Being part of a family business can seem like a dream come true for many people. The opportunity to work alongside your nearest and dearest to pursue your goals and create financial independence is something that can have huge appeal, so it’s no surprise that Harvard Business School has reported that family firms account for two thirds of businesses across …
Five critical actions for managing an employee grievance
If a member of your staff brought up a grievance, would you know how to handle it? Regardless of how good your people practices may be, and how capable your managers are, you might find yourself in a situation whereby you need to follow a formal grievance procedure. This procedure should be included in your staff handbook, and it should …
Make sure you’re ready for national living wage
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past six months, you’ll no doubt be more than aware that the new regulations regarding National Living Wage will soon be rolled out. From 1st April 2016, workers in the UK aged over 25 earning the current minimum wage of £6.70 per hour will be entitled to a 50p increase. It’s …
Should you snoop on your employees?
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that employers can justify reading their workers’ online private messages. An engineer in Romania asked the judges to rule that his employer had breached his right to confidential correspondence, but it was ultimately decided that the individual had broken the terms of his employment by sending messages on company time. Interesting, …
Statutory rates of pay 2016
The statutory rates of maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental pay and sick pay normally increase each April in line with the consumer price index. However, the Government has announced that there will be no increase in 2016 due to negative inflation. The rate of statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental pay will, therefore, remain at £139.58 per week (or …