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November, 2009
Bah Humbug!!
'Tis the season to be wary......
Employees to gain legal right to request training
HELP.......
It's like working in a kindergarten!
This is the time of year that HR professionals hate - there's the annual wrangle over whether staff are paid before or after Christmas, the bickering over who gets what time off over the festive period and then we have a professional duty to pour cold water on the eagerly anticipated staff Christmas party! You know the sort of thing - "don't drink too much", "behave yourselves or we'll discipline you" etc So why do we do it? First, let's have an example of what can happen when it all goes wrong:
In the case of Chief Constable of Lincolnshire Police v Stubbs, Ms Stubbs was a police officer who claimed she was sexually harassed on a number of occasions by another police officer. The events took place during several social events immediately after work including at a colleague's leaving do. The employer tried to say that the events were outside work time and therefore they were not liable. However, the EAT disagreed and said that as the events were attended primarily by work colleagues, they could be regarded as an extension of employment. Having found the employer liable for the acts of one of its employees, they then awarded Ms Stubbs a record-breaking £182k in damages.
So what can you do to minimise the risks?
- Remember that the employer is likely to be liable for any harassment carried out by an employee at a work social event, including the Christmas party
- Advise employees in advance that the event is still work-related and that their behaviour is still covered by the company's policies and procedures including discipline and harassment
- Advise managers attending the event that they are still there in a management capacity and should behave appropriately
- If you want to provide alcohol for the event, consider putting a limit on the free bar and make sure there are plenty of soft drinks available too
- Consider providing transport home for employees so that no-one is tempted to drive while over the limit
Finally, a survey last year by The British Greyhound Racing Board showed that one third of employees actually hate the Christmas party anyway. For next year, why not consider an alternative approach: give employees a budget, get them to form a social committee and let them decide on the format for the event themselves. They may want to do something completely different - greyhound racing, for example.......
Employers will be required in law to formally to consider any training requests. A new legal right to request training will apply to employees in businesses with more than 250 staff, with effect from April 2010. From April 2011, the right will apply to all businesses, regardless of numbers employed. In a recent survey conducted by the TUC and Unionlearn, 53% of employees surveyed said they would be likely to use it. So what does the new law mean in practice, and what will employers be required to do?
Once the new legislation comes into effect, employers will be required to do the following:
- Hold a meeting with the employee to discuss their request
- Allow the employee to be accompanied at this meeting
- Demonstrate that the employer has seriously considered the request
The good news....
The good news for employers is that you are only required to consider the request; the employee does not have an automatic right to have such a request granted. Also, under the legislation, the employer is not required to pay for the training, although many employers will do so as a matter of course. The new right to request training will apply to employees with at least 26 week's continuous service, and employees can only make one request in any 12 month period.
The legislation contains specific grounds for refusal, and an employer's decision not to grant the request will have to fall within one of these grounds. However, the grounds include issues like the burden of additional costs, inability to reorganise work among existing staff or the relevance of the training to business productivity and performance (so scuba diving's probably out, then...!)
The bad news...
If the company decides to refuse a request, the employee will have a right of appeal not only within the Company, but also to an Employment Tribunal if they believe the employer has failed to follow the correct procedure for considering the request. Penalties for the employer are likely to include a requirement to reconsider the employee's request or financial penalties.
Once the Bill becomes law, employers will need to check their HR procedures and train managers to be sure they know their responsibilities. Picasso HR clients have the peace of mind of knowing that we will support you with any issues you may have under the new legislation.
Dear Picasso HR, I manage a team of 6 people. I say 'team' but they are far from that. Some days it's like scenes from 'Lord of the flies'; One tribe scheming and warring against another! Sandra and Derek are two people who are particularly important to the projects we are working on. However, there is just so much animosity between them that you could cut the atmosphere with a knife. They constantly rub each other up the wrong way and have ended up causing a split in the 'team'. I am at the end of my tether and we are falling behind on deliverables. I have talked to them about this and they were fine for a few days. My boss has told me to sort it out or Sandra and Derek will be disciplined and possibly lose their jobs. Please help; I don't know what to do. Yours Endo Tether
Dear Endo,
First of all, if it helps, many organisations suffer from similar conflict situations. People being people, differing personalities might rub each other up the wrong way and/or personal agendas create friction and prevent team work. The result of conflict in the workplace can be highly costly in terms of morale, loss of valuable staff, dysfunctional teams and the bottom line.
We have found mediation to work brilliantly in situations like yours. Workplace mediation is becoming an increasingly popular method of resolving disputes involving interpersonal employee conflicts including harassment and bullying complaints. Main benefits are:
- quick to set up
- totally confidential: Anything discussed cannot be revealed unless the parties agree to it
- less costly in every sense of the word (i.e. financially, management time, employee stress, and the effects of an unproductive working environment)
- more positive: more likely to give those involved the outcomes they want
- more constructive: helps restore working relations rather than destroy them
Both parties need to agree to mediation. This is usually not difficult when you tell them about the consequence of not giving it a chance! Your Picasso HR trained mediators' role is to be impartial and maintain confidentiality at all times; even between parties and unearth real issues, interests and needs. Here is a testimonial from a recent client:
"Thank you so much for yesterday's session. Your skilful handling resulted in Sadie and I being able to talk face to face quite honestly and reaching an agreement. I'm not sure how else this would have been achieved. Although the process was uncomfortable at times, it was definitely worthwhile and I would classify it as "productive pain"!"
Now let us assume mediation between Sandra and Derek has succeeded and most cases it does. Having got them onboard, we can start working on strategies to pull the team together with their help. Sandra and Derek need to discuss with their 'followers' about how everyone needs to pull together to create a happier and productive team etc. We can provide lots of guidance.
For the purpose of understanding theirs and each others personality and team building, we would recommend our half day 'Personality Palette' workshop. It works wonders; it is simple and highly effective. We look forward to hearing from you.
The Picasso HR team
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