News

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has produced a new fact sheet to help with successful inductions of new staff members. The fact sheet can be downloaded at:

 

Editors note: The CIPD website has an excellent resource of materials and advice on employment and personnel issues. Although much of their site is a members only area, there is still a lot of “stuff” that you can freely access.

 

 

 

 

In April 2009, the old style H & S poster (which must be displayed within the workplace) was replaced with a new and simpler version, or leaflets which can be handed out to staff. Employers now have a 5 year transition period (i.e. up to April 2014) to replace their old style posters. New posters can be ordered from HSE Books on Tel: 01787 881165 and they cost £12 in a laminated format.

 

Case Law: Often when an employer is contemplating taking disciplinary action against an employee, that employee then lodges a counter grievance against the employer or manager. As a result employers have then felt under pressure to delay their disciplinary process until the grievance has been heard to ensure that any future dismissal is not ruled to be unfair. If the disciplinary situation was for gross misconduct, this delay can lead to substantial extra costs for the employer whilst the employee remains on full pay pending resolution of the grievance.

In a case (Samuel Smith Old Brewery (Tadcaster) v Marshall) the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has now given some much needed guidance in this area. The EAT decided that the employer, who had dismissed an employee before the grievance appeal had been completed, had not dismissed unfairly.

The EAT commented that it will only be in very rare cases that an employer's decision not to complete the grievance procedure before dismissing an employee will, in itself, amount to unfair dismissal. They observed that there is nothing in the ACAS code of practice which obliges employers to conclude the grievance process prior to dismissal. They indicated that on most occasions a fairly conducted disciplinary procedure would ensure that any potential “grievance” against the employer or a manager could be looked at and taken into account or not, depending on the facts.

 

 

For those who do not follow football, England (as well as another 31 teams) have reached the finals of the World Cup being held in South Africa. Games will start to be played from mid June through to Mid July. Many of the games will start around 4.00pm and consequently there is predicted to be increased absenteeism at this time as people try to leave work early or celebrate too hard and don’t make it in the next day. If you don’t already have a flexible working policy, now might be the time to consider how best to arrive at a reasonable compromise if employees indicate they want to leave early or take time off to watch a game. This could be a temporary measure just for the tournament, or allow staff to get live updates from the internet or even have a TV in the office!!! (don’t forget you may need a TV licence). How about a team building exercise in the pub? Good luck to which ever team you may support.