Auto-Enrolment

Last month we provided you with advice on establishing your company’s staging date for auto-enrolment. This is the important first step to planning for auto-enrolment.   This guidance sets out the next steps once your staging date is confirmed.

Assessing your workforce

All employers with 250 employees or less will have to comply between April 2014 and May 2017.  It is important to assess your workforce in order to understand the worker categories for auto enrolment. 

What is a worker?

Your duties as an employer extend to all workers within your business, but not as far as contractors or self-employed individuals who may be working with you for a limited period. A ‘worker’ is defined by the contractual agreement that you have in place with an individual and as a general rule individuals are likely to be considered a worker if they:

·    Work under a contract of employment, or

·    Have a contract to perform work or services personally and  not undertaking the work as   part of their own business.

There are often many types of workers within each organisation, including permanent, temporary, fixed term and casual. 

Worker categories for auto-enrolment

Workers will be organised into 1 of 3 groups for auto-enrolment purposes and you will need to ensure that you have the following details for each member of your team:

•       The workers age

•       Whether the worker is working or normally works in the UK or overseas

•       The workers earnings

This information will place each individual worker into one of the auto-enrolment categories listed below:

Earnings	Age
	16 - 21	22 - State pension age	State pension age - 74
Less than £5,772	Entitled Worker
Between £5,773 - £10,000	Non-eligible Jobholder
£10,000+	Non-eligible Jobholder	Eligible Jobholder	Non-eligible Jobholder

1. Eligible Jobholder

•       This category of worker will be automatically enrolled

•       Employee has right to ‘opt out’

•       Employer MUST make the minimum contributions

 2. Non-eligible Jobholder

•       Will not be automatically enrolled

•       Employee has right to ‘opt in’

•       Employer MUST make minimum contributions

3. Entitled Worker

•       Will not be automatically enrolled

•       Employee has right to apply

•       Employer NOT required to make contributions

Tamar HR’s view

Generally most employers will already have the required information in place through their payroll systems, but if not it’s a good opportunity to update your records.

Many payroll systems will automatically determine the relevant categories.  Your chosen pension provider may also provide advice. Different pension providers will offer different levels of support, so it’s worth doing some research on the available options and take advice from a financial advisor to ensure that you are getting the best scheme that is available to your business.

 
Next month we will be taking a look at the contribution levels for auto-enrolment and making you aware of both the employer and employee percentages both now and in the future. This can help with financial planning and forecasting.  If you would like to discuss auto-enrolment for your business in more detail, please don’t hesitate to contact Matt at Tamar HR, who will be happy to provide you with support.

Auto-enrolment

Auto enrolment, staging date, eligible worker and work place pension are all terms that you may have heard recently through the media, but what do they really mean and is your business ready for the changes? Over the coming months Tamar HR will be providing you with more helpful tips to assist you in the auto-enrolment process.

 

Auto-enrolment is very much alive and kicking, with over 1 million people having been already enrolled into a workplace pension since the roll out began in October 2012. For many small and medium sized employers the approach has been to put it to the bottom of the pile and worry about it when your time comes. This can be a risky strategy as there is a lot of preparation work required to identify a suitable pension scheme that meets the Government’s requirements for auto enrolment.  This preparation work takes some time so Tamar HR would advise all employers with 250 employees or less who have not yet made any provision for these changes to act now to ensure they meet their staging date in good time.  All businesses will have to comply between April 2014 and May 2017.

 

Often we find that the hardest part of any process is knowing where to start. Thankfully Tamar HR can point you in the right direction and it all begins with identifying your staging date.

 

Staging Date

 

Each company will have a unique staging date that will be determined by the number of employees you have on your payroll. The best way to think of your staging date is the date at which the law will apply to you and you will need to ensure that you are prepared by the time your date arrives.

 

Finding your staging date couldn’t be easier, simply visit the Pension Regulator website at www.thepensionregulator.gov.uk and click on the ‘Find out your staging date’ section. You will be presented with a box like the one pictured below and all you need to do is enter your PAYE reference to be provided with your specific date.

 

 

Once you know your staging date you can begin to think about your preparations for auto-enrolment and how to comply with your duties as an employer.

 

A common question asked by employers is can I change my Staging Date? The simple answer is yes; however you can only bring your date forward and in most circumstances you are unable to delay the date in which you need to comply. Should you wish to bring your date forward, you will need to contact the Pensions Regulator to inform them of your intentions. Any new date will need to be at least one month before your original date.

 

Tamar HR’s view

 

Act early. As soon as you know your staging date we recommend that you start to develop your plan. The whole auto-enrolment process will take 12 – 18 months to complete effectively, so give yourself plenty of time to prepare as there are several areas to consider. It’s also worth mentioning that auto-enrolment is not optional for employers and there is a legal requirement to comply, so don’t get caught out by leaving it too late. There is plenty of help available out there and we would be happy to point you in the right direction.

 

Next month we will be focusing on employer duties in relation to auto-enrolment. If you would like to discuss auto-enrolment for your business in more detail before this, please don’t hesitate to contact us here at Tamar HR, where we would be happy to provide you with support.



7 Tips to be more effective as a manager

 

Ineffective managers can have a negative effect on a business. Their actions and attitude towards their team will influence and effect the way that each individual operates and the focus must be on how to achieve results and motivate the team working with you.

 

1) Be proactive

 

Many managers take a reactive approach to dealing with issues and will leave situations until boiling point before taking action to resolve a matter. An effective manager will be able to identify when tensions are rising and often intervening at any early stage can defuse a situation and allow you to take control.

 

2) Acknowledge the positive

 

Make sure that you see the positives in your staff and their work. By only focusing on the negative aspects of each individual, you risk demoralising people and decreasing their productivity. I’m sure you have heard the term ‘positivity breeds positivity’, and you may be surprised how far genuine and meaningful praise can go. Obviously things don’t always go right or according to plan during the working day, but by giving clear instruction and praise when things are put right, your team will be encouraged and remain motivated to complete their tasks.  Adopt an approach which is focussed on continuous learning, particularly if mistakes or errors are made.  It is fine for managers to hold others to account for the work they produce, this can help to create the right performance culture based on high quality and achieving good business outcomes.

 

3) Lead by example

 

If you want your team to behave in a certain way, then lead by example. It’s not fair to expect your employees to do something if you are not doing this yourself.  It is important to model good effective behaviour to staff.  Anyone in a management role knows that they are constantly in the spotlight and other team members will look for your lead, particularly during periods of significant challenge or adversity.  Many managers find it helpful to ‘walk the floor’ by being close to the front end operations of the business, seeking feedback from those at the sharp end who are delivering services or providing products for the end consumer. 

 

4) Select the best people

A manager is only as good as the team around them. Give yourself a better chance to succeed by carefully selecting the right people for the job when recruiting, having a positive induction process to ensure the new employee is up to speed quickly and effectively performance managing the team that you inherit so they have a clear understanding of what is expected of them.  If any individuals are under performing, adopt a fair and consistent approach in line with your internal policies to encourage and support improvement.

 

5) Communicate

Communication may be the most important aspect of effective management. Without effective communication, you can’t motivate or lead your team and they won’t understand the goal that you are working towards. Your team will depend on your communication so it’s worth investing the time to ensure that this is being achieved. Effective communication comes with practice, so keep at it and you will find the best method that works for you and your team.  Team engagement should be a regular two way process, enabling all staff to feel valued and make a contribution towards team success.  Consider if your staff engagement processes are working effectively in the minds of those you are managing.

 

6) Improve yourself

Ensure that you make time to reflect on your own development needs yourself. If you focus too much on the development of your team and forget about yourself, people will not feel like they are able to progress working under you. Keep your own development plan interesting and varied and take advice from those who can share the necessary knowledge to help you succeed.  Identify areas in which you need to develop and work to improve them to keep yourself motivated and ahead of the game.

 

7) Take a break

Excessive amounts of stress means you are likely to less effective as a manager. Give yourself a chance to relax and recharge your batteries, so that you can remain sharp and keep the momentum of your productivity. It’s a fact that you are likely to be less tolerant when stressed, so ensure that you make the time to have a good work-life balance.  Think about your own health and wellbeing, as well as that of your team.  Businesses that adopt a supportive and positive approach to proactive wellbeing are likely to have less stress related absence, lower staff turnover and higher levels of productivity and output.

 

If you would like to discuss how your business can develop its approach to leadership and management, please don’t hesitate to contact one of the team here at Tamar HR.

Smoking in the Workplace

New research by the British Heart Foundation has revealed that the average smoker takes four, 10 minutes breaks during each working day, costing British Businesses £8.4bn a year in lost productivity.

 

It’s estimated that one in five workers in the UK is a smoker and the research also showed that the average smoker will take almost a day (0.7) more sick leave compared to a non-smoking colleague.

 

It’s been almost 7 years since the workplace smoking ban came into force in the UK, which made it illegal to smoke in all enclosed workplaces including vehicles. Whilst most employers encourage breaks and rest periods, it’s important to ensure that all of your employees are being treated fairly regardless of whether they smoke or not. If the smokers in your workforce are taking additional break periods, then you should also consider whether other members of your team are given the same additional break periods during the working day. The thought of giving all your staff additional break periods may leave employers thinking about their smoking policies and procedures and if they are taking the right approach.

 

There is no employee right to allow additional smoking breaks outside of an employee’s normal break periods and it’s important that managers and business owners set a consistent standard around break periods to ensure that members of the team do not abuse the rules. Often employers will include a smoking policy in the company handbook or team guide that will reinforce the break periods each employee is entitled to during the working day.

 

The research conducted by the British Heart Foundation also highlighted that 7 out of 10 smokers would welcome the support of their employer to help them give up smoking all together. There are many services available to assist with this and often there is no cost to the business. Taking a pro-active approach to your employee’s health and wellbeing can be beneficial to the worker but also for the wider business. Increased staff morale and improved sickness absence levels are just some of the areas that could benefit..

 

Services available

 

Smokefree – www.nhs.uk/smokefree

 

Quit – www.quit.org.uk

 

Electronic Cigarettes

 

In recent years different forms of electronic cigarettes have become popular. These can either be an alternative to smoking or as nicotine replacement, but many questions have been asked about how employers should treat this form of smoking.

 

Currently there is a lack of regulation surrounding electronic cigarettes, although it has been recently announced that they will be licenced as a medicine in the UK from 2016. This leaves an employer to decide on an appropriate policy for the business. There has been little evidence on the effectiveness of electronic cigarettes to date and the British Medical Association have questioned the safety of the chemicals which are used in the devices. Further research is needed to establish the long term safety of these devices and we anticipate further guidelines in the near future.

 

Our view is that business should consider electronic cigarettes within their smoking policy, as part of a wider view about supporting staff wellbeing.  Clearly businesses should respect the rights of individuals who choose to smoke, but also offer alternatives to those who may wish to consider giving up.  If you would like any further advice on smoking in the workplace or how to update your policy, please don’t hesitate to speak to one of the team at Tamar HR.

Auto-enrolment Seminars

Some of the biggest UK employers have been automatically enrolling their employees into workplace pension schemes since October 2012. So far the changes to workplace pensions have been very successful with less than 10% of employees opting out of a scheme and many people joining a pension scheme for the first time. By 2018 all UK employers will have to go through the auto-enrolment process and ensure that they comply with the new rules.

Although your staging date may be well into the future, many employers are unaware of the time needed to prepare for auto-enrolment with some companies needing more than a year to put everything in place.

To help you think about how a workplace pension will work for your company Tamar HR have teamed up with Peter Lee, Independent Financial Advisor from DFP Solutions to offer a short seminar focusing on the key facts of auto-enrolment and what employers need to think about before their staging date comes around.

The seminar will focus on the following areas:

·         Why auto-enrolment is happening

·         Employers duties

·         Assessing your workforce

·         Communication with staff

·         The process

·         Investment solutions

·         Challenges & risks

·         Advisor services

 
To bring this event to as many of our clients as possible, we will be running the seminar in both Devon and Cornwall on the following dates:

Wednesday 5^th February 2014

Plymouth Science Park, Derriford, Plymouth: 12.30pm – 2pm

Wednesday 26^th February 2014

Epiphany House, Truro : 13.30pm – 2pm

If you would like further information or to book your free place, call Tamar HR today on 01579 343700.

5 Employment Law Changes coming up in 2014

2013 saw a number of significant changes in employment law. We saw the introduction of tribunal fees for the first time in the UK, reduced consultation periods for collective redundancies and changes in criminal record checks, including the introduction of the Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check.

1) Changes to TUPE will come into force

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has now confirmed that the changes to TUPE will take effect as from 31^st January 2014. The changes aim to help employers and staff in a business that is changing ownership, go through a process that is easy, effective and fair. TUPE can be a complex area, so if your business is planning to buy or sell aspects of the operation that will involve employees transferring their employment, you can seek advice from the Tamar HR team at an early stage so that we can assist you through the process.

2) Early Conciliation to be introduced

You may already be aware that employment tribunal fees were introduced in 2013. The next stage to these reforms is the introduction of early conciliation from ACAS. This will mean that any individual wishing to make a claim to the employment tribunal will need to notify ACAS before they do so. At this point ACAS will offer conciliation to try and resolve the dispute between the employee and employer without the need for going to a full Tribunal hearing. The Government hope that this change along with the introduction of tribunal fees will ease some of the £80 million pound cost to run employment tribunal service each year.

3) The right to request flexible working will be extended to all employees

From Spring 2014, all employees will have the right to request flexible working. As an employer, you don’t have to accept every request that is made, but you do have a duty to consider requests and take a consistent approach when deciding if the request can be accommodated. Flexible working can have many benefits, with increased commitment from staff, increased productivity and may open up a role to a wider talent pool when recruiting. The impact on the business should also be fully considered before responding to the employee. 

4) Sick pay, maternity, paternity and adoption pay will increase

On 6^th April 2014 many statutory payments that employers make will have their rates increased. Please see the table below for the current rates and the new rates that will apply. We may also see a national minimum wage increase in October 2014, although the rate has not yet been confirmed.

	2013 Rate (current)	2014 Rate (from 6th April)
Statutory Sick Pay	£86.70	£87.55
Statutory Maternity Pay	£136.78	£138.18
Statutory Paternity Pay	£136.78	£138.18
Statutory Adoption Pay	£136.78	£138.18

 

5) Employers with over 60 staff will have to automatically enrol workers onto a pension scheme

You will be aware that Auto enrolment requires all employers to offer employees access to a workplace pension scheme.  The timing of this depends on number of employees and the size of the payroll.  All UK businesses will have to comply by 2018 and this year will focus on employers with staff between 50 and 500. We recommend that you act now even if you do not have to comply this year, as the process to get a scheme up and running and communicate this to your staff can take significant time. If you would like to know your staging date, contact us with your company PAYE payroll details and we will be able to assist you in your preparations.

If you would like to know more about any of the changes expected in 2014, please don’t hesitate to contact one of the team here at Tamar HR.

How Effective is your Appraisal System?

A new challenge is upon us now that we are in 2014 and it’s the time of year when many organisations decide to complete their staff appraisals to help them prepare for the year ahead. But how effective is your company’s appraisal system?

For many businesses appraisals have become a paper exercise that result in the same process being completed without reviewing or developing the system. Many appraisal systems are overcomplicated and rely on the same questions asked each year even though the business and its employees have developed significantly. 

Over the past year the team at Tamar HR have been working with our clients to develop their appraisal and performance review systems. The most important thing is that the system needs to work for your business and it should be used as an opportunity to plan, develop and resolve the issues that are raised. An effective appraisal should be a 2 way process with feedback from each party to recognise good work and identify any short comings before working together to plan how to move forward.

Many of our clients have taken a new approach that we have developed known as a ‘Job Chat’ system. This is a streamlined and simple mechanism for recording key outcomes with your staff, which takes away a more rigid and prescriptive annual approach.  A Job Chat encourages regular engagement between managers and their team. It works by having a manager meet with each employee for a structured conversation that focuses on the key issues. The precise duration and timing of the Job Chat can be flexible depending on the needs of the business.  The Job Chat invites feedback from the employee about their job, the support they have received and their aspirations for the future. The manager also gets an opportunity to give feedback by recognising good work and identifying areas for improvement as required. It’s also a chance to share relevant information about future changes within the company if needed. The manager and employee then discuss and agree on an action plan focusing on what can be achieved before the next Job Chat. The benefit of this is that there is a shorter monitoring period before meeting up again to see how well things are progressing or if targets need to be amended.  It is designed to be a fluid system which supports positive action aligned to business priorities and objectives.

An effective appraisal system can help you to target support, training and challenge your team which could increase productivity and may also reduce your staff turnover in the process.  The benefit of good communication and engagement will help managers to understand the challenges staff face and how to maximise their contribution to the business. If you would like to take a different approach to your appraisal system this year, don’t hesitate to contact one of the team at Tamar HR to help you find a solution that works for your business.