Employment law outlook for 2023. What can SMEs expect?
2023 is likely to be a busy year in employment law with plenty of changes for SME employers to look out for.
The spark for the most significant changes on the horizon is the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill. Yes, it’s another Brexit thing, but this could be seen as tying up all the loose ends from our departure from the EU.
Currently, if there is a conflict between UK and EU law, EU law takes priority. This will stop after 31 December 2023 as this Act allows the government to scrap or replace all the EU laws we have retained since Brexit.
There is a lot to get through and already there is talk of postponing this to 2026. We expect the eventual shake-up of employment law to affect Working Time Regulations, Agency Regulations and TUPE.
Some of these changes will be welcomed by business, such as allowing harmonisation of terms and conditions after TUPE. There is a lot of hype about it all but in the end it may be a totally damp squib!
A slew of private members’ bills is also working through parliament with government support.
When passed these will give workers more rights around requesting flexible working; add further protections for staff against sexual harassment; introduce a right to unpaid carers’ leave for employees who have dependants requiring long-term care; and extending redundancy protection related to maternity, adoption and shared parental leave to include any period of pregnancy and a number of months afterwards.
There may also be legislation introducing a right to neonatal leave and pay; and, for the hospitality sector, new laws on the fair distribution of tips.
All of the above will take time to percolate through parliament; but one thing that’s certain for the first half of 2023 is the raising of various statutory rates on 6th April. Headlines here include the national living wage increasing 9.7% to £10.42 per hour for people from their 23rd birthday, and the statutory sick pay rate rising from £99.35 to £109.40.
Ways to get more productivity from your workforce
Good productivity is at the heart of running a successful business, and yet lots of companies struggle. Indeed, it’s well known that the UK lags many other developed countries when it comes to productivity per hour worked. ONS figures for 2019 show that, surprisingly, compared to France we are nearly 20% less productive!
If you face productivity challenges, it is worth revisiting some management basics to see if any easy wins are available to you. Get this right in your business, and the rewards will follow.
How well defined are your job roles and the responsibilities that accompany them? If team members are unsure of their remit, you may find that they spend time on unnecessary tasks or that important jobs do not get done. You may even uncover a redundant role or roles.
When defining your roles, ensure you set targets so you and your team can measure progress. SMART targets are best – that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely.
Other productivity killers are issues like absence or poor timekeeping. You should have policies which set out your expectations for these and give you a framework to manage non-compliance. With your policy in place, however, you still need to measure performance so be sure to track when people are away or repeatedly late. Talk to us about our HR toolkit software if you want a technological tool to help with this.
Another essential management tool is good communication. Most business owners will know how to create channels like an open-door policy and regular 121s, but if you want more advanced communication training get in touch with your local HR Dept office.
Four weddings and a tribunal?
Love them or loathe them, rom coms are well established in our culture. Just as Hollywood serves up its latest offerings for Valentine’s Day, you may see a romantic drama unfolding a little closer to home – the cliched office romance between staff.
In fact, research says that 25% of people in the UK are paired off with a colleague or former colleague, suggesting managing the fallout from such relationships is a near certainty for most business owners at some point.
While some firms will ban such relationships outright, this is a tricky one to police. That’s not to say, however, that you should do nothing.
Of course, it is not the relationship itself which is the problem, but potential behaviours that go with it, be they over-familiarity and favouritism, or open rows and prejudice; particularly if there is an imbalance of power, i.e. a manager and a staff member are involved.
Clarity is necessary, either through a workplace relationship policy or just your disciplinary policy. Good communication is also needed, so everyone understands what is and isn’t acceptable and what the consequences are for contravening your rules.
This is not the only benefit: being clear on such policies has the added benefit of lessening the risk of sexual harassment from unwanted advances, too – both for employees and in terms of your own liability.
If you want help reviewing your policies or writing new ones, get in touch.
Age is but a number
A Legal and General study has revealed that 2.5 million people feel they need to stay in work for longer because of the cost-of-living crisis, while 1.7 million people think they’ll have to work indefinitely!
This could be timely for many businesses who are struggling to fill roles. But how can you optimise your business for an ageing workforce, making older people feel welcome and valued?
As with other aspects of diversity and inclusion, it may require a cultural reset to see beyond stereotypes and understand their value. That said, people do tend to develop more health issues as they get older and may, for instance, have caring responsibilities – from grandchildren to siblings and even ancient parents.
Like so many other challenges in the workplace, introducing flexible working such as alternative working hours, job shares or hybrid working might be the answer.
The benefits to you include getting those vacant roles filled, having experienced people on the team who can share knowledge, and a more diverse workforce which can connect to a wider customer base.
Flexible friends
When looking at the upcoming changes in 2023 earlier in the newsletter we touched upon a private member’s bill extending rights around requesting flexible working.
Flexible working must always work for the business too, and for some it simply will not be possible. However, it is worth keeping front of mind that it is not limited to working from home. It could mean starting and finishing earlier (or later), job-sharing, compressed hours (working the same number of hours in fewer days), anything that deviates from that traditional nine-to-five office-based view…
The new rules will give employees a day-one right to request flexible working (down from 26 weeks), and reduce your response time from three months to two. Employees will no longer have to explain how you could accommodate their request, and before you refuse it you must consult and explore options with your employee (you can still refuse a request, though).
By embracing flexible working where possible, you will extend the base from which you recruit; and create opportunities for a happier, more productive workforce who can properly balance their work and home lives.
Surreal employment tribunals
From refusing to play older tunes in a gym to being sacked for going to lunch, 2022 saw some bizarre employment tribunals.
Going to court is never a fun experience; but looking from afar, some of the cases we have seen recently do raise eyebrows.
The lady that legitimately lunched angered her boss by taking two colleagues out at a time of company crisis. She was awarded £11,000.
The gym owners were accused of age discrimination by an employee for only playing modern music. They successfully argued their playlist was part of their brand and the claim was thrown out.
In France, a man won £2,500 for exercising his “right to be boring”. He was sacked for not partaking in hedonistic, out-of-hours socialising with his colleagues at a consulting firm.
Of course with expert advice on hand, HR Dept clients are at far lower risk of tribunal. And even if you face a hearing, as long as you followed our advice from the outset you will be protected by our tribunal indemnity insurance.
