IF YOU RUN A BUSINESS YOU PROBABLY NEED A HOLIDAY
Some while ago, the managing director of ELC sat on a Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Committee that determined there would only be two dates a year where employment legislation would change. The thinking behind this, and it was good thinking, was that businesses have so much trouble coping with the pace of employment law, that these changes should be limited to two dates a year, in order that businesses can get used to those changes.
It was agreed therefore that 1 October and 1 April would be those dates.
Of course, for those of us that run businesses, it is not the timing of the change that makes the most impact, it is the nature of that change itself. In this issue, we donate our entire middle pages to the Government’s change in respect of holiday pay. As we advised you in Feedback September 2006 the Government agreed with the trade unions before the last election that they would extend statutory holidays from four weeks, including public holidays, to four weeks plus public holidays. This will add considerably to employment costs faced by our clients. In the article therefore we explain the impact of this and also answer a number of common questions that our advice lines frequently take on the complex and vexed issues of calculating leave entitlement.
Such is the volume of material we have this month that we have omitted our regular “Snippets”. Indeed, several articles that were going to make this issue have had to be held over for a future issue of Feedback.
However, one point we must make you aware of is the change in the National Minimum Wage, which also takes effect on 1 October 2007. These are as follows:-
Adult Rate (workers aged 22 and over) - £5.52
Development Rate (workers aged 18 – 21 inclusive) - £4.60
Development Rate (workers aged 16 & 17) - £3.40
As ever there are exceptions in respect of accredited trainees, although these exceptions are narrowly defined and if you believe you have a trainee or apprentice who may not be entitled to the National Minimum Wage, please contact the Advisory Service for further assistance and information.
As we have commented before, it is not just the nature of employment law change that makes the field so difficult, it is the sheer pace of change. Once upon a time, we would draft clients’ contracts of employment and handbooks secure in the knowledge that they would not need amending for a number of years. Such is the nature of employment law now that handbooks and contracts can quickly become outdated.
As a result, we enclose copies of new policies that we have developed, both to take account of legislative changes, such as retirement age and maternity pay. If your employees have access to computers, then we strongly recommend that you incorporate the Internet, E-mail and Telephone Usage policy to make sure that employees are aware of their obligations, but more importantly to help protect you against claims should employees misuse the technology at their disposal. We have also written a new Flexible Working policy. As government continues to encourage employers to consider flexible working wherever possible, we felt at this stage it was appropriate that policies were clearly laid out in your company handbooks and again we recommend you incorporate this.
Should you not have had new employment contracts or handbooks in the last three years, we strongly recommend that you have these updated. Please telephone the office for a questionnaire and we will provide a complete set of documents for you.
Finally, we have been absolutely delighted with our clients’ response to the introduction of our HR Service. Our Jackie Anderson, who is spearheading the introduction of the HR Service, has, on the back page, written in more detail about what we can offer. There is also an enclosure contained within this Feedback advising you further of the services available in this respect.
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