Employment Law Changes.
There are some changes planned to employment law over Flexible Working Hours (FWH) currently under way in the Parliament.
When these changes become enacted we will carry out a review of your current FWH policy and make all changes required to ensure that you are legally compliant.
Time for a review?
There will be no need for you to anything, we will update your policy and advise you when this is done. For our clients who use our HR Management System we will update your handbook and update it on the HR System.
Health & Safety Service.
We can now offer our clients a full Health & Safety advice and support service.
We can provide a full review of your current policies and procedures and offer a full fire risk assessment as part of this service. Our consultants is very experienced and fully qualified in this field.
If you are interested in discussing this call us on 07375 097443.
National Minimum Wage increases.
From 1st April 2023 the following rates will apply.
| 23 and over: £10.42 per hour. | 21 or 22: £10.18 per hour. |
| 18-20 £7.49 per hour. | 16-17: £5.28 per hour. |
| Apprentices: £5.28 per hour. | |
These are significant increases that reflect the current steep inflation levels and the cost-of-living increases.
Statutory Sick Pay Increase.
From10th April 2023 Statutory Sick Pay will increase from £99.35 per week, to £109.40 per week. Employees are entitled to this payment if they earn above the lower earnings limit which is as follows:
| £123 per week. |
| £533 per month. |
| £6,396 per year. |
The Information Commissioner’s Office.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) recently published draft guidance on two key employee data issues. Consultations closed in January, and we can expect finalised guidance to be published soon. Health information: The draft guidance aims to provide practical guidance over handling health information, handling sickness and injury records, obtaining information from medical examinations and when sharing this information is permissible.
Employee Monitoring: The draft guidance suggests that employers should, among other things, consult with employees where monitoring is being introduced, unless there are good reasons not to do so. Contact risk assessments should be carried out and asks employers to set the bar high when monitoring employees working from home.
Don’t get caught out – new SARs guidance for employers.
This month ICO has issued guidance for employers on how to respond to a subject access request (SAR) from a current or former employee.
The right of access gives someone the right to request a copy of their personal information from organisations, such as details of their attendance and sickness records, personal development, or HR records. This also includes where the employer got their information from, what they’re using it for and who they are sharing it with.
Read the guidance here.
LBJ Consultants Partners.
We are happy to announce that we can offer our clients the following services in conjunction with our HR and Employment Law support. We work in partnership with the following organisations.
| Albion Legal Employee Protection Scheme. | Breathe HR (Health R Management). |
| CK Risk Solutions (H&S) | Go Hire (Recruitment Services) |
| Optima Health (Occupational Health Reviews). | Videotile (e-learning Training Courses). |
| We Thrive (Electronic Employee Surveys). |
We will be happy to discuss these services with you, call 07375 097443.
LBJ Consultants Human Resources team will work with you to-
Constantly track, evaluate, and improve employee attendance and performance which will be enhanced by using our HR Management System which is fully GDPR compliant. We will provide HR support should any issues arise, and work with managers to develop performance improvement plans when necessary.
We will guide and support your managers through all aspects of the Investigation, Discipline and Grievance processes. We can also intervene to resolve employee issues by leading mediation sessions where we involve and support your employees.
Flexible and Hybrid Working.
Speaking at the British Chambers of Commerce conference in London, Jeremy Hunt said he was worried about the impact permanent home working might have on creativity, but acknowledged it had benefits for people with caring responsibilities or mobility issues.
“I worry about the loss of creativity when people are permanently working from home and not having those water cooler moments, where they bounce ideas off each other,” the chancellor said. “I think the default will be ‘you work in the office unless there’s a good reason not to be in the office’ and gradually we are getting there.”
In February, figures from the Office for National Statistics suggested that only 16% of people worked entirely from home, while 28% split their week between home and the office.
Elon Musk has also, once again, attacked working from home, stating that the “laptop class is living in la-la land” and has told remote working advocates to “get off their goddamn moral high horse with the work-from-home b******t”.
In an interview with US news network CNBC, the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter said people are more productive in person and suggested that working from home is morally wrong.
Musk said: “You’re gonna work from home, and you’re gonna make everyone else, who made your car, come work in the factory … the people that come fix your house, they can’t work from home, but you can? Does that seem morally right? That’s messed up.”
Last year it was reported that large numbers of staff were leaving Twitter after Musk told them to sign up for “long hours at high intensity” or leave. Pictures also showed Twitter employees sleeping on the floor in the office.
Comments ‘risk making things worse’.
Ben Harrison, director of the Work Foundation at Lancaster University, said the chancellor’s comments risked “making things worse” for people managing long-term health conditions.
Earlier this week it was reported that more than 2.5 million people are economically inactive due to long-term sickness. “Our research into disabled workers experience of remote and hybrid working showed that 80% felt remote working would either be essential or very important and impose a new duty on employees to discuss alternatives to the request (if rejected).
This will continue to be important issue going forward in the workplace with two different viewpoints: some people think that working from home leads to poorer productivity while others look at the benefits to employee’s wellbeing with them working from home.
Will the best scenario be a combination of both? Kier Stammer has already muted that a Labour Government could make it a condition of employment that home working is offered to employees. This is something to keep an on.
