Sadly miscarriage is very common. It affects around 25% of all pregnancies and it is highly likely that you will know someone who has had a miscarriage. It may even be you đ As an employer we are not taught how to support an employee through miscarriage and this article seeks to give you a step-by-step […]
Weâve been analysing queries we receive here at Redwing and have noticed that many of you have questions about what you can deduct when someone is on or near the national minimum wage. In December 2021, another list from the HMRC where it names and shames the employers who have breached the national minimum wage […]
Itâs long been the case that self employed contractors could be deemed workers under employment law. You will have heard of many a âhorror storyâ where the self employed contractors were happy until the day came when they werenât. What followed was an employment tribunal application that lead to a finding that they were workers. […]
In recent months we have seen increased number of employers across all sectors (including Day Nurseries) offering signing on bonuses, otherwise known as Golden Hellos, to secure new employees. There are a few things the employer needs to know about these bonuses before this practice is adopted in an organisation. Consider whether this is a […]
We all know that April is a common time for employment law to be revised and 2022 looks to be no different. Here’s a quick round up of what we can expect to be changed from April 2022: New rates of National Minimum Wage. New Statutory Payments, SMP, SSP etc are all increasing in April […]
This week I heard a phrase that resonated with me as both a HR Consultant and a Business Owner. Be Slow to Anger. This I found to be a very powerful phrase. All too often I come across situations where Business Owners will have served their Companies and themselves best if they had been slower […]
In response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of the Omicron variant, the Government has announced a temporary change to the sickness absence reporting regulations and the reintroduction of the Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme (SSPRS). What do these changes mean for employers? 1. Sickness Absence Reporting Regulations The Government has extended the […]
The Covid 19 pandemic has had a tremendous effect on the way we plan for and take holidays from work. Now that we are relatively free to travel again, itâs likely that you might soon face a scenario where lots of staff all want to take leave at the same time. But how should you […]
The tree is up and the Secret Santa has been decided. With that in mind its a good idea for employers to give thought to next year’s holiday. You will need to possibly look at your contracts of employment to tell whether you will be paying for an additional holiday in 2022 or whether you […]
It’s not at all uncommon for staff to be unable to come to work due to their children being off school. Even this week we are hearing of children being told that they are not to attend school but instead will learn remotely due to the rising numbers of Coronavirus infections in their area. If […]
If like many others you are planning your Christmas Party, there are a few things you may want to consider to ensure that the worst doesnât happen at your get together. Here’s some top tips: Think about where you chose to book. Is it an appropriate venue for the business and will it result in […]
The latest news is that six countries have been placed back on the red list of countries where a return to England from these six countries means compulsory quarantine for travellers. This may impact your business if you have employees who are currently overseas or who plan to be overseas during the festive period. It […]
Repeated lateness by a staff member can be so disruptive to a setting and the functioning of the team. Itâs a good idea to address the issue before it continues, or worse, it starts to be seen as accepted behaviour, and others start to be late too. Before you act, just take a moment to […]
The COVID -19 SSP Rebate Scheme was put in place in May 2020 to ensure that those who needed to self isolate are able to be paid SSP from day 1 of their absence (as long as they were off for 4 days) rather than only receive SSP from day 4. The rebate scheme also […]
It can be tempting to look for potential new employees on Facebook and other social media platforms before making a job offer? People have so much of their lives online these days. However if you are going to vet them by looking at their online presence its only fair that you tell them that this […]
Working parents taking time off to be at home with sick children is nothing new. However, we are all short staffed and with the pandemic not over it is often children who are self isolating as they have contracted COVID-19. Time off for Family Emergencies Circumstances that may give rise to needing unpaid time off […]
Whilst 70% of the adult population (at the time of writing) is double vaccinated, that leaves 30% unvaccinated. We do expect the following question to come up more and more over the coming months. What do we do if someone refuses to work with someone who is unvaccinated? First thing to do would be to […]
A common grumble we hear is when someone doesn’t want any contact from their employer during maternity leave. As human beings we can be confused that someone isn’t talking to us about their intentions. On a human level its perfectly reasonable to be affected by this and to feel saddened. But from an employment perspective […]
Since the pandemic started in March 2020, we have seen increasing number of employees work from home effectively. Some employers are now wanting to formalise this arrangement going forward. Ask yourselves a big question? Does it suit the business with achieving its objectives? Before you do finalise home working just pause and think does this […]
Is there love in the air? I was reading with interest the other weekend how people had reacted with suspicion when a note was left on a driver’s car windscreen expressing that the writer thought they were lovely and were they single. Now I get it that it’s a bit odd. Perhaps the writer would […]
I spent Sunday in A&E with my Mum. You see all of life in an A&E reception waiting room. There was one extremely loud lady who had had a fall down the stairs 10 days previously and thought today was the day she ought to seek advice from the doctors, on a busy Sunday on […]
What is the EU Settlement Scheme? The EU Settlement Scheme allows people to get the immigration status they need to continue to live, work and study in the UK beyond 30th June 2021. Who should apply? Except in a few cases, EEA (EEA countries are EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and Swiss citizens, […]
So, the last 12 months have been bizarre, to say the least, and the old normal has been replaced with new words, new ideas and new ways of living including many of us working from home. Just this week the Chairman of Goldman Sachs (the bank) has announced that he feels that working from home […]
Here’s a theory we’d like to explore with you, is there a difference between an excuse and an explanation? We think there is. We see this a lot in human resource management. Management ask questions of staff during informal and formal situations and sometimes we report that we’ve heard an explanation and other times we […]
This week we’ve heard of our first case where an employee who has been shielding has refused to return to work. As you are probably aware, in England, although the advice to shield has ended, those who are Clinically Extremely Vulnerable people (CEV) are still advised to follow the rules and take extra precautions to […]
As I sat there with my bowl of Fruit n Fibre (other cereals are available) and first Coffee this morning, the news was alight with announcements about the Government’s new traffic light system for grading countries as we emerge from the pandemic. Green country’s will require PCR tests on return. Amber country’s will require self […]
Wearing of a face mask where social distancing can’t be achieved has been with us for some time now. Featuring in many an organisation’s COVID Risk Assessment and workplace procedures. As we might have expected in some workplaces, employees have been resistant to wearing a mask. This has been dealt with as a Health and […]
With our lives being turned upside down over the last 12 months due to the Pandemic, itâs not surprising that more of us are struggling to sleep than ever before. This year World Sleep Day is on Friday 19th March, their motto for 2021 is âRegular Sleep, Healthy Futureâ highlighting, especially at the moment, how important […]
If you’ve noticed one thing during the last 12 months it will be that not everyone has coped well with enforced lockdowns and the impact of the pandemic on our lives and livelihoods. In fact many employers are reporting greater numbers of employee’s off with stress related absence and more anxious employees struggling to come […]
When I was at school, my school reports often included a comment that I was too chatty and needed to talk less in class. (I know shocker!) To be fair talking has never really caused me too many problems but I do think that we are so reliant on technology these days that we may […]
