This is not a “workers rights” minded propaganda exercise advocating wonderful terms and conditions and high salaries out of some kind of false esoteric belief.
Just as any good organisation weighs up the costs and benefits of any significant investment in plant, machinery, IT or a marketing campaign there should also be considered analysis of any actions and decisions affecting employees. In today’s workplace most of the basic decisions have been removed from our authority and are covered by specific legislation.
MINIMUM STANDARDS
There are certain minimum standards that have to apply to virtually all organisations and virtually all employees. The list is extensive and the following list is not by any means exhaustive but will apply in some way to most organisations:
PAY & BENEFITS
• Minimum wage
• Equal pay
• Guarantee payments in the event of lay off
• Statutory sick pay
• Statutory maternity / paternity pay
• Pensions provision
• Written terms and conditions of employment
• PAYE rules including tax and national insurance
• Company car tax rules
• Sub-contractors tax arrangements
TIME
• Working Time Directive, covering working hours and holidays
• Maternity, Paternity and Parental Leave rights
• The right to request flexible / reduced hours
DISCIPLINE AND DISMISSAL
• Minimum standards for disciplinary and grievance procedures
• Rules governing fair dismissal
• Statutory notice of termination
• Statutory redundancy
• Employment Tribunals
PERSONAL
• Data protection
• Human rights
• Consultation
• Trade Union representation
• The absolute right of non discrimination on the grounds of sex, marital status, race, religion, ethnic origin, disability - and soon age
• A whole range of requirements under health & safety and related legislation
It is also likely that, now the legislators, both national and European, have got used to defining laws from ‘principles’ rather than from ‘necessity’, the relentless barrage of employment legislation will continue apace.
THE CASE FOR MORE
So, if there is such a raft of legislation setting minimum standards, why consider going any further? There are a number of reasons that may or may not be appropriate in your organisation but there are three general ones that apply across the board.
1. It seems quite clear that one of the main reasons that brought about such a wide range of employment related law is that there were too many unscrupulous employers who were failing to meet the most basic of requirements in terms of pay, hours, safety and so on.
2. Failure to meet expectations will undoubtedly increase staff absence and turnover and, in all probability, reduce productivity.
3. The strength of Trade Unions, accepting that in general most are possibly less dominant than a few years ago, is linked to the level of trust that the workforce has in the employer.
But there are things that can be done that are worth the investment and are not (yet) fully covered by legislation. Some of them do not cost much money but do require the allocation of another key resource - the manager or owner’s time. Here are just a few examples of the type of thing we mean:
FLEXIBLE BENEFITS
A properly set up system of flexible benefits can actually save money yet can provide improved motivation and job satisfaction.
Consider which benefits that you currently offer and which could be added to the portfolio. Weigh up the costs of provision and then allow employees to decide which they want. Some will consider holidays more important than others, some will be seeking enhanced pension provision, at certain levels, company cars are still an important issue, despite the tax rules, others are only interested in the take home pay.
People have different priorities at varying stages of their life, their circumstances change and moving away from a one size fits all approach can not only help retain existing staff but also can help differentiate a company and make it attractive versus it’s competitors.
FLEXIBLE WORKING PATTERNS/HOURS
Some organisations argue that they cannot offer any flexibility in working patterns.
Rarely is that true. A little creativity and common sense will go a long way and is likely to reap rewards in terms of motivation, reduced sickness / short term absence as well as staff retention.
In a sector such as ours, with pronounced seasonal variations, ideas such as annual hours contracts, which have been adopted in other industries, would seem to be a have a great degree of potential in meeting the needs of both employers for a variable cost base and some of their employees who are looking for time to travel, pursue hobbies, outside interests etc.
TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
The provision of training that is designed to help employees to develop, not only in their job but personally too, can engender significant loyalty as well as improved performance in the current role and improved potential for the future.
COMMUNICATION
This is more about time than money. Good communication practices are of real value.
More importantly, the converse is true in that poor communication leads to increased cost in a wide variety of ways. (Watch out for an article soon covering communication at work.)
TRAVEL & TRANSPORT
While of course the majority of employees will not be allocated a company car, the facilities for safe car parking, helping to encourage car sharing and proper provision of places for cycles and motor cycles will all help to motivate and retain staff, often for minimal cost and effort. Car sharing in particular can encourage staff retention as they can become locked in to a cost effective means of getting to work.
DISCOUNTS & INCENTIVES
Apart from the possibility of offering “staff sales”, a little effort can bring significant reward in terms of local shopping discounts, possibly in return for some free advertising, bulk buying at a discount and, more recently, tax incentives for staff to buy computers for home use.
LONG SERVICE AWARDS
One of the few remaining tax-efficient ways of rewarding staff is the allocation of a gift or cash sum following completion of a service milestone.
STAFF SUGGESTION SCHEME
Some may argue that this is outdated but in the right circumstances a scheme can generate some new ideas, may bring some savings and rewards are still tax free in certain circumstances.
This can be especially effective when applied to areas directly related to the commercial side of the business i.e. encouraging a wider input from all employees, not just managers, into how the business operates.
Many companies contain a vast reservoir of untapped knowledge, in the shape of years of shared work experience, that a well run and respected scheme can help tap in too.
What all these ‘additional’ measures above do is help to define the culture of an organisation and reinforce the way in which it is perceived to the outside world - whether this is in relation to it’s local area or it’s particular market sector.
The examples above simply demonstrate the value of applying sound management thinking to all areas of a company’s resources - including the human ones.
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