HR Smart Summer Newsletter

Fancy a long weekend anyone?

Much has been written about the 4-day working week trial that was launched in 2022. Although working a 4-day week is not new, it was originally conceived as the condensed working week, whereby employees worked their weekly hours in four days not five and had a three day weekend. Now, following the workplace study, we are in the realms of employees being paid for five days, but only working for four days, 

But in a recent study by conducted in late 2022, it seems that around 60% of the participant companies reported that 4 day productivity remained around the same levels as that of 5 days. Happiness in the working environment returned and employees were more engaged then they had been working five days. This became known as the 100-80-100 model, where you pay employees 100% of their salary for 80% of their original contracted hours assuming that productivity remains at 100%.

Is this the future for all companies? The answer is probably no. Not all business sectors suit 4 day working weeks. Anyone who runs client centric contact centres may find that having too many people off when clients expect them to be available may cause operational issues. Manufacturing may also struggle too if 20% of machine time would be lost. Hourly paid employees would need a 25% hourly rate increase to make up for the shortfall in hours. Sectors where this form of working pattern could work well are likely to be knowledge based or service sectors.

So what do you need to think about if you are considering moving to a 100-80-100 model:

• Communication with staff - This is key if you are going to move to a radical change in working hours
• Consultation - Not everyone will want to work different hours, so check who is in and who is out
• Target Driven - You need a robust method of measuring what past productivity looked like to measure future fluctuations  
• Test the Validity - Don't be afraid to spend a few months trialling the new working patterns
• Written Agreements - Make sure you back up the changes with clearly written letters or agreements. Make sure they are signed by the employees
• Revocation - Make sure you can return to the status quo if things do not work out

Any changes to contractual working patterns would need to be agreed and ideally reached on a mutually agreeable basis.

If you would like to know more about this area, please let me know at heidi@hrsmartuk.com.

All the best for the Summer!

Heidi

Some Things You May Want to Know: 

How Do You Address Employee Mental Health Issues?
It is a common misconception that employers can resolve issues with employee mental health issues in the workplace. Whilst this may be true in certain cases, it certainly isn't true for the majority of cases in our general experience.

There are three main reasons why mental health issues occur:

• personal issues outside of work
• general social and societal changes outside of work
• life at work

We would urge all employers to concentrate on what life is like at work as this is what they can change and control. Employers should first consider promoting and supporting healthy lifestyles, exercise and a good work/life balance to ensure that employees remain fit for work and get time to pursue their own personal interests and family time.

We would then advise employers to review the current culture and working environment by looking at what the Company could do to make work life easier and let work flow through the employees. This could include removing system barriers, retraining managers or investing in more comfortable workstations.

Employers should encourage employees to switch off from work at the end of the working day. This allows the employee to concentrate on other things in their life without the constant pressure of a pinging phone or tablet.

You could also try asking employees what they think might make a difference to their wellbeing at work. This could be achieved via a suggestion box, through a questionnaire or team meetings. Make sure that if you ask for feedback you action or at least reply to each suggestion.

We are starting to see that less may actually result in more in various areas of work. A shorter dedicated time spent at work tends to focus the mind and may help with those employee wellbeing issues at work. 
 

KPMG & REC Latest Job Growth Report
The latest report on the UK Job Vacancies was published in March 2023. This showed the there was a continuation of the falls seen in the previous four months for permanent hires whilst the temporary job hires grew slightly. Overall this means that vacancies in the UK economy are continuing to grow.

This state of vacancy growth is still cause for concern, but we may be seeing a return to normality after the COVID crisis and BREXIT.

A link to the full report can be found below:
https://kpmg.com/uk/en/home/media/press-releases/2023/03/kpmg-and-rec-uk-report-on-jobs.html

If you need any help on recruitment advice or need contacts in the recruitment sector please let us know by emailing jon@hrsmartuk.com.

Contractual Post-Termination & Sunset Clauses Clarified

In the Government's policy paper "Smarter regulation to Grow The Economy", the proposed changes around non-compete and EU Sunset clauses have been clarified to a certain degree. 

The Government is now proposing to limit the length of the Post-Termination clauses to a maximum of three-months. Employers should start to plan for this in terms of reviewing more senior level employee contracts. It is currently unclear whether this new proposal, if enacted, would nullify all current contractual agreements, but one way around this could be to extend any notice periods in certain employee contracts where the Company was most at risk.

In addition, the Sunset clause that threatened to cease all EU laws by the end of 2023 has now been scrapped. It is expected that only 800 out of the 4,800 laws that exist under the current EU legislation will be scrapped or amended. This means there is more certainty for employers and businesses in the short term. However, it still looks like there could be a lot of change in a short space of time, even with the reduced changes being made. 

If you need any advice on these topics please do not hesitate to contact Heidi at heidi@hrsmartuk.com or Jon at jon@hrsmartuk.com or call us on 01903 754107.

STATUTORY PAYMENTS INFORMATION

NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE From 1st April 2023
Apprentice                             - £5.28 per hour
Age 16 to 17 inclusive          - £5.28 per hour
Age 18 to 20 inclusive          - £7.49 per hour
Age 21 to 22 inclusive          - £10.18 per hour
Age 23 and over                    - £10.42 per hour
London Living Wage             - £11.95 per hour
Living Wage                            - £10.80 per hour 

STATUTORY PAYMENTS From 6th April 2023
 

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) - £109.40 per week up to 28 weeks.

Statutory Maternity & Adoption Pay (SMP & SAP)
First 6 weeks - 90% of average gross weekly salary per week.
Remaining 33 weeks - £172.48 or 90% of average gross weekly salary, depending on which is lower.

Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP)
£172.48 or 90% of average gross weekly salary, depending on which amount is lower. SPP leave is capped at a maximum of 2 weeks.

Shared Parental Pay (ShPP)
Up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay can be shared between parents, subject to meeting eligibility criteria. ShPP is paid at £172.48 or 90% of average gross weekly salary, depending  on which is lower.

Redundancy
Statutory Redundancy Payment - Up to £643 per week, capped at £19,290.
Age 22 and under: 0.5 week’s pay for each full year of service.
Age 23-40: 1 week’s pay for each full year of service.
Age 41 and over: 1.5 week’s pay for each full year of service.

UNFAIR DISMISSAL
Compensation capped at the lower of either £105,707 or 52 weeks' gross actual pay.

HOLIDAY ENTITLEMENT - No Change
Minimum of 5.6 weeks per annum and can include the 8 UK public holidays. This is 28 days for full time employees.