It makes perfect sense to take of stock of things you'd like to improve in your business at the New Year. HCS have put together our "Seven Step" plan to help you identify areas where you migh want to make changes in the coming year. Have a read and see how you measure up!

1. Innovate – New technology and services are available that allow you to re-organise the way your company works, making it more efficient and cost-effective.  Investigate options such as Businessbox to find out how it can work for your business.

BusinessBox is a modular, multi-lingual business platform based in the cloud. It has been designed and built by people who understand the challenge of running successful businesses and is aimed at all businesses and organisations who want to get more out of the people they employ. The cloud-based platform gives businesses access to a suite of tools that enable greater productivity, whilst reducing business risk.

It also provides a solution that is totally integrated.  Clients benefit from fantastic features that save time and money. All the modules integrate with each other, allowing information to be used cleverly – attend a sales meeting then it will automatically appear on your timesheet at the end of the week.

2. Stay Compliant – With ever increasing changes in employment legislation, it is becoming more and more difficult to keep up with the changes, for example, in 2012, the government is proposing changes to unfair dismissal claims, national minimum wage increases, an introduction of “protected conversations” and many more.

From April 2012, the qualifying period to bring unfair dismissal claims will rise from 12 to 24 months.  Also the government plans to introduce fees for claimants to bring employment tribunal claims, either requiring an initial fee to lodge a claim, and then a second fee to progress to a hearing, or introducing a £30,000 threshold, so claimants in excess of this amount will pay more to bring a claim.  Furthermore, it will require all employment disputes to go via ACAS before going to a tribunal and will increase the maximum amount of costs that employers can claim against vexatious tribunal claimants from £10,000 to £20,000.

It is expected that the national minimum wage will again increase in October 2012.  In addition, proposed changes will simplify the national minimum wage.  It is therefore important that you know what the rates are and that you remain compliant.

There is a plan to introduce “protected conversations” between employers and employees about retirement and capability for example, without these giving rise to discrimination claims.

3. Manage Absence – Absence does not only affect productivity and profit, but can be a real minefield of legislation for employers who do not consider the pitfalls of handling the situation inappropriately.

You need to have an understanding of the real cost of absence to your organisation and an understanding of the difference between short and long term absence and the different approaches to take with each.  It is also vital that you know when to escalate absence issues to disciplinary stage and how to handle the subsequent disciplinary meeting and be able to determine when absence is a disability and how to deal with absence within the context of discrimination.

4. Effective Recruitment & Selection – Recruitment can be costly and time consuming and therefore it is key to your business that you get it right.  You need to understand the importance of having a well-managed and consistent recruitment process and your obligations in relation to discrimination, data protection, disclosure checking and eligibility to work in the UK.

If you manage the recruitment and selection process well, this will provide you with a talented employee who ticks all the boxes on your employee wish list.  However, if done badly, you could find yourself wasting time, effort and money recruiting for the position, struggling to manage ‘out’ a poor performer, or at worst, faced with a tribunal claim for discrimination.

5. Mis-use of Social Media – Your employees’ use of social media can seriously damage your organisation.  You therefore must communicate the risks to your employees, ensure you give clear guidelines to employees as to what you consider to be acceptable conduct when they use social media and review your handbook and contracts of employment to check the level of confidentiality protection they give.

Most businesses are aware of the positive benefits of social media in promoting their products and services.  However, are business owners stopping to think about what harm can be done to their business by their employees, and ultimately what it could cost them?

Recent cases in the employment tribunal indicate that social media is becoming a real problem to some employers.  A common reason for dismissal by employers was that the employee brought their business reputation into disrepute.

Therefore you should implement a social media policy which fits your business and your business needs.  It should set out what behaviour is unacceptable both inside and outside of the workplace and what in particular will be considered gross misconduct.  It must also be communicated clearly to employees, in writing and if possible include training.

6. Performance Management – This is critical in linking your people to the strategy of your organisation.  High performing individuals and teams lead to business success and increased profits.

Good performance management helps everyone in the organisation to know what the business is trying to achieve, their role in helping the business achieve its goals, the skills and competencies they need to fulfil their role, the standards of performance required and when there are performance problems, what to do about them.

It is central to the relationship between managers and employees and is also central to how well your employees will be engaged in their work and how well they will perform.  Furthermore, if your employees are engaged in their work they are more likely to be doing their best for your organisation.

7. Keeping accurate employment records – You are required by law to keep all PAYE records, including payments made to employees, all deductions from employee wages, details of employee benefits and expenses and all statutory payments (e.g. – sick pay, maternity pay).

If you are running a business, it is especially important that you have a proper record keeping system in place.  Good record keeping saves you time and accountancy costs and helps you to avoid penalties for mistakes by proving you’ve taken reasonable care in your record keeping.

Comprehensive records enable you to have all the information you need when planning strategy and helps you keep track of cashflow.

It is essential to keep accurate payroll records so HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) can make sure that you and your employees are paying the right amount of tax and national insurance contributions, your employees are getting any statutory pay they’re entitled to, and you’re complying with legislation on things like the national minimum wage.

You’ll also need these records so that you can file Employer Annual Returns and provide evidence to support the entries made on it.  You must keep your PAYE records for the current and previous three tax years.

Home-grown cloud services providers are hopeful data security concerns will deliver slice of public sector

The Dutch government's announcement this week that it was considering blocking US cloud computing providers from bidding for government contracts could provide an unexpected boost to home-grown providers of cloud computing services.

Governments across the Europe are required by law to protect government information and citizen data.  The Dutch government's decision is based on concerns they could be forced to share that data with US agencies under legislation contained in the US Patriot Act.

Public bodies in the UK, as elsewhere, are scrambling to find cost savings by deploying cloud technologies and the uncertainty over the position of large US providers could result in Scottish-based providers being given an opportunity to secure lucrative contracts in Scotland.

Graeme Gordon, Operations Director for Aberdeen-based IT infrastructure and hosting services provider IFB said: "The heads of public services think the cloud concept is great but they worry about where the data sits.  For data protection reasons data has to be held in UK or Euro countries.  Large multinational companies cannot always guarantee where data will be held."

Gordon, who also sits on the board of the Scottish ICT trade body, Scotland IS, added: "Compliance people have to consider this and it's going to become a huge issue.  Private individuals may be a bit less concerned but public entities and even companies need to think about this.  By stipulating that for data privacy and security reasons all data must be held close to the end-user, the government ot any other agency would not fall foul of EU procurement regulations."

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: "Government data is often classified to certain levels of protection which would limit where such storage information could be placed, stored, and replicated in any cloud-based offering.  Any new services should be subject to a rigorous business case process which would include a privacy impact assessment and compliance with the Data Protection Act."

The opportunity for the public sector to make significant cuts to spending by deploying cloud computing has been illustrated by Westminster City Council which is seeking to cut budgets by between £50 million and £100m annually.

The council struck shared services agreements and aims to be IT infrastructure-free by 2015.

The strategy is so far yielding impressive results.  By moving to the cloud the council has reduced the total number of software applications used, slashing licence costs in the process with software packages used by staff falling from 500 to just 150.  The council has also switched enterprise scale applications.  Its customer relationship management system used for events management for example is now on a pay-as-you-use basis thereby shifting spending from capital expenditure to operational expenditure.

Initial work has now begun on sourcing managed solutions for a number of critical services including accounting and procurement, payroll, and asset management integration.

The recent McClelland review into ICT infrastructure in the public sector in Scotland recommended the "aggressive pursuit of internal and external cloud computing concepts" by public bodies.  The report noted that public bodies were already using cloud type technologies, highlighting agencies such as the Scottish Procurement Directorate's eProcurement service.

"Every local authority runs its own payroll and accounting applications.  There are certainly possible costs savings through sharing.  The McClelland review talked about the potential for costs savings through collaboration and the cloud is a good way to share, indeed it may prove to be the catalyst for increasing shared services, " said Jonathan Meddes, technical lead for the Scottish public sector at Deloitte.

"Certainly people have dabbled.  Some NHS boards have dabbled with the cloud but not where patients' data is at risk," Meddes added.

 As well as delivering cost savings the cloud also promises to transform the way we work with hosted applications allowing an increase in home working.

"There will be profound changes in work patterns," says Professor Ian Sommerville of the school of computing science at St Andrews University.  "Documents will live in the cloud and will be accessible via the Internet.  All you need is a browser."

For the Scottish providers of cloud services the opportunity is to build a track record in providing government-scale services which they can use to build exports.

"If I get a chunk of a Scottish public sector contract I can go to California or wherever and use it as a case study.  That would have a massive effect on my business," Gordon said. 

By Antony Akilade, The Herald, Friday 23 September 2011

As an employer, are you aware of the risks of unfairly dismissing an employee, paying inadequate redundancy or any other forms of mistreatment of your staff?

In the event of any of the above, if the employee has taken out legal expenses cover, you could be liable to a considerably large pay-out.

Legal expenses cover, which pays solicitors' bills should a dispute occur (which could include a medical negligence or injury claim) can be added to most buildings or home contents policies for an extra charge, typically about £25 a year.

Around half of policyholders buy it.  Many view it as an expensive add-on at a time when premiums on essential insurances are rocketing, but where claims are made, having legal expenses cover in place could prove to come in very useful for employees who have been the victim of mistreatment at the hands of their employers.  

"The benefit of cover is that it provides immediate access to free legal advice and an easy way of starting the legal process," says John Portwood of independent broker B Portwood & Co in Consett, Co. Durham. "It saves consumers looking through the phone book for solicitors, who may not specialise in their needs.  Importantly, customers don't have the worry of paying costs if they lose a case.  This often puts people off purchasing a legitimate legal battle."

Trade Union members may already have some legal cover through their membership.

Graham Trudgill of the British Insurance Brokers' Association says: "At a time when many people are worried about job loss in the economic downturn, advice on employment law and knowing your rights in a redundancy – whether that's through a union or a home insurance legal cover policy – could be hugely valuable."

If you are concerned by the issues raised here and would like advice on how to protect your business from this type of legislation, please get in touch with us at: enquiries@hcsgroup.net or telephone 0843 289 0427.

Read the full article here

Drowing in legislation?

Ignoring changes to employment law can leave your business vulnerable to a whole range of legislative threats!

We don't want this to happen, so HCS would like to invite you to its relaxing and informative Employment Law Event on Thursday 29th September 6pm-8pm at 

29, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow G1 3AJ 

This is a chance for business owners and managers to attend an informal evening where we will discuss important changes to employment legislation and upcoming changes in employment law. 

We will be offering:

• Information about recent changes to employment legislation, as well as upcoming changes in employment law
• Top tips on what you need in place to protect your business!
• An opportunity to network with other business owners and managers
• Buffet and refreshments

And that's not all! Enter our FREE PRIZE DRAW for the chance to win a round of golf at the Carrick or vouchers to spend at House of Fraser!

Due to the success of previous HCS events we would strongly advise you to contact us in advance to reserve your place. 

Call John Gillespie on 0843 289 0427 or email: enquiries@hcsgroup.net

See you there!

Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin… What effect are they having on your business?

He said: “Blocking the internet does not stop [employees] using it at home. [There has not been enough] education to get a hold on what is sensible and what is not with social media, and we are learning by mistakes.”

However some people are of the opinion that you should not block these sites. Ben Betts, CEO of HT2, believes “you will increasingly waste resources trying to stop it.”

“Access to Facebook on mobile devices is getting easier and easier.  In many parts of the world Facebook Zero has been rolled out to mobile networks, offering access to the site free of charge, without the need for a data plan. This is a significant driver of business for mobile network operators and puts Facebook in everyone’s hands, wherever they are.”

There is strong evidence which suggests that board rooms with at least three or more women on it perform better than those who don’t.

Most male directors in the top 350 companies come from similar backgrounds, education and networking, leading to a ‘group thinking’ mentality at board level where decisions are more likely to get nodded through than if there were more women on the board, asking questions and not afraid to challenge decisions.

Lord Davies’ report on boardroom targets seems to have been largely ignored by the top FTSE 350 companies.  Most have been slow to announce their targets despite the deadline for them to do so coming to an end on 9 September.

It seems we are still dominated by the ‘old boy network’ mentality even in the SME sector.

The Equality Act brings together a host of other legislation such as age, race, gender, sex and disability discrimination under the one act.

The protected characteristics of the Equality act are:

• Age

• Disability

• Gender reassignment

• Marriage and civil partnership

• Pregnancy and maternity

• Race

• Religion or belief

• Sex

• Sexual orientation

The act brings the above together with changes in the definition of gender reassignment and allows parliament to make further legislation to change the definition of ‘race’ to ‘caste’.

The Act protects everyone against unfair treatment, making it unlawful to discriminate against, harass or victimise someone at work.

The act also stops employers asking potential employees questions regarding health, disability or age at the early stages of the recruitment process.

The Government has chosen not to implement the measure that asks private and voluntary sectors with 250 or more employees to report on gender pay gaps, choosing instead to ask businesses to produce equality workforce data on a voluntary basis.

What then does all this mean to the average business? Do they just carry on as before, or do they need to ensure that they are up to speed with the new legislation?

Will bringing all the separate acts under one umbrella make the legislation easier to follow or will this just confuse people further?

After reading the link, I cannot see that there is much change, but I am not an HR expert. Perhaps we can get a view from someone who knows on whether this will make life easier for employers or not.

Feel free to click onto the link below and form your own opinion.

http://www.xperthr.co.uk/blogs/employment-tribunal-watch/2011/06/red-tape-challenge-equality-legislation-in-the-spotlight.html

Jean Crawford

New Business Coordinator

The recent devastating fire at Richard Branson’s holiday home thankfully did not result in serious injury or loss of life. However Sir Richard has commented on the fact that he has lost thousands of pictures and private notebooks in the fire.

Perhaps he should have considered the ‘cloud’ as a means of storing these items. Personal effects, such as those lost, could have been easily scanned, uploaded and stored safely and securely.

Many of us undoubtedly keep sensitive and private information but run the risk of it falling in to the wrong hands, or being lost or even destroyed. Storing important documents in the ‘cloud’ removes these risks and gives us peace of mind, secure in the knowledge that our treasured memories won’t go up in flames!

Here’s the link to the full article : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14616123