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Do you know the 10 steps when dismissing an employee due to ill health? If you are considering terminating an employee’s contract on the grounds of ill health, it is important to follow a fair and reasonable procedure for someone who is on long term sick. You must ensure there are justifiable reaso…
Read moreComplying with health and safety To take the hit or to comply that is the safety question! Top tips below. Companies are still willing to take the risk of not complying with health and safety legislation and those caught out are being hit massively! Is this true? What do you mean? Anecdotal evid…
Read moreHR's role is more than just peace of mind Many people would be forgiven for thinking that HR’s role was only concerned with ensuring administrative processes work smoothly and employee relation issues are managed appropriately. All in accordance with complex and continually changing employment leg…
Read moreAll the staff at Quest want to send their thoughts to the friends, family and members of the school of the poor young girl who lost her life at Drayton Manor on Tuesday. Many thoughts of ‘…how could this happen…?’ I’m sure be resonating for many people, but we know that things can happen that are o…
Read moreProof of eligibility to work in the UK and Immigration Act 2016 Eligibility to work in the UK became a hot topic back in the late 2000s when the laws on illegal working were considerably bumped up. The Asylum and Immigration Act 2006 introduced civil penalties for employers who take on employees w…
Read moreRegretting your vote ‘for’ or ‘against’ Brexit? Well hold on to your seats folks because a general election scheduled for 8 June 2017 could totally change the direction Britain will now go once Britain exits the European Union. Last year Britain voted to leave to the European Union. However the Pri…
Read moreHearing protection at work Hearing protection for your workers is extremely important. There is anecdotal evidence that noise induced hearing loss is fast becoming the new claim of the ambulance chasers. So how can we ensure that our workers are protected? Simply put, we must first control the lev…
Read moreWhat is the entitlement to pay when resigning during a period of absence? Resigning during a period of absence can cause confusion when determining what the employee’s entitlements are relating to pay. The reason for the absence could range from maternity leave to sickness but could fall under any…
Read moreIs the Apprenticeship the future? Is the government pushing on an open door with its Apprenticeship Policy? With 871,800 funded apprentices participating in an apprenticeship in 2014 to 2015, it would appear so. There is a noticeable change in attitude with clients of ours tending to receive more…
Read moreOr could it be a 'mythical compensation culture'? The compensation culture is another way that people use to make a quick pound or two. This is by suing someone or something! Hold on, mythical compensation culture? Well apparently, in 2011 just before Lofstedt’s report into streamlining health an…
Read moreDo I have to pay the minimum wage to an apprentice? This call referred to one of our clients who was thinking of taking on an apprentice and he wanted to know whether he would have to pay a minimum wage. Historically apprenticeships had long been the bane of many a business across the UK before 20…
Read moreProvision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) A recent health and safety breach, where a worker was involved in a fatal accident, made me think about putting this article together. Basically the person, who was new to his company was pressure testing a hydraulic cylinder. The cylinder cr…
Read moreThis week our question relates to the statutory default retirement age (DRA) The DRA allowed employers to give either six or 12 months’ notice to employees approaching the age of 65 to retire. Sadly, for employers, the DRA died a death in October 2011. There was a transitional period to 6 April 2…
Read moreFixed term contracts - what are an employee’s rights? Fixed term contracts are deceiving by their very nature. The vast majority of employers believe that an employee employed on a ‘fixed term’ absolves them of any liability at the point which the contract ends. Unfortunately, this is not the cas…
Read moreIs redundancy okay if an employee’s work has diminished? February is a particularly busy time for the HR advice line at Quest and redundancy has reared its head. This week’s question is following a general theme that is running throughout this month. Question of the week Our client asked whether…
Read moreWatch out for discrimination with salary levels The practice of paying employees less than the salary levels of other colleagues is a contractual provision that requires great care on the part of employers. Especially those who carry out the same or broadly similar functions. Job evaluation exerci…
Read moreThe trend of employee absences As we approach the end of January, the month of post-Christmas blues, the trend that seems to be picked up over the advice line is of employee absences. More particularly, absences without leave (AWOL). Consequently employers are calling in seeking advice on how to m…
Read moreHealth & safety statistics are just boring…aren’t they? Well that depends on what you see in health & safety statistics. They’re just silly percentages that mean nothing to most people! They don’t represent my workplace at all and I never take any notice of them. So when the HSE publish th…
Read moreDo you know the rationale behind the “Fit for Work” initiative? Fit for Work is free and helps employees stay in or return to work but first a little background. Employee absence is an ongoing management issue for virtually every organisation. According to a survey carried out by the Chartered Ins…
Read moreFive tips for managing time off at Christmas Managing time off at Christmas for staff can be tricky in a small business or team. With only a small number of people, covering holidays is more difficult. However, employees often want to take their holidays in the same week, particularly over Christma…
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