Many employers are claiming COVID SSP back from the HMRC under the Coronavirus Rebate Scheme. Most often it is because they have had an employee self-isolate due to Coronavirus. You can claim for employees after you have paid them SSP, not before. There is up to 14 days (2 weeks) of COVID SSP available per […]
“Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto”. This is a phrase I have heard many times in the last 10 years. I even had it as a sign on my wall at one point. Its definitely something I need to remind myself of from time to time especially when I find myself expressing another popular phrase […]
We thought you might find it useful if we did a Coronavirus FAQ looking at some of the popular questions, employee’s have of their employer during this time. What can I do for my employer of if I am furloughed? Very little. You can be asked to attend meetings either in person/or virtually. You can […]
Now that England is out of Lockdown 2.0 the belief that Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) employees should shield seems to have passed. This presents a number of issues for employers. Specifically that their employees may still feel uncomfortable coming to work, but yet the guidance has suggested that unless they receive further written communication from […]
Now that the Government has extended the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme it is no surprise that they have released further guidance as to how they intend to tackle furlough fraud. There’s several ways in which furlough fraud can occur: It can be any amount the employer was not entitled to receive (including where the employer […]
We have been asked a few times over the last 2 weeks (since the announcement that the CJRS would be extended) what are the rules relating to holidays and the extended Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will have on holidays taken in November and December 2020. Holidays Accrued during Furlough Firstly, whether you are furloughing now […]
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”] [et_pb_row admin_label=”row”] [et_pb_column type=”4_4″] [et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”] How many times have you thought to yourself, why is this not working? When you manage a team its easy to find what I call ‘tried and tested’ ways of doing things, whether its asking people to work extra hours, or stop what they are doing to […]
How often have you been asked by someone in HR “did you keep a note of that?” or “is it recorded somewhere?” It’s always a good thing to have records or a paper trail of what happened when, why and who said what. Remember the human memory needs help as life and all it brings […]
This week we saw popular holiday destinations, Poland and Turkey added to the countries that have been on a air corridor list, but are now considered countries you have to quarantine for 14 days on your return to England and Scotland. The deadline set by the Government as to when you had to have returned […]
Today we saw Boris Johnson advise us in England that once again, we should work from home if we can. So what does that actually mean? It may be useful for the Government to make statements such as this, but they are vague by nature and can, and do, cause employees and employers confusion as […]
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”] [et_pb_row admin_label=”row”] [et_pb_column type=”4_4″] [et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”] As I write this it’s James’ third week back in school after the lockdown. I am not sure any of us has got used to it yet. Around our way at least one high school has closed to Year 9 as a child has tested positive. How […]
I remember meeting a HR Director when I was at college (many many years ago!). She was invited to talk to us about her journey in HR and to provide us with inspiration of how if we all worked hard in our chosen path, one day this could be us. I sat there thinking, but […]
The Working Time Regulations 1998 are 22 years old and if I am honest in need a massive overhaul. One area we employers really need clarity is the area of holiday and overtime. The regulations unhelpfully don’t state how holiday pay is calculated. Nice work legislators! There have been a number of cases through the […]
The other week we were advising a client whose new employee had walked off and not returned citing that she hadn’t expected to be ask to do any cleaning. It makes me think about what is a reasonable management instruction. When we take a job and see the line in the Job Description, “any other […]
I was watching the TV detective show Agatha Raisin this weekend. In the episode a Farm Shop had two young men come in to the scene talking in Polish, with English subtitles immediately coming on to the screen. The Farm Shop Owner then addresses the men and says she expects them to speak English when […]
Should we be at work? The Government’s current advice does not address checking the temperatures of staff before allowing them to enter or remain at their work premises. The official advice is still that people should continue to stay at home as much as possible. People who can work from home should continue to do so. People […]
Let’s Keep In Touch! Since the introduction of the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations 1999, regulation 12A, provides the right to work up to ten keeping-in-touch days (KIT) days during maternity leave. We shouldn’t forget that maternity leave lasts for up to 52 weeks regardless of service. Many women will advise their employers that they […]
It’s probably not the first thing you ask a mother when she returns from maternity leave. “Hey, great to see you, please tell me whether you intend to breastfeed when you are at back!” But given the case of McFarlane and another v easyJet Airline Company Ltd, the Employment Tribunal held that easyJet’s roster practices […]
Every three years you must put certain staff who have left your pension scheme back into it. This is called re-enrolment, sometimes automatic re-enrolment or cyclical re-enrolment. To comply with the requirements of the Pensions Regulator firms must put the staff who have left the scheme back in and complete re-declaration of compliance to show […]
It’s become the new normal up and down the land. Offices have been vacated leaving staff to work at home. It may not be ideal, but we’ve had to make it work. In our case, there was work to be done. So how do you manage people working from home. Firstly you can’t worry about […]
I am writing this to try and answer what many of you are asking about how holidays will work whilst your business is closed. This blog attempts to answer what you can do if the majority of staff are furloughed under the Job Retention Scheme as you have no work for them to do. Late […]
Why is domestic abuse an employment issue? Put simply, domestic abuse results in decreased productivity, increased absenteeism, increased errors and increased employee turnover. The safety of your employee is also paramount. You have a duty of care to all employees. An understanding and effective workplace with measures in place will build a more nurturing and […]
From April 2020 the Government has introduced new regulations to require all workers to receive a Written Statement on their first day of employment. Previously the employer had 8 weeks’ to give their new employees a copy of their Written Statement and didn’t need to give one at all if the worker was casual assignment […]
For many employers, creating an employee handbook seems to require so much effort that they put it off to tomorrow, and as you may expect, tomorrow never comes. Here at Redwing Solutions we recognise the value of the Employee Handbook. We have seen on numerous occasions the benefits that having an Employee Handbook can have […]
“Hang on a minute, I can’t talk just now, I’m at work, let me pop outside and we can have a catch up”. That’s what I heard the hairdressers’ junior tell her caller on the phone recently. It’s alright love, I’ll towel dry my own hair! Many of us will have been served by someone […]
From time to time we will be challenged as to whether an employee who is to be disciplined has to have a seperate investigatory hearing in order for any disciplinary sanction to be fair. There are very valid reasons why we might conduct a seperate investigatory meeting: When we need to establish more facts before […]
Many organisations like to celebrate with a Christmas party or meal with colleagues. Often the employer will either host the event, be responsible for organising it, or pay for certain parts of it. Ideally the day following a Christmas Party will be a non-working day, but for many organisations that is not possible and some […]
Employment rights for those affected by the collapse of Thomas Cook and their employers. Today we wake up to the news that Thomas Cook has collapsed at 2 a.m. this morning. Whilst the 9000 UK based employees are in all our thoughts, this article will focus on employment rights if you have employees affected by […]
From time to time, people meet at work. Hey, me and Mr Edmunds met at work, and his first attempt to get my attention was as a footer to an email. Sadly some people use email to harass colleagues who have already advised the other party that they are not interested. For employers this is […]
What do you do if an employee suddenly informs in the middle of their shift, without notice, that they need to go out to a doctors appointment in an hours time? Or any other personal appointment? What about a midwife appointment? It’s not a personal appointment but surely if it’s a pregnant employee, they have […]
