The Business Exchange Bath & Somerset Issue 9: Autumn 2018 | Page 18

BUSINESS ADVICE Employing people - how to avoid costly mistakes by Jo Kangurs, Keystone HR Employing people can be a daunting prospect and it is easy to make a mistake thanks to the often complex and changing employment law. Here are six of the biggest mistakes employers make and what you can do to avoid making them. You are legally required to provide your employees with a written statement of their employment particulars (known as a ‘statement of terms’) within the first two months of their employment. As a minimum, the statement must cover their basic terms such as pay, hours of work, location and pension rights, as set out by the Employment Rights Act 1996. It is also important that your contracts are well drafted. Whilst you could download one off the internet for free, it will be very basic and may not protect your business from things like your employees sharing your trade secrets or your customer list or setting up in competition with you. 2. Not having HR Policies If you have five or more employees, it is essential that you have a written health and safety policy in place which sets out both employer and employee responsibilities along with written grievance, disciplinary and data protection policies. If you don’t have HR policies, it’s unlikely you have provided written guidance for employees and management on how to handle a range of employment issues, which can lead to a failure to follow the correct process. 3. Not checking references or the right to work All employers in the UK have a responsibility to prevent illegal migrant working which means there is a very strict process you need to follow for every employee, to check they are allowed to work in the UK. This is a hot topic right now with Brexit looming, and in 2016 the law changed to crack down on illegal working and make it easier to punish companies that employee illegal workers. 4. Dismissing someone without going through the correct procedure first. If you need to dismiss someone, for any reason, it is essential that you follow the correct procedure first including carrying out an investigation, obtaining witnesses statements and holding a disciplinary hearing. If you fail to follow the correct procedure and your employee brings a claim for unfair dismissal and wins, the employment tribunal can award up to 25% uplift in any compensation. 5. Not taking employee complaints seriously. From time to time you may receive an employee complaint and, more often than not, it isn’t anything to worry about. However, if it’s something they repeat often, it’s of a serious nature or if they put a complaint in writing, you do need to take it seriously and take action. 6. Not nipping poor performance in the bud. If you allow people to under-perform, you are setting yourself up for a problem. Of course, everyone will have days where they aren’t on top form, but don’t let it carry on for weeks / months / years on end. If you let it continue, either your overall performance as a business will suffer, or you’ll find that it will become harder to manage in the long-run because you’ve tolerated it for so long. If you would like to find out more about the key issues facing employers and how to tackle them without making costly mistakes, contact Jo Kangurs by emailing: [email protected] Faculty of Engineering & Design Connecting Talent to Opportunity OUR VISION: To encourage partnerships with international industry to turn business ideas into commercial reality, solve real world problems through knowledge transfer and research and to provide your current and future employees with the skills they need for 21st century careers. HOW CAN WE WORK TOGETHER? The Faculty of Engineering & Design at the University of Bath want to develop tailored, mutually beneficial partnerships for all. • Advertise your graduate careers directly to our students • Work with our students and academic scholars to solve business problems through research projects or internships • Upskill your current employees through our successful postgraduate degrees • Share business practice and ideas with our faculty and cultivate cross-cultural solutions • Acquire an international perspective working with our multicultural students and staff • You choose… How can we work together? CONTACT: [email protected] MORE INFO: www.bath.ac.uk/faculties/faculty-of-engineering-design/ 18 THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2018 1. Not having employment contracts (or properly drafted ones)