Feature insight - staff development
● ● Reputation/retention – A recent survey commissioned by PwC, found less than 49% of workers felt their employer gave them the chance to improve their digital skills outside of their normal duties. Further, it was said that this was leading to mistrust and a lack of confidence amongst workers; such ill feeling is likely to cause good employees to leave roles where they feel undervalued and under resourced. Having a reputation for providing employees with the best support and career progression through training and development is one way in which high staff turnover can be reduced. ● ● Profit – Upskilling employees should help improve the efficiency of the staff and in some industries can help a business to extend its customer reach and therefore boost productivity. Increased productivity and an extended client base is good for the bottom line profit as a highly skilled workforce is essential for appealing to new clients and retaining existing clients. The employee leaves It can be seen as a bit of a raw deal for an employer to foot the bill for training
and then find shortly afterwards that the employee leaves the employment and uses elsewhere the skills gained. Let’s say, for example, John was sent on a university course by his employer. The university course took John one year to complete and cost Payroll Limited £5,000. One month after completing the course, John hands in his notice to work for NI Plc using the skills he had developed during the course. What can Payroll Limited do in this scenario? Payroll Limited may be able to recover the costs if John’s contract allows them to do so. It is often the case, for example, that employers will fund a course but require an employee to pay back a percentage if they leave after a certain period of time. This is fine, provided that the period of time is reasonable which will often depend on the nature of the role. The percentage of what they are required to pay back can also be varied, so for example 100% of fees to be paid back if they leave after three months and then 50% of fees after six months. If there was nothing in John’s contract to that effect, Payroll Limited could consider whether any restrictive covenants
could protect the business interests in another way e.g. by ensuring John cannot work for a competitor within a defined period. If such clauses are not in the contract, before enrolling John on the course payroll could arrange for an agreement to be drafted which has the same effect; provided John agreed to the terms, Payroll Limited could enforce the agreement in the event of John leaving the business. n Conclusion Although investing in training can seem like a financial burden, particularly where an employee has the necessary qualifications to do the job, it can be good for business. Training can help improve efficiency of the business, ensure that employees are highly competent in providing a quality service, and can boost profit. In terms of protection for employers, it will not necessarily be the case that you will receive no return for your investment if the employee leaves, provided that the terms of the funding are expressly stated in the contract of employment or other agreement.
PAYROLL ASSURANCE SCHEME Don’t wait until it’s too late
With penalties for non-compliance of up to £10,000 per day * , can your business afford not to be CIPP Payroll Assurance Scheme accredited?
* Correct at time of publication
Visit cipp.org.uk/PAS , email compliance@cipp.org.uk or call 0121 712 1000 for more information.
cipp.org.uk CIPP_UK cip .org.uk @CI P_UK
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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 55 | November 2019
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