| HR & EMPLOYMENT LAW
Jackie le Poidevin, Editor-in-Chief, HR Adviser |
Primary Schools Not Reopening Fully Until September: 7 Ways to Manage the Impact
On Tuesday, the Government scrapped its plans for all English primary school pupils to return to classes for 4 weeks before the summer term ends. As you reopen your workplace or ramp up your operations, this will put you in a difficult position if members of staff are unable to return due to lack of childcare. Trying to force an employee to work could lead to them resigning and claiming constructive dismissal, or a woman who is dismissed might claim discrimination because she was at a disadvantage compared with male colleagues. So what options are available to you?
- Let the Employee Work from Home
Any employees who can work from home should continue to do so. As staff start to return, you may be able to rejig some roles, so a previously furloughed employee with childcare problems might swap temporarily to a role they can do from home. The usual holder of that job would then return to the workplace. You’d need employees’ consent for any changes to their job.
- Keep Furloughing the Employee
If you’re a private sector employer, you can furlough an employee who can’t work because of childcare problems (as long as they have already been furloughed at some stage for at least 3 weeks before 30 June). If you receive public funds, the position is less clear and the Government ‘expects’ you not to use the furlough scheme.
Some employees are likely to continue to have childcare problems into August. For example, they may normally rely on their children’s grandparents to help out over the school holidays. Depending on the Government’s advice at that stage, this may still not be an option and finding another childminder may be difficult.
From 1 August, you’ll have to start paying employer National Insurance and pension contributions for furloughed employees. If you can’t afford to do this, you’ll have to end furlough and consider other options (see below).
- Take Advantage of Flexible Furlough
From 1 July, employees can work part time and be furloughed for the rest of their normal working hours. They can also be furloughed for a period as short as a week. This could be useful in some situations, for example, if separated parents care for their children on alternate weeks or different days.
- Discuss Flexible Working
Employees have the right to request flexible working, such as reduced hours. You can refuse such a request on various business grounds but it may be a good solution in the circumstances.
If an employee makes a request under the flexible working legislation and you grant this, this will create a permanent change to their contract. Alternatively, you could consider a temporary, informal arrangement that allows the employee to juggle work and childcare.
- Let the Employee Take Dependants’ Leave
Employees have a right from day one of employment to a reasonable amount of time off to deal with an emergency affecting a dependant. Normally, a day or two off will be all that’s needed. However, in these unprecedented times, an employment tribunal might decide it was reasonable to take much more time off.
In any case, unless you have a policy that says otherwise, such leave is unpaid. So, if an employee asks to take extended dependants’ leave, the cost of this will be low, unless it would result in them gaining 2 years’ service (and hence the right to things like a redundancy payment).
- Suggest the Employee Uses Their Unpaid Parental Leave
Employees who have worked for you for at least a year can take 18 weeks’ parental leave per child. Normally, this is capped at 4 weeks per year per child and the employee must give 21 days’ notice but you can waive these rules. The employee must take the leave in 1-week blocks.
If the employee doesn’t have 1 year’s service, you could consider offering them unpaid leave anyway on a voluntary basis.
- Let the Employee Take Annual Leave
You can let the employee book annual leave, so they receive full pay while they can’t work. Clearly, this is a very limited pot of leave.
| PAYROLL
Sarah Bradford, Editor-in-Chief, Pay & Benefits Adviser |
Employers’ Obligations Under Auto-enrolment During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Auto-enrolment places a number of obligations on employers, both in terms of enrolling eligible workers in a qualifying pension scheme and meeting ongoing compliance requirements. The COVID-19 pandemic has meant that many employees have been furloughed or are working from home, possibly on reduced hours or for reduced pay. Has this changed what employers need to do in order to comply?
Business as Usual
Despite the changes to working practices and pay as a result of the pandemic, in most respects, it is business as usual as far as auto-enrolment responsibilities are concerned. Employers should continue to enrol eligible workers in a pension scheme, deduct pension contributions from employees’ pay and pay them over to the scheme together with the employer contributions.
Employers should also meet their re-enrolment and re-declaration of compliance duties where these fall due during the pandemic. However, if the third anniversary of the staging date or duties start date falls during the furlough period, you can choose to use a date up to 3 months after the third anniversary date to assess your staff. The re-declaration deadline remains unchanged.
Employer Pension Contributions
Employers are still required to make the minimum employer pension contributions required under auto-enrolment. However, where an employee is furloughed, for pay periods up to and including 31 July 2020, the employer can claim the minimum pension contributions due on the grant from the Government in accordance with the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme rules.
However, this support is being withdrawn from 1 August. From that date, employers must still pay pension contributions for furloughed workers, but they must meet the cost of those contributions.
Where an employee is not furloughed and continues to work, the employer must pay the contribution as usual.
Employee Contributions
Employees who remain a member of the pension scheme must continue to pay employee contributions as usual, regardless of whether they are receiving a furlough grant or are continuing to work. However, many employees may be facing financial hardship as a result of the pandemic and may wish to reduce their contributions or opt out where this is permitted by the scheme.
Financial Difficulties
There is no specific support as far as helping employers who may be struggling to afford to make employer pension contributions is concerned – the obligation to make minimum contributions remains.
If an employer is paying more than minimum contributions, they may be able to reduce them to minimum levels. Otherwise, contributions remain due and must be paid within the normal time scale. Employers could look to some of the other support measures, such as bounce back loans and loans under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan scheme, for help with cashflow difficulties.
Payroll Processes
Employers should operate their payrolls as normal and continue to report pay (whether normal wages or salary or a furlough grant) and deductions to HMRC under RTI. Pension contributions should be deducted from the employee’s pay and paid over with employer contributions into the pension scheme by the 22th of the month where paid electronically and by the 19th of the month otherwise. Employers should remember that penalties for non-compliance can be high.
| HEALTH & SAFETY
Paul Smith, Editor-in-Chief, Health & Safety Adviser |
COVID-19: Check Out the Implications for Lifesaving First Aid and First Aiders
As employers, we all have a legal obligation to provide first aid, but coronavirus has created big practical problems. Most first aid training is shut down and your existing trained first aiders may well be away because they are working at home, are sick or self-isolating. And even if you have a full complement on site, how would they treat a casualty while still social distancing? We set out the latest thinking from the HSE and the UK Resuscitation Council.
In higher-risk environments (such as factories and building sites), you should have sufficient trained first aiders to provide help if someone is injured or falls ill at work. However, if you are operating at a lower level than normal, you may be able to reduce cover accordingly.
Other options are to minimise high-risk work (to make injury less likely) and consider sharing first aiders with neighbouring firms. It’s worth checking with your first aiders that they feel confident to provide care and to find out whether they have any special vulnerability themselves.
In a low-risk environment (such as an office) the absolute minimum provision is one first aid kit and one person who will take charge in an emergency (an ‘appointed person’). Whatever your level of cover, you must by law tell people what first aid arrangements are in force.
3-Yearly Requalification Training
The HSE says that if you are a first aider and you hold a first aid certificate that expires on or after 16 March 2020 and cannot access training because of coronavirus, you could get an extension. To qualify, you must be able to explain why you haven’t been able to requalify and demonstrate what steps you have taken to access the training, if asked to do so.
This problem should start to recede as training restarts. Inspectors recommend that the practical elements of these courses are still delivered face-to-face, so that trainers can assess each student’s competence.
Annual Refresher Training
This is still strongly recommended for first aiders, but if you are unable to access face-to-face training, the HSE endorses the use of online refresher training to help keep skills up to date. Major providers such as Red Cross and St John offer free first aid phone apps.
Safe Treatment
First aiders should try to assist at a safe distance from the casualty and minimise their time in a shared breathing zone. However, a particular worry is if CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) is needed (e.g. the casualty is not breathing and has no pulse). Here, the Resuscitation Council says that, as a first aider, you should:
- Make sure an ambulance is on its way. If COVID 19 is suspected, tell them when you call 999.
- Recognise cardiac arrest by looking for the absence of signs of life and of normal breathing. Do not listen or feel for breathing by placing your ear and cheek close to the patient’s mouth. If unsure, start chest compressions until help arrives.
- If there is a risk of infection, place a cloth/towel over the victim’s mouth and nose and carry out compression-only CPR plus defibrillation until the ambulance (or advanced care team) arrives. Put hands together in the middle of the chest and push hard and fast. (Early use of a defibrillator significantly increases the person’s chances of survival without increasing the risk of infection.)
- If you have personal protective equipment (PPE) (e.g. mask, gloves, apron), wear it.
- Then wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water or use an alcohol-based sanitiser. Seek advice from the NHS 111 coronavirus advice service or a medical adviser.