In response to demand we’ve now introduced a new gender neutral Boost You! Programme
Do you want to bring the best energy to your workplace, enhance creativity, fuel purpose and develop communication skills? With colleague turnover at an all-time high isn’t it imperative that you attract the best, and retain all those brilliant people?
If you would like to make meaningful positive changes in your workplace, then you have come to the right place. We can help you create a wellbeing programme or refine an existing plan.
Literally covering all life stages from baby to older age, our unique blend of expertise, science and a holistic approach will provide all the support you need. We have a strong focus on the Menopause and getting the conversation around this topic going.
Wellbeing has never been so critical. Let’s all take responsibility for making sustainable changes, and for taking positive steps forward.
Following yesterday’s announcement from Government on a new energy support package for businesses, which will run from 01 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, Nova Fairbank, Chief Executive of Norfolk Chambers of Commerce said:
“Despite Government efforts, an 85% drop in the financial envelope of support, will fall short for thousands of Norfolk businesses, who are seriously struggling.
“Many businesses have been fighting for their survival for months, and rising energy costs have fast become the tipping point. Whilst we welcome the 12-month duration of this package, its value is nowhere near far enough and means that for some firms, energy will now be a cost too far.
“We understand Government must consider public finances, but any support package, short or long term, should be right for business – otherwise we’re going around in circles. The wrong type of support will continue to see business confidence deplete and the Government having to revisit its package.
“This is not about giving a handout to failing firms. It is about investing in British businesses, many of whom are confident about the strength of their order-books despite being hammered by eye-watering energy costs.
“Our economy will not be able to grow if our businesses are in decline.
“Alongside an energy support package, we need an energy support strategy to get businesses on the right track to longer term efficiency.
“There are several options to consider, and Norfolk Chambers, together with the British Chambers of Commerce and the wider Chamber network are urging the Government to prioritise the following three:
Increase OFGEM’s powers: Ensure effective competition in the business energy market for non-domestic contracts by extending OFGEM’s regulatory powers to guarantee businesses access competitive fixed rate contracts, and energy providers move swiftly to pass on wholesale price reductions.
Energy production: Government to bring forward ambitious plans to enable more renewable and sustainable energy production across the UK.
National energy saving campaign: Government should launch a national campaign with support initiatives for businesses to drive down current consumption through energy efficiency measures, such as green grants and tax incentives.
“It is a critical year for the UK economy and with the right focussed support, businesses can help turn the economy around and get the UK back to growth and prosperity.”
The Norfolk-based road safety technology firm Westcotec is advising local authorities of the importance of understanding and using good data before committing to potentially significant road safety investments. Effective collection and expert analysis of data helps to ensure that resources can be targeted where they are most needed, and avoids the risk of paying large sums on interventions that may not be appropriate, Westcotec says.
Will Spinks, a member of the Westcotec sales and marketing team, cites the example of road monitoring activity from a location in the London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The monitoring allowed the local authority to analyse average speeds and traffic volumes at all times of day in the week before lockdown, and to compare them directly with speeds and volumes once lockdown had begun.
“The biggest difference in volumes was recorded at 10 o’clock in the morning, with 500 vehicles per hour recorded in the week of 16 March and just 320 vehicles per hour in the week of 23 March – a 36 per cent reduction.
“Where average speeds were concerned, analysts could see immediately that between 8am and midnight there was a consistent 3mph rise between 7am and midnight, peaking at 9am with a rise of almost 4mph.
“This kind of precise, location-specific data can be examined alongside casualty data to determine what interventions, if any, may be effective at the location.” Will’s remarks are supported by advice from independent road safety consultant Iain Temperton of Traject, who sets out the need to be much smarter in the use of data when planning initiatives for road safety, air quality monitoring or modal shift to help ease congestion and pollution.
“Progress in casualty reduction has slowed over the last decade, so it is vital that road safety professionals use data and evidence to inform their practice in the years to come. Now that we have the international call to halve road deaths by 2030 and reach Vision Zero targets by 2040, we simply cannot afford to waste time and money on schemes of work that are not effective. We must also harvest our data from every possible source.
“Roadside monitoring is a valuable tool as the right equipment can provide high volume, good quality and granular information. If it can also enforce or educate at the same time that is a definite win/win. There are a lot of road safety issues to address post lockdown, but there are opportunities to exploit as well. If you are dealing with modal shift, air quality or road safety, the right analysis will point you in the right direction.”
A Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) is a new initiative from the Department for Education (DfE) that will set out the key priorities needed to make technical education and skills provision more responsive to the changing needs of employers and the local economy by:
ensuring a better match between the supply of and demand for the skills employers most need to thrive and boost productivity, as well as helping to drive greater collaboration between providers to realise the benefits of economies of scale and specialisation;
making provision more accessible and addressing barriers to progression, especially for the adult workforce, such as driving greater join-up between skills offers, including work programmes; and
recognising that improving the supply of skills must be accompanied by demand-side measures that drive greater employer engagement and investment in skills and support potential learners through effective careers guidance.
In other words, the LSIP will put employers at the heart of the skills agenda in Norfolk and Suffolk.
There are 38 LSIPs across the UK. Our local LSIP reaches across the whole of Norfolk and Suffolk. So Norfolk Chambers are working in close collaboration with Suffolk Chamber of Commerce to ensure both business communities are engaged.
The remit for the Norfolk and Suffolk LSIP is in four parts:
Articulate the employers skills needs – what are the skills employers need locally and struggle to find?
Translating employers needs into changes in provision – how can those employers needs best be met by the provider in more responsive ways?
Address learner demand and employer engagement – what can local stakeholders and employers do to raise demand for and make better use of those skills?
Report annually to the DfE on what we want to achieve, why it matters, what changes are needed, and who needs to be involved. In other words what does skills success look like?
The LSIP contract runs from September 2022 until March 2025, but the ‘heavy lifting’ of designing the LSIP programme and processes has to be done in the first 8 months, as we need to submit our Local Skills Improvement Plan for the approval of the Secretary of State for Education by 31 May 2023.
The DfE have made it clear that the LSIP is about quality engagement with a wide range of businesses. To achieve this, we will be working in close collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders across the region including: Norfolk and Suffolk County Councils, New Anglia LEP, all the universities and colleges across Norfolk and Suffolk and several sixth form colleges. We will also work with the private training providers, charities and the voluntary sector, as well as the DWP/Job Centre Plus and other business organisations such as the FSB, NFU, IOD and the CBI.
But the most important people will be the business communities across Norfolk and Suffolk. We want to hear from businesses of any size: from sole traders and micro businesses to medium size enterprises to large corporates – all views and opinions will be sought.
We’re all now familiar with the cost of living crisis – how households are struggling to keep up with bills and afford the rapidly rising cost of food, fuel and other essentials.
But there’s another crisis, similar to the struggle households are going through, which is dramatically hitting businesses, and that’s the ‘cost of doing business’ crisis. Firms across the country are being confronted by rapidly rising costs of vital raw materials, fuel, wages and, of course, energy.
Many businesses simply don’t have either the spare income, or the spare savings, to manage such instant and dramatic increases.
What’s caused this?
The current price inflation is one of many impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, which interrupted supply chains, clogged manufacturing, and created the global delays that are being seen years later.
This has been worsened by worldwide issues such as the conflict in Ukraine, and the continuing Covid-19 lockdowns in China, which have also increased prices.
Battered businesses now face a stark choice – whether to pass on the increases to their customers, or to try and absorb these new expenses to keep prices down.
A positive step for businesses
In order to cope with these dramatic cost increases, firms need to get a grip on their expenditure. Unexpected bills are the last thing they need in this current climate – and in particular energy bills are a significant worry for a lot of bosses.
There’s some good news though – installing a smart meter is a positive step in taking control of business outgoings. Once installed, energy readings will be sent directly to the supplier, bringing an end to estimated bills.
That means that businesses will only pay for what they use – and some energy suppliers may also offer an in-home display screen, to show exactly how much energy is being used. A handy way to bring an end to shocks at the end of the month!
Firms with 10 employees or less could be eligible for a smart meter. To find out more please click here. You can also contact your energy supplier or broker.
One of the main questions we have from clients when they run limited companies is around directors’ loan accounts. How they work and what they are.
To understand directors’ loan accounts, the key thing to remember is a company is its own separate legal entity and any profits generated by the company belong to the company (not the director). Every transaction between a director and the company is between two separate “persons”. This is completely different to a business run as a sole trader.
When money is taken out of a limited company, therefore, it has to be accounted for within the accounts according to what it is. For example:
If a salary, it needs to go through the payroll;
If a reimbursement for business expenses, the director needs receipts as evidence;
If a dividend (where the director is also a shareholder) the relevant legal dividend paperwork needs to be drawn up and signed at the time;
It could be rent, if the director owns the trading property; or
A loan to and from the limited company (this is the directors’ loan account).
Each type of payment has its own tax consequences.
How a directors’ loan account works
The directors’ loan account keeps a tally of the money a director has lent the company, less monies he/she has taken out (which have not been accounted for elsewhere as salary, dividend, rent etc). This running total starts from the first transaction the director has with the company. If, for example, a dividend or a salary is declared correctly, but not taken out in full by the director, this is also shown as monies lent to the company and added to the directors’ loan account.
If the directors’ loan account goes overdrawn (ie more money is taken out of the company by the director then owed to him/her), this can have tax consequences for the director and the company. Tax advice should be sought asap by the company to minimise the effect of this by careful tax planning.
Therefore, regular conversations with an accountant are vital to ensure there is a plan on how money is taken out of the company by the directors. Key considerations include, making sure it is structured tax efficiently and takes into account the dynamics and wishes of the director group.
If you have any queries and would like to discuss further, do contact your normal M+A Partners contact or Mary-Anne Sargeant on 07917 530018 or email mary-anne.sargeant@mapartners.co.uk.
Many businesses will be particularly worried about cash flow over the coming weeks and months. These seven steps can help to reduce the impact of fluctuating cash flow.
For businesses that are much busier at certain times of year than at others, coping with swings in the amount of money coming in can present a significant challenge.
From retailers that make the lion’s share of their sales in November and December, to leisure and tourism companies that prosper in the summer months, seasonality is a fact of life for firms in many sectors.
But while turnover and profitability might be healthy on an annual basis, such businesses can face serious – and, in some cases, fatal – cash-flow problems during off-peak periods.
We’ve talked to accountants and business-planning experts to find out what steps firms can take to deal with seasonal revenue fluctuations.
1. Make the most of quiet periods
In many businesses, management’s involvement in day-to-day operations means they do not have a lot of opportunity to step back and think strategically about the future direction of the company.
For seasonal firms, this is not the case, says Dominic Shaw, director of accountant Aston Shaw.
“If you’re in an off-peak period, try to plan ahead for those peak periods,” he explains. “That might be looking at the resources you’re using and how they might best be best utilised.
“Use this time also to set your direction for the future, for example by looking at different opportunities – if you can do that, you can manage your way through the rollercoaster ride that a lot of business owners find themselves on.”
2. Put your forecasts in place
John Buchanan, performance senior manager at accountant HW Fisher, says that forecasting is especially important for firms with seasonal revenue variations.
“It is vital to forecast your financing requirements in order to ascertain your likely needs and how your business model might be tweaked in order to maximise the available cash,” he says.
“Cash budgeting is a particularly good area to look at; you should understand when you are going to need additional staff or funds to buy stock.”
Shaw adds: “If you need finance, banks will want to see forecasts of where you think you are going to be, what your commitments are and where you are going to spend your money.”
Marco Soares, a business coach at MarcoSoares.co.uk, says in some cases he advises clients to create a 12-month cash-flow forecast broken down week by week. “This way you can identify when and how big your cash gap is – which is important information.”
3. Get the right finance mix
If you do need some form of finance to smooth out cash-flow fluctuations, the most suitable type will depend on how your business operates, Buchanan says.
“So for large businesses, you could have mix of overdrafts, term loans, and asset-based finance such as leasing vehicles or plant and machinery. If you are seeing a large build-up of stock maybe stock finance is appropriate.”
He adds: “If you need vehicles, the advantage of asset-based finance is that you don’t need to have a large outlay to purchase them: you are going to be able to spread the payment.”
Businesses can also explore matching loan repayment terms with peak and off-peak periods, Buchanan says. “If you’re a seasonal business, you can agree a variation so you pay more based on when your turnover is going to be up. If you are a retailer, for example, you want to agree to lower repayments during August, September and October as that is when you are building your stock levels.”
4. Analyse your overheads
Buchanan says: “The assets you require when you are busy might not be needed at all times, so it is useful to look at how that might be structured; for example, could you lease them rather than buy them?
“I know a building contractor that uses temporary fencing around their sites. Once they did their sums they found it was cheaper to buy the fencing rather than rent it, and then sell it for scrap after the work had been done.”
Shaw adds: “For most businesses, trying to recognise what the variable costs are and to keep them to a minimum is very important.”
5. Manage staff levels
One of the most significant variable costs companies face is wages, Buchanan says, and dealing with staffing levels is one of the biggest challenges for seasonal businesses.
“You’re going to need a core of skilled staff who work for you all year round, but for the busy periods you’re likely to need temporary or fixed-term contract staff,” he explains. “It’s particularly useful to take advice from an employment lawyer when putting these contracts together.”
Soares says that businesses could consider offering short-term work to people who might find it fits with their lifestyles, such as students or retired people looking to supplement their pensions.
6. Seek new revenue streams
A long-term solution to swings in cash flow is to make your business busy all year round.
Buchanan says: “Can you reduce the seasonality of your business through diversification? This means looking at additional products and services you could offer using your existing skill set that you could sell in that down period. “So if you make lawnmowers, say, you could switch to making snowblowers in winter using the same manufacturing skills. You don’t want something that makes your business significantly more complex, and you’re looking for something that you can employ your existing staff in.”
7. Make the most of busy periods
Soares says that “making hay while the sun shines” is another way of ensuring your business can survive through quiet periods. “Make sure you really maximise the good periods and have clear goals around how much is required to balance out the troughs,” he advises. “What is needed here is a combination of good sales and marketing activity, and maximising margins.”
Shaw adds: “During the peak periods, you need to put money away and plan for those off-peak periods. And leaving money in the business will also benefit its long-term health.”
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If like many, part of your ‘new normal’ is spending more time working away from the office then you are likely being asked to take more responsibility for keeping your company’s devices and data secure when working remotely. So what can you do to make sure you keep working securely? Here are some top tips and best practices to help you play your part in keeping you, your colleagues and your company protected.
Your Leadership team and IT department can do so much with technical solutions, but you can play a huge part too;
Be aware of your surroundings
If you’re working in a public area or even in a shared house, you can never be sure who is watching or listening-use a screen filter to stop “shoulder surfers” and use a headset when on calls. Even when working from home you need to be aware-if using a webcam, what can be seen on your desk or around you?
Be aware of your desktop
Sharing your desktop is a great way to present or collaborate via video conference calls-but take steps to ensure you don’t accidentally share too much! Aside from potentially being rather awkward, this could be a huge security risk. Close applications you’re not using and try to share specific applications rather than your entire desktop where possible to make sure nothing sensitive is exposed.
Keep Business and Personal separate
If you have a corporate laptop then use it solely for work-similarly keep your personal devices personal. If you don’t have a dedicated work device try and differentiate your use-use a VPN if directed to do so to keep business communications private and disconnect when using your device for home use. If you have a shared device take extra care-don’t store any work documents on the device if you can help it, use separate password-protected accounts for your work and make sure you lock the screen, or log out when not in use.
If you can, keep your Business and Personal devices on different WIFI networks by setting up a separate SSID just for your work kit to prevent access to work resources from personal devices.
Choose your networks carefully
Be cautious when connecting your business devices-laptops or smart phones -to any WIFI networks. Whether a home or public network, there’s no way of knowing what other users connected to the same network might be accessing on their devices, or how protected their devices are. Malware on someone else’s device could easily spread to your work device on the same network so choose carefully, but always assume it’s insecure and take appropriate steps to protect your device regardless. Public networks are commonly compromised to enable intercepting network data –make sure you are using your company VPN if on a public network.
Be aware of company policies
Your company should have made available to you all relevant security policies, and these may be different now as they are when working from the office. It’s up to you to make sure you understand and comply with all policies-there may be repercussions if you don’t so if you can’t comply with any written policies for whatever reason, speak to your manager and let them know.
Secure your home network
You should make sure your home WIFI network is encrypted, and also check the password used to access your internet router-if you haven’t changed it then chances are it could be a default or weak password leaving it wide open to attack. A breach could expose all your devices and all communications in and out of the internet, and a default or weak password is like leaving the key in a locked door.
If you are unsure if or how you should change the password speak to your company IT contact or your Internet Service Provider directly who should be able to assist.
Install and update anti-virus software
Anti-virus software is important to have on all of your devices regardless of what you use them for, but if you are using your own device for work then it’s critical. Prevent malware from compromising your own and your employer’s systems by installing Anti-virus software and keeping it up to date.
Beware Covid-19 related scams
You are probably constantly inundated with phishing emails and other scams, even if you don’t realise it, but cyber criminals are exploiting the current situation with Covid-19 to make their scams seem more realistic. If you get emails with any suspicious links or attachments related to Covid-19, don’t open them or click any links-contact your IT resource to check it out if you’re not sure.
Make sure your programs and systems are up to date
Programs and operating systems are updated regularly to fix bugs and make them more secure. Make sure your operating system is running the latest version-enable automatic updates to make sure your systems are as safe as possible-and don’t forget your Internet router, this also needs updating with the latest firmware to help keep it secure.
Is there anything practical individuals can do to protect themselves?
A new concept to emerge from the Covid-19 lockdown has been ‘shielding’ – those who have been at very high risk of severe illness from coronavirus who have had to minimise all interaction with others and stay at home as much as possible.
This has led to unforeseen daily difficulties for individuals who have previously been able to lead completely normal lives. For example, what happens if you cannot leave your home, but you need to visit your bank to complete an urgent transaction?
Is there anything practical individuals can do to protect themselves?
In these instances, Lasting Powers of Attorney (‘LPAs’) provide a useful tool to help facilitate an individual’s needs should anything arise in future leading to similar lockdown requirements.
What is a Lasting Power of Attorney?
An LPA is a legal document which allows an individual to appoint one or more ‘Attorneys’ to help them make decisions or act on their behalf. You must be over 18 and have full mental capacity to make a legally valid LPA. Your Attorney(s) should be someone you trust to make decisions in your best interests – this could be a friend or relative or a professional person if you have no one close to you who you would like to assist you. A ’property and finance’ LPA will allow the Attorney(s) to sign documents on your behalf, discuss your accounts and investments and to transfer funds. If you do not want your Attorney(s) to have too much control, you can tailor the document to restrict what your Attorney(s) are allowed to be involved with.
Practical protection
Often, relatives and friends of elderly people take the step to draw up an LPA when their loved one becomes physically or mentally incapacitated. As we have seen during lockdown, an LPA can actually provide practical protection to a much wider group of people who are still very much in control of their own physical and mental capacity at the present time.
As long as your LPA does not contain a restriction that it will only come into effect if you loose mental incapacity, your Attorney(s) can use the document to act at your direction to do the things that you are unable to do – so with your consent your Attorneys would be able to move money around, do your shopping, pay bills for you, and manage your finances both due to shielding, or in hospital for any length of time or simply if you are due to go away on holiday.
It can be very sensible to get an LPA in place as a matter of course – perhaps if you are considering getting your will updated, you should arrange an LPA with your spouse, partner or trusted friend at the same time. You should also consider making a ‘Health and Welfare’ LPA which would allow your attorneys to make decisions about your day to day living, choice of medical treatment and where you should live – but only if you are unable to make these decisions yourself.
Small, medium or micro-businesses with less than 250 employees
Self-employed individuals
Norfolk postcodes
Certain Sectors
Visitor Economy – Tourism/Leisure/Hospitality
Visitor Economy – Culture/Entertainment
Independent retailers
Food & Drink businesses
Agricultural business / Agritech
Digital Technology businesses
Businesses that can demonstrate that their work supports those above
The only requirement is that training must be used to enhance productivity, efficiency or effectiveness, and be proven to assist with employee retention.
This is a fantastic opportunity to get our people skilled and our businesses up and running – we would love to hear from you
For more information or a chat about eligibility, how to apply or what we can offer, please contact us… we are always happy to help
Turning Factor are taking a leading role in shaping the future of the local business community. Turning Factor, Strategic Partners of the Norfolk Chambers, demonstrate their position as exceptional leaders with a commitment to supporting growth for the Norfolk business community. See more about Patron & Partners here >
With less than two months until the Brexit deadline, Chris Scargill, Partner and business advisor at MHA Larking Gowen, believes trading with Europe after Brexit, deal or no deal, will be more challenging than many businesses are currently willing to admit.
Chris explained: “Due to COVID-19 the majority of British companies involved in exporting to Europe have not been able to give Brexit the attention they should, and unfortunately, some are in denial about the scale of the challenge. While there are a number of solutions available to facilitate EU trade, it is not as simple as getting an EU EORI number* to solve all supply chain challenges.”
A poll of some 50 import and export businesses held during our recent MHA Larking Gowen Brexit webinar noted only 8% of businesses felt fully prepared for exiting the EU, although pleasingly, 37% felt they were more than 50% prepared right now.
Chris continued: “The problems Brexit will throw up are surmountable, but they also require a long-term strategy to adjust to new trading arrangements and regulatory issues. The lack of preparedness is very understandable given the pandemic, but businesses now need to act promptly and get in the right mindset to see Brexit through over the next five to ten years.
“It is crucial to realise that although a deal will bring great relief to businesses and their bottom line by removing the cost of duty tariffs, the legal and regulatory as well as administrative costs will remain. For example, customs declarations cost money, irrespective of any actual duty being charged. As an estimate, if a company has 2,000 declarations to make, it could cost potentially £50,000 to employ an agent to handle this volume of paperwork. Being unprepared and getting caught out will cost even more; if goods turn up at the border without the right paperwork they will just be stuck in the port.
“Due to COVID-19 and the misconception that a deal means trading will continue as normal, we have sleepwalked into a situation where, less than two months away from the biggest change to the UK’s trading relationships in our lifetime, many businesses are unprepared. It is not too late for companies to get their house in order, but for many, this will have to entail looking beyond specific fixes, like hiring a customs agent or thinking about a subsidiary in Europe, important though these steps are.”
*An EORI number, or Economic Operators Registration and Identification number, is needed to move goods between the UK and non-EU countries.
Visit our dedicated Brexit Hub for more information and further updates.
The mere mention of the word ‘discrimination’ in the workplace is enough to strike fear into the hearts of UK employers. Once the fright takes hold, usually fuelled by high profile case law judgements and seemingly mega pay-outs (discrimination payments are uncapped), the task to make sure that all your HR Policies are tightened and up to scratch lands in someone’s (generally your HR Team) lap.
However, when it comes to an employee successfully winning a claim of indirect discrimination, then the very act of standardising your people policies where everyone is treated equally, could well back fire.
However, when it comes to indirect discrimination it is not always so obvious, sometimes resulting in employers inadvertently discriminating through “blanket” policies or work practices.
So, what is the difference between direct and indirect discrimination?
Indirect discrimination is usually less obvious than direct discrimination and is normally unintended.
Generally, it occurs when a rule or plan of some sort is put into place which applies to everyone, and is not in itself discriminatory but it could put those with a certain protected characteristic at a disadvantage.
The law states that indirect discrimination can occur when a ‘provision, criterion or practice’ (PCP) involves all these four things:
The ‘PCP’ is applied equally to a group of people, only some of whom share the protected characteristic.
It has (or will have) the effect of putting those who share the protected characteristic at a particular disadvantage when compared to others who do not have the characteristic.
It puts, or would put, the person at that disadvantage.
The employer is unable to objectively justify it.
Discriminatory policies can be formal or informal, and include one-off decision, long-term plans and rules that have been decided but are yet to be implemented.
The important point to note is that if a policy applies to everyone in the same way, it is neutral, but it if applies to everyone and has a worse effect on some than others, it is indirectly discriminatory. Which if we’re honest, makes it a bit of a minefield when attempting to introduce or update our policies.
How to avoid claims of indirect discrimination
As an employer you may justify your policy or procedure by showing that it is ‘objectively justified’. There must be a real business need, for example, health and safety. However, this is often not enough. You must also be able to show that the PCP is a proportionate means of achieving this legitimate aim. In other words, you must show that you have thought about the effects of your practices or measures and considered that this was the least discriminatory way to do things.
Historically, the onus has been on the employee to prove that indirect discrimination is happening or has happened, and proving indirect discrimination has always been difficult for claimants. The employer always has the defence of justification and it was thought that if the organisation can show there is a good reason for its policy, it is not indirect discrimination. This is known as objective justification.
However, in the cases of Essop v Home Office and Naeem v Secretary of State for Justice, the Supreme Court held that an employee doesn’t have to explain why a PCP disadvantages a particular group in order to show indirect discrimination.
In many instances, it will be obvious why one group is disadvantaged, but when there is no obvious explanation why an employer’s PCP disadvantages a particular group as was demonstrated in these two joined cases, the Supreme Court clarified the precise legal test to be used and particularly whether a claimant needs to establish the reason why the treatment they received discriminated against them.
In their judgement, the Supreme Court ruled that unlike direct discrimination, indirect discrimination does not expressly require a causal link between the less favourable treatment and the protected characteristic. Instead, it requires a causal link between the PCP and the particular disadvantage suffered by the group and the individual.
Hidden barriers
The reason for this is that, in dealing with hidden barriers which are not easy to anticipate or to spot, indirect discrimination aims to achieve a level playing field, where people sharing a particular protected characteristic are not subjected to requirements which many of them cannot meet but which cannot be shown to be justified.
It is always open to an employer to show that their PCP is justified. The issue of whether a policy or practice can be objectively justified will often be the most important consideration when implementing change or defending a later claim.
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Wise employers
As the Supreme Court observed, “a wise employer will monitor how his policies and practices impact upon various groups and, if he finds that they have a disparate impact, will try and see what can be modified to remove that impact whilst achieving the desired result”.
The practical effect for employers following the Supreme Court’s ruling is that employment tribunals are able to move more swiftly to the issue of justification, which should be at the forefront of employers’ minds when creating or reviewing workplace policies and rules.
Therefore, employers should take note and always ensure they have thought through why particular policies are being applied. Consideration should be given to any impact they may have on particular groups and look for any statistical discrepancies which could potentially be used to support a claim for indirect discrimination.
However, while equality of policy in the workplace is important, perhaps consider adopting a more flexible and individualised approach to staff to ensure that no-one is adversely affected by a certain policy or rule, through measures such as discrimination impact assessments. This might just minimise the chances of indirect discrimination occurring in your workplace.
If you would like to discuss how we can Make ADifference to your business through our provision of HR services, please get in touch on 01473 360160 or visit our contact page here.
You can view this original article and other content at Mad-hr.co.uk
