TECHNOLOGY
“Cliché alert: the possibilities are endless. Go out there and experiment”
employees who are unable to work due to illness. Here are the key eligibility criteria: l earnings: to qualify for SSP, you need to be an employee and have average weekly earnings of at least £120 before tax l qualifying period: you must have been sick for at least four days in a row (including non-working days) to be eligible for SSP. This is known as the ‘qualifying period’ l notification: you must inform your employer of your sickness within their specified time frame. Generally, this means contacting them on the first day of your absence or following their internal procedures for reporting sickness l employment status: you should be employed and not self-employed. SSP isn’t available to self-employed individuals l length of payment: SSP is paid for a maximum of 28 weeks. If you’re still sick after 28 weeks, other benefits may be applicable l proof of sickness: your employer may ask for a doctor’s note (fit note or sick note) if you’re off sick for more than seven days. Before the seventh day, you can usually self-certify. It’s important to note that employers are responsible for paying SSP, and the rate may vary depending on their policies. The government provides reimbursement to employers for SSP payments. If you have specific questions or uncertainties, it’s advisable to consult directly with your employer or human resource (HR) department for personalised guidance based on your situation.” This could be useful for building internal resources to provide to employees, which remove our assumptions of knowledge due to our payroll expertise. But! Look at the text I have highlighted in red. The rate of SSP doesn’t vary depending on company policy. Occupational sick pay might, but not the statutory payment. Additionally, ChatGPT seems to think that SSP is reclaimable from the government, and this hasn’t been the case since 2014. It has also grabbed an outdated figure for the lower earnings limit. An important reminder to double check the output of ChatGPT. Let’s look at another example. You want to include a provision in your
employee handbook to explain how leave entitlement increases with length of service. Using the prompt: ‘can you please provide me with some wording to use in a UK employee handbook to explain the way in which holiday entitlement increases from 25 days plus bank holidays up to 30 days plus bank holidays over a period of five years?’ We get the following from ChatGPT: “At [Company Name], we value the commitment and dedication of our employees. To recognise and reward long-term service, we have implemented a progressive holiday entitlement increase over a five-year period. Starting entitlement: upon commencement of employment, all full- time employees are entitled to 25 days of annual leave, in addition to recognised UK bank holidays. Incremental increase: as a token of appreciation for your continued contribution, your annual leave entitlement will increase incrementally over the course of five years. l year one: 25 days + bank holidays l year two: 26 days + bank holidays l year three: 27 days + bank holidays l year four: 28 days + bank holidays l year five: 30 days + bank holidays. Eligibility: this incremental holiday entitlement increase applies to all employees who have completed a full year of continuous service. The additional days will be credited on the anniversary of your employment start date. Bank holidays: bank holidays are included in the overall entitlement and will be provided in addition to the accrued annual leave. Part-time employees: for part-time employees, entitlement will be calculated on a pro-rata basis. Unused leave: it’s important to note that any unused leave at the end of the holiday year cannot be carried over unless exceptional circumstances are approved by management. We believe that this progressive holiday entitlement scheme demonstrates our commitment to recognising and rewarding the loyalty and dedication of our valued employees.
If you have any questions or require further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact the HR department.” Is this perfect? Probably not. However, it’s a great starting point for you from which to build a robust and well-thought- out employee handbook. In the same way that a Word document template is unlikely to be perfect for every single one of your particular scenarios, neither will this be, but you can make the necessary changes to bring it up to the standard you need. To briefly aside and explain some of the limitations of generative AI: It’s not all-knowing Until recently, ChatGPT didn’t access anything newer than that published in or before 2019. This would lead it to believe that Boris Johnson was still the prime minster of the UK. It’s not perfect It aggregates data from many sources and does its best to come up with a human- like response but doesn’t necessarily fact-check the information it provides. You must always check the information it gives you, don’t trip up and accept what it says as gospel, or you could end up thinking Boris is still in number ten. Changes to wording can drastically change the output it provides Experiment with different ways of asking the same question to get the result you want (as long as you also understand the point above). Give it a go! Cliché alert: the possibilities are endless. Go out there and experiment. Next time you have a task which requires you to research a topic, maybe just drop by your preferred AI first and see if it helps. Next time you need to write or provide a technical explanation and are struggling to pitch it right, ask for a jargon-free output from AI and you might just be surprised at how well it does. AI is a tool which can help so use it, don’t fear it, but just remember to always check the outputs provided. n
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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 99 | April 2024
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