Despite your business’s best efforts, issues can nevertheless arise. Some of those that we are seeing driving up the need for HR support at the moment include:
Reduction in work
If this is affecting your business, one of the first steps will be to consider how long the situation is likely to last, as this can affect the way forward:
- Short-term issue – if you have an appropriate lay-off /short-time working clause in your contracts of employment, you might want to consider whether this option could work for your business. You can find out a bit more about lay-off and short-time working here.
- Longer term issue – Permanently varying employees’ contracts to reflect the hours of work you have available may be a route you need to consider, for example if you require a change to the times employees work but not the overall length of the working day, perhaps because you need to open your business later and stay open later to reflect a change in customer habits. Bear in mind that contractual changes cannot usually be unilaterally imposed on an employee without risk; rather, agreement will need to be sought and consultation required.
Alternatively, you may find that you need to make redundancies because you no longer have enough work for some / all employees, for example, a reduction in orders means you need fewer employees to make your products and process the orders. Bear in mind that when it comes to making redundancies, there are a number of steps a business will have to take for such a dismissal to be fair, including, in most cases, following a fair process.
Employee welfare
Some businesses are focusing on the welfare of existing staff and the benefits this can bring, not only to employees on a personal level but to the business as a whole, helping to tackle key areas of concern such as retention, employee relations and productivity.
If your business is considering such matters, you may be interested to know that some of the steps other businesses consider taking include:
- Assessing Company culture to identify whether there are any areas for improvement that can support the business in better meeting its goals, for example, does feedback from employees who are leaving indicate that there is a common contributing factor in employee turnover?
- Exploring whether steps such as introducing an Employee Assistance Programme (EPA) could benefit employees and the business
- Ensuring there are appropriate and up-to-date policies in place to support employees and managers in dealing with a wide range of situations that may arise, such as menopause, flexible working, and sickness absence matters
- Empowering managers to confidently and appropriately support employees throughout the employment lifecycle, whether it’s effective inductions, early intervention to prevent minor issues from escalating, support with training and career progression and signposting to external support where needed
Employee Grievances
One of the key areas we frequently get asked about is employee grievances, with managers wanting to ‘get it right’, but sometimes being unsure of what that means in terms of handling the grievance or an outcome in a particular case.
Whilst some grievances can be minor and may be capable of being resolved quickly on an informal basis between employees and managers, often grievances need to be addressed by following the company’s formal grievance procedure.
Usually, in outline, addressing an employee’s grievance via a formal grievance procedure will involve:
(a) Inviting the employee to attend a grievance meeting and holding this
(b) Investigating the complaint
(c) Giving a written outcome and right of appeal
Once a reasonable investigation has been completed, a decision will need to be made as to whether there is merit in the employee’s grievance or not. It will be necessary to consider all the information the employee has provided, including anything that has been said in the grievance meeting as well as the information that has been gathered in the investigation. This will need to be weighed up to determine whether there is merit in what the employee has raised. If the employee’s grievance is upheld, it will be necessary to consider what steps are required to resolve the matter.
Bear in mind that the written grievance outcome should give an appropriately detailed explanation of the decision that has been reached and the reasons for it.
Dealing with HR matters of any kind can be challenging, so it’s important to ensure that you have the specific advice and support your business needs. Whether it’s guidance with taking proactive steps to assist your business or you have an HR issue, such as a grievance to deal with, remember we are here to help, so please get in touch for advice before acting.