Keeping it legal

The new Employment Act that comes into practice in April will effectively do away with the grievance, dismissal and disciplinary procedures that are currently used to deal with disputes in the workplace. At the moment, if an employer dismisses an employee without following the dismissal and disciplinary procedures, then the dismissal is deemed to be automatically unfair – regardless of the reason for dismissal – and the employee can claim compensation. The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) statutory Code of Practice moves away from the present rigid three-step procedure, and replaces it with an emphasis on the early resolution of problems, with a minimum of cost and formality, and a preference for disputes being resolved in the workplace rather than going to a tribunal. ACAS will also be providing training and a free early conciliation service. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) Annual Survey 2008 found that six out of ten respondents had managed conflict in the workplace in the last seven days (with warring egos and personality clashes the most common cause), but 27% of managers had received no training whatsoever in conflict resolution. It seems as though that ACAS training could be much in demand. The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform provides additional information on all aspects of the Employment Act 2008.

The new Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC; there is a separate Scottish Commission) replaces the Commission for Racial Equality, Disability Rights Commission and Equal Opportunities Commission, and is championing the Equality Bill, which was presented to the House of Commons in the summer of 2008 and is due to become an Act at some point this year. The Bill includes the principle of Public Sector Duty which could give publicly funded arts organisations a legal obligation to meet the needs of the diverse communities they serve. For HR professionals, the principle of Public Sector Procurement will potentially have a significant impact on recruitment practices. For example, it may mean that publicly-funded arts organisations cannot use head hunting alone to appoint staff; or that they will have to provide an evidence trail to inspectorates (perhaps the arts councils?) that a diverse pool of applicants has been solicited. The EHRC also wants the Equality Bill to support measures that promote equal pay, for example, by obliging publicly-funded organisations to make publish information on how they make decisions about pay and benefits.
Managing the Downturn (2)
A recent report published by the CIPD (‘Outlook 2009 – a radar for HR’) on the economic downturn, shows that up to 600,000 jobs could be lost during 2009; many from small businesses, which are closing at a rate of around 85 every day, and around 200,000 in the retail and hospitality sectors as a result of ‘muted’ consumer spending. My previous column (AP179) considered ways in which organisations can manage the downturn. However, given that the outlook seems to have deteriorated further it makes sense to share whatever knowledge we have, so here are two other things I have come across since then.
In January, KPMG launched a programme for staff called ‘Flexible Futures’. KPMG may be enormous and global, but the organisation is still flexible enough to take an idea from the drawing board to launch in four weeks (including the Christmas holidays). In essence, they are asking their people to volunteer to change their terms and conditions of employment for 18 months. As and when required during this 18-month period, partners and staff will reduce their working week by one day, unpaid; or take between four and 12 weeks’ leave at 30% pay. They can volunteer for either or both of these, and the maximum salary loss in any calendar year is capped at 20%. There is a collective memory within the organisation of the last recession, where they believe they lost their competitive advantage by making talented staff redundant too quickly, and Flexible Futures is an attempt to avoid a repeat. Another resource is a guide for small businesses on managing the downturn published by the EHRC. It wants to help small businesses that often do not have in-house access to professional HR advice, and to provide practical advice on how to avoid discrimination when managing redundancies.