The DIY letter that cost £1000.   (How not to handle a retirement)

National Minimum Wage increases   From 1st October 2007

VERY IMPORTANT: When is a grievance not a grievance…….???   Rarely, it seems.

Do you really need safety tests on those computers, kettles etc?   

The truth may hurt.....   however it's better to know.

Anglian Business Awards 2007   Picasso HR sponsors Young Business Person

The DIY letter that cost £1000.

You know that if you go to a solicitor and the solicitor writes a letter for you it may cost you two hundred pounds or so. You may not be too pleased when you get the bill. Well how about writing a letter yourself, then getting a bill for over £1,000! That’s precisely what happened to the Practice Administrator at a Dental Surgery in Gravesend, Kent. She found out the hard way that there is a right and a wrong way to handle a retirement, as you will see from the following story….

Mrs Martin had just celebrated her 70th birthday. It was a lovely party and she had invited her colleagues from the dentist’s surgery where she had a part-time cleaning job.  She enjoyed the work although it seemed to get a little bit harder every year. Perhaps it was her age. But the job itself wasn’t too difficult. Every evening she followed the same routine. When everyone had left the surgery, she let herself in and went to the cupboard where the cleaning materials were kept.

This evening when she opened the cupboard she saw a letter with her name on it. That wasn’t unusual. They always left her payslips there. But there was something different about this one, so she opened it at once.

The letter was from the practice administrator.

It said “I’m sorry for having to break some bad news to you, due to your age and health problems you have fallen into the high risk category for health and safety. We cannot allow you to continue cleaning at the practice because of you being high risk.”

Mrs Martin was devastated. How could they do that to her? Nobody had ever complained about her work and what did they mean by saying she was a safety risk?

And anyway hadn’t she been reading about a new law, where they couldn’t just sack you because you were over 65?

Mrs Martin decided to ask at the Citizen’s Advice Bureau…….

Four months later Mrs Martin had her day in court (well it was Ashford Employment Tribunal actually). The Tribunal found that Mrs Martin had been unfairly dismissed and unlawfully discriminated against because of her age. They pointed out that the employer had not produced any medical evidence to justify saying she was a high-risk for health and safety.

So Mrs Martin won her case and was awarded compensation for unfair dismissal.

And what about the £1000 letter?

Well Mrs Martin didn’t just claim unfair dismissal. She also claimed for age-discrimination. And when discrimination is proved, tribunals can award damages for injury to feelings. The tribunal at Ashford took one look at the letter that Mrs Martin received and awarded her an extra £1,030 because of the way she had been treated.

The tragedy of this case is that it would have been so easy for the employer to retire Mrs Martin properly. All they had to do was write to her and give her notice of retirement (6 months ideally). The procedure must allow Mrs Martin to make a request to continue working and to appeal if she is not happy with the final decision.

Retiring an employee should be easy because employers are not required to justify their decision (provided the employee is over the age of 65). The important thing is to follow the retirement procedure. And for Picasso HR clients all you have to do is let us know when an employee reaches 64, so we can guide you through the correct procedures.

National Minimum Wage increases

The National Minimum Wage increases with effect from 1st October 2007 as follows:

• adults (which means people aged 22 and over) will receive the full rate of £5.52 an hour
• a 'development rate' of £4.60 an hour will be paid to workers aged 18 to 21 inclusive
• young people (those older than school leaving age and younger than 18, you're under school leaving age until the end of summer term of the school year in which you turn 16) will receive  £3.40 an hour
  

Apprentices under the age of 19 are not entitled to the National Minimum Wage. Apprentices who are 19 or over and in the first 12 months of their apprenticeship are not entitled to the National Minimum Wage.

VERY IMPORTANT: When is a grievance not a grievance…….???

Since the introduction of the Statutory Grievance Procedure, the goal posts seem to keep shifting over what counts as a grievance from an employee. In the old days, it was easy – if it was written down by the employee and had the word ‘grievance’ in it, you could be fairly sure that’s what it was.

Then came e-mails – could these count as grievances? According to the courts, yes, they can. The same applies to a letter from a solicitor acting on behalf of the employee. Eventually it was no longer necessary for the word ‘grievance’ to be used for it to count as a grievance – just a written complaint will do.

Now comes the best bit – does it have to be written down by the employee themselves to count? Apparently not.  In the recent case of Kennedy Scott Limited v Francis (Employment Appeal Tribunal – May 2007), the Employment Tribunal found that where an employee had raised a verbal complaint with their manager, and the manager made notes during the discussion, these notes constituted Stage One of the Statutory Grievance Procedure. The employer appealed to the EAT on the basis that the discussion took place under the informal stage of the company’s grievance procedure and the written complaint had not been generated directly by the employee themselves.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal felt that the purpose for making the written record was irrelevant. Neither did it matter that at the same time the notes were taken the manager was discussing the nature of the grievance with a view to resolving it. The key thing was whether the grievance had been set out and sent to the employer which, in this case, they felt it had. The employer’s appeal was rejected.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has decided that the only essential requirement of a grievance is that the substance of a complaint is raised by way of a written "statement" before a claim is lodged in the tribunal. It does not insist that the written “statement” must come from the employee.

What should I do?

So, what should you do when an employee mentions the dreaded phrase, ‘can I have a quick word?’ In practical terms, listen to any complaint the employee makes and see if the matter can be resolved informally without the need for making notes. If it becomes necessary to record what the employee is saying, explain that it would be helpful for the employee to submit a written version of their complaint so that it can be dealt with under the company’s grievance procedure.

Need any help drafting or reviewing a grievance procedure? Contact any of the team at Picasso HR and we’ll be pleased to help.

Do you really need safety tests on those computers, kettles etc?

Knock knock. Who’s there?

“Pat”

Pat who?

“Pat Tester” I’m a qualified electrician and it’s my job to test portable appliances”. “Did you know that by law portable electrical equipment has to be tested every year?”

A lot of people believe PAT, and he has done very well for himself. Just look at that smart new white van parked outside.

Clearly, electricity is a serious hazard. In fact 18 people died at work last year in the UK due to electrocution. And that’s the highest number of electrocutions for ten years. But the fact is that office equipment doesn’t need the same kind of testing as (say) a pressure-washer in a goods-yard.

Do you ever look at all those wires and cables under your desk? Connected to computers, printers, screens, communications and networking equipment. Not to mention the portable fan, desk-light, charger for your phone, kettle, toaster and microwave.

They all go under the collective name of Portable Electrical Appliances. And Portable Appliance Testing is what PAT is all about.

You can always tell when PAT has been around because he leaves little stickers on plugs and leads. Like the ones you get on apples but these are bigger, with the test date on them.

But, you ask yourself. Is it all really necessary?

Well HSE has a very useful leaflet on the subject. It goes under the racy title of “Maintaining portable electrical equipment in offices and other low-risk environments”. It’s only 13 pages and you can download it from the HSE website.

HSE’s basic message is that most office equipment is double-insulated and low-risk so it doesn’t need electrical testing.

The main danger occurs when equipment, plugs or leads get damaged. And this kind of damage can be revealed by a straightforward visual inspection.

In fact HSE says that 95% of faults and damage can be identified just by looking.

 
Of course this means having a proper look. Examining each piece of equipment, lead and plug in turn and really checking that they are in sound condition. But as long as you do this, you don’t need PAT to do any testing.

Sorry PAT.

So what should PAT be doing?

Well the recommendation is that earthed-equipment (having three wires as opposed to two wires for double-insulated) should be tested. Electric kettles, floor cleaners and extension leads will come into this category. HSE recommend they are tested at intervals from one to five years, depending on use.

And if PAT’s workload gets a little slack, don’t blame us. In July, HSE’s myth–of-the-month was that “all office electrical equipment must be tested by a qualified electrician every year”.

The truth may hurt.....

How do you know what your employees are really thinking? You could speak to them. Do you really think you will get an honest answer?

You could speak to your managers about how "the troops" are feeling, what are the issues etc. Unfortunately there is plenty of evidence to suggest that information flow up and throughout an organisation is systematically distorted to meet the needs of the person passing on the information.

The fact is, there is only one way to find out. Collect information directly and anonymously. That's where Picasso HR can help.

We have the experience and capability to help you implement a comprehensive Staff Survey throughout your organisation. From working with you about the business problem, through to design of the feedback, and finally assistance with reporting and interpreting the results. We can also help with getting the right communication back to people in the organisation. And finally we are experts in producing solutions to people management issues within organisations.

Our flexibility in providing tailored solutions means that you can request as much or as little support from us as you need.

If you would like to see a sample in action, take a look at our demonstration. You can get more information at our web site here.

Anglian Business Awards 2007

This award, sponsored by Picasso HR,  is open to any individual aged under 35 on July 1st 2007 who has demonstrated exceptional vision and leadership, either in running his or her own business, or in a larger company. The judges will be looking for someone who has shown exceptional flair and can demonstrate sales growth, profitability, marketing skills and ingenuity.

For a comprehensive guide to the entry criteria go to www.eadt.co.uk/aba

All entries must be received by 9am on October 5, 2007.

The information in this newsletter is of a general nature and is not a substitute for professional advice. You are recommended to obtain specific professional advice before you take any action.

For further information, advice or assistance on any of the matters raised in this newsletter please contact Picasso HR on 01473 890037.

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