April is usually a busy time for employment law updates, and this year is no different. With so many incoming changes, you’d be forgiven for not keeping track of them all! Luckily, I’ve done all the hard work for you; you don’t need to move a muscle! I’ve pulled together a complete guide of the…
The Supreme Court has announced its judgment in the Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake and Shannon v Rampersad and another (T/A Clifton House Residential Home) cases on the payment of sleep-in shifts for support workers. This followed appeals brought by two care workers who were “sleep-in” workers, that is, by arrangement they were permitted to…
New HR guidance to help employers navigate vaccinations and the return to workplaces So, the vaccine rollout is well underway and over the past few weeks, we’ve been asked a number of workplace vaccine related questions. Up until now, it has been difficult to answer some of these questions in the absence of any guidance…
Introducing his second Budget, emphasising that he will still do ‘whatever it takes”’ Chancellor Rishi Sunak said that his focus was on preventing the growth of unemployment as the country emerges from the latest lockdown. While the undoubted success of the vaccination programme suggested that there would be a strong recovery, the Chancellor warned that…
The much-anticipated Supreme Court ruling on Uber’s employment status case has been published, with judgement falling in favour of the drivers! The UK Supreme Court has declared that Uber must treat their drivers as workers as opposed to self-employed individuals. This decision comes after Uber appealed a ruling by an employment tribunal in 2016 which…
With everything that is happening in the world right now, the expectation on HR professionals has never been higher. From managing Covid restrictions, interpreting furlough guidance and managing countless redundancies, mental health issues, remote working, changing policies, 2020 was an extremely busy year for HR departments and 2021 is currently shaping up to be just…
The government has confirmed that they will be accepting all recommendations from the Low Pay Commission. This news comes despite earlier rumours that the minimum wage would be frozen. Crucially, the National Living Wage will increase by 2.2 per cent. It will also be extended to those aged 23 and 24 for the first time,…
The Government has published the names of organisations who made claims to the Job Retention Scheme for the month of December onwards. In order to increase transparency surrounding the use of the furlough scheme, the Government announced last year that it would be making public details of all organisations who had been claiming the furlough…
We’ve all hopefully made it through a tough January 2021! Throughout lockdown 3, we have received so many queries about the furlough scheme and how to plan for redundancies but on a positive note, so many businesses are thriving and have asked for help with recruiting additional staff. There is still lots going on in…
Annoying co-worker? Can’t stand your boss? Personality clash at work? Feeling harassed? Tension with family members at work? Relationships are particularly strained at the moment because people are trying to manage various challenges and emotions are high. So how can HR help with managing conflict? Well for one, HR tends to be the first point…
The columnists of the Driving Economic Recovery feature in Niche Magazine have once again covered a wide variety of topics to help the businesses pull through the effects of Covid19. From lockdown to unlock, the pandemic has thrown up serious (& complex!) HR challenges, leaving business owners, facing lots of tough choices on how to…
When England’s lockdown is lifted on 2 December, a new, more stringent regional “tier” system will be introduced that will bring in different levels of restrictions that are designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 based on the infection rate in different parts of the country. While tighter than the previous tiered system, it should…
Settled status: are your EU workers ready or at risk? With COVID-19 continuing to dominate everything, it is easy to forget that the UK’s Brexit transition period is due to end on 31 December! The Home Office and UK Visas and Immigration have issued guidance for employers explaining that, when the transition period ends on…
It’s International Men’s Day today, an annual celebration of the achievements and contributions of men. It falls in the same month as Movember, which raises awareness of men’s health issues like prostate cancer, mental health, and male suicide. I know so many amazing men and at one point or the other especially this year, many…
So, the Chancellor has just announced the furlough scheme is set to be extended until next March. It’s not clear if it will be the full 80% currently available. The move follows several days of wrangling over the scope and duration of the furlough scheme. It was due to end on 31 October, but has…
After a marathon few months of working through furlough related HR stuff and redundancies, it’s been really nice to work on some recruitment for my retained clients, with 2 offers already made this week! Although redundancies have increased to 227,000 in June to August, up 113,000 since the same period last year, new jobs are…
If this week so far is anything to go by, I know that right now is a very uncertain time for many employers and that’s why I’ve put together an updated furlough toolkit, following the latest government guidance. The furlough toolkit will give you everything you need to manage the pandemic in your workplace and…
As you may have heard, hours before the furlough scheme was due to end, the Government announced it will be extended from 1 November until December, as it brings in a further lockdown in England. We don’t yet have full details on the extension of the furlough scheme, but here’s what we know so far:…
Managing people is tough enough, without managing all the paperwork to go with it! I’ve teamed up to partner with Breathe HR ~ a cloud-based HR system designed for SME’s and for as little as £11 per month (50% off for charities) this system can do so much for you: ☑️ Manage holidays ☑️ Analyse…
A very common question being asked at the moment, given the new tiered approach to lockdowns. Regardless of the size or location of your business, creating a contingency plan for a lockdown is a pragmatic approach to working through these uncertain times. ✔️ Best place to start is to review how your business coped during…
Employers that have incorrectly calculated their furlough claim or have received more money than they should have done have less than a week left to inform HMRC of their error or face an investigation. HMRC have explained in their risk assessment they are not going to set out to try to find employers who have…
When the Chancellor announced his package of measures in July, he included a Job Retention Bonus. This is a £1000 one-off taxable payment to employers for each eligible employee that they furlough and keep continuously employed until 31 January 2021. Now HMRC have issued guidance on the scheme which clarifies that employers will be able…
As you may have heard today, the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has announced a replacement for the coronavirus job retention scheme based on a German-style system of wage subsidies which will require employers to give staff a minimum of 33% of their usual hours, with the government covering some of the wages for the remaining hours…
Unfortunately, I’ve seen a steady increase of enquiries over the last few weeks as the furlough scheme is winding down. If you are thinking about redundancies, then before you do, have a read of my latest HR column in Niche Magazine link below) covering some creative ways to avoid them. However, if you really do…
Getting back to business as usual is a tall order, there is a lot of work to do to get our local economy moving once more. To support with this, I’m so excited to be asked to be a regular columnist at Niche Magazine alongside some amazing local business owners. I’ll be offering lots of…
As the recent focus has shifted from survival to how the economy can begin to get back to work, you’re probably wondering what the coming months have in store for your business. As the furlough scheme begins to wind down many businesses are re-adjusting their priorities to meet a changed business environment and are thinking…
As we are now a few weeks in since ‘flexible furloughing’ came into place on 1 July 2020, I’ve rounded up the most common questions I’ve received from business owners and these are all included in our updated CJRS Guide which is attached (we’ve received quite a few questions as you will see!). Some great…
What a few months we’ve all had! These are trying times and I hope you’re all keeping well and safe. As you may have seen this morning, the government has today (July 8) revealed its plans to help the country’s economy recover in its summer economic statement. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, announced…
Leading a newly virtual team is a tall order for any leader; doing so during a time of sudden crisis is even more challenging! In this month’s edition of Niche Magazine Aleena was thrilled to be invited by Cross Productions to contribute towards their COVID19 recovery campaign, to feature alongside some of Leicestershire’s most forward-thinking…
FFS – Flexible furlough scheme update now available! With the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme set to gradually wind down over the summer and autumn, the government has now provided more details relating to one of the key aspects of the revised furlough scheme – flexibility. This guidance page was updated on 12 June to include…
In challenging time’s businesses often look to HR for support and guidance and that’s exactly what we’ve been doing to help businesses this week with lots of workplace Coronavirus related queries I.e. managing absence, supporting remote working etc. I’ve seen lots of businesses scrambling around in a mad panic and we know it’s tough at…
Great news that the job retention scheme has been extended which will come as a huge relief to many employers and employees! The scheme to pay wages of workers on leave because of coronavirus will be extended to October, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has confirmed. He said the government-backed workers and companies going into the lockdown,…
Update on 15 April 2020: Employees who started new jobs up until 19 March have now been brought into the scope of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and their employers can make a claim for 80% of their wages. The change was revealed in HM Revenue & Customs’ fourth iteration of its furlough scheme guidance,…
On Friday 27 March 2020, The Working Time Regulations have been amended to give workers an entitlement to carry over 4 weeks of their annual leave if they are unable to take it because of coronavirus. This may be because: they’re self-isolating or are too sick to take holiday before the end of their leave…
On Saturday 28 March, new laws surrounding the payment of statutory sick pay (SSP) were introduced. SSP should now be paid from day one, not day four, of absences in the following situations: To someone who has the virus To someone who is self-isolating for seven days because they have even mild symptoms To someone…
Note: This policy is for use during the present coronavirus emergency. It is stressed throughout the policy that it is temporary and only applies during the present crisis. Companies may alter or adapt the policy in the light of their particular circumstances and the developments relating to the virus, including Government guidance. (please amend to…
Download Letter Explaining Your Organisation’s Plans To Furlough Staff Download
It’s been an extremely busy week for many of us in HR! In challenging time’s businesses often look to HR for support and guidance and that’s exactly what we’ve been doing to help businesses this week with lots of workplace Coronavirus related queries I.e. managing absence, supporting remote working etc … I’ve seen lots of…
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HR will always be a challenge for SME’s and growing businesses, after all, it’s about dealing with people; who are unpredictable! HR is often seen to be one of the biggest management challenges facing business leaders as it has grown more complex in recent years with regular legislation updates. HR is often overlooked in SME’s…
Yes! Our new website is live! For the past 3 months, we’ve been working hard with our marketing team to develop our new website. Affinity HRM is evolving rapidly and therefore we decided to market our website to help new and existing clients with HR needs. We wanted our new site to better communicate our HR services which we…
Employment law is always changing and is very costly when you get it wrong, so we have done a round-up of the key changes all businesses need to be aware of in 2019. In 2018, businesses had to get their head around many changes to Employment Law including the introduction of the GDPR and gender…
‘HR is about much more than policy and process, it’s about maximising your workforces’ potential. Focus on your people practices and the rest will follow’ – Affinity HRM Affinity HRM was so excited to be featured twice in the March/April 2019 edition of Niche Magazine, so grab a coffee and have a read of our…
