3 Pearls Of Wisdom For 2018
Dear
I know what you’re thinking – we’re nearly 6 months into 2018, why are you getting one of these emails now? The answer is simple really. There is no time limit on improving your business processes. And there are a number of legal issues that we’ve seen our clients come up against in the last 6 months that we would like to share and solve with you. But since writing all of them down would take far too much of your precious time, we’ve picked 3 to go through today.
Knowledge Of Disability (And Why It Matters)
Handling employees with a disability is a bit of a difficult topic for employers, and often sees them treading on eggshells. There is a concern that they will be accused of discrimination against a disability – which is something no one wants! Of course, this leads to the issue of an employer’s knowledge of the disability, which is what we want to talk about today.
In case you need a refresher, if an employee is disabled under the Equality Act 2010, then their employer (you) must make reasonable adjustments to elements of their job which put them at a substantial disadvantage, compared to non-disabled employees. So if an employee needs a ramp to access the building, or a specialised keyboard or a hearing loop, you will need to provide those things. This is known as the ‘duty to make reasonable adjustments.’ However, there is a defence to this duty if you did not know and could not reasonably have been expected to know that the employee was disabled. If the employee then brings you to tribunal over discrimination, you have a reasonable defence.
To find out more about the case that brought this to light, click here.
3 Reasons Companies Lose Employment Tribunal Cases
It’s one of the worst things an employer can imagine. An employee has such a grievance with your business, that they have successfully taken their case to a tribunal. With the recent abolishment of tribunal fees, there has been a sharp rise in employees taking their employers to court to reconcile employment issues. Your business can be taken to tribunal for many reasons – from unfair dismissal to pay and discrimination. There, a judge will decide who is in the right, and award compensation accordingly. Today, I wanted to look at just three reasons (and believe me, it was tough to choose just 3) that businesses can be on the losing end of a tribunal case.
To find out more, read our blog
4 Things To Do Before Hiring A New Employee
1. Work Out What You Need
As a business owner, you probably need help with a lot of things. And when your business is growing and successful, you might be tempted to hire someone to do a bit of everything. But you can’t post an ad with that! Instead of being broad, pin it down and think of two to three specific tasks you will need to be done that are taking up too much of your time. For example, if you were running an e-commerce business, then you could say you need someone to help pack and ship. For a flooring company, you may need someone to help you gather the supplies, prep a workspace and help lay the flooring. From there, the more detailed you are with your job description, the more qualified the applicant will be.
2. Never Settle, Actively Recruit
If you were to put a job ad online today, odds are you will get hundreds of CV’s flooding in. But just because you have the quantity, doesn’t mean the quality if there. So don’t just sit there waiting for the CV’s to pour in, and then settle for the best of the bunch. Instead, try thinking outside the box and actively recruiting. Reach out to local businesses to see if they know anyone looking for a job, skin profiles on LinkedIn and actually search for an employee that meets your requirements.
To find out what the other 2 things you should do are, ready our blog here
Best,
Zahir Mohammed
Employment Solicitor
0203 669 2216
