Whatever your feelings are about the wedding it is worth checking the wording of your contracts to establish whether you do actually have to give staff the day off and pay for it.

If your contracts are specifically worded to say that staff get e.g. 20 days plus the 8 normal bank/public holidays you do not have to give it or pay it as extra (unless of course you want  to!)

If your contracts say that staff get 20 days plus bank/public holidays then it looks highly likely that you will have to give it and pay it.

If you want to find out more or have your wording reviewed just get in touch

Age 21 and over £5.93 per hour

Age 18 – 20 £ 4.92 per hour

Age 16 and 17 £3.64 per hour

New rate for apprentices under 19 (or over 19 and in their 1st year) is £2.50 per hour.

New for 2010 the top rate now applies to those over 21 (previously it was over 22)

TOP TIP: If you pay your staff a salary based on their normal working hours at minimum wage, be careful if they work unpaid overtime as they will fall below minimum wage and you will have breached the regulations.

It is useful to round up the hourly rate to take account of occasional extra unpaid hours worked by salaried staff.

For more information and advice, just call Natasha on 07736 814 552

The National Minimum Wage (NMW) hourly rates from 1 October 2009 are:

• Standard (adult) rate: £5.80 (rising from £5.73)

• Development rate: £4.83 (rising from £4.77)

• Young workers rate: £3.57 (rising from £3.53)

Also, from the 1st October 2009 it is now unlawful to include tips and gratuities in payment of the National Minimum Wage.  A code of practice is available to all those in the service industries where tips are an issue – please follow this link http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/employment/pay/index.html

For more information and advice, just call Natasha on 07736 814 552

An employee who becomes sick whilst on holiday is now entitled to delay that holiday to be taken at a later date. 

In order to stop employment law taking over and leaving your employees free to take a holiday, then declare that they were sick and take the holiday again later, you can do the following:

• Update your staff contracts and handbooks to specify the process for reporting in sick when they are on holiday – this should ask them to call in sick on the day they become ill on holiday and make it clear that failure to follow the procedure may result in them being unable to retake their holiday later on.
• Require them to provide proof of their illness in the form of a Doctors note, even if this is from a foreign Doctor or Hospital.  Alternatively, their insurer may be able to provide proof documentation.
• Require a Doctors note from the 1st day of absence – if they have to pay for this you can offer to reimburse them if it proves their illness. 
• Carry out a return to work interview on their first day back.

For further assistance on the employee holiday rights and HR and Employment Law support please call Natasha at Grassroots HR on 07736 814 552 for expert Employment Law and Human Resources advice that puts business owners back in control.

I’d love to hear your views on this situation – so, what do you think?

Here at Grassroots HR we provide expert employment law and practical advice on how to conduct an appropriate induction.  We will even come to your business to carry out a full induction process with your new members of staff.

A thorough induction has many benefits:

1. Bringing the new employee up to speed quickly

2. Making them feel welcome and settled – therefore more productive

3. Reducing the incidence of early resignation

4. Avoiding unecessary disciplnary issues by covering all the Company rules and expectations up front.

So if you want to stay ahead of the competition and ensure your new staff are working productively from day one, it is a very worthwhile investment  to use a Human Resources Expert to induct your staff and provide a comprehensive Contract and Handbook.