Hot HR weekly digest 23 - 27 May

Hello and welcome to this week's Hot HR weekly digest and blog!  I hope you find it useful and informative.  

                                                   

Excellent news for the group this week; we reached the 500 members mark and now have over 520 members. So a warm welcome to all new members.   Thank you also to all those that are contributing to the group. This is what makes Hot HR such a rich, diverse and useful networking and communication tool. 

As usual, the format of this blog and Weekly Digest takes the form of:

• The week's Speed Read posted by Harmajinder Hayre from Ward Hadaway, the only employment law specialist within the Hot HR group
• Interesting Read - topical information posted in the group
• Question Time - most popular question or discussion from within the group

This Weeks Employment Law Speed Read From Ward Hadaway : 23/05/2011

1. Plans for a new system of flexible parental leave announced
2. Are you liable for legally seeking to retire an employee?

Question Time  - The key questions and discussions of interest started in the last week are:

1. Parental leave reforms - the Government has proposed changes to maternity and paternity     leave, holiday carry overs and equal pay audits. What do you think to some of the proposed reforms? Will they work? Are they too bold? Will it mean lots more work for us?
2. According to a recent article in Personnel Today - representation of women in HR is in decline. What do you think girls?

Interesting Read/Discussion  

Here's a welcome decision for employers who've bent over backwards to accommodate an employee's wishes and still find themselves in tribunal.

Refusal to allow Muslim employee time off work to attend mosque was not discriminatory

To read the comments and for more info join Hot HR

If you have any comments on the content of the blog or Hot HR please contact me.

Please continue to recommend the group to any HR contacts that you might have.  The aim of the group is for information and ideas to be available via Hot HR, with people feeling that they can contribute to an open discussion, focussing on real issues and quality discussion.

TEMPORARY AGENCY WORKERS DIRECTIVE

From 1st October 2011 there will be major changes in respect of agency workers under the implementation of the Temporary Agency Workers Directive.

 This directive means that agency workers will have the same basic terms and conditions such as pay, working hours and holidays, as a directly employed worker, after they have been in the job for 12 continuous weeks.

It is essential to note that the 12-week period must be continuous, with the worker in the same role, with the same hirer throughout on one or more assignments/jobs.

Continuity of this 12-week period will be deemed to be broken if the worker, while assigned to the same hirer, is given a new role comprising of substantively different duties or work.
Employers hoping to avoid high costs when new agency workers legislation comes into force by repeatedly terminating agency worker contracts at 11 weeks, breaking the cycle for six weeks and then rehiring them, could still be breaking law.

One avoidance tactic in theory would be to terminate all agency worker contracts at 11 weeks and ensure there is a break of more than six weeks before the same workers are hired again, thereby ensuring they do not qualify for equal treatment as per the legislation.

However, this is not advisable. It may not be manageable in practice and risks breaching the anti-avoidance provisions which are aimed at penalising hirers where they intentionally structure assignments to avoid the regulations.

It is not possible to ‘contract out’ of the Regulations

It is not possible to contract out of the legislation, this is expressly prohibited, with a fine of up to £5,000 for avoidance arrangements which are designed to prevent the 12 week qualifying period being met. For example, if a hirer was to intentionally rotate agency workers through substantively different assignments to break continuity.

These anti-avoidance provisions are only effective when the worker has completed two or more assignments or roles with the hirer or with connected hirers and potentially require tribunals to investigate hirers’ motives where assignments raise suspicion.

Keeping records

Effective record-keeping is essential for firms wishing to stay on the right side of the law, which also stipulates that the qualifying 12 week period does not have to be with the same agency.
An agency worker working with different agencies that each places him with the same hirer in the same role for just one day per week in a 12 week period will qualify for equal treatment under the law.
This introduces a requirement upon agencies and hirers to keep much better records of agency worker placements and to share that information between each other, which is likely to prove administratively difficult and costly.

Flexibility

While trade unions argue the legislation is long overdue, some employers’ organisations fear it could increase wage bills and reduce flexibility, while others are most worried about the extra paperwork.

Hot HR Weekly Digest & Blog 16th - 20th May

Hello and welcome to this week's Hot HR weekly digest and blog!  I hope you find it useful and informative.

Welcome to Hot HR’s new members this week! Please continue to recommend the group to any HR contacts that you might have.  The aim of the group is for information and ideas to be available via Hot HR, with people feeling that they can contribute to an open discussion, focussing on real issues and quality discussion.

Hot HR has lots of plans for the future to enhance the quality and services offered by being a member of this specialist group, so keep checking the group to see what is happening and what is Hot in HR.  Please feel free to make any recommedations or suggestions. 

As usual, the format of this blog and Weekly Digest takes the form of:

• The week's Speed Read posted by Harmajinder Hayre from Ward Hadaway, the only employment law specialist within the Hot HR group
• Interesting Read - topical information posted in the group
• Question Time - most popular question or discussion from within the group 

This Weeks Employment Law Speed Read From Ward Hadaway : 16/05/2011

 

1. A new 'quick start guide' for Public Sector organisations
2. Employment Law Review Announced
3. Guidance on Agency Worker's Regulations published

Question Time  - The key questions and discussions of interest started in the last week are:

 

"Hi All I am new to the group and looking forward to some excellent discussions

For a starter can anyone shine a light on the Swedish Derogation in the AWR?"

"I am reviewing our Disciplinary Procedure. Any views on the Investigating Manager role? To prepare a report limited to the facts or make a recommendation on whether a disciplinary meeting is needed?"

Interesting Read/Discussion -    Counting the cost of poor mental arithmetic.

 

Do you find that poor levels of reading, writing and arithmetic are an issue within your business, particularly recruitment? Do you carry out pre-employment testing? Share your thoughts and comments at Hot HR

If you have any comments on the content of the blog or Hot HR please contact me.

 

Weekly Digest Blog 9th-13th May

Hello and welcome to this week's Hot HR weekly digest and blog!  I hope you find it useful and informative.

                                         
Firstly, a warm welcome to Hot HR’s new members this week! We now have over 470 members, with over 30 HR professionals joining in 5 days.

Please continue to recommend the group to any HR contacts that you might have.  The aim of the group is for information and ideas to be available via Hot HR, with people feeling that they can contribute to an open discussion, focussing on real issues and quality discussion.

Hot HR has lots of plans for the future to enhance the quality and services offered by being a member of this specialist group, so keep checking the group to see what is happening and what is Hot in HR.

As usual, the format of this blog and Weekly Digest takes the form of:

• The week's Speed Read posted by Harmajinder Hayre from Ward Hadaway, the only      employment law specialist within the Hot HR group
• Interesting Read - topical information posted in the group
• Question Time - most popular question or discussion from within the group 

 This Weeks Employment Law Speed Read From Ward Hadaway: 16/05/2011

1. News Update
2. Redundancy and questions of fairness

To read more join Hot HR

Question Time - I found this interesting comment on giving references 'Giving a reference is not the end of the story'. Has anyone had any similar experiences or concerns regarding references? Do you shy away from giving the facts? So many references these days will only cover the dates of employment and are really not that informative or helpful. Do you find this is a problem for your business?
Interesting Read/Discussion -   With a social media focus this week - 'Still think social media is a fad?' and '48% of British workplaces ban social media'

Share your thoughts and comments on social media and the need for social media policy in the work place  at Hot HR

To read the comments and for more info join Hot HR

If you have any comments on the content of the blog or Hot HR please contact me.

 

Hot HR Weekly Digest 2nd to 9th May 2011

Hello and welcome to this week's Hot HR weekly digest and blog!  I hope you find it useful and informative.                                                      

Firstly, a warm welcome to Hot HR’s new members this week!

Just a note on numbers, we now have 440 members! This is fantastic news; the group has grown significantly in the last few months. I hope that you are finding it useful for information updates and requests and discussions. Please recommend the group to any HR contacts that you might have. 

The aim of the group is for information and ideas to be available via Hot HR, with people feeling that they can contribute to an open discussion, focussing on real issues and quality discussion.

As usual, the format of this blog and Weekly Digest takes the form of:

• The week's Speed Read posted by Harmajinder Hayre from Ward Hadaway, the only employment law specialist within the Hot HR group
• Interesting Read - topical information posted in the group
• Question Time - most popular question or discussion from within the group 

This Weeks Employment Law Speed Read From Ward Hadaway: 9/05/2011

1. Will I have to pay costs if my representative is too slow? 
2. Good news for employers - sickness absence continuing to fall

To read more join Hot HR

Question Time - I'm looking to do some training on interview techniques, competencies, protocol etc. Does anyone have any training notes they would be willing to share?
To comment and share go to Hot HR
Interesting Read/Discussion -    Well, at long, last the finalised guidance on the Agency Workers Regs has been published. One tip - remember it's only "guidance" and not a statement of the law - in some cases very far from it!  

To read the comments and for more info join Hot HR
If you have any comments on the content of the blog or Hot HR please contact me.