Key HR developments
Welcome to our second Caritas HR supplement...
...which develops the themes of managing litigation risk and PAYE/P11D audit issues raised a year ago. As charities have had to balance cost reduction (which has often meant headcount reductions) with increased demands on their services, engaging employees and volunteers (e.g. trustees) in the charitable objectives has never been harder.
This supplement sustains the Caritas standard of ‘essential information’ which has proved so popular with our readers and equips them to align their people management strategy to beating the recession and being fully prepared for an upturn.
- Labour market. At the last count (September 2009), 233,000 individuals had been made redundant and there were 434,000 job vacancies. Unemployment had hit 2.47m and represented 7.9 per cent of the UK workforce.
- Pay. As at 1 October 2009, the minimum wage is £5.80 per hour for workers over 22 years old, £4.83 for 18 to 21-year olds and £3.57 for 16 to 17-year olds. The maximum amount of a week’s pay used to calculate statutory redundancy is £380, making the maximum total payment £11,400.
- Sickness. The sick note system is under review with a proposal to change this to ‘fit notes’. Consultation on The Social Security (Medical Evidence and Statutory Sick Pay (Medical Evidence) Amendment Regulations 2010 began on 28 May 2009 and ended on 19 August 2009. It is anticipated that the changes may be in force sometime in 2010.
- Discrimination. The Equality Bill was published on 24 April 2009. If enacted in its current form it will allow positive discrimination during recruitment in favour of disadvantaged groups when faced with candidates who are otherwise equally qualified, and outlaws any clauses in employment contracts which impose a secrecy obligation stopping employees discussing their pay packages.
- Holiday during sickness. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) decided in Pereda v Madrid Movilidad SA on 10 September 2009 that if a worker is sick during a period of pre-planned annual leave, that worker must be allowed to take that holiday another time.
- Health and safety. From 1 October 2009 the HSE’s new first aid training regime came into effect, shortening the current four-day first aid at work course (FAW) to three days and introducing a new emergency first aid at work course (EFAW) within the requirements.
Author: Clarissa Dann
Clarissa Dann was the editor of Caritas as well as an HR and management online service,he People Bulletin until July 2011.
She is now the editor of the specialist trade finance magazine, Trade and Forfaiting Review which can be viewed at www.tfreview.com but does write on charity finance and investment from time to time.
Clarissa has a background in legal and professional publishing, as well as business journalism and holds an MBA from
There are no comments on this article. Be the first to comment.