Incremental Holiday System – Increasing holiday entitlement
Increasing holiday entitlement for long serving employees is one of the methods employers use to reward employees for their commitment to the company.
This week a client wanted to implement an incremental holiday system based on employee length of service. This being the longer serving employees who had up to 10 years plus service with the company.
Employers are perfectly entitled to implement such schemes however they must fully observe the provision of the Equality Act 2010 to avoid any claims of direct/indirect claims of discrimination.
How can rewarding for someone for their long service be discriminatory, you might well ask?
Well, when we speak about increasing holiday entitlement for long service, the age of the person comes into play because the longer the service the more likely it is that they will be older. I can hear the penny dropping now!
This is not to say that an employer cannot reward someone with a benefit past five years’ service but what the law says in these circumstances is that the needs of the business in implementing this must outweigh the discriminatory effect. It can be to encourage loyalty or reward higher levels of experience.
This can apply to any benefits that are awarded through length of service not just holiday. If you would like more information, make the most of free ChamberHR advice line by calling 01455 852037.
Imagine the scene – it’s Week 3 of the year’s 2nd Quarter. You know how important it is that the first month of the Q is a successful one, as it helps build momentum or maybe even carry the momentum forward from a successful Q1. Everyone is expecting you to deliver a strong performance, because that is why you do it. It’s what you love doing – delivering performances through others; helping them succeed and being successful yourself as a result. But there are more than a few “moving parts” in this machine and just like a conductor of an orchestra, you need to know who to lean on and when… Otherwise the music quickly turns flat…
Motivational calls, interrogation of forecasts, role playing client negotiation, following up that event you went to or that campaign you ran – the list never ends and it is relentless. However, there is one thing that appears on the to-do list for every commercial person who they know will cost them time and money (the former being the most valuable resource any of us have) and only has a limited chance of delivering an ROI. That thing? Problems with your staff.
How many times have you been distracted from the important tasks, the ones you know are most likely to contribute to generating revenue, when one of your staff calls in sick the day after a bank holiday weekend? How did it make you feel the last time you wanted to treat your staff with an event (staff night out or something similar), but one person in the team seems to be permanently unavailable? What about that employee who is regularly rude to colleagues, who in turn come to you with their issues?
From experience I can confidently say it is a minefield! I prefer to set expectations with my teams about such matters and if any don’t hold up their end of the employment “bargain”, I’ll have an honest conversation with them. But what happens if that doesn’t work? What if someone is determined to make a formal complaint about the employee who is persistently rude? This is where Qdos can help.
If you have policies in place for such an event, that’s a good start. Make sure you get them reviewed regularly by a commercially minded professional who understands what your business is about and how you like to operate. It is really easy to identify what not to do, but having processes in place that genuinely reflect who you are and what your company is about, is much more powerful and something that can lead into employee engagement (HR speak for “getting the most out of your staff by making them happy”).
So, if you’ve found yourself getting distracted from the things you really need to be doing and you’ve had experiences where staff have caused you a headache which you’d like to avoid in the future, contact the ChamberHR advice line on 01455 852037.
Technology and how we use it is evolving rapidly but Norfolk’s digital and mobile infrastructure needs to keep pace. Norfolk Chamber is keen to ensure that both our digital and mobile infrastructure are fit for purpose and that our business community is ready to take advantage of new technology developments as they evolve.
Greater mobile coverage is needed to provide better reliability. This includes erecting more mobile signal masts and creating a simplified planning process to gain the necessary permissions. Another simple solution to improve existing coverage would be to allow mobile roaming across the existing network providers.
Nova Fairbank, Public Affairs Manager for Norfolk Chamber said: “Norfolk Chamber wants to ensure that our business community is able to take advantage of new technology developments as they evolve and one of those key areas is the rise in the mobile office and the need by more business people to do business on the move. To do this we need more investment in our mobile signal infrastructure and changes in how the service providers operate i.e. roaming signals.”
A network of providers ensures that the majority of Norfolk receives mobile signal coverage but no one provider can deliver a high percentage of overall signal coverage across the county.
At present the providers do not allow seamless roaming between their networks – so every business user, no matter which network provides their service, suffers from unreliable mobile signal coverage in Norfolk.
A recent British Chambers of Commerce survey showed that 83% of Norfolk business users experienced ‘not spots’, 43% had access to 4G, and more concerning, 11% of business users still only had access to 2G – voice calls only with no internet or data.
Neil Orford, President of Great Yarmouth Chamber Council and Partner at Lovewell Blake,said: “If we wish to be seen as a place to do business, we must continue to press for improvement in the service provided.”
Whilst approximately 86% of Norfolk has access to 24mbps, a recent British Chambers of Commerce survey, reported that the Norfolk business community still thought that Norfolk’s digital infrastructure was not yet totally fit for purpose.
Lynsey Sweales, a Norfolk Chamber Board Member and Director of Social B, said: “A reliable broadband connection is absolutely vital for all companies, yet 20% of Norfolk companies suffer from unreliable connections. The focus of the Government must be on providing businesses with sufficient and reliable broadband connections to enable to them to do business confidently.”
The British Chambers survey showed that with more reliable connections Norfolk businesses could do more. More than half of businesses (54%) said that if the reliability of their broadband connection was improved it would allow them to use more applications, particularly cloud-based services (24%), transfer of large files (16%), and remote server access for employees (14%).
Paul Grenyer, CEO atNorwich-based Naked Element,said: “My issue is with mobile signals when I am out and about in the county, which I do quite a bit because I like to go to see clients. Reception is very sporadic. I use the train because I like to work but the other day I went from Yarmouth to Norwich and I only had reception for 60 per cent of the time, which means that it is dead time. It is frustrating and it needs to improve.”
David Manning, Managing Director of MIGSOLV, which delivers The Gatehouse >You can read the Norfolk Voice magazine online.
Please don’t think I’m about to use the first of my columns to get ‘party political’, or indeed that I’m going to beat the all too familiar path towards Brexit. That said, current events do rather point to the importance of negotiation as a really important process when it comes to getting things done.
Every deal that’s done, every sale that’s made involves, to a greater or lesser extent, some negotiation. It’s about knowing what you want out of it, and trying to achieve that to you and your customer‘s satisfaction.
As far as our ‘leaders’ are concerned, right now the Brexit negotiations look about as complex as they could get. Sailing in uncharted waters, they’re negotiating with 27 countries on unprecedented issues. It’s tough.
But consider this. Every business person who exports to Europe, or anywhere else, has to negotiate not just with each country but with each customer within each country. And every customer at home too. In today’s business climate it’s not uncommon for the next sale, the next deal, to be unprecedented either. It might require a new modification to the product or service, a new price to be established or a new delivery schedule.
So here’s the thing. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that it’s commerce, and the people who drive it, who have to negotiate all day every day in order to make things happen. The things that create sales, revenue and jobs.
Let’s not forget either that commerce can’t do it alone. Infrastructure, technology, strategic direction – they’re all essential requirements from government (note the lower case ‘g’; this applies to whoever is at Westminster), and it’s very much part of our role as the Chamber to ensure that you, the practitioners of commerce in our region, are heard. And more importantly listened to.
I’ll be building on the outstanding work done so far to ensure that we develop and refine our message, and our means of delivering it, to ensure that we are taken notice of.
Now, that might mean we have to accept that some things can be done before others. That priorities are adjusted. Fine – That’s negotiation. But here’s the thing, yes we can do negotiation. My track record is largely in the technology sector, but firmly in the entrepreneurial arena, and negotiating has been critical to successes. Believe me, back in the day, talking with a multiple of financial service companies, some of whom were formed 300 years prior and still using pencils was a challenge. Convincing them that the internet was the future trading platform took a lot of negotiation. I enjoy it. Especially if it’s carried out in a positive atmosphere, because that requires you to behave optimistically, a key attribute in driving your business forward.
So, I’ll call on all my experiences to support the region’s commerce and steer us into, and through, the aforementioned uncharted waters, and beyond, as I have many more exciting plans to share.
A spelling mistake isn’t going to kill your brand, but if you want to grow it online using Social Media there are a few things your business needs to avoid doing.
1 | Spamming – Quality over quantity
Throwing content out there willy-nilly is a common mistake for a lot of people. The idea of getting as much content in front of people’s faces can be a very damaging thing, especially on Facebook.
Facebook uses a number of algorithms to prioritise content on somebody’s timeline, one of which includes frequency of posts. So I would recommend posting no more than 5 times a day.
Twitter on the other hand is completely different, people seem to digest content much faster and content is sorted by ‘most recent’. I recommend anywhere from 5-20 posts on Twitter per day.
A little bit of planning never hurt anybody – spread your posts out throughout the day and use a number of different methods of sharing (video, images, etc).
2 | Ghostown
Another common problem almost stems from fear of my previous point. People tend to worry about ‘over-posting’ and end up leaving their Social Media platforms looking like a baron wasteland.
Don’t do this either! Get a decent plan in place, and stick to it. A content calendar can be a very useful tool when combatting both ‘spamming’ and ending up like a ‘ghostown’.
3 | Too much automation
Automating posts can be a wonderful thing (wow, what a perfect segue; why not check out my previous Blog on it), but using it too much can become damaging, and your content can begin to look robotic and people will tune out.
Use it, but only in moderation!
4 | Very little/no interaction
Interaction is a key element to bringing your brand to life. Talking to people and answering questions, either out in public or via private messages, can give your Social Media channels personality.
But be aware, ensure the ‘voice’ you use suits your brand.
5 | “I must be on every platform!”
A common misconception of Social Media is that your content must be everywhere, this is definitely not the case! You need to focus your content on platforms that your message suits.
For instance, there is no point in creating an Instagram page if a majority of your content is not image based.
Pick the platforms that suit your message!
6| Sharing only your own content
Yes, your content is fantastic – but other people’s content may be able to complement what you have to say. Share Blogs and news articles that relate to your topic/product!
7 | Not committing long term
Staying committed to Social Media can be tough. It can end up being a massive time consumer. With a lot of aspects of business going digital, Social Media is only going to become more pivotal.
Make sure it’s part of your long term plan. Invest in it wisely, and don’t forget about it and leave it to gather dust in your attic of ideas.
If you ever need support with Social Media or your overall digital strategy, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Norfolk Chamber has a wealth of members who are great at pointing you in the right direction!
We are running a series of FREE virtual events with the help and expertise of our members, do you have the knowledge you would like to impart and think would be useful for businesses during this period.
The virtual events will be 30 – 90 minutes long and will focus on key topics or subjects relevant to businesses of different sectors. These can focus on a particular software, how to work remotely, how to motivate your team or the rise of e-commerce for particular markets for example.
If you’re interested in delivering a virtual event with Norfolk Chambers of Commerce, please complete the online form to register your interest. We will be in touch to discuss your virtual event and arrange a date and time for this to take place.
Your employees may need time off work if or when they deal with an emergency. The Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA) implemented a law for this. It affords employees certain statutory rights when they require time off work. However, this is in the case of those who are dealing with an emergency involving family and/or dependants.
Section 57A of the ERA confirms that:
(1) An employee is entitled to be permitted by his employer to take a reasonable amount of time off during the employee’s working hours in order to take action which is necessary-
(a) to provide assistance on an occasion when a dependant falls ill, gives birth or is injured or assaulted.
(b) to make arrangements for the provision of care for a dependant who is ill or injured.
(c) in consequence of the death of a dependant.
(d) because of the unexpected disruption or termination of arrangements for the care of a dependant or
(e) to deal with an incident which involves a child of the employee and which occurs unexpectedly in a period during which an educational establishment which the child attends is responsible for him.
Who do you class as a dependant?
Your employee’s dependant must be classed under one of the following descriptions, for the statutory right to apply:
Spouse or civil partner
Child
Parent
A person who lives in the same household as the employee. Other than by reason of being an employee, tenant, lodger or boarder.
Someone who reasonably relies on the employee to make arrangements for the provision of care.
A person who reasonably relies on the employee for assistance on an occasion when the person falls ill or is injured or assaulted.
A person who reasonably relies on the employee for assistance to make arrangements for the provision of care in the event of illness or injury.
Pre-requisite to the entitlement
As a pre-requisite to the entitlement, your employee must tell you the reason for the required absence “as soon as reasonably practicable”. No notice of the required amount of time off is therefore needed. If your employee requests time off work to attend a pre-arranged medical appointment, then the law does not apply.
Your employee has to tell you how long the absence is expected to last. This is in all circumstances. Except where the reason for absence cannot be complied with until the employee has returned to work.
You do not have to pay employees for any time off taken under this piece of legislation.
The question of what amount of time off is deemed to be “reasonable” will vary with each situation. The best approach is for you and your employees to be in regular communication. This will ensure that accurate information is given and received by both parties.
You are always well advised to record the length of time off taken. Also the reasons given by your employee for the absence. Usually, if they ask for more than one or two days off to deal with their crisis, it is likely that it will not fall under the definition of an emergency.
Intended for immediate crisis not substantial time off
In 2008, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that a request was not covered by the statutory right. This involved a case where the claimant requested one to two months’ leave. This was to care for his children as a result of a domestic crisis. The court confirmed that it was intended to cover emergencies, and to enable the employee to deal with an immediate crisis. It was also to allow time to set up care arrangements. It was not intended to give employees a long time off to care for their dependants themselves.
If you need help in addressing any issues on this subject within your organisation contact ChamberHR on 01455 852037
A cycle to work scheme can encourage employees to make healthier and greener journeys to work.
Under the scheme, your employees could be loaned a bike and/or additional cycling safety equipment plus other accessories by your organisation. Thus enabling them to travel all, or part of their journey, to and from work, whilst at the same time generating a tax benefit.
The qualifying journeys for employees who might wish to take advantage of a cycle to work scheme are those:
Journeys between their home and their workplace
Between one workplace and another
To and from the train station to get to work
The cost of a cycle to work scheme
Employers can recover all or part of the cost of providing and loaning out the bike and/or safety equipment in the first instance. This is usually up to the value of £1000. Employees will then make regular payments back to their employer over an agreed period, typically of 12 to 18 months duration, to spread the cost.
The loan payments are usually taken out of monthly remuneration through a ‘salary sacrifice’ arrangement. This means that a lower overall amount of salary is accepted in return for the benefit. At the end of the loan period, employers will give the opportunity for employees to buy the cycle for its full market value. In return for one final lump sum payment, or to continue loaning the cycle at no cost for future qualifying journeys.
Which cycle to work scheme is right for your employee?
Initially, employees are advised to consider whether the scheme’s arrangements are right for them. There are three packages available to choose from:
No accessories – CycleScheme bicycle only.
Cycle and accessories – CycleScheme package.
Accessories package (for employees who already have a bicycle under the scheme).
Application for the cycle to work scheme
In the first instance, employers need to sign up with Cyclescheme. They will then receive a unique employer code via cyclescheme.co.uk for their employees to use when they apply to receive their chosen package.
The application pages for both employers and employees involve being guided through a simple form. The form requires work details, contact information, and the value of the Cyclescheme Certificate being applied for. When the employee has submitted the form, the employer receives a copy of a Hire Agreement.
Once the application is approved and has been paid for by the employer, the employee will receive a Cyclescheme Certificate. This can then be exchanged for the items in the chosen Cyclescheme package. This can be done via a visit to one of the 2000 UK wide outlets authorised to supply the equipment or via an online process if preferred.
What happens when the Hire Agreement and Salary Sacrifice end?
When the Hire Agreement and salary sacrifice arrangement ends, the employee can choose to gain ownership of the Cyclescheme Package by making a small final payment. For a Cyclescheme package under £500, this figure is just 3% of the original value. For a package over £500 in value, the amount equivalent to 7% is payable i.e. a maximum of £70 on a £1,000 package. Under this element of the scheme, the bike remains ‘hired’ for a further 36 months, but with no more monthly payments. Ownership is then officially transferred to the employee at the end of this period at no extra cost.
If you need any further information on this or similar employee salary sacrifice benefit schemes, Chamber members can contact Qdos HR on 01455 852037. We will be pleased to discuss all aspects of your organisation’s requirements with you.
A new era has started at the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce with Chris Sargisson taking over as the new Chief Executive. He speaks to Neil Perry about his plans for the future and how the organisation will grow in the years to come.
“Abrupt changes to quarantine measures will be yet another hammer blow for the fragile travel and tourism industries, both here in the UK and overseas.
“Firms will now have to manage the effects of this unexpected change as returning staff have to quarantine upon their return to the UK. Support measures should be extended to help firms and their employees manage the additional uncertainty generated by this and other government decisions.
“Businesses will be asking why Spain was on the safe list on Friday, only to be taken off it on Saturday. Changes to quarantine rules must be communicated clearly by Government with as much notice as possible. Continued improvement of the test and trace programme, alongside co-ordinated checks at departure and arrival airports, could alleviate the need for many of these restrictions.”
Commenting on the government’s new proposed processes for moving goods from the UK to the EU from January 1st 2021, published today, BCC Director General Dr Adam Marshall said:
“With full border controls in place at all ports from January 1st next year, regardless of any deal that is agreed with the EU, and an estimated 200 million more declarations needed to be made by traders annually, firms that import and export to the EU should take action now and prioritise the appointment of customs intermediaries to advise on the next steps.
“It is pleasing to see the government listening to the Chamber network and reintroducing Postponed VAT Accounting, as well as allowing the deferment of duty and VAT on EU imports for at least 6 months from January 2020. And many businesses will appreciate the introduction of bond-free duty deferment accounts, which will provide much needed help to cashflow for businesses and reduce import costs.
“While businesses will welcome more detail on processes for trading goods overseas, some questions still remain unanswered, including on trade across the Northern Ireland border and the operation of the Goods Vehicle Management System. We will continue to look at the detail and how it affects businesses over the coming weeks.”
This is the first column that I have written on behalf of the Norfolk Chamber for the EDP as it normally falls to our CEO to come up with some interesting words of wisdom, so please bear with me. It has been a hectic couple of months at the Chamber with Caroline Williams MBE our CEO for 17 years standing down last week and the recruitment and appointment of our new CEO Chris Sargisson, all at a time when the political world has gone into overdrive.
It was interesting when recruiting for the role of CEO of Norfolk’s leading business organisation, as the position attracted all kinds of people, and we were lucky enough to have a huge amount of interest. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who applied and showed interest in the Chamber in particular those candidates who we interviewed and shortlisted. There is a real passion within the region for the Chamber and a large number of people keen to ensure it continues to be a success. The standard of candidate was really high and it was a very difficult decision to make.
The role of CEO at the Chamber is a very high profile role within the local business community, regularly meeting with leading politicians, small and large business owners, and key local authority officers and councillors, as well as running a busy SME. One minute you can be meeting the Prime Minister, the next the sole owner of a start up business looking at making organic yoghurts, each being as important and all requiring your time.
The recent interview process however highlighted a number of areas which we need to address with respect to how the Chamber is viewed, some we were aware of others were quite a surprise. There was a concern that the Chamber is perceived as a form of select privileged business club. This is clearly not the case and every business is welcome to the join the Norfolk Chamber even those who are not actually located in the County.
It is important for Norfolk’s overall business community that we have a strong Chamber of Commerce who challenges on behalf of the business community our politicians and policy makers locally, regionally and nationally. When running your own business it is great to know that you are not alone and that there are a number of similar like minded businesses all working together for the same cause. The Chamber provides this forum and seeks to help businesses who may not have the time to get their points over, to be heard and taken seriously.
The next few months are going to be incredibly important, with the result of the general election effectively impacting on every business. The Chamber takes a neutral political stance in these circumstances, however we always ensure that the key issues that effect our Member Businesses are clearly articulated to the various political parties. We also, where possible, try to provide guidance on what individual political parties manifestos mean for business generally.
During this period the Chamber Board and the management team will be making comments on how the political situation will impact on various sectors within the region with expert representation within manufacturing, food/agriculture, media, finance, skills, social media and construction. It looks like May is going to be a very busy month, on top of the training and networking events already planned by the Chamber.
Our new CEO will be starting close to the result of the general election at the beginning of June. Clearly a baptism of fire for anybody in a high profile role, especially if the outcome is the final political surprise in a series of three: