Dear Subscriber,

Many of us will have read extensively about the phenomenon of blogging and applications such as Twitter. My question to you this month is simple – is this something you want to see more of?

We all know there are certain applications out there that are a nuisance in the workplace, applications that tell you someone is bored, off to the hairdressers or looking forward to the weekend! But some applications can actually be constructive and stimulate topics of conversation of interest to both the company and the employee.

As a business we have been looking at such blogs and want to know your opinion... in fact, we even took the tentative steps of exploring Twitter, feel free to 'Tweet' me (if that’s the right expression!).

If you want a central place to share HR best practice or ask urgent questions all from the comfort of your PC or mobile and wish to be stimulated by more than a mere recollection of someone’s weekend plans, let us know. All feedback being positive – Exclusive HR Blogs will arrive soon.

Best wishes

Mark Ions - Managing Director

exclusivehr.com

Each month we run a series entitled 'HR Doctor' where we invite one of our HR Consultants, Fiona Ward from our HR Business Services Division to answer a series of HR related questions.

We made several people redundant two months ago due to a decrease in demand; however the business now needs an urgent project to be undertaken. The project will last for 6 weeks. I know a number of the redundant individuals do have the skills and expertise to carry out the project. Can I re-employ one of them?

There are no rules as such about re-engaging redundant employees. From the point of view of a claim for unfair dismissal, the question is whether the redundancy was genuine at the time; however you have mentioned that this is for a project and I am assuming this is different to the roles that were made redundant. If for some reason (such as a new client) there is a subsequent need for additional staff, you can then re-recruit, either externally or from the people made redundant. In practice, employers often wait for three months before re-recruiting since, after that, it will be too late for the employee to claim unfair dismissal.

I would also recommend contacting all the redundant individuals with project opportunity and invite them to apply as this will stop any accusations of unfair treatment.

To discuss your HR Consultancy requirements and the potential of obtaining Business Link funding for your project, please call 0191 438 7989 or 0113 243 0900. Alternatively, please check out our dedicated HR Business Services website page.

To read Fiona's profile please click here.

Over the past seven months, we have been lucky enough to have international student, Amina Sheretova joined us as part of her Masters degree in HRM from Newcastle University.

One of Amina’s main projects has been the compilation of the most thorough, accurate and up to date salary survey ever published in the North of England for HR practitioners. Amina has painstakingly reviewed in excess of a thousand candidates on our extensive database to produce a salary survey that breaks down not only into levels of seniority but also into precise detail across industry sub sectors. So, for example, if you are interested to find out a benchmark salary for an HR Advisor working in manufacturing, you will be able to access current information easily and quickly.

The document is in the final stages of being drawn up into a professional and easily manageable PDF document, ready to mail out to those that express an interest, free of charge during the month of July.

We expect the survey to be the definitive guide for salaries within the North of England and we would be delighted to share it with you.

If you have not done so already, to receive a copy, please email our Senior Consultant, Gareth Harrison or call 0191 438 7989/ 0113 243 0900

Written Exclusively for 'HR News & Views':

Demise of the Statutory Dispute Resolution Procedures

The now infamous Statutory Dispute Resolution procedures will (notionally) cease to have effect from 6 April 2009 – hurrah hurrah - but before we all celebrate too soon, it is not quite that simple – it never is. In brief the position will be as follows

Statutory Dismissal and Disciplinary Procedures

These continued to apply from 6 April 2009 if, prior to that date, the procedures were applicable to the circumstances of the particular case, and an employer has: -

1. Dismissed the employee; or
2. Taken disciplinary action against the employee; or
3. Complied with step one or step two of the standard procedure, or step one of the modified procedure.

Statutory Grievance Procedures

These continued to apply where the action complained of by the employee occurs wholly before 6 April 2009. They will also apply where the action complained of began before 6 April and continued afterwards and where the employee presents a complaint to a Tribunal based on those matters before 4 July 2009, or 4 October 2009 in the case of equal pay, redundancy or certain industrial dismissal claims.

The procedure, as always, is complicated and no doubt designed to ensure that continued instruction of employment law solicitors! Trying to simplify matters:

• if all the events complained of occurred before 6 April 2009 then the old rules will apply
• if all the events complained of occurred from 6 April 2009 or afterwards, the new rules will apply
• for acts complained of occurring before and after 6 April 2009 then the chances are the old rules will apply with some exceptions.

New Rules

We are now reverting to the ‘old procedure’ that existed before the Statutory procedure was brought in – which requires employers to have regard to the ACAS Code of Conduct. The failure to follow this code (details of which can be found on the ACAS website WWW.ACAS.ORG.UK) will not make a dismissal automatically unfair (unlike a failure to follow the statutory procedure which does) but may give rise to an award of additional compensation of up to 25% of any compensation awarded by the Tribunal.

Other changes to note

Where an employer fails to pay a redundancy payment or fails to return wages unlawfully deducted (or in either case delays in doing so) any loss attributable to that failure may, after 6 April 2009, lead to an additional award to compensate the employee for that financial loss.

It remains the case also that a Claimant who succeeds in a principle claim will also be entitled to an award of between 2 and 4 weeks’ pay for failure to provide an employee with a Statement of Particulars required under s1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

Flexible Working – the 16’s and under

As most employers will know, those with parental responsibility for children under 6 or disabled children under 18, and those who care for certain adults, have the right to request flexible working.

From 6 April 2009 this right will be extended to cover employees with parental responsibility for children aged 16 and under. The other requirements for flexible working, namely;

1. That you have to be an employee
2. That you have to have worked for your employer continuously for a period of 26 weeks prior to the date upon which the request for flexible working is made; and
3. No other request for statutory flexible working has been made in the previous 12 months

Other requirements to be satisfied are that: -

1. The employee be the mother, father, adopter, guardian, special guardian, foster parent and private foster carer of the child in question or a person who has been granted a resident order in respect of that child.
2. Is married to or the partner or civil partner of the child’s mother, father, adopter, guardian, special guardian, foster parent or private foster carer or a person who has been granted a residence order in respect of that child.

The Employer has a duty to consider any request for flexible working seriously.

National Minimum Wage

Employers will already be aware that monitoring, and enforcement of the National Minimum Wage is undertaken by HM Revenue & Customs compliance officers who will have extended powers to enter premises, carryout investigations and take away NMW records for investigative purposes.

In addition, underpayment of the National Minimum Wage to an automatic penalty of up to £5000 with more serious cases subject to an unlimited fine.

For investigations commencing on or after 6 April 2009 concluding there has been an underpayment then, for pay periods starting:

1. Before 6 April 2009, employers will have to pay the arrears according to the new formula but without financial penalty
2. On or after 6 April 2009, employers will be required to recalculate the arrears according to the new formula and they will also have to pay a penalty which is currently set at 50% of the under payment with a minimum of £100 and a maximum of £5000.

The new formula will require employers to recalculate the arrears from all past pay periods at current NMW rates if the current NMW rate is higher than the rate or rates applied during the period of underpayment.

For further information call Jonathon Stokes or Barry Hutchinson, specialist Employment solicitors at Gordon Brown Associates on 0191 230 8103.

Last month we introduced you to our new Leadership & Management Consultant Margaret Jewell. As with our ‘HR Doctor’ part of e-news we will be introducing hot topics, support and advice on Leadership and Management. Some themes and topics (all linked to the Investors in People Framework) we intend to address over the coming months include:

1. Management Performance (individual, Team, & Organisation)
2. Inspirational leadership
3. Leadership V Management
4. Communication
5. Employee engagement/Empowerment
6. Coaching
7. Social Responsibility
8. Creating Innovative ideas
9. Action Learning sets

To request your free copy of this month’s article on ‘Coaching’, please email info@exclusivehr.com.

To discuss any Leadership, Coaching or Development requirements with Margaret, please call 0191 438 7989 or 0113 243 0900.

Following on from our last (e) newsletter:

New HMRC PAYE system

This summer sees the introduction of a new PAYE system at HMRC.

The new automated system is a key part of HMRC’s plans to create a more professional and efficient Department. It should enable them to deliver a faster, more efficient service for individuals and reduce some of the burden placed on employers.
Currently, personal tax records are held over 12 regional databases. The new system will bring together all this information, creating one single record of an individual’s pay and tax details, however many jobs or pensions they may have. This will enable HMRC to view and amend an individual’s record no matter where they are employed in the UK and, as a result, deal with enquiries at the first point of contact and manage peaks and troughs in demand more effectively.

The new PAYE service will reduce the number of contact times for employers or their employees.

During the transition to the new service, the assistance provided to employers in respect of individual employees will be limited. Staff will not be able to update individual PAYE records.
Throughout this period HMRC’s helplines, both for employers and individuals, will be open. They will continue to provide support to our customers through our Contact and Enquiry Centres. However, during this period you may experience a temporary interruption to the normal level of service and, unless contact is urgent, you should consider postponing your enquiry.

To prepare for the move to the new system, HMRC are crosschecking the National Insurance numbers held to make sure all information held is correct. Where they find that the wrong National Insurance number is being used, they will send employers a form P46-5T telling them what the right number is. They will also write to the individual concerned. Employers should update their records and use the new National Insurance number as soon as they can.

Blu Sky Chartered Accountants. Shortlisted for Independent Practice of the Year in the 2009 North East Accountancy Awards.

www.bluskytax.co.uk