Download our PIP template, if you’ve landed here looking for one!

1. Know Why You’re Doing It: Make sure the employee understands why the plan is in place and what it aims to achieve. The best way to do this is to include the employee when you’re putting the plan together so it includes shared expectations.
2. Set Clear Expectations: Be clear about what happens if the performance doesn’t get better as expected and make sure you document your conversations and save somewhere easily accessible, so nothing is lost, forgotten or misunderstood.
3. Focus on Improvement, Not Punishment: Use PIPs to help people improve, not as a way to push them out. However, you have to be clear about potential positive and negative outcomes so the employee is aware what will happen if their performance improves or doesn’t improve.
4. Follow up regularly: Managers should be having regular conversations with their team, but this is even more important where performance issues have been identified. We suggest checking in every other week to see what is and isn’t working.
5. Be Fair and Supportive: Give struggling employees a fair chance to improve and support them along the way.
6. Follow the Rules: Understand and follow the legal steps for managing performance issues.
7. Pinpoint the Problem: Identify exactly what’s causing the performance issue rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach. We suggest providing examples of what ‘good’ performance looks like in their role, so it can be clearly defined in their mind.
8. Offer Custom Solutions: Tailor your help to each person’s needs, whether it’s coaching, training, or something else.
9. Try Coaching First: Consider coaching as a simpler and more effective way to help someone improve.
10. Know the Difference: Understand when you’re dealing with a performance problem that can be fixed and when it’s a behaviour issue that requires a different approach.

By keeping these tips in mind, you can use Performance Improvement Plans more effectively to help your team grow and succeed.

Need Help?

If you need a professional Performance Improvement Plan template, you can access one through Docs Wizard membership, along with all the other performance and wider HR documents you need to manage staff. Premium membership is £499+VAT per year, for unlimited downloads of specialist and statutory HR documents – a fraction of the price compared to using an external company/lawyer. Visit our membership page for more info.

If you’d like a demo, get in touch and one of the team will get this set up for you.

The post 10 Top Tips for Using Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) Effectively appeared first on Docs Wizard .

create divisions, rather than educate or change behaviours.

Many organisations are now looking for something a bit different from their diversity and inclusion programmes and initiatives.  Something that focuses away from compliance and trendy media topics, and refocuses on what it really takes to include everyone. No easy task!

Conflict arising from the polarisation of views

Alongside polarising politics in many countries, a polarising period across the pandemic (masks, lockdowns, home working and jabs being the main points of contention), polarising views on the environment, we have added in somewhat polarising ED&I programmes. We clearly live in polarising times with conflict between individuals and groups seemingly at an all time high! Not ideal if we are wanting good employee morale and great relationships across our organisations

It doesn’t have to be this way though.

Here are a few ideas (taken from real life experience) about how to make your ED&I training actually inclusive…

1. Foster Good Relationships:
   • Encourage people to interact and build relationships to promote inclusion and reduce conflict.
2. Nudging for Positive Behaviours:
   • As a leader, act as a “chief nudger” to encourage the right behaviours and create an environment for open communication.
3. Invest in Team Building:
   • Allocate time for team-building activities to strengthen relationships and boost productivity.
4. Taking a Break for Relationships:
   • It’s essential to take a break from work to build strong team relationships for better results and happier employees.
5. Define Inclusion:
   • Inclusion means involving and considering as many people as possible without alienating others or negatively impacting the organization.
6. Sustainable Inclusion:
   • Sustainable inclusion includes everyone, even those with differing beliefs and views.
7. Managing Expectations:
   • Understand that perfection in inclusion is unattainable, so aim for steady improvement.
8. Respect as a Foundation:
   • Respect is the foundation of an inclusive workplace, with a focus on being heard, seen, and treated fairly.
9. Respect Training:
   • Training on respect covers various aspects, including the Equality Act, bias, harassment, language sensitivity, and learning to respect each other.

This is a very brief overview, for a fuller understanding of what you can and can’t do when it comes to ED&I, get in touch with our friendly HR and Employment Law specialists on 01425 479888 or help@docswizard.co.uk.

The post 9 Top tips on getting ED&I training right appeared first on Docs Wizard .

Often the employee just walks away wanting to get on with their life, but of course, some seek reparations. Invariably in these situations, there is a finding of unfair dismissal from the Tribunal.

Learning points:

1. High emotion (and too much ego) tends to blunt our common sense, resulting in procedure rarely being followed as it needs to be, to ensure the dismissal is safe (or as safe as it can be). So NEVER send out a text or email in anger. Write it, but then sit on it overnight so you have time to reflect.
2. While you are reflecting to ensure procedure is followed, as per our suggestion above, make sure you consider the employee relations issues too so that you minimise the likelihood of any claims being brought.

80% of tribunal claims are lost because procedure wasn’t followed

Also, 20 years ago we remember advising managers that 80% of unfair dismissal claims that are won at Tribunal are won simply because the company failed to follow the correct procedure, and not because there were no grounds for dismissal. Unfortunately, our advice on this remains pretty similar. Time after time after time when we read through Employment Tribunal outcomes, the employer is losing simply based on procedure. Please do make sure that your managers know how easy it is to mess up process, leaving the business financially exposed.

Our 6 top tips on managing emotionally charged dismissals:

• An investigation can’t be shoddy or shallow. If the procedure requires you to do an investigation, make it as thorough as is sensible and the circumstances allow. A five-minute investigation followed by five minutes of consideration time is not sufficient!
• A procedure is not there just to make your HR person happy – it’s there because the law requires you to follow a fair procedure. So, follow it. No cutting corners.
• Educate managers about why procedures are in place and why they need to follow them. It might be going back to basics, but in our experience some managers don’t even know where to find the relevant procedure, let alone understand the importance of following it.
• Educate your directors about the potential financial consequences of following their emotions rather than their business head when it comes to dismissing staff.
• Procedure trumps logic/common sense – if you believe that it is a logical response to dismiss on the spot (e.g. when finding someone taking drugs at work) don’t forget … procedure trumps logic. In this example, you cannot dismiss on the spot, you must suspend, investigate and then meet with the individual before any decision to terminate is made. Be self-disciplined enough to put logic aside and follow your procedures!
• Don’t overcomplicate procedures otherwise you create trip hazards when it comes to expecting managers to follow them. Keep them as simple as possible, following ACAS guidelines. If necessary, go back to the drawing board and redraft. Beware: you may need to consult with staff if removing some policies and replacing them with a variation on a theme.

Hopefully this has given you a little food for thought. We have all the documentation you need to manage a professional dismissals process on Docs Wizard. Take a look at the managing dismissals section on our website, included in both essential and premium membership. If you have questions or would like support (we can offer support on a pay as you go basis) please do get in touch with one of the team at Jaluch.

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But what do you do when you receive a bullying allegation? What if there is no CCTV or witnesses? What if it’s one word against the other, or someone makes a vexatious claim? Well, you definitely shouldn’t jump to any rash conclusions, and neither should you suspend the accused on the spot.

The key to avoiding taking formal action which could end up being unfounded and damaging, is to first thoroughly investigate the allegations. This can feel challenging but it’s really important you get this right, this could be someone’s career on the line if the allegations are false, or on the other hand you could be letting a toxic employee work in your business.

Let’s take a look at what you should and shouldn’t do when investigating bullying claims.

Bullying: things to be aware of …

Don’t bury your head in the sand and hope it will go away. You have responsibilities:

• You have a duty of care to all staff under health and safety legislation.
• You have a responsibility to both staff and the organisation to create an environment where staff can be fully productive and engaged.
• You also have a moral obligation to staff – those who are bullied experience lower job satisfaction, often suffer health issues and at times also lose their job either through quitting or because they are bullied out by the individual concerned (if there is one). Would you wish this to happen to you?
• To minimise the impact on employees and the wider organisation this needs to be dealt with decisively. Witnessing bullying can impact staff well-being and employee morale – especially if it is thought to be happening unchecked.

Important hints & tips for managers

This is not an exhaustive list, and if in doubt, speak with your HR department or sense check with a manager experienced in investigating matters, when running an investigation. However, this should be a great starting point.

To begin…

• Don’t underestimate the time and energy it takes to investigate or fact-find properly, and be aware this might be stressful for you – the key is in making sure you are prepared, following a sound process and taking advice when needed.
• There should already be a robust bullying & harassment policy in place. Depending on the organisation, this might be a stand-alone policy, or be part of an equal opportunities, dignity at work or grievance policy. If you haven’t got anything in writing in place, introduce one without delay. If you need access to these policies, download them from our policy section (membership required).
• Wherever the process for investigating these matters, follow the steps in your policy.
• Make sure you remain impartial and don’t draw any conclusions until you have been able to review all of the evidence.
• Also make sure you don’t involve anyone at this stage who may end up being involved in a later stage of the process if the allegations are proven i.e. someone who might chair a formal disciplinary meeting.

How to investigate bullying allegations…

• A thorough investigation will normally mean getting a written statement (could be a complaint letter or email) from the employee raising the allegation to understand the details of what they’re saying.
• If necessary, and depending on how detailed their statement is, meet with them to ask questions and better understand the allegations to obtain the facts.
• Check your policy to see if they have a right to be accompanied to any meetings – if you are dealing with the matter as a Grievance, the person raising the complaint or allegation normally has the right to have a Companion with them in the formal grievance meeting.
• It’s important to make sure you understand what resolution they are seeking.
• There is a need to be clear that in order to investigate the matter, you’ll need their consent to talk to the person they’re raising the allegation against, as well as any potential witnesses.
• You should meet with the person the allegations are against. Get their version of events. Be ready to acknowledge their feelings about this – they may become distressed, defensive or aggressive. They may also talk about resigning – in which case, encourage them not to make any hasty decisions! But whatever their feelings, be upfront that the investigation may result in referral to a disciplinary hearing but only after completion of a thorough investigation of all evidence and only if the evidence shows the allegation is likely proven.
• Meet with any/all witnesses and ask them open questions to obtain the facts of what they personally saw (anything else is hearsay). Be clear with witnesses that their statement may later be used as evidence at a disciplinary hearing if the allegation(s) is/are proven. Ask for their consent to this.

A few other pointers…

• Make sure that all parties know that the matter is strictly confidential.
• Make sure that all statements gathered are agreed, signed and dated by the individuals concerned.
• Don’t be bulldozed by someone using a bullying allegation to get out of something else such as disciplinary action against them.
• The employee raising the allegation, and the accused, should both receive an outcome in writing. However, you have to be careful what you tell to who – please seek HR advice on this, as otherwise you may have a data breach to contend with next!

Good luck and please feel free to circulate this to your managers who are often on the front line when alleged bullying issues are raised.

If you have any questions about any of the above, call our sister company Jaluch HR on: 01425 479888 or send Jaluch a message and one of their expert HR Consultants will be in touch.

What Jaluch can support with:

• Internal grievance and disciplinary investigations
• Chairing formal disciplinary or grievance meetings.
• Leading, supporting or advising on disciplinary and grievance investigations.
• Developing employment policies/contracts of employment
• One to one coaching with staff requiring individual support.

The post Getting it right: investigating bullying and harassment allegations appeared first on Docs Wizard .

Do’s

1. Audit your business. Who have you got, where have you got them. what are the pinch points, where are the opportunities?
2. Identify the benefits for the organisation in having an age diverse and age inclusive workplace. Communicate the benefits.
3. Train your managers so they understand how easily they can get it wrong or get into hot water (legally speaking) . Be sure to cover challenges during performance reviews, recruitment, dismissal, capability management etc.
4. Involve your staff or employee representatives as this is a group of people who can really support at ground level with all your diversity initiatives if you learn how to fully involve them.
5. Give your staff and managers the knowledge they need to understand this issue and how to support your initiatives. Address any myths and legends and give them the facts and guidance.

Don’ts

6. Get caught out because you haven’t double checked that none of your benefits (e.g. PHI) discriminate against younger or older workers.  You need to ensure there are no lower or upper age limits.
7. Pay so much attention to other protected characteristics such as sexual orientation that age issues are ignored or treated as irrelevant.
8. Only focus on older workers or only focus on younger workers. There are challenges at both ends of the age scale so identify those and create a plan of attack.
9. Don’t pay less attention to grievances about age issues than you would about transgender issues. As a result of not paying paying age discrimination enough attention, these businesses have had some expensive fines.
10. Forget to talk to your staff when developing policy and guidance. Talk to those who are younger and older and get their real experiences as these can formulate your policy and guidance.

And finally…..

10.5 its all about communication. Ensure everyone feels able to talk about this kind of issue in a respectful way. Encourage staff to feel comfortable talking about age issues with each other and their managers. Encourage managers to ask questions of their staff. To feel confident in discussing issues about retirement, young workers etc so that communication takes place effectively and promptly.

This is a very brief overview, for a fuller understanding of what you can and can’t do when it comes to age, get in touch with our friendly HR and Employment Law specialists on 01425 479888 or help@docswizard.co.uk.

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Do’s

1. Ensure that you have properly reviewed all your workers and established clearly which ones are employees and which are contractors, or contractors working through an agency. You will need a clear list of names to work through to review their status under the new off payroll rules. If you need a checklist/guidelines have a look at our IR35 documents.
2. Do consider what preparation you need to do and the information you need to communicate to your workers. Consider whether you want to re-negotiate a worker’s terms and conditions if they are now viewed as inside IR35 and you will therefore have increased costs to pay (namely, employer’s NI).
3. Don’t assume that you know the status of the worker! We recommend using the CEST tool to check their status, as HMRC have said that they will stand by the CEST result (providing the data that was input is accurate!)
4. Be aware that you will need to take reasonable care in coming to your decision about whether the rules apply and will need to keep detailed records to justify your decision and the reasons for it, so that you can defend any decisions in the event of an investigation by HMRC.
5. Don’t base your assumptions about the working practices on the contractual arrangements – contractual agreements mean nothing if they don’t reflect reality. Base your decision on the reality of the working relationship, not the one documented in the contract.
6. Do remember that the CEST tool will only work out a worker’s status for tax purposes and has absolutely no bearing on whether they are likely to be regarded as an employee. The two are completely different distinctions make sure that you (or your managers) know the difference.

Don’ts

7. Ignore this until April 2021! It will take time to review your workers and establish which ones are inside and which are outside IR35, you will need to start the process now to ensure that you have plenty of time to prepare. Don’t underestimate the amount of time this may take!
8. If you have decided that an employee is inside IR35 and then they raise a dispute with you, saying that they disagree with your decision – do not ignore their dispute. You have just 45 days to review your decision and inform them of your decision following the review, the penalty if you don’t is that you will become liable for paying the worker’s NI and tax (if you aren’t already).
9. Don’t assume that you already know what the status of your workers is, the CEST test is a very blunt instrument which places undue weight on particular aspects of the relationship – and you may well find that workers you previously assumed were contractors are in fact regarded as disguised employees under the new CEST test.
10. Forget to review your budgets and the impact this may have on you financially if you have a lot of workers who are inside IR35 and for whom you will now have to pay their tax, NI and employer’s NI.

And finally…

10. 5. HMRC are serious about cracking down on what they perceive as non-compliance with the IR35 rules. If you do absolutely nothing the risk is high; you will become responsible for paying the tax and NI contributions of the worker.

Need help?

We offer a pay-as-you-go HR support line to help with any IR35 queries, email us or call on 01425 479888.

If you don’t have queries, but need IR35 documentation you can download all the documents you need from this website. Premium membership is £499+VAT per year, for unlimited downloads of specialist and statutory HR documents – a fraction of the price compared to using an external company/lawyer. Visit our membership page for more info.

The post 10.5 Top Tips on IR35 changes appeared first on Docs Wizard .

1. Talk openly about mental well-being as the more managers and leaders talk openly, the more employees will feel comfortable talking about it too!
2. Try to encourage people at work to be sociable and where possible draw in your remote workers. Isolation has been proven to have serious negative effects on mental health.
3. Encourage your employees to get professional help and to know that that is as routine and straight forward as seeking support with physical issues. The more you can normalise mental health the more everyone will benefit.
4. Encourage your employees to stay active as this benefits mental health as much as physical health. Physical activity increases dopamine levels which in turn increases positive feelings thereby reducing anxiety and day to day depression.
5. Step in to help employees manage their time and energy efficiently. Helping disorganised or overloaded employees to manage time effectively can be enormously helpful

Don’ts

6. Ever be tempted to disregard an employee’s mental health issue, assuming the condition will just get better on its own. Be as supportive as if they had a physical ill health issue.
7. Hesitate to ask about any mental health related treatment plans. If you are aware of an employee’s treatment plan then it is far easier to understand how to support or determine any sensible work or workload changes.
8. Pressurise staff. If someone says they are ill or suffering in some way then don’t trivialise it or try to talk them out of it just because there are work pressures. Be considerate and don’t judge.
9. Hesitate to pick up on colleagues or employees using less than positive language about mental health issues – you need to step up and manage this situation if it arises otherwise one or two people will undo all your hard work to support those experiencing poor mental health.
10. Run and hide! The more you can make yourself available to your employees, the more you will be able to support them.

And finally…

10.5 Whilst it is very common for employees to go off sick claiming stress, low mood, anxiety or depression the minute you invite them to a disciplinary investigation or meeting, tread very carefully. It is our experience that being invited to such a meeting does make people anxious and stressed therefore you shouldn’t suggest they are making it up. However, postponing indefinitely is unlikely to be in the employee’s best interests as you just prolong the stress. To understand how you can move things forward whilst they are still off sick, call us at Jaluch for advice about this issue.

The post 10.5 Top Tips on Managing Mental Health and Well-Being appeared first on Docs Wizard .

Do’s

1. Ensure all your employees drink enough! Its basic, but it’s essential – water should be readily
   

   

2.  available. This helps avoid dehydration and resulting ill health such as fatigue.
3. Promote healthy eating by banning staff from bringing in piles of unhealthy snacks to share. They can bring in their own, but unless it’s a really special occasion ask them to not feed their colleagues endless fatty and sugary snacks!
4. For those employees who are regularly tired or struggle to sleep, encourage them to do some research about sleep or speak to their doctors or otherwise check out some of the sleep apps that are on the market.
5. Encourage your employees to regularly get up and move around if they are in sedentary jobs. The more they move about, the more likely they will be to maintain good weight and fitness.
6. If any of your employees are recovering from an injury, why not ask them what will make them more comfortable and help their recovery – a speedy recovery will be in everyone’s interests!

Don’ts

1. Be careful not to force employees to work when they are unwell as this can result in a far slower recovery time or in extreme circumstances make their illness worse. No point in spreading germs around either.
2. Ignore burnout – it’s very common but usually takes years to really take hold – giving you years to identify the possibility of it happening and take the necessary steps to stave it off!
3. Hesitate to remind staff to look after their eyes, regular checkups should be encouraged and you need to ensure a good level of lighting (preferably natural light) to protect your employees’ vision.
4. Ignore your employees when deciding on the right temperature at work – different people work best in different temperatures so ask them and agree a happy medium – too hot and employees won’t work at their best, too cold and they definitely won’t be happy!
5. Forget how important it is to lead by example – so encourage your leaders to eat better, drink more water and less caffeine and to show staff that they too are getting more exercise!

And finally…

10.5. Be aware that when it comes to workplace temperatures, Government guidelines suggest a min of 16°C for the workplace, and 13°C if work involves rigorous physical effort. However, these guidelines were set in the 1960s and based on ideal working temperatures for the average man. Women, research has found, typically prefer it 5 degrees warmer!

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Do’s

1. Respond within 1 month (don’t get caught out by a shorter month in Feb) and holidays are no excuse!
2. Learn about what information you can withhold before giving everything away. Just because an employee asks doesn’t mean you are required to give them everything.
3. Take time to understand the definition of personal data before beginning to create your ‘bundle’ of documents to submit.
4. Be aware you can reject a request if it is excessive or ask for an extension if the work is too great.
5. Ensure you seek permission from other people (who aren’t the person the SAR relates to) named in various documents if the documents include personal data relating to them. They can withhold permission.

Don’ts

6. Stick your head sand as one month whizzes by.
7. Assume if information is deleted it can’t be retrieved from your IT system. You will be expected to seek to retrieve information where possible.
8. Delete stuff to hide it.
9. Ask for a fee. Fees for subject access requests were abolished in 2018.
10. Think you can treat this is just an annoyance, you have a legal obligation to respond to SARs.

And finally…

10. 5. Fines can be applied if you ignore an SAR: the fine can be up to 4% of turnover. Could you afford that?

How we can help

• • If you have received a subject access request and need to ask an employee for clarification around what they are asking for, you can download our subject access request form.
  • If you need support putting the bundles together, or advice or what you should include or leave out, our sister company Jaluch can provide advice on dealing with subject access requests. Jaluch offers contract free, pay-as-you-go support, so you will only pay for the advice time you actually use.

The post 10.5 top tips on what to do if you receive a subject access request (SAR) appeared first on Docs Wizard .

It’s not uncommon that our sister company Jaluch is asked to support companies with performance management, absences, grievances, disciplinaries and tribunal claims that soon become ‘hot potatoes’. This occurs because what is quickly uncovered is that there is a lack of the essential paperwork that needs to be in place to manage the employee effectively AND be legally compliant.

If you have to defend an employee’s claim, it’s hard to convince an Employment Tribunal Judge that you managed your employee fairly and properly when you have clearly failed to issue them with the most critical of documents that the law requires – a contract of employment. The contract must be issued within 8 weeks.

Easy errors

From our experience across decades, there are a few situations that often give rise to a failure to issue the correct paperwork (contracts), so be on the alert for the ‘gaps’ in your business:

• A casual worker morphs into a permanent employee but slips through the gaps so is never issued with a contract of employment.
• A permanent employee requests a change to hours/days but on starting the new contractual arrangement is never reissued with the appropriate paperwork or a new contract.
• A business is acquired and the new owner assumes contracts are in place but never checks.
• Disorganisation in the HR function/recruitment team means that essential paperwork is often not issued on time or at all.
• You ask someone with no/little HR know how to complete a template contract and they do so but incorrectly as they’re not sure what they’re looking at.
• An employee is promoted or moved to a different role but a revised contract or even letter stating there has been a change to the contract is never issued.
• You are a start up enterprise (profit making or not for profit) and simply don’t ‘think’ that such formality applies to you. BIG mistake! (remember the adage that ignorance is no defence in the eyes of the law).

A contract that works for you

Contracts are not just about legal compliance as, if you value your money and sanity, then there are lots of clauses you can include in your contract of employment that will help you mange staff effectively and cost efficiently.

From clauses relating to booking and taking holidays, disciplining of short service staff, requiring accrued holiday to be taken during notice periods, not paying staff sick pay who fail to communicate with you etc. There is lots that can be done to make things work smoothly and protect your business interests.

Key information

But let’s go back to the beginning as there is lots of confusion around contracts of employment:

• A written employment contract MUST be issued (this is a legal requirement) within 8 weeks of your employee starting:
  • By ‘employee’ this includes temps, permanent staff, zero hours staff etc. NO exceptions.
  • Legal penalty for FAILING to do this is 2-4 weeks’ pay PER employee.
  • Remember that if you don’t issue until the 8 week mark you are effectively employing your new recruit with no confidentiality clauses or other clauses that will protect your business in place. Wherever possible and sensible issue before or on day one of employment.
• The law sets out what clauses must be included in your Contract of Employment so a quick letter cobbled together after you have shut up shop for the day that covers the basics of pay, holidays and hours is NOT sufficient If you’re going to do the job, do it properly!
• Whilst the Contract is a legal requirement, you must be ‘crazy’ if you don’t use this document to also protect your business, given that you have to issue it anyway. Just issuing the bare legal document will ensure compliance, but simply won’t give you any advantages when it comes to effectively managing difficult or non-performing staff.
  • You can include key policies (H&S, expenses, holidays, sickness, discipline etc) either in your contract or in a separate document commonly known as the employee handbook. Here is a full list of typical policies you might include
• Despite what we have said above, it is NOT a legal requirement to issue a Contract for Services to your associates, self-employed workers and contractors etc but again, why leave your business unprotected? So use the Contract for Services (note this is different to the Contract of Employment) with those who are sole traders/individuals who you don’t directly employ, in order to protect your business.
• The law does NOT exempt small employers, sole traders taking on their first worker or those in social enterprises or charities. NO employer is exempt whether you consider your arrangement with your new worker to be formal or informal.

Note: Contract of Employment versus Written Statement of Particulars? The law requires you to issue a Written Statement to your employees. Usually this is wrapped up into what is commonly known as a Contract of Employment. You don’t need BOTH i.e. a contract and a written statement.

But which Contract of Employment do I need?

The next area of confusion is which contract of employment to issue. Different contracts for different people!

Below we have listed all the contracts available on Docs Wizard –  along with a short explanation of when you would use each:

If you would like access all these contracts, you can sign up here.

Contracts of Employment

The key contracts

• Permanent Contract of Employment (Full Time) – Make this your default contract of employment
• Permanent Contract of Employment (Part Time) – For anyone working less than your full-time hours (e.g. 35, 37.5 or 40 hours a week)
• Fixed Term Contract of Employment (General Use) – Use this if the person you are recruiting is not to be a permanent employee as they are just to work for a set number of months or to deliver a specific project
• Contract of Employment (Zero Hours) – Use this for any staff who do not have any set contractual hours and no obligation on you to give them any at all in a particular pay period but are still an employee.
• Contract For Services – for using with your contractors, self-employed workers, associates etc.

More niche contracts 

• Contract of Employment (Term Time) – Use this if you employee someone on a term time only contract i.e. they don’t work during school holidays
• Fixed Term Contract of Employment (Maternity Cover) – use this if your recruit is solely to cover for an employee about to go or already on maternity leave
• Permanent Contract of Employment (Annualised Hours) – use this for any staff who work on an annualised hours basis i.e. a set number of hours per year with significant variations in weekly hours worked depending on seasonal or business needs.
• Permanent Contract of Employment (Job Share) – use this with any staff who have agreed to job share
• Graduate Programme Two Year Fixed Term Contract of Employment – many graduates are employed for an initial two-or three-year period. Use this contract which ensures they are not guaranteed work at the end of the two/three years.

We also include tailored contracts in our membership for various sectors/industries including: education/school/nursery, professional office etc.

Invalid Contract

Remember: if someone loses the right to work in the UK (e.g. their visa or right to work runs out) then dismissing on grounds of statutory illegality is one of the 5 fair reasons for dismissal in the UK. Fines for continuing to employ people who no longer have the right to work in the UK used to be £10k per person but are now unlimited – being able to demonstrate that you issued a contract of employment when they did have the right to work here, will not protect you in law.

And finally….

If you are going to issue your new or existing employee with any paperwork, make sure that the contract of Employment is the key document you issue. Other documents are important, but this is the most critical one.

And if you are not sure which contract to use or how to create one specifically for your needs, then why not use the option to add on 40 minutes of legal advice.

Legal Documents don’t have to cost you an arm and a leg – the Docs Wizard team has truly created the most amazingly cost effective HR legal document option for you – so take advantage of this fantastic suite of template documents.

We have hundreds of other documents you might need, including:

• Contractual Clause & Policy Checklist
• Short Employee Handbook
• Business Protection Letter to Give to An Employee
• Letter Confirming the End of A Fixed Term Contract
• Letter Confirming Variation to Terms and Conditions
• Letter Restating Restrictive Covenants to Employee Who Is Leaving
• Letter to Accompany Re-Issuing Of Handbook Explaining Changes To Handbook
• Working Time Regulations Opt Out Form
• Letter to Make Ex-Employee’s New Employer Aware That Employee Is Breaching Restrictive Covenants

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Do’s

1. Start with unconscious bias training and follow it with gender intelligence training – for all recruiters, senior managers, middle managers and junior managers. All these people will be involved in the recruitment and progression (and development) of staff so need to understand where bias can come in and what they personally can do to minimise it.
2. Make an all out effort to appoint women to senior positions. This means encouraging women to apply, giving them an equal chance at interview and making internal promotion opportunities transparent. From lowest paid worker to first line supervisor, from supervisor to junior managers, from junior manager to middle manager, from middle manager to senior manager and from senior manager to the board. You need action to move women up at every single stage so start acting now!
3. Check your pay scales and the reality of pay decisions in relation to starter salaries and also salary increases. Are women paid less? If so, why? Check how pay is awarded and eradicate biases that impact women’s ability to be fairly rewarded for their skill level and responsibilities.
4. Take firm action with those managers or directors who are simply not on board with this. These dinosaurs are energy sappers and initiative destroyers and will cost you dear and you simply can’t afford to keep them around.
5. Bring in gender balanced interview panels. Don’t over complicate things and if panels are not your style, then make sure both a man and woman are involved across the different selection stages before a recruitment decision is made.

Don’ts

6. Forget to look at all those staff in junior positions who will be impacting your gender pay gap. If you have loads of women (or men) in the lowest paid roles this will impact. In manufacturing environments where low paid jobs are dominated by men identify how to rebalance the workforce and the same goes in perhaps catering or retail environments where the lower paid jobs are dominated by women. What will it take to rebalance in such a way that will be sustainable for the business? i.e. no point in recruiting to rebalance only to lose all your new recruits 6 months later because they don’t like your culture!
7. Ignore the value of bringing in a policy of gender balanced recruitment pools – this means not offering jobs on a first come first served but making sure you gather your recruits before embarking on the selection process. Not always ideal as good candidates don’t tend to wait around for you to gather all your candidates, but surely there must be something you can do to ensure your recruitment pools are balanced?
8. Underestimate how you need to sort both your managers/leaders and your organisational culture if you recruit to re-balance. If you recruit before you sort, don’t be surprised when your new recruits walk out of the door shortly after starting.
9. Think this is a five minute job. It’s actually a whole project in itself, but the rewards will be a modern professional balanced workforce that will in turn attract good candidates and ensure your valued staff stay with you.
10. Forget to involve your staff representatives. This group is a perfect, already formed group who can support and inform your thinking about what is needed, where, why, when etc. If your staff reps need training to make them an effective group take a look at this agenda.

And Finally…

10.5  You cannot simply demand that directors or managers accept new ways of operating. The cultural and social backgrounds of many is that it can take decades to get our heads around the need and desire to treat women equally and fairly. So, take a coaching, mentoring, educating approach to managing this process of change, rather than one that is preaching, teaching, telling or yelling! You might find that the former approach achieves a quicker and more sustained result than the latter!

If you like these 10.5 top tips from Docs Wizard, why not take a look at some of our other Top Tips articles? Docs Wizard provides template HR and H&S documents. Have you signed up yet?

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1. Kick off your activities with an HR or more specialised HR Document Audit. Then get your employment contracts and employment policies reviewed and updated and, as appropriate, reissued to all staff.
3. Check also that your directors and non-exec directors also have the correct paperwork – Directors Service Agreements/Business Protection Letters/Share Holders agreements etc.
4. If you haven’t sorted it already create an organisational chart, ensuring you cover all the key roles in the business creating a great snapshot for a potential investor or purchaser of the ‘who’ and ‘where’.
5. It’s time to get out your performance review forms and decide if they are fit for purpose. Does an annual review still work, are the competencies you measure still appropriate, should you be doing 360 reviews by now, what happens with interim reviews, are managers trained, are forms being filed etc? Work out whether these are fit for purpose and making you look professional. If not, its probably time for a review.
6. It’s also time to start documenting the ‘informal’! Are any pay rises being given outside of a formal review structure, are all bonuses appropriately documented, are all benefits documented and accounted for correctly, do P11D’s contain all they need to every year, how is equipment issued and is it all properly logged, what rules are there around home working, what rules are there around removing information, equipment or documents from the office etc. Is it time to introduce new procedures perhaps and formalise some of the ‘informal’?

Don’ts

6. Forget your associates and consultants when sorting documentation. Those not employed probably need to be issued with a Contract for Services (as different to a Contract of Employment).
7. Think that documentation is a waste of time. It’s not and a well managed, professional looking business is likely to attract a high value when put up for sale.
8. Leave it all to the last minute. Sorting the HR structure and paperwork can take up to a year to review and sort out so it is not a five minute job. Don’t leave it too late.
9. Forget to consult with your staff about what you are doing and why. Failure to consult, particularly on contractual matters could create a dispute that could, in worst case scenario, derail a business sale.
10. Forget training. Its not all about the paperwork and processes. You need to be able to demonstrate a great management team is in place that is well trained and professional in its approach.

And Finally…

10.5. Not everything has to be stressful, difficult or cost a fortune! Before you instruct expensive lawyers, see what you can sort yourself by using  www.docswizard.co.uk to check that you’ve got good contracts and policies in place, contacting www.jaluch.co.uk if you need support with an HR or more specialised document audit, performance reviews , contractual changes, TUPE transfers or for quotes for leadership training.

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