changes need to be managed correctly, procedure & good communication will make for a better & safe outcome.
Getting it wrong can be very costly & professional intervention later on may mean starting the process again, so take advice from the outset it’ll save you time and money!
Flexible Working Requests
The employee
– must have at least 28 weeks service
– can only apply every 12 months
– apply in writing giving full details
The employer must
– arrange meetings
– understand the reasons for the request
– consider the application & its impact
– complete the process, including any appeal within 3 months
Changes are permanent.
If an employer says “no” thn there are only 8 reasons
Compliance
GDPR
When referring to organisational measures this means that a business needs to have policies & procedures in place, such as
– Public Facing Privacy Notices
– Employee Privacy Notices
– Data Protection Breach Reporting Procedures
– Data Protection Policy
– Subject Access Rights Procedure
As always, it is important to train employees so that they can uphold the policies put in place by their employer.
Need further support?
We are here to help!
Whether you need a single one-off meeting, an on-going consultancy or an entire portfolio of documentation and advice, SME Advisor offers a bespoke service to suit your needs and budget.