04:05
ISSUE 4
Diary of an HR Manager Monday 8.20 am A Remote day. Getting back from holiday on Thursday last week I caught up with my reading on Saturday morning. Top of the list were a few questions from the Board on new proposals from the Government on employment legislation, mainly: The Reform of Employment status, intended to create a new single status for all but self-employed workers Protection from unfair dismissal from Day One. Also, there were proposals on: Minimum wage Right to Disconnect and equal pay across ethnic minorities. This latter was no issue as we had ensured that pay was evened out a few years ago by a few minor adjustments. Right to disconnect we had anticipated as it gained popularity across Europe and could be consolidated into our Flexible Working policy. Although all of these were still proposals, we must plan for each as being very likely to be introduced; it all depends on the small print. The annoying thing is the tendency for UK employment legislation to be published and then left to case law and precedent to be established in the courts or tribunals. This makes it tougher to close off all the angles. National Living Wage (NLW) is now in excess of 20k per annum for a full- time adult employee and we need to look carefully at wages costs and productivity throughout the company. It is now a quarterly exercise in the business. Although we are making a reasonable operating profit we have to keep tabs on all costs, as margins are being squeezed by competition and less purchasing power for consumers.
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