However, for employers, these Christmas Parties come with their fair share of risks, and it falls on HR to comprehend and address them. From employees indulging a bit too much and making regrettable decisions to unauthorized plus ones and allegations of inappropriate behaviour between colleagues.  the potential pitfalls can make HR departments and employers understandably uneasy. But don’t worry, with the right set of policies and some clear communication, managing these events can be a smoother experience.

Why Do You Need Christmas Party Policies?

Without a suitable set of policies in place, behaviour at the office Christmas party can have some pretty major repercussions. According to UK law, employers have responsibility for their employees’ actions and safety outside the usual working environment and hours. Essentially, any social event organised by the employer is considered an ‘extension of the workplace,’ treating it akin to a regular workday. Hence, having a clear policy framework becomes crucial.

What Your Employees Need To Know

Before the Christmas party starts, you need to ensure you’ve communicated your expectations with your employees. Even if you don’t have a formal policy to refer to, an email with the ground rules surrounding expected behaviour will go a long way. This communication should cover 5 key areas:

• Employee Obligations: Employees are not obligated to attend your annual Christmas party, and you should make it known that their presence is completely voluntary. There will be people who don’t want to go, or who won’t participate for religious reasons. Those who choose to participate have a duty to take reasonable care of their own and others’ health and safety, especially in a festive setting where alcohol is involved.
• Consumption of Alcohol: Speaking of alcohol, you should remind your employees and their guests that alcohol should be consumed in moderation. We all know that Christmas can be seen as a time of excess but make it clear that just because the company is providing alcohol, it is not a reason or license to drink excessively on company time.
• Unacceptable Behaviour: We all hope our employees will be on their best behaviour during the work Christmas party, but sadly that won’t always be the case. So, you need to state specifically that any unacceptable behaviour or improper conduct will not be tolerated, and what the repercussions could be if anything should happen. Make it crystal clear that any issues arising during a Christmas party will be treated as a serious disciplinary matter, and this includes any actions towards co-workers, guests, or venue staff. A few examples of unacceptable behaviour we have helped businesses deal with in the past include:
  • Excessive drunkenness
  • The use of illegal drugs or substances
  • Unlawful or inappropriate discrimination or harassment
  • Violence, like fighting or aggressive behaviour, verbal abuse or inappropriate language.

• Getting Home: Remind all employees that drink-driving will not be tolerated, so if they are planning to drink, they need to have a safe way to get home at the end of the event. If your party is being held at a hotel, you may opt to provide rooms for your team overnight or provide a discounted rate. If not, you might prefer organising group transport or giving out the details of the local taxi company.
• The Day After: If your Christmas party happens to be on a weekday (some are), then you should remind your employees that they are expected to be in work the next day, in a condition to do their normal duties. Hangovers are not an acceptable reason to take a sick day, especially after a work event. Remind employees that all of the normal policies and procedures of the workplace still apply to the event, including absence procedures.

A Note To Employers

Finally, once the party itself is done, employers may have some aftermath to deal with. In an ideal World there would be none, but there is always the chance that someone, either an employee, a guest or even the venue, makes a complaint. If this does happen, you mustn’t ignore it. All complaints need to be taken seriously, and if you need to, seek advice from an HR professional who can support you. Luckily, at Karen HRM we do just that! So if you’re not sure where to turn, you can always give us a call.

But it’s important to remember to balance your approach. A lot of businesses who have never thrown a company Christmas Party before will go very ‘safe’ and try to control every single element and that can end up sucking the fun out of the party entirely. As an employer it is simply your job to remind employees of these rules and follow up with any issues – not to micro-manage each employee’s behaviour during the party. Finding the balance between relaxing and having fun, and ensuring you meet your obligations as an employer can take time, but it is doable. If you’re not sure where to start, or you just want some information and support planning your Christmas party communications, we would love to help. Just get in touch with the team at Karen HRM today for your free consultation.

The post Balancing Cheer and Compliance – An Employers Guide To Christmas appeared first on Karen HRM Limited.

As an employer, you have a lot of things to keep on top of. There are so many obligations to keep, and things to make your employees aware. That’s why your employee handbook is one of the most essential tools you have at your disposal. If it’s well put together, this little booklet can save you a lot of time answering the same questions over and over again and provide you with some protection should things start to go wrong. It’s your opportunity to put all your company policies, practices, procedures, and employee benefits in one place. This is the best way for you to effectively communicate what your employees should expect from you, and what you in turn should expect from them.

But if you’ve never done it, you might not know how to write an employee handbook. Or what to include in it. While it might be tempting to go to one of those free sites and download an employee handbook template, the reality is your handbook needs to be tailored to your business and your approach. So where do you start?

In this blog, we’re going to cover what to include in your employee handbook, and how to write one.

General Employment Information

This is the first section and it’s all about covering the basics. Remember that your employee handbook is generic- which means everyone will get one – so here you should include any of the policies that apply to all employees equally. Save specifics for the contracts. Make sure you lay out the basic policies around:

• Employment eligibility
• Job classifications
• Employee referrals
• Records
• Job postings
• Termination and resignation procedures
• Transfers
• Relocation
• Union information (if you have one)
• Grievance processes

If your policies are too long, you can write a detailed summary for the handbook with a link to where they can find the full policy.

Standards of Conduct

This is an incredibly important element to include, and it’s probably the one you will refer back to most often. It covers all aspects of how you expect employees to behave. At work, to their superiors, around colleagues, and even while wearing their uniform. Any situation in which your employees are representing your business. This should include:

• Dress codes
• Telephone and computer user rules
• Remote working standards
• Smoking policies (e.g. staff must cover all company logos whilst smoking)
• General behavioural expectations

Working Schedules

This one confuses some people because each employee will have their own individual working schedule. But within this employee handbook section, you’re merely highlighting policies around those schedules. For example, details on how overtime works at your company, including how it’s allocated and paid. Any options you offer for flexible or remote working (more important now than ever), and what the policies around it are. You should also lay out your policies regarding attendance, punctuality, and reporting absences – along with any consequences there may be for going against those policies.

Leave Policies

Leave and leaving policies for your employees should be carefully documented. There are some types of leave you are required to provide by law, and you are required to give details of these here. On top of that, there are other leave policies you might want to implement, for example, extended maternity or paternity leave. So, make sure you include your policies on:

• Statutory holiday
• Bereavement leave
• Emergency leave
• Sick leave
• Maternity and paternity leave
• Jury duty
• Military leave

Details should include timescales available, what pay is offered (if any), and any requirements that employees might need to meet for them. For example, to claim sick leave you might require a sick note from a doctor.

Termination Policies

Alongside temporary leave policies (above), you need to detail the process and policies around when employees wish to leave, or if you need to terminate them. Here you should let employees know how much notice they are required to give you if they want to leave the company, what format that notice should take and who it should be given to. It should also explain what the termination policies are for your company, and how much notice you need to give employees in each scenario. You may have touched on this in the general employment information section, but you can expand on it here.

Here’s a guide to help with ‘Dealing with Disciplinaries’.

Anti-Discrimination Policies

One of your legal obligations as an employer is to comply with anti-discrimination regulations. Here, explain what your obligations are, what they mean, and what you’re doing to meet them. You should also be explaining what you expect from your employees, and how they should behave while employed by your company. This is also the place you should explain what the consequences are of breaking these rules, and how employees can report something they see. It’s also a good place to talk about specific anti-discrimination policies, including:

• Sexual harassment
• Affirmative action
• Diversity and inclusion

And any other policies you may wish to include.

Benefits

If your business provides any company-wide benefits, this is also a great place to include them. For example, if you provide insurance, private medical care, pensions, commission-based bonuses, gym memberships or anything else, include details on what it is and how to access it here.

This can be particularly useful for companies who offer a ‘pick and choose’ style of benefits, which can be confusing to use, and this gives employees a reference point. If you have specific benefits that are only for certain employees, those should not be included here, but in their individual contracts.

How Can We Help?

Does all of that sound a bit overwhelming? Don’t worry – we understand that! At Karen HRM we specialise in helping employers understand their obligations and making it easy to get them right. We provide expert advice and support in creating employee resources, including employee handbooks, that protect your company, your reputation, and your employees.

If you have any questions or want to see some employee handbook examples, just get in touch with the team today.

GET IN TOUCH

The post What To Include in Your Employee Handbook For 2024 appeared first on Karen HRM Limited.

Cost Savings

You might be thinking ‘hold on, isn’t outsourcing my HR going to cost me money, not save it?’. And while it makes perfect sense to think that, you’d be wrong. In fact, this is one of the most significant areas HR support can contribute to a small business. Businesses will quickly find that they become much more efficient by using HR properly (for example, developing and implementing a strategy to support your business goals and ensure they are met, developing your people or implementing meaningful performance reviews). Effective HR support can also help you put well-constructed management processes and control in place, to manage things like sickness absences, training, development, recruitment and more. By having clear policies (and following them), these costs can be reduced, having a significant impact on your bottom line.

Training And Development

We all understand that the development of skills is important for any company’s success and future growth. But without a proper plan and execution strategy, it can often fall by the wayside. HR support can help you identify what training is needed or wanted throughout the business, and then provide training plans, support and incentives to ensure it happens. They can even deliver training workshops, or bring in external trainers where appropriate. By working with management, HR can provide cost and time-effective training and development opportunities for your business. Reduce employee turnover, improve current employee skills and heighten employee morale – what’s not to like?

Managing Performance

HR can help manage employer and business performance in so many different ways. Business performance can be improved by ensuring an integrated performance management system is in place, which can also be utilised as an employee appraisal system. This can help all employees work towards a common goal of improving overall business performance through the fulfilment of their own personal objectives. It can also help you manage poor performance through a capability process, which means that any employees who aren’t fulfilling their objectives can be supported in the best ways and that no money is wasted on underperforming employees. HR can work with management to ensure a top-down approach for all processes is correctly implemented.

Employment Law Guidance

Employment law is constantly changing in big and little ways, always adjusting to keep up with new development, new situations and new technologies. As an employer, you are expected to keep up with these laws and make changes where necessary. But doing so is almost a full-time job, and you have other priorities in your business. HR support gives you the freedom you need to focus on your business, with the peace of mind that your business is fully compliant and up to date with employment law. We will update you on the things that are relevant to you, and help you make any changes needed. More than that, if you ever have any questions, or a situation arises that you aren’t sure how to handle, your HR experts are there to guide you through it.

Fair Dispute Management

If you are struggling with disputes, grievances or any other people-based issue in your business, HR support can be an invaluable asset. It can sometimes be difficult for a manager to ensure everyone in the situation is being treated fairly and getting the best out of the situation, especially if you know everyone involved and struggle to be impartial! By having HR support behind you, managers can ensure all processes and policies are being adhered to and turn a potentially difficult situation into a positive one.

Of course, it’s not just these 5 areas HR support can help you with. In reality, if your business employs people, you need an HR function to keep you on the straight and narrow, as well as provide the guidance and support you need to be successful. At Karen HRM, we provide a variety of HR support that can be tailored to your individual business needs. Whether you need some one-off consultancy or fully outsourced support, we can help. For more information, just get in touch with us today.

The post 5 Reasons Your Small Business Needs HR Support appeared first on Karen HRM Limited.