Are you responsible for staff? Do you feel confident to navigate your way through Employment Law?
The cost of getting it wrong
During 2010/2011, awards for cases of age discrimination averaged £30,289. Disability discrimination pay outs averaged £14,137.
Three fifths of the entire Tribunals Service outstanding work load is made up of multiple employment tribunal claims – a direct result of the impact that new legislation and regulations are having on employment management. Employers are even at risk of discrimination claims from prospective employees.
Between 2010 and 2011 the leading cause of claims made for tribunal was around the Working Time Directive, which focuses on workers’ rights to breaks, holidays, and restricting excessive work hours. Unauthorised deductions came a close second, followed by unfair dismissal, breach of contract and equal pay.
Data Protection
In May 2011 the ICO fined two England-based charities for being in breach of the Data Protection Act when unencrypted computers containing client’s personal information were stolen.
Lone working
An issue that has come to significant prominence in recent years is that of Health and Safety, particularly with an increased need for services to be delivered directly to the clients. One tragic case of failing to put in place the appropriate safety measures and assess risks to staff occurred in 2010 when a case-worker was killed by a client on a home visit, a visit she made alone despite concerns over the mental health of the client in question. The organisation was fined £30,000 with costs of £20,000 in addition to the tragic and unavoidable human loss in this case. Even minor accidents can set you back indefinitely if the correct procedures and cover are not in place.
Face making staff redundant?
Cuts in funding for the Third Sector are directly impacting on redundancy and insolvency levels, with many charities and organisations unable to renew contracts, maintain services and provide employment for staff. Redundancies are a sad fact of recessionary periods, and the Third Sector are as vulnerable, perhaps more so, than that of the private sector due to the uncertain nature of funding streams:
Do you know that without employing the correct processes for making redundancies your organisation is at risk of devastating litigation?
Can you or your organisation afford to ignore these figures?
Think you don’t have organisational legal responsibilities? Is your organisation involved in:
- The defining of your charitable objectives
- The implementation of trustees and boards
- The running of campaigns
- Fundraising
- Merging organisations
- Dealing with sponsors
- The opening and closing down of services
- Recruitment
- Making redundancies
- Implementing staff regulations
- Complying with tenancy and licensing agreements
- Keeping personal information of staff or clients on a database
- Keeping and maintaining financial records
If you answered ‘Yes’ to any of these then you have legal responsibilities.
All of these familiar situations and practical elements of working in the Third Sector carry their own legal implications.
Overlooking, or simply lacking, the awareness of these legal responsibilities can have devastating structural and financial consequences for your organisation.
Legal compliance involves not only the awareness of the regulations, but also demonstration of and the maintenance of these regulations, as well as a thorough process by which your compliance can be evidenced.
The benefits of getting it right are clear: Greater employee satisfaction and higher standard of work or services produced; happier staff leading to fewer tribunals; being aware of your responsibilities and also the processes and procedures involved also equips you should any discrepancies arise within or from outside your organisation. Risks are reduced where necessary and employing clear processes and measures ensures that no ball is ever dropped to the detriment of you, your staff, or your organisation.
Are you a Trustee, Chief Officer, Manager or responsible for HR in your organisation?
Then why not join Empower and Harding Evans for a half day seminar to review issues of Employment Law and HR and make sure you get it right!
HardingEvans are established providers of legal and HR support, and are dedicated to ensuring that their clients receive tailored solutions to their needs and employment law issues. Their team have established enduring relationships with a wide range of organisations across Wales, and their responses to the needs of the Third Sector are both innovative and compassionate.
‘Empower has worked collaboratively to support two charities facing individual acute issues requiring professional human resource support. I was impressed not only with the level of professionalism demonstrated by Harding Evans but their genuine care and understanding. They guided the charities through their respective processes and at all-time advice came from fully qualified legal professionals, not a call centre. I would unreservedly recommend Harding Evans Solicitors to any Third Sector organisation requiring HR Support.’
Bev Garside
Director
Empower – Support for the Voluntary Sector’
Empower have a highly regarded reputation within the third sector for delivering training and services representative of our clients’ needs and means. We strive to provide voluntary, public and statutory sector organisations with current and accessible support, and we achieve this through building strong relationships with our clients.
Join us for this not-to-be-missed event, where you will have the opportunity to utilise the experience of our keynote speakers as well as sourcing employment and HR solutions for your organisation.
Know your responsibilities, source solutions, and you can weather any employment storm.
This entry was posted on Monday 14th May 2012.
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