Getting to grips with employment

Shirley BriggsPEACe Manager

London Voluntary Service Council

peace@lvsc.org.uk0207 832 5880 Mon. to Thurs.

www.lvsc.org.uk/peace

Objectives for the day

Are my paid workers employees? What should a contract of employment

include? What policies and procedures should we have? What is performance management? What should the employer do when things go

wrong? Where can I get more information?

Who are your

workers?

Keep it simple – treat all your

paid workers as self-employed.

Why is it important to get it right?

• Individual’s rights• HMRC• Employment tribunal• Charity Commission !

• Is there mutuality of obligation?• Are they under the employer’s

control?• Do they need to deliver the work

personally?• Do they use the employer’s

equipment or their own? • Do they run any financial risk or

can they make a profit?

Who are your workers?

EmployeesFull-timePart-timeTemporary or fixed term

•Contract of service•Must do work personally•Under control of employer in how they carry out the work

Who are your workers?

Self employed staff• Contract for services• They decide on how the service is

delivered• Often can send a replacement• Likely to use own equipment• Run a financial risk

Who are your workers?

Workers e.g. Casual workers• Can refuse work• Organisation does not have to

provide work• Some rights• HMRC = employees• But must do work personally

Who are your workers?

VolunteersWork experienceInternsPlacements• Unpaid• Only legitimate out-of-pocket

expenses reimbursed

www.hmrc.gov.uk/calcs/esi.htm

HMRC Employment Status Indicator

A written statement of particulars (for all

employees working for more than 1 month) must

be issued within 8 weeks of their starting work.

Contract of employment

Even if nothing is written down a contract of employment may still exist!

Contracts consist of:• Offer – usually from the employer• Acceptance – written, verbal or simply

by just turning up for work• Consideration – something for value in

return e.g. money

The Contract Terms

•Express Termssubject to acceptance by the employer and worker

• Implied Termswould have been agreed had they discussed them

•Statutory Termsexist as a consequence of Acts of parliament

What should be included in a contract of employment?

Name of employer and employeeDate when employment beganExpiry date for fixed term contracts Job title and brief descriptionAddress of place of workHours of workRate of pay and when it is to be paidHoliday entitlement

What should be included in a contract of employment?

Sickness details – or separate written policy

Rules relating to dismissal, discipline, grievance and appeals procedures or where these can be found

Notice period for leaving or ending the job

Collective agreementsDetails of any pension

What employment policies and

procedures must an organisation

have?

What about performance

management?

Performance Management

• Who is going to do it?• What happens during a

probationary period?• What happens in a supervision

meeting?• What happens in an appraisal

meeting?

Performance Management

A new member of staff has been working at your organisation for three weeks.

 They have already made a number of mistakes in their work.

 How should the line manager handle the situation?

If it’s not working out

you can dismiss the employee.

Dismissal

There are 5 fair reasons to dismiss someone. What are they?

What is redundancy?

• It is a form of dismissal• The reason for the dismissal is:

– The employer has ceased or intends to cease to carry on the business for which the employee was employed or to carry on that business in the place where the employee was employed

OR– The requirements of the business for employees to

carry out work of a particular kind, or to carry it out in the place in which they are employed have ceased or diminished, or are expected to cease or diminish.

Fixed-term contracts

just expire. Easy.

Fixed term contracts

Non-renewal of a fixed term contract is still a dismissal.

Therefore what is the reason for the dismissal?

ACAS Code of Practice for Discipline and Grievance

www.acas.org.uk/dgcode2009

Key principles of a fair disciplinary or dismissal procedure

• Investigate• Invite the employee to a face-to-face

meeting and allow them to put their case

• Allow the employee to be accompanied by a work companion or trade union representative

• Only decide after the meeting • Allow the employee the right to appeal

against the decision • Use appropriate penalties

Conduct v Capability• A team member who is not coping with his

workload and additional duties following a recent reorganisation?

• A new staff member who is not meeting her performance targets but who is awaiting skills training?

• A member of staff who is under-performing because they are frequently late into work without good reason?

• A long-serving employee who has been absent for a lengthy period due to a genuine sickness?

Discipline – how would you deal with these situations?

1. The manager has just spotted that the administrator is not working on her computer but visiting Facebook, the social networking site.

2. A project co-ordinator is repeatedly late. He has already been informally warned about his poor timekeeping on two occasions by his line manager. On this particular morning, he has arrived one hour late, keeping a client waiting.

3. The director is witnessed by a member of the management committee arguing with and hitting out at an employee from another organisation who shares the office space.

Handling a grievance fairly

• Invite the employee to a face-to-face meeting and allow them to state their case

• Allow the employee to be accompanied by a work companion or trade union representative

• Investigate• Only decide after the meeting and any

investigation• Allow the employee the right to appeal

against the decision

Grievance – how would you deal with these situations?

1. In a supervision meeting, the staff member says that he feels unsure about what he is supposed to do and that he feels unsupported at work.

2. One of the teaching staff complains that another is bullying her. She emails her manager with details of occasions when she feels bullying behaviour was shown.

3. An employee has resigned. In his resignation letter to the Chair of the Management Committee, he complains that he was not allowed emergency time off when his elderly father was taken ill.

Sickness Absence

• Do staff know what to do when they are off sick? Who do they report to? What evidence is required?

• What happens on return to work?• Short-term sickness absence• Long-term sickness absence• Unauthorised absence

Where can I get more information?

•PEACeHelpline: 0207 832 5880 Monday to Thursdaypeace@lvsc.org.ukwww.lvsc.org.uk/peace

•ACAS www.acas.org.uk

•GOV UKwww.gov.uk

Any questions?

PEACe