SMEs feel optimistic about opportunities in 2012

30th December 2011

 

With 2011 drawing to an end and the UK economy still in a state of flux, Employment Law and Health & Safety compliance experts Citation plc undertook a survey to find out what SMEs really felt going into 2012.

 

Over 79% of SMEs who responded felt the coalition government could do more to support them during challenging times.

 

It was positive to see that over 80% of SME businesses were optimistic about opportunities for 2012.

 

Lindsay Hill, Chief Executive of Citation plc highlights the challenges faced by SMEs going into 2012:

 

“SMEs are faced with an uncertain UK economy and the situation with the Eurozone only continues to prolong the anguish for many business owners.”

 

“The banks have a huge impact on the SME market and our survey showed that SMEs felt there was more banks could do to support them. The overall feeling was that banks should be more willing to lend to SMEs and extend payback periods and overdraft facilities. The banks quite simply need to understand SME businesses better and employ advisors who can adopt a common sense approach to lending, rather than a one size fits all following a set of rules.”

 

 

“The Olympics will undoubtedly create a number of opportunities for businesses. However at a localised level there is likely to be a negative impact on many businesses. Business owners need to have a contingency plan in place to deal with additional congestion and manage logistics to ensure they deliver their service to clients.”

 

 

“That said, it is not all doom and gloom going into 2012 and it was encouraging to see 80% of those surveyed feeling optimistic about opportunities in 2012. Government funding initiatives for SMEs are due to come in during the year which should help SMEs grow their businesses. Moreover, those SME businesses who have adjusted through tough times and survived with leaner budgets will only be stronger going into 2012.”

 

Read more about the survey findings on the Manchester Evening News http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/business/s/1469202_smes-want-more-support-from-the-government-  and The Business Desk http://www.thebusinessdesk.com/northwest/news/263782-firms-confident-about-prospects-for-2012-says-citation.html.

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There’s an extra bank holiday this year for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in June. Do you have to give this holiday to employees?

21st December 2011

The quick legal answer is that there’s no obligation on employers to give this (or any other) bank holiday and employers have a number of options:

 

• Do not give the bank holiday and continue to operate the business on that day.
• Close the business and give employees the additional day as a paid holiday on a one-off basis.
• Close the business and give notice to employees that they will need to reserve one of their holiday days to cover this closure.

 

However, your contractual position might be different. If you have traditionally given one-off bank holidays in the past, e.g. the Royal Wedding this year, but do not intend to give the additional holiday next year, your employees might claim that taking additional one-off bank holidays is ‘custom and practice’ within the business, and that not giving the additional day would be a breach of an implied term of their contract. You might also be obliged to give the extra day if your annual holiday entitlement is expressed as, for example, ‘four weeks plus all bank/public holidays’.

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Do you have to pay employees if they cannot get into work because of the weather?

14th December 2011

There’s a quick legal answer – No! But once again there’s a contractual ‘however’.

 

If you have paid employees in the past under these circumstances, your employees might claim that this has become ‘custom and practice’ and that discontinuing the payment would be a breach of an implied term of their contract. A knee-jerk ‘No’ might also rebound on you. What if, for example, an employee has anticipated the heavy snow and has taken work home with them. If they offered to do the work at home, would you want to say ‘no’ and not get the work done, just because it wasn’t done ‘at work’?

 

It’s best to try to take a flexible approach to these types of involuntary absences. If the employees can work from home or make the time up, then why not get the work done and pay them? Even if the work cannot be done remotely or at some other time you should consider other solutions, such as allowing them to take the absence as a day’s holiday.

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Employees forced to stay at home?

9th December 2011

When there has been a heavy snowfall, quite often employees are unable to get into work. This can be because of hazardous driving conditions, school closures leaving them with no childcare arrangements and public transport cancellations. Employers are often concerned about whether or not an employee should be paid if the employee is unable to get into work under these uncontrollable circumstances. The quick legal answer is No! But there’s a contractual ‘however’.

 

If you have paid employees in the past under these circumstances, your employees might claim that this has become ‘custom and practice’ and that discontinuing the payment would be a breach of an implied term of their contract. A knee-jerk ‘No’ might also rebound on you. What if, for example, an employee has anticipated the heavy snow and has taken work home with them. If they offered to do the work at home, would you want to say ‘no’ and not get the work done, just because it wasn’t done ‘at work’?

 

It’s best to try to take a flexible approach to these types of involuntary absences. If the employees can work from home or make the time up, then why not get the work done and pay them? Even if the work cannot be done remotely or at some other time you should consider other solutions, such as allowing them to take the absence as a day’s holiday.

 

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Organised an out of hours work Christmas party this year? Are you responsible for the actions of your employees?

8th December 2011

In general, employees attending employer-organised Christmas parties are doing so “in the course of their employment”, so employers have some liability for their employees’ actions and welfare when they are attending these functions.

 

Putting aside the obvious health & safety issues, the more boisterous the party, the more likely it is that things could go wrong; and the more you’ve done to help make it boisterous – a free bar, themed it 'devils and tarts' etc. – the more responsible you’re likely to be if it does go wrong.

 

Our number one advice is don’t have a free bar. Either mingle and try to buy each of your employees a drink, or arrange to have bar tickets – one ticket, one drink – and issue each employee with a couple of tickets. If you must theme the evening, don’t make the theme provocative – stick to ‘back to the 70s’, or ‘country and western’, etc. Think about designating some senior members of staff to be ‘alcohol free’, so that they can deal sensibly with any unacceptable behaviour. You also need to think about the steps you can take to help employees to get home safely, such as organising a coach or mini-bus, making sure that no-one will be walking home alone, or having a phone list of local taxis available.

 

Finally, because employees are attending “in the course of their employment”, the employment laws concerning discrimination and harassment still apply, so there’s no harm in gently reminding employees that they too have responsibilities and that they are expected to comply with the company’s discrimination and harassment policies and to behave in an acceptable manner.

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Worried about the effect the extreme weather may have on your business this year?

6th December 2011

Cold mornings, frost and the possibility of snow are becoming increasingly familiar weather conditions during UK winters. Over the past few years extreme weather has forced parts of the UK to come to a complete standstill, causing chaos for businesses throughout the UK.

 

The HSE’s Approved Code of Practice to the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 relating to traffic routes and pedestrian walkways, states:

 

“Arrangements should be made to minimise risks from snow and ice. This may involve gritting, snow clearing and closure of some routes, particularly outside stairs, ladders and walkways on roofs”.

 

Therefore, businesses can minimise potential injury from slips on snow and ice by taking the following steps: -

 

Simple Planning Steps

·         identify the external areas of your premises where slippery conditions are most likely to occur for both vehicles and pedestrians, e.g. on path-ways, car parks, access roads, steps, sloped surfaces and unofficial routes regularly used as short-cuts

·         monitor local weather forecasts and be aware of local conditions so that poor weather conditions can be anticipated

·         keep a stock of gritting material for your premises and suitable equipment to carry out the gritting process

·         where staff work out doors, make sure they have suitable footwear to reduce the risk of slipping

·         ensure that adequate steps are taken to protect vulnerable groups, e.g. disabled persons, new and expectant mothers

·         where practicable, prevent access to non-essential areas where there is a higher risk of slipping and designate safer alternative routes for vehicles and pedestrians, e.g. use of barriers, cones and signs

·         enforce low speed limits to reduce the risk of vehicles skidding

·         provide adequate segregation between vehicles and pedestrians to reduce the risk from vehicles skidding and colliding with pedestrians.

 

Lindsay Hill, Chief Executive of Citation plc says:

 

“The most common method to prevent external surfaces becoming icy is gritting the night before a frost. Gritting by laying rock salt is the usual means of stopping ice forming and melting snow and ice. To prevent ice forming grit should be laid when temperatures below zero are expected. Gritting is most effective when it is carried out early the night before a frost or early in the morning before staff arrive to allow the salt sufficient time to dissolve.”

 

Whilst focusing on the outdoors employers often forget the impact the winter weather can have in the indoor working environment. It is important for employers to clean up any wet corridors, reception areas and particularly near to entrances and place “caution wet floor” signs in these areas, ensuring all employees and visitors etc are aware of the hazard, to limit potential slips.

 

Finally, The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations state:

 

“During working hours, the temperature in all workplaces inside buildings shall be reasonable”.

 

There is no legal minimum temperature set for an indoor workplace. The temperature should provide reasonable comfort without the need for special clothing. Lindsay Hill continues “Sometimes it is difficult to maintain reasonable temperatures in, e.g. particularly cold rooms or warehouses where there are often large open doors. In these circumstances you should provide suitable measures such as localised heating, facilities to make hot drinks and personal protective clothing, such as warm overalls as a compromise to your staff.”

 

http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/business/s/1468573_extreme-winter-weather-could-tip-thousands-of-firms-into-insolvency-says-r3-report

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