The Pandemic – How Do You Really Feel – Part One

The Coronavirus pandemic has caused complete upheaval in all our lives. Not only have most of us been confined to the home for months, but many have also not even been able to work or have been working from home.

We recently carried out a survey at Blue Tree HR Solutions to find out more about how people feel about the pandemic and returning to work after lockdown. We wanted to get a better understanding of the concern’s employees have and whether they feel their employers have done enough to support them. We will discuss the responses, as well as any helpful tips we can offer as experienced HR professionals.

Returning to Work

According to our survey, 95% of respondents were not on furlough, suggesting that most were working from home. There was a very mixed response to the prospect of returning to the workplace, with an equal proportion (35%) stating that they were either dreading it or weren’t bothered either way, and 30% stating that they ‘couldn’t wait to return to the workplace.’

We get a lot of questions from both employees and employers about returning to work after covid and returning to work after furlough. Employers are concerned with how they should approach it and employees want to know what their rights are if they do not want to return. Many feel anxious about the possibility of being subjected to the virus or are just used to their ‘bubble’ and don’t particularly want to come out it. We hope this advice can give you some reassurance.

Advice for Employees

Firstly, the government guidelines, according to returning to work after covid, are to work from home until at least June 21st , so according to the law, your employer cannot force you to return before this date. If you are on furlough and are concerned about childcare or other concerns about returning in June, the scheme has been extended until September, so you should speak to your employer and request an extension.

If you are being asked to return to the office as your job cannot be undertaken at home and it is after June 21st, your employer has the right to expect you to return to your place of work, and disciplinary action may be taken if you refuse. If you simply don’t want to work from the office as you are enjoying working from home, and your work can be undertaken at home, we suggest speaking to your employer and reaching a mutual agreement. Talk to them about how you’re feeling and try to reach an arrangement, such as working from the office two days a week with the remainder at home or only attending meetings, as required.

Advice for Employers

You must not force employees to go into the office until after June 21st. The government messaging remains to work from home. After this period, we would suggest doing your upmost to try and be flexible with your employees, as it is extremely difficult to return to work full time after getting used to working from home. If they can work from home, our advice would be to offer them some flexibility, even if they must attend the office a couple of days a week. You must ensure that precautions are taken and that your employees are safe. Take a look at the government advice on making your workplace covid safe when your employees are returning to work after lockdown.

If you need some advice on this, whether as a concerned employee or employer, get in touch with us on info@bluetreehr.uk or 01787 695084. We will be happy to take through your options.

Next week we will be discussing the general feeling about lockdown and we will offer some tips on how to deal with your mental and physical wellbeing.

5 Ways to Involve Employees in Sustainability Practices

There are many ways you can make the workplace more sustainable, including ensuring there are recycle bins available, introducing a paperless working environment, reducing energy usage, and adding plants to the workplace. However, for these steps to make any difference, you need to have your employees on board. Every little helps, and what may seem like insignificant changes, can make a huge difference overall if everyone is committed to these sustainability practices. These are some ways you can get involvement and commitment from employees in sustainability practices.

Educate Staff

Most people don’t understand the impact they can make; they don’t see the bigger picture. It is generally not that they don’t care about the environment, but that they are unaware of what they should do and why. One of the best ways you can engage employees in sustainability is by educating them on what they can do and the impact it can have. Most companies talk about sustainability, without really informing their employees about what to do. For example, encouraging staff to turn off their computers at the end of the day, instead of leaving them on standby. Advising them of the significance of this, and the impact it can have on sustainability.

Make it Fun

Sustainability often feels like a boring subject, but you can make it more entertaining and even fun! Make sustainability part of your meetings and encourage your employees to share their ideas on ways the company can reduce waste. Reward staff for their efforts, for instance, giving them points for energy efficient acts, such as carpooling or cycling to work. You may even want to run team activities during the day, such as litter picking and a free lunch! Making sustainability part of your day-to-day routine in the workplace, and making it fun, will improve engagement.

Remote Working

Homeworking can have significant benefits for the environment, as it cuts down carbon emissions. It would be possible to save a staggering 3 million tonnes of carbon every year if more UK employees were working from home. Only 4 million out of 30 million employees are currently permitted remote working, and this needs to change to improve energy efficiency. Make a deal with your employees. You can work remotely, but don’t use your car that day!

Car Sharing and Cycle to Work Scheme

Encouraging staff to car share is also an effective way to get them involved in sustainability. If you are not currently running a cycle-to-work scheme, now is the time to do it. This gives employees the opportunity to spread the cost of a bike and encourages them to cycle to work, which reduces air pollution and carbon emissions.

Reduce Travel

Although travel can be beneficial, most employees don’t want to do it constantly. If you currently have employees travelling regularly with work, try and find alternative solutions for them. For example, if you have a Director that is purely travelling for the purpose of attending meetings, would there be a way for them to make an appearance once every two weeks, instead of every week?. Are these meetings essential? Perhaps it could be shared virtually from home. Not only is this likely to be an appealing solution for your employee, but it also reduces travel, which, therefore, reduces carbon emissions. 

Sustainability is something we are passionate about at Blue Tree HR Solutions.

If you want to learn more about sustainability, take a look at these useful resources –

https://www.b1g1.com/impacts  and https://tree-nation.com/

At Blue Tree HR, we have been planting trees since 2018 to offset our carbon footprint.  https://tree-nation.com/profile/impact/blue-tree-hr-solutions

If you’d like to discuss sustainability in the workplace and how you can make a difference, contact us at melanie@bluetreehr.uk or 07516 335419 for an initial discussion.

How to Manage Holiday Requests at Work after Lockdown

There are many implications of the Coronavirus pandemic on businesses, one of which is the situation with holiday requests at work. One important point to note is that employees who have been furloughed will still accrue their holidays. This realistically means that they could be off work for months, return and book a holiday. It can be difficult to manage these requests, especially when making the slow return to work after lockdown. As the summer starts and holiday resorts open, you can bet that the holiday requests will start to stack up.

These are some tips for managing your holiday requests at work after lockdown.

Holiday during furlough

It may be pertinent to stipulate that furloughed employees take some holiday before they return to work.  You will be required to pay them full pay for any holiday so you will need to consider your circumstances.  Enforced holiday will be cost effective in the long run as you can continue to claim job retention scheme grant for staff on holiday during furlough periods.

Understand Your Workload

It is natural to want to give all your staff holidays when they request them, after all, we could all be doing with a break! However, you must be still able to fulfil the needs of your business and if you have a barrage of holiday requests on your desk, you mustn’t leave yourself understaffed. Take some time to understand your requirements and reach an arrangement with your employees to ensure you are covered.

Consider Welfare of Employees

You may find that some employees have worked all the way through the lockdown but are reluctant to take holidays before the lockdown is fully lifted. Employees that work 5 days a week are entitled to 28 days paid holiday each year (as a minimum) and they must be taking time to rest and recuperate. It is one of the responsibilities of an employer to ensure employees are not carrying over all their holidays to the next year, especially if they have not been on furlough, as this suggests they have not had adequate rest.

Prioritise Your Workforce

You may want to consider prioritising those employees that have worked through the lockdown. Although you should manage this on a case-by-case basis. Some employees may have been on furlough but have had to home school or look after a loved one, so it is by no means a ‘one size fits all’ rule. Communication is key and understanding the concerns of your employees is just as important as ensuring the workload is covered, when it comes to dealing with holiday requests at work. 

Carry Forward

It is safe to say there will need to be some requirement for carrying holidays forward this year, either because demands have been such that it has not been possible to take holidays, or employees have been on furlough. Employees must be getting the required rest, but depending on business needs, you may want to consider a bit of flexibility with carrying holidays forward to next year. 

There is a new government law in place that states employees should be allowed to carry forward 4 weeks’ paid holiday if they have continued working and could not take holidays (particularly prevalent for social care staff) or they have had to self-isolate or had Coronavirus and not been able to take their holidays.

Holiday management using HR Software.

Managing holiday is altogether much easier if you have an HR software in place, and the time savings made in holiday management alone are a great cost saving.  Please go to https://bluetreehrsolutions.co.uk/hr-software/ for more information on our software options.  With a free demo account available to anyone interested.

If you have any concerns over holiday entitlement and how to deal with requests, you can contact us, and we will be happy to discuss the options available to you.

The Complete Guide to IR35 Rules

There are new IR35 rules (or off-payroll working) that will come into place in April 2021. These were postponed from 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic. IR35 changes have been brought into place to ensure that contractors are working as a contractor and not an employee in disguise. HMRC decided to implement this new rule as some contractors and clients were using the tax benefits associated with working on a self-employed basis while operating in a role as an employee of the company.

Inside and Outside IR35

If a contractor is found to be inside IR35, it means that you are recognised as an employee by HMRC, which means that you should be paying the same income tax and National Insurance like any other employee. If you are outside IR35, it suggests you are self-employed, which means that you have the tax benefits of a self-employed worker but without the benefits, such as sick pay. 

The IR35 Changes Checklist

  • Does your contract specify specific start and finish times? If so, this would suggest employment, rather than self-employment.
  • Do you have guidance on completing your work, will the client oversee your work? This is more like an employee’s role than a self-employed contractor.
  • If you fall outside IR35, you will likely be able to substitute yourself for another contractor, if need be. This is one of the main ways to show HMRC that you are outside IR35. If the client must provide you with work, and you must take the work, it suggests you are an employee and not a contractor.
  • Self-employed workers are usually paid on a project basis, rather than receiving a salary regardless of work completed. They are often paid in milestones, i.e., before the project starts, in the middle of the project, and at the end.
  • You would usually provide your own equipment when working on a self-employed basis. It would be unusual for the client to provide this, although it depends on the client and the confidentiality of the work.

The three main principles are control, substitution, and mutuality of obligation. Control relates to what level the client has over the work you do. Substitution is based on whether you can provide someone else to do the work, or if it is a personal service, and mutuality of obligation relates to whether you need to receive and accept projects.

If you want to check IR35 status, you can do it here.

Employment Law 2021: Changes You Need to Know About

Most business owners are currently distracted by Coronavirus and ensuring they manage the needs of their staff working remotely. There are a lot of things to consider. However, there will be changes to the employment law 2021, and it is important to be aware of these. You will need to put measures in place to ensure your business is complying with these. These are some of the changes to the employment law 2021.

National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage

Employees aged 23 and over (current age is 25 and over) will be entitled to the National Living Wage from the 1st of April 2021. The rate will increase from £8.72 to £8.91. You must pay any employees aged 23 and over an hourly rate of £8.91. The National Minimum Wage will also increase for all other age groups. Employees aged 21-22 will be entitled to an hourly rate of £8.36, employees aged 18-20 will be entitled to £6.56 per hour, under 18’s will be £4.62 and apprentice level will be entitled to £4.30 per hour. You must update your payroll records in plenty of time before this legislation takes effect.

IR35 Changes for Private Sector

The IR35 changes were postponed during the Coronavirus pandemic, and they will now apply from 6th April 2021. Employers should ensure that they are complying with the IR35 regulations. It means reviewing your current contracts to determine whether contractors sit outside IR35 or inside IR35. Working inside IR35 means that a worker is working as if they are employed; rather than self-employed. It means that, as a business, you will have more tax to pay. If you want to ensure any of your workers remain outside IR35, you should update any contracts to reflect the difference. For instance:

  • The contract should state that the contractor can be substituted at any time if necessary. The contract should not have set and breaks and lunches.
  • The worker should not need to request holidays; they should only be informing you about a holiday.

These are just a couple of areas to look at but the full contract will need to be analysed to represent a self employed worker.

If the contract states that the contractor is working in the same way as employees; and under the same regulations and restrictions, you will have trouble proving that they are outside IR35.

Redundancy Pay Limits

The employment law 2021 states changes to limits on statutory redundancy pay from the 6th of April 2021. The limit will be £544 per week, and you must update your systems to reflect this important change.

Other Statutory Increases

The weekly statutory rates will increase for maternity, adoption, paternity, bereavement, and shared parental from 4th April 2021. This figure will be £151.97. Statutory sick pay will also increase to £96.35 on the 6th of April 2021. You must ensure your policies and systems are updated to reflect these changes.

Settled Status

You should be mindful of the settled status that may affect EEA residents. According to the new employment regulations since Brexit, residents within the EEA, living in the UK, will need to apply for pre-settled or settled status, under the EU settlement scheme. They must do this by 30 June 2021. It is a straightforward process, and you should ensure all your employees have completed this on time.

If you want further clarification on the UK employment law 2021 or if you have any other HR issues, you can email melanie@bluetreehr.uk or call 07516 335 419.

Tips for Managing Staff Working Remotely

The Coronavirus pandemic has forced many businesses to work remotely, and this is a trend that is likely to continue, even when normality resumes. Many business owners don’t feel the need to return to the office. Some simply can’t afford to run an office anymore.

It can be daunting to try and manage a remote workforce and ensure you are doing it well. It is entirely possible to manage those undertaking remote jobs, just as well as your employees based on site. These are some helpful tips for managing remote staff.

Offer Reassurance

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a difficult time for everyone. Some people have lost loved ones or faced other hardships. Everyone has had a hard time in some respect, and employees need to feel reassured; more than ever. It can be as simple as just checking in with them daily to ask how they are and if they need anything. A quick call or text is a simple act, that can make a massive impact. Employees need to know that they are valued and always supported.

Provide Equipment

Not everyone has the means to buy a laptop or PC, and employees should not need to use their equipment for work purposes. Make sure your employees have everything they need, including a comfortable chair, laptop, and phone. They may also need access to a camera if they will be involved in online calls. It is also worth creating a remote working policy, so that employees understand what the expectations are.

Encourage Self-Management

It can be challenging not to have visibility of your employees. Realistically, you don’t know if they are working or out shopping! Trust is vital. Do not micromanage your employees, as this will make them feel demoralised. It may be beneficial to focus on productivity rather than strict working hours. If your employees get their work done and are available at vital times, it shouldn’t matter if they take a longer than usual lunch break or pop out during the day for a quick shopping trip. Greater flexibility is one of the remote working advantages.

Recognise Employees

Recognise employees who are doing well during a difficult period. You don’t need to give them money or a promotion; a simple thanks can be sufficient or even consider buying them some lunch. Employees who are recognised will be more loyal to your company and will feel better overall.

Incorporate Social Time

In the workplace, there is usually a good mix of both work and social time. It is worth encouraging this for employees working remotely. It can be as simple as an online quiz, having an online lunch together, or just a general catch-up. With so many people working on their own and not seeing their friends and family, you must do all you can to ensure social time is high on the priority.

If you need HR services Essex or throughout the UK, including any issues you may be having with remote working, get in touch, we will be happy to help manage these for you.

5 Ways to Improve Your Skills During Lockdown

If you are currently on furlough or out of work, you may be fed up with Netflix or going for endless walks. The novelty soon wears off. With all the free time you have at your disposal, it is a great time to explore new opportunities and learn new skills. There are endless benefits to upgrading your skills. It gives you the chance to broaden your career prospects, and it helps keep your mind active. It can also boost your mental wellbeing. You may even be able to make some money from it. These are some ways to improve your skills; without it being a financial burden.

Networking and Events

Networking can improve your mental health, while also learning from others. It is particularly beneficial now when many of us are having little communication with our loved ones. There are platforms like Eventbrite, where you can find a range of different events and networking opportunities. Some are free, while others have a small fee. You may also find some other events by looking at your local government website.

Courses 

We tend to think that any courses we sign up to will be expensive, but there are many free options. The Open University has a wide range of free courses; including history and the arts, health, sports, and psychology, and science. If you are considering a career change or want to enhance your knowledge, there are plenty of options to consider. Other platforms such as Udemy also offer free courses. 

Learn a Language

There’s no excuse to put off learning a language now. Learning languages can improve your career opportunities. It can also allow you to engage with a network of different people. Learning languages is interesting and challenging. There are free language courses on the Open University website (link above), and a quick google search will take you to other resources. You can also get one-to-one tuition from a platform such as Babbel.

Government Courses

The government has resources available for those who want to learn new skills. Some courses are free, including Future LearnBusiness Gateway (Scotland only), and The Skills Toolkit. Take advantage of every free skills resource you can, as this may change when things return to normality.

Hobbies and Interests

If there’s something you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t had the time, now is the ideal opportunity. You never know, you might be able to make money from your hobby. YouTube is a useful resource for getting access to tutorials.

How to Ensure Successful Onboarding of Staff who are Working Remotely

The recent Coronavirus pandemic has changed the way many businesses work, with most office workers being encouraged to work from home. According the Office for National Statistics, 86% of those who were working from home in some capacity, did so as a result of the COVID-19. Even when the pandemic comes to an end, many businesses will either be forced or choose to operate on a remote or semi-remote basis. For many, the pandemic has been an eye-opener to how business owners can utilise the skills of people from across the globe. In many cases, there is no real need to work together in an office. The same work can be completed efficiently with remote workers.

The obstacle in all of this is the recruitment and on-boarding of new recruits. How do you onboard new staff without ever meeting them face to face? Is it even possible?

It is possible, but you need to be prepared to alter your current onboarding strategy to adapt it to the remote worker while ensuring they feel welcome and part of the community. These are some tips for the successful onboarding of remote staff.

Develop a Plan

Starting a new job is nerve-wracking enough, but the thought of working remotely can make it feel even more stressful. To ensure new recruits are not worrying about the impending start date, make sure you develop a plan and send it to them at least a few days before they start. The onboarding process should not last a day or two, it should last at least two weeks. This gives the recruit ample time for training, learning the ropes, and settling in. The plan should include what they will do each day, including training, meetings, etc. Do not make the first two weeks heavy for the new start, go easy on them. There is a lot of information to absorb, and you want to ensure they return the next day!

Set Expectations

This is one of the difficulties of remote working and the aspect that business owners find the most difficult to manage. How do you set expectations when you are not in the office together? Consider the following:

What time should their shift commence? If it’s 9 am, for instance, do you want them to be logged in and ready for 9 or do you expect them to start logging in at 9? It may seem pedantic, but it is important to cover your exact requirements with any new starts.

When is the lunch break? Advise them how long they have for lunch and when they should take it. If you don’t have a set time, inform them of this. Do they need to let anyone before logging off or can they suit themselves?

Do you have targets? If you have set targets you expect them to achieve each day, let them know what these are.

Can they work flexibly? What is the general culture of the company? Do you expect them to work rigid hours or are you flexible if the targets are achieved? Some businesses require workers to be at their desk and available during normal working hours, while others don’t care if you work at 4 in the morning if you do the work! It may even be beneficial if you are a global company.

What is the culture? As you are not working face to face, it can be difficult for new starts to get a feel for the culture, so it’s worth giving them some information on this. For example, it may be quite a chatty, relaxed environment or it could be a head down, get on with the work culture. They must understand how they are expected to operate within the business.

Provide Equipment

You should always ensure that the new start has all the necessary equipment. Don’t just assume they have broadband or a laptop. If you are hiring a permanent employee, you should always supply them with a computer/laptop, etc. Not only is this better for the security of files and documents, but they shouldn’t have to use their equipment for work purposes. Also, consider any stationery they may need and a comfortable chair.

Regular Communication

Communication is the most important part of the onboarding process. You don’t have the luxury of speaking to the recruit whenever you want, and it can be easy for people to feel isolated when they are working alone. Make sure you speak to the new start daily during the onboarding process and check that they are getting on well. Find out if they have any questions or concerns. It is a good idea to set up instant messaging or a forum so that employees can get help with any questions they have, quickly and easily. Making your new start feel welcome and part of the company from day one is imperative for successful onboarding.

You can find out more about our HR services, or feel free to contact us for an initial discussion.

Tips for Being Productive When Working from Home

It goes without saying that working from home has a lot of perks. You don’t need to tackle the traffic, stick to a rigid routine or take your breaks at certain times. It can also save you a lot of money, as you don’t need to pay for travel, and you are less likely to nip to the shop for your lunch. However, it does come with its downsides. It can be difficult to treat your days like a normal ‘day in the office’, and consequently, your productivity can plummet.

There are ways to avoid this though, and these are some of our top tips for being productive when working at home.

Work in Short Bursts

When you are working from home, you have the luxury of being able to set your own pace, and even if you have set hours you need to be available, you don’t need to be as rigid with your day. You’ll find that if you work in short bursts, it will be far more effective than trying to work for hours at a time. You may want to set a schedule to work for sets of two hours and take short breaks in-between.

Reduce Social Media

Social media can offer a lot of benefits, but it can also be extremely distracting. You might log on to quickly check your notifications, and before you know it, an hour has passed and all you’ve done is scrolled through content. There is nothing wrong with using social media, but set specific time to use it, otherwise you could lose a lot of time out of your day. Log out of your accounts if it helps or delete the app from your phone.

Set a Routine

Make sure you have a routine set for the day when you are working from home, and one which isn’t too demanding. If you don’t like mornings, make sure you spend the morning on the tasks you enjoy the most and those which don’t take too much brain activity. For example, responding to emails and arranging meetings. Your routine should include your scheduled hours, breaks and you can incorporate your scheduled time for checking social media.

Listen to Music or Podcasts

It’s amazing how important music can be for lift your spirits and making you more productive. If you find it difficult to work with music on, then you can maybe listen to it when you are doing your admin tasks. Podcasts can also be enjoyable, and particularly those which are positive and uplifting.

Manage Expectations

One of the difficulties of working from home is that you may have the day-to-day distractions that your family can bring. Make sure you manage your expectations by setting boundaries. Work in your own quiet space and set times where you don’t want to be distracted. If you have young children at home, try to get into a routine where you work while they are sleeping or give them some things to do while you work. If you have video meetings to attend, make sure you have your own quiet space to undertake them.

Communicate with Others

Although you are working from home, it is not a good idea to get into a routine where you don’t speak to anyone all day. This particularly important if you live on your own. It may be colleagues, clients or you could even arrange to join in networking meetings during your breaks.

If you are working from home and need advice on any issues you are facing at work, get in touch with us to discuss our HR services on 01787 695 084 or email melanie@bluetreehr.uk.

Blue Tree HR is Green.

Blue Tree HR Solutions are really keen to be environmentally friendly. As the name suggests… we love Trees! For this reason, Blue Tree HR is Green. We have been doing our bit to try and save the planet since the beginning.

We believe it is important that we consider our effect on the environment. Global warming, deforestation, melting polar ice-caps and the resulting endangered species. This list of environmental impacts is endless and it is hard to know what to do.

In reality, we are a small business and we appreciate that we can’t really make a big impact, but doing something is better than nothing.

CO2 Neutral

We registered with Tree-Nation in October 2018. We have been paying to have trees planted in various projects across the world.

It’s something we are very proud to be part of.

Blue Tree HR Solutions committed to being a carbon-neutral company in 2018 and sponsor trees to be planted around the world. For two years we have been off-setting at least 1 tonne of CO2 per month. As a result, we have had 129 trees around the world. And, we adding to this number every month. As the business grows we plan to increase how much we offset. So we remain carbon neutral.

The graph shows the purchase of trees each month to offset CO2 emissions

Projects such as planting indigenous trees and plants deep in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon. The Camino Verde project is dedicated to protecting and understanding biodiversity. Also, protecting indigenous rights, autonomy, and wisdom. Resulting in sustainable ways of life and encouraging fair, sustainable development. It’s inspirational stuff!

Different trees are planted for different reasons. For example to provide food or to support wildlife, or maybe generate an income.
The project plants trees all over the world in various replantation projects, many areas have been affected by floods, fire or ongoing deforestation.

Reducing our Travel

Another way that Blue Tree HR is Green, is by reducing our fuel consumption. One of our clients required us to fly to Dublin on a regular basis, this is clearly not very environmentally friendly. I have persuaded them to use video calls instead. This is much better for the environment and actually much more time-efficient. The client thought that having face to face meetings was important. This may be true in some circumstances, but it is not necessary for every meeting.

Reducing waste

We have considered our waste output and as a result we:

  • avoid printing documents wherever possible
  • use recycled paper and pens
  • recycle our paper, printer cartridges and batteries
  • avoid using paper cups at meetings
  • always carry our own water bottles to reduce unnecessary single-use plastic.

Helping Endangered Species

For a couple of years we have been sponsoring an Orangutan via the WWF (World Wildlife Fund). Such amazing animals with a desperate plight.

#fightforyourworld

Approx. 3000 Orangutans are killed every year.

We are looking to find other ways to support wildlife and sustainablity projects across the world. Aspiring to help businesses who are not as fortunate as we are in the UK. We have some ideas, so watch this space!

Other ideas? Ideally, we would have a solar powered company car and visit clients in an eco-friendly fashion. Maybe one day?