If you’re wondering what it is all going to mean, you’re certainly not alone.
There has been a lot of talk about this in the past few weeks. I’m sure you have heard discussions about the “right to switch off”, changes to sick pay, the use of zero-hour contracts, increased flexible working, and the discussion about protection from unfair dismissal kicking in on the first day of employment. We’re expecting more details about the government’s employment rights bill very soon.
Understandably, you may be feeling a bit anxious about what this will really mean for you and your business. I know you want to do the best for your employees, but may be unsure how you can deal with this latest shake up, on top of all the other challenges we’ve had in recent times.
I’ve heard some business owners worrying about the changes making it riskier to dismiss people with less than 2 years employment. Personally, I don’t think you need to panic about this, though it’s probably a good time to refresh everyone on good people management practices and the steps for handling dismissals fairly and reasonably.
The truth is that no dismissal is ever without risk, so if you do often find yourself relying on the fact that people have less than 2 years service, I would be really interested to have an entirely confidential conversation to understand the bigger picture. I’m sure there are small things that we can start thinking about right now that would increase your confidence that you will be able to manage any future issues in a fair way, while limiting the risk to your business.
This is a good time to review how you approach recruitment, selection, probationary periods, your contracts of employment, and whether you have the right HR policies in place. All of these things will become increasingly important, and it’s worth taking the time to get these things right. Try not to fall into the trap of copying a template document or policy without really understanding how to implement it, your future self with thank you when the time inevitably comes that you rely on it.
That might sound like a lot to think about, but I’m here to help you as a trusted HR partner. I will keep clients up to date as we learn more about the coming changes, and I can guide you through putting in place any changes to your HR processes or documentation that you may need to make.