Tag Archives: absence management
Demystifying Mixed Contract Redundancies
Many small firms employ workers on temporary or short term contracts to cover maternity absence or to cope with seasonal demand. And many employ part timers to cope with peaks in the business day or week. Both are ideal ways of managing costs and supporting full-time permanent staff. Both are ideal ways of staffing the firm to match the local market for goods and services. In addition, some also make use of agency workers for quick fix to sudden absence. But what happens when a downturn suggests that some staff need to be made redundant? Who goes and how does the employer decide? Continue reading →
Stress in the Workplace
Stress seems to be the one word that reduces otherwise competent managers to jibbering wrecks. It’s every manager’s nightmare.
There is a direct link between stress and long term sickness absence. Where someone is signed off with stress it normally becomes a long-term issue. All too soon several months have gone by and nothing has been done. It then becomes more difficult to take action. Not only do you have an employee who has been away from work for months, but those covering the work become more and more frustrated at the extra effort needed. Ultimately you then may have to recruit a temporary person to cover the workload. All in all it’s a very problematic area that is complex and difficult to solve simply. There is however a simple model that can be applied. This blog introduces and defines stress and then sets out a simple procedure for managing employees suffering stress.
Managing business when others go on strike
Most firms employ some staff with school-age children. The latest news that schools and colleges could be closed next week due to strike action is not very helpful, particularly for small firms. So, how can you manage when some of your staff will be forced to look after their school age children (through no fault of their own) instead of coming to work? A little forward planning will help so that you are prepared if the strikes do go ahead.
The announcement was made last week that the National Union of Teachers, Association of Teachers and Lecturers and the Universities and Colleges Union were to join the strike which has been called for 30 June in protest at the new pension proposals suggested for the public sector. The fact that private sectors workers have already been through this pain and are no longer able to join final salary schemes is a different story! This article discusses how small firms can manage their businesses when staff need to look after children at short notice.
Continue reading →
On Keeping HR Records in an SME
No-one likes keeping records on staff. It’s a burden on the SME principal and yet it is one of the foundations of HR management. Indeed it’s one of the foundations of excellence in HR. Without records, there’s no data on which to manage staff in the firm. So what data do we need? And how much of it do we need to keep?
This blog answers some of these issues, giving a framework for setting up an HR records system and then preparing it for evolution into a larger records management system as the firm grows.
Continue reading →
Critical Actions During Ill-health Dismissal
We’ve recently been working with a medical practice. One of the nurses was suffering depression and became unfit to undertake her duties. She had been off sick for three months and the principal asked TimelessTime for help. We facilitated medical advice and clarified both parties’ positions. The principal decided on pursuing ill-health dismissal.
There are a number of key points that all principals should note when faced with this situation:
• Deal with sickness early. Don’t wait. Manage the sickness absence and manage the employee back to work;
• Get medical advice. Let other staff know you are dealing with the issue (but keep confidences);
• Follow your Sickness Absence Procedure (not Disciplinary since it is a performance and not a disciplinary issue).
• Be absolutely clear in your communications with the sick staff member. Minute all meetings fully;
• Make sure those meeting with the sick staff member have been trained – it’s not a normal situation and supervisors are seldom ready to cope;
• If dismissing, get help. Dismissal is the last resort and you must be able to demonstrate you have pursued all other options. Proceed with care. Manage sensitively.
• Be ready for a backlash. The sick staff member may be angry and upset. Don’t be surprised if they lodge an ET1 – the notice of a pending Employment Tribunal case against you.
Such situations can be managed successfully. The critical points are to proceed with caution, compassion and clarity.
The principal of the medical practice subscibed to Timeless SUPPORT at a cost of £600 per year and was able to check actions every step of the way. They were further supported with several hours of ad-hoc Timeless PROJECT work. See http://www.timelesstime.co.uk/products/timeless-support for further information.
