Blue Tree HR, Author at Blue Tree HR Solutions

Furlough – FAQs

Posted on March 30, 2020April 28, 2023 by Blue Tree HR

The Job Retention Scheme, recently proposed by the government is great news for employers. Business owners were wondering how they were going to cope during the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

The Job Retention Scheme

With the Job Retention Scheme, employers can put their employees on furlough. This is a temporary lay-off, meaning as soon as there is work available again staff can be asked to return to work as before.

The Government has confirmed it will provide grants to businesses. This will cover 80% of wage costs to a maximum of £2,500 per person per month.

So if you are wondering if this Job Retention Scheme could help you, I have answered a few of the frequently asked questions below:

Can I furlough part-time workers?

Yes. In fact, you can furlough all types of workers part-time, full time, employed agency, zero hours, variable hours. They will all be entitled to the Job Retention Scheme grant.

What is someone is on sick leave?

When someone is on sick leave they will continue to receive sick pay in accordance with their employment terms and conditions. If they are due to return, you can initiate a period of furlough on their return date.

Can I have rotate staff on furlough leave?

You can, but the minimum period for qualifying is three weeks, so you will need to rotate on a three-week cycle, any less and you will not receive the grant.

Can staff do a small amount of work for me whilst on a furlough period?

The government guidance stipulates that anyone on furlough is not permitted to carry out work for their employer or anyone else.

What if my employee has more than one job?

Employees who currently have more than one employer can be put on furlough by one employer and continue to work for the other. If they are put on furlough by more than one employer, they’ll receive separate payments from each employer. The 80% of their normal wage up to a £2,500 monthly cap applies to each job.

What if someone is on maternity leave?

An employee on maternity leave will continue to receive their maternity pay as before, no change. If they are due to start their maternity leave soon, they can be put on furlough, until the maternity leave starts. NOTE: If their earnings have reduced due to a period on furlough their Maternity Leave starting this may affect their Statutory Maternity Pay.

If someone is due to come back to work following maternity leave, you can initiate a period of furlough instead of returning to work.

I had a new recruit who started on during March, do they qualify?

Employers can only claim for staff who were employed on the 28th February and new starters since then do not qualify for the grant.

What about National Minimum wage?

Pay on furlough does not have to meet the national minimum wage because they are not being paid to work.

How is the 80% payment calculated?

For full time and part-time salaried employees, the employee’s actual salary before tax, as of 28 February should be used to calculate the 80%. Fees, commission and bonuses should not be included.

In the case of employees with variable pay, who have been employed for a full year, employers will claim for the higher of either: the amount the employee earned in the same month last year, or an average of their monthly earnings from the last year.

For staff on variable pay, who’ve been employed for less than a year, employers will claim an average of their monthly earnings since they started work.

Is the payment subject the tax and national insurance and pension?

Wages of furloughed employees will be subject to Income Tax and National Insurance as usual. Employees will also pay automatic enrolment contributions on qualifying earnings, as usual.

Employers will be liable to pay Employer National Insurance contributions on wages paid as well as the usual pension contributions.

For full details on government scheme.

These are difficult times for employers and we are here to help employers. If you have any questions about the Job Retention Scheme or any other employment issue. Please do not hesitate to contact me.

Contact me at melanie@bluetreehr.uk

Preparing for difficult conversations

Posted on February 26, 2020 by Blue Tree HR

At some point, all managers have to hold difficult conversations. But how do you have a difficult conversation with employees?

There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach, but being prepared can really help you manage any situation, so we have created a short video about how to have difficult conversations.

We also have a handy checklist to help you prepare.

Download the checklist

It can be tough having difficult conversations with employees, but we are here to help if you need any support. Just call 07516335419 if you would like to speak to us at Blue Tree HR Solutions.

Managing Naughty Employees.

Posted on November 13, 2019April 28, 2023 by Blue Tree HR

All employers will experience some kind of unwanted behaviour from their staff. People are people and there will always be the occasional ‘bad apple’ who flouts the rules and causes problems that needs to be addressed by management. Following your disciplinary procedure is key.

Whether you have an employee who is caught stealing, watching porn on the company computer or taking extended lunch breaks, all employee issues should be dealt with in the same way.

Disciplinary Procedure

Always follow your disciplinary procedure and if you don’t have one then follow the statutory procedures stated by ACAS.
Act promptly – you need to take action as soon as possible.
Collect as much evidence as you can, things are not always as cut and dried as they seem. There may be an explanation.
Never just dismiss someone – make sure you give them the opportunity to give their side of the story – even if you think they have been caught red-handed. They still have the right to a fair dismissal.

In my experience staff who are questioned about wrong-doings, will lie. They will make up the most bizarre stories to trying to avoid disciplinary action. This is why it is really important to collect as much evidence as possible.

“Your car broke down and you had to walk here? So, why is your car across the road?”

I was once in a situation where a member of staff was over one hour late returning from her lunch break – she insisted her car had broken down ( one mile away). Obviously I asked her where was her car now? And why didn’t she call work, we could probably have helped?

She said, her car was still a mile away and her Dad was going to look at it.

I had seen her park her car across the road when she returned, so I knew she was lying. I said, “So, why is your car across the road?” she answered – “Oh, my Dad must have fixed it and brought it here.”!

My point is, even in a situation that really was a minor misdemeanor, she still squirmed and desperately tried to appear innocent. Whereas, in fact, the lying just made the situation worse.

Control your own emotions

It can be infuriating when staff misbehave and cause you issues and you have the mess to deal with. Remaining calm throughout the process will help you make rational and fair decisions. If you come to expect lies and surprises it helps deal with the stress that comes from managing staff.

Situations are likely to be complicated and require lots of investigating and interviewing numerous witnesses, but it pays off to do it properly. Other employees will appreciate it if they see management taking misconduct seriously, and shows that such wrongdoings are not tolerated.

Warnings

If you do need to give someone a warning, make sure you:

Put it in writing
give the employee an opportunity to appeal
stick to your procedure with regard to how long the warning remains on their file.
Keep all notes from the investigation

Carrying out disciplinaries is a necessary part of managing staff and is never fun. If you need support with carrying out a disciplinary investigation or hearing – Blue Tree HR Solutions offer ad-hoc or ongoing retained support – these kinds of problems are passed to an outsourced HR manager, giving you peace of mind, knowing the issue will be dealt with effectively.

Call 07516335419 if you have any questions.

Employee Holiday Allowance

Posted on May 28, 2019April 28, 2023 by Blue Tree HR

“Staff are wanting more holiday!”

“A member of staff is asking for an increased holiday allowance. How much holiday are other firms offering? If I give them extra holiday it’s not fair on the other employees, how should we manage this?”

Employee holiday allowance is a hot topic! Staff wanting additional holiday is a reoccurring concern for business owners – staff are wanting more than the standard 20 days plus bank holidays.

It also seems to be a common occurrence that people are requesting additional holiday at the job offer stage too. With the high employment rates currently in the UK, good candidates can be short supply and in some instances making demands on their new would-be employers.

With large corporate companies generally providing their employees with holiday allowances higher than the statutory 5.6 weeks per year. This is leaving smaller businesses and start-ups trying to keep up to ensure they retain their staff and recruit good people.

Paid holiday has always been an emotive subject, and woe betide the HR manager who makes a wrong calculation of a part timers holiday allowance!

So, on the whole, workers are striving for a better work-life balance and more annual leave can help with this.

Families often have both parents at work, they often need extra time off to cover children illnesses, appointments and school holidays.

Unfortunately, employees generally don’t appreciate the cost involved in giving their staff all extra holiday allowance. It can be a big cost consideration for businesses.

What are the options?

Every situation is different, and it will depend on the business. As mentioned above, there can be significant costs involved. Having staff out of the business for an extra two days per year means less output at work and more days with absent staff, with work needing to be covered.

Managing the staff holiday calendar can be problematic.

Sometimes, there are people in the workplace who don’t actually want extra holiday and find it hard to use the holiday allowance they already have.

Rewarding Long service

The first option is to consider rewarding long service with additional holiday allowance. For example, some schemes offer an extra day per year after every 5 years of service.

Unpaid leave

It may be an option that staff can request unpaid leave, allowing staff to book unpaid leave to top up their holiday allowance. This can be manageable for some businesses. Best practise, would be asking staff to request in advance and not just be absent because it’s a sunny day.

Parental Leave

Remember that, eligible parents of children under 18 are legally entitled to eighteen weeks of parental leave. Usually a maximum of four weeks in any one year, the employer can agree to more, depending on their policies. This is unpaid leave and both parents can take parental leave during each child’s childhood, for more information go to https://www.gov.uk/parental-leave

Parental leave information – Government website

Holiday exchange scheme

How about considering a scheme where employees can purchase additional holiday or sell unwanted holiday. Usually a maximum of one week. How much does a holiday day cost? The cost of a holiday day is their calculated day rate and this is taken out of their salary over the year. For example: if they are paid £120 per day – £10 will be deducted from their salary each month of the year. This can be beneficial in helping with an employee’s finances. Effectively, spreading the cost over the year, instead of deducting one day’s pay, as would be the case for unpaid leave.

A good work-life balance is important to your employee’s wellbeing. So it’s really important they take their holidays. However, if you have employees who find they always have days left at the end of the holiday year it allows them to convert unused holiday to cash.

Statutory requirements

Statutory holiday entitlement in the UK is 5.6 weeks per year. This includes 8 bank holidays. Of course, you are within your rights to stick the legal minimum and not allow unpaid leave unless employees have a statutory entitlement.

How will increasing holiday benefit my business?

Are you are under pressure to increase your employees holiday allowance? There are some possible benefits:

Reduces unauthorised absenteeism
Employees who choose to take additional holiday may be more productive as they are less tired
Encourages employees to plan in advance which in turn can make it easier for your business to manage resources/cover

Managing holiday

If you need support managing holiday allowances for your team or you have any other HR query, please get in touch.

Supporting Charities

Posted on May 14, 2019April 28, 2023 by Blue Tree HR

March 2016, 2017 & 2018 I collected for Marie Curie

This year, instead of standing in a street with a collection tin to raise money for charity, I wanted to do something a little more challenging.

A group of friends were planning to complete the London Moonwalk, so I decided to join them.

The Moonwalk is a 26.2-mile walk through London, starting before midnight and walking into the early hours of the morning.

Training.

Yes, this is not the hardest challenge out there, but we have to be realistic. Firstly, we have to schedule the training plan around our lives, us ladies have families, kids to pick up from school, hours at work, businesses to run and we should mention our husbands who like to see us occasionally too! We followed a training plan which involved three walks per week including one longer walk, steadily increasing our mileage to a 20-mile training session and we managed a steady speed of 16-minute miles.

We walked over 240 miles in 12 weeks. Every one of us had aches and pains, blisters and bruises, but the determination to be well prepared for the night kept us going.

On the night, we left Clapham common at 10.45pm. We had been raring to go all day, but the start was slow. We ambled along with 1000s of other participants. Trying to find space, not wanting to bump into each other or trip up. For the first mile, people are waving out of their windows and cars are tooting their horns. It’s quite a carnival and feels very surreal.

Just keep walking…

It is dark! Sounds silly, but we hadn’t trained in the dark and in some places, there are no lights. So, you just walk following people who have put LEDs on their outfit. You are hoping that there are no trip hazards or things to slip in!

Dancing over Tower Bridge

After a while, the carnival atmosphere subsides and you just have to keep on walking and walking. We walked for eight hours. Receiving phone calls and text messages from friends and family, it really helped to know that people were thinking of us. Playing music to keep us going, we found that people liked walking with us as the rhythm really helps you keep those feet moving. We danced over Tower Bridge and the Tower of London watched us “Don’t Blame it on the boogie”.

“Good Morning!”

At 1.30am, I wasn’t amused by people saying “Good Morning”, thinking ‘but, I haven’t been to bed yet’! I am not one for late nights and I felt cold and starting to feel tired.

After a while, there is not much to look at, all you can think about it getting to the end. Your muscles are aching. Your legs are so used to the same repetitive movement that stepping up kerbs becomes difficult. You don’t want to stop, because it hurts to start again. If someone drops something we all groan, nobody really wants to bend down!

Then at 4.30am, the birds started singing and the rising sun was a real energy boost. I have never stayed awake all night before and I have to say, it was amazing. In reality, we still had another two hours to go, but it felt like the end was in sight.

The Finish

At 6.45am we crossed the finish line. There is no big fanfare at the end, we just walked through an inflatable pink bra! You do have a marvellous inner sense of achievement. A wonderful pride you feel for your team. Also, feeling overwhelmed by all the amazing people that helped make such a wonderful event possible.

Taking part in this challenge was really good fun, working with friends towards a common goal is exhilarating.

It may just be a long walk, but it means so much more. We completed the training, we worked as a team and supported each other.
Such wonderful camaraderie really is a great boost for your soul. Thank you ladies x x x

Charity page link

The good news: so far I have raised

£200 for St Helena Hospice.

£404 +gift aid for Walk the Walk.

A massive heartfelt thank you to everyone who contributed.

Being The Employee On The Other Side Of The Table

Posted on February 26, 2019April 28, 2023 by Blue Tree HR

Have you ever thought about how your employee is feeling during their meeting with the boss?

As a manager or supervisor, it may be difficult to appreciate how it feels for the employees sitting opposite you during the meeting if you have not experienced it yourself. You may not remember the trepidation you had when you were due to have a one to one with your boss or the uneasiness you had speaking up about your performance in an appraisal.

I have been managing HR and personnel issues for over 15 years, but I had my fair share of meetings on the other side of the table before I was a manager, this includes performance reviews, disciplinaries and grievances.

Getting a Telling Off!

In my first job, I was involved in a huge mistake, having been left to work on my own, a large glass container holding a valuable ingredient had a crack in it. Cutting a long story short, with the help of a colleague I disposed of it.

The next day, I was sent to the Production Managers office – I remember it clearly over 20 years later. He shouted and swore at me, he was red-faced and angry, and I was holding it together as I was petrified. I had unknowingly discarded all of the remaining stock of this ingredient, which would take at least 8 weeks to produce. He accused me of losing the business thousands of pounds and that it would reduce workload for the whole business for many weeks.

I was not given advance warning of the meeting, nor given an opportunity to give my side of the story, I was alone and being shouted at by a senior manager.

In reality – what did this meeting achieve? I was now a scared employee, worried about using my initiative in the future. Confused as to why a new employee would be left with such high-value risk. My opinion of the manager was now tainted, and I felt they treated their staff terribly, yes I had made a costly mistake, but was I entirely to blame?

In later years, I was in a situation where I believed I was being treated unfairly. So, I filed a grievance. I was told that I should not stir up trouble, but I felt determined to right this wrong. I was fortunate in that the managers dealing with the grievance were understanding and showed concern for my circumstances.

People do not make grievances for fun.

In my experience it was a stressful time, I would not have carried on with the process if I did not feel so passionate about the circumstances.

Everyone is different and the reactions to a meeting with a senior manager can vary depending on so many factors. I have seen people shaking in fear of their annual performance review, even when they get on well with their manager, they are worried about what might be said in the meeting.

I have observed people telling long convoluted lies, to try and explain mistakes. The employees are so apprehensive that they make the situation worse.

Think about how the person is feeling on the other side of the table.

All managers should appreciate that there is a difference in seniority between you and the member of staff. Even if you think you are a friendly manager, who is easy to approach, with an open-door policy, your staff will always think of you as the boss, and with that comes a relationship where you are in charge and they should respect your opinion.

Staff will want you to say nice things about them, but also know that it is your job to tell them when you are not entirely happy with their performance or there is a problem.

These days statutory requirements ensure that staff are treated fairly, and all employers should provide the basic statutory rights for staff involved in grievances and disciplinaries. It is also vitally important that you think about the persons’ feelings too.

Prepare for your meetings and make sure you consider what their reaction may be.
Be patient, listen, show empathy,
take a break if needed and always remain calm.

In every staff 1-2-1 meeting it is important that the employee feels listened to, and the managers compassion for the situation, as well as behaving in a professional and unbiased manner at all times.

Any meeting or conversation will be much more beneficial if conducted well and the employee isn’t just sitting there hoping it will be over as quick as possible!

If you would like some support and advice on preparing for employee meetings, please get in touch.

Melanie Knight – Blue Tree HR Solutions

Call Me

10 Things You Must Do When Hiring An Employee.

Posted on February 8, 2019 by Blue Tree HR

1. Carry out checks on the applicant

Once you have found a suitable candidate for the position there are checks that must be completed.

Right to work checks are legal requirement (ask the candidate to show you their passport or birth certificate or relevant visa. More information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/legal-right-work-uk
Check that the candidate has the necessary qualifications as stated on their CV or at interview, you can ask the candidate to provide copies of their certificates. This applies to any qualification such as academic qualifications or a Fork lift truck driving licence. If it is relevant to your business, it is important to get the evidence.

Where necessary (i.e. care industry or working with children) ask the candidate to complete the DBS checks process as soon as possible

2. Make Offer and Get Acceptance

Send a written offer letter to the candidate. This document provides the employee with the conditions of employment, ask the candidate to reply in writing or email to accept the offer. If you have a period of time before the candidates start date make sure you keep in touch with them, ‘to keep them warm’, this is important for letting the new candidate know that you are looking forward to them joining the business. Let them know what will happen on their first day, and what to expect for the first weeks of employment.

3. Provide a Contract of Employment

This contract outlines the employee’s rights, responsibilities, and working conditions. The ‘principal statement’ must include the following details as a minimum, and can be included on an employment letter, a written employment contract, or as a separate document.

Name of the employer.
Name of the employee.
Job title and description.
Rate of pay, and payday details.
Working hours.
Start date.
Holiday entitlement (including public holidays).
Where the job is located.
Notice periods.
End date (if fixed term contract)
Information related to any collective agreements.
Pension arrangements.
Who to contact if you have a grievance

4. Make sure your business is adequately insured

To protect your business from claims made by employees who have been injured or fallen ill at the workplace. You must take out adequate Employers’ Liability Insurance cover due to the terms of the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969.

5. Register as an employer with HMRC

In almost all cases, you must register as an employer with HMRC within four weeks of taking on your first employee. As an employer, you will be responsible for paying your staff a salary and deducting any PAYE (income tax) and National Insurance Contributions from staff salaries.

6. Payments

When you pay your staff, you have to provide each employee with a payslip which details their gross and net pay, income tax and NICs deducted, and any other deductions (such as pensions contributions).

Since the implementation of the RTI (Real Time Information) regime in 2013, you must also submit payroll data to HMRC each time you pay your staff. Previously, this information needed to be provided at the end of each tax year.

You must also comply with the National Minimum Wage legislation. Go to https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates to find out the current rates of pay.

7. Pension auto-enrolment

New legislation means that employers must enrol their staff into a workplace pension scheme if they are aged 22 or over and earn at least £10,000 or more. (2018)

For more information go to https://www.fsb.org.uk/benefits/finance/pension-service which has a great pension set up service for small businesses.

8. Holiday entitlement, parental leave, sick pay, maternity / paternity pay

Employees are entitled to 5.6 weeks paid leave per year this is applicable to all employees including zero hours contractors, this includes bank holidays. This is calculated by working out how much of the year the employee will work and how many hours per week they work on average.

There are various rights for parents including paternity, maternity, parental leave, adoption leave. Make sure you familiarise yourselves with these in advance to avoid infringement of employment law.

9. Health and Safety

You will be responsible for providing your employees with a safe and secure environment to work in.

You don’t need a formal written H&S policy unless you have five or more employees, however you should take time to assess the risks your staff face at work and manage accordingly. Provide safe systems of work, training and protective equipment.

10. Engage Your Employee

Remember first impressions count, and for this reason it is important to start off well with your new employees. Being organised for their first day, having their contract of employment ready and being able to answer their questions regarding their employment, having their email set up and access to any IT systems are a good start.

People generally want to feel useful as soon as possible so make sure you have planned their work for the first week and month, give them a feel for the business introduce them to all significant people that they will be dealing with, start any required training as soon as possible.

It is commonly known that one of the main reasons people leave their job is because they didn’t like their boss, so have this is mind.

Give regular feedback and deal with any issues immediately, this prevents the niggles from becoming big problems and aid an open and honest working relationship.

There’s no doubt about it, being an employer can be a challenge, it can also be rewarding and greatly beneficial to your business when good employees are in place. An engaged workforce is a valuable asset, but they will ongoing management.

At Blue Tree HR Solutions, we aim to help business owners manage their employee with minimal hassle.

If you require support with managing new employees or any ongoing staff issues, please get in touch.

Our service is completely flexible in order to suit your company, please get in touch for further information 01787 695084 or melanie@bluetreehr.uk

HR Software

Posted on February 8, 2019April 28, 2023 by Blue Tree HR

Our HR Software is a software package which makes managing people processes simple. It is a user-friendly, affordable way of automating all those time-consuming activities such as holiday allowance, absence and training. Ensuring secure storage of all personnel documents with quick and easy access. The cost is only £97 per year for up to 10 employees.

The breatheHR software can automate many of those time consuming HR admin tasks, freeing up your time to focus on your business goals.

Watch Short Video about our HR Software

Centralise Records
One central location for all HR information with employee self-service to keep everything up-to-date.

Book Holidays
Manage holiday booking and absence allowances with a simple online approval process.

Manage sickness
Take control of sickness- every absence logged, approved and analysed in you HR system.

Improve Performance
Standardise the way you manage performance and keep track of objectives.

Organise Documents
Keep all employee documents safe and publish policies and templates online.

Expenses
Manage employee expense claims. Employee completes a claim for managers to approve.

Streamline Reporting
Keep track of what’s happening. Report library and one-click data export makes management and HR reporting a breeze.

Improve Communication
Engage your employees – reward great performance, share company news and objectives.

Tasks & Reminders
Manage day-to-day employee tasks from the HR Dashboard with email reminders and onscreen notifications.

Staff can access their own profile to view and book holiday, have access to company documents and their own personnel files.

Affordable Prices to suit your business size:

1-10 employees = £9 per month

11-20 employees = £19 per month

21-50 employees = £49 per month

51-100 employees = £99 per month

101-200 employees = £199 per month

To find out more about our HR Software packages and arrange a free 1 month trial contact us today.
Call : 01787 695084

Best Business Woman Awards 2018 Finalist

Posted on November 15, 2018April 28, 2023 by Blue Tree HR

We are really proud and excited to have been selected as a finalist in the Best Business Woman Awards 2018 for the Business Services category.

The presentation evening was a great opportunity to hear about other inspirational businesswomen.

Debbie Gilbert, organiser of The Best Business Women Awards said ‘The standard of our finalists is exceptionally high. We are delighted to receive entries from female entrepreneurs from throughout the UK, from women who are real trailblazers in their industry. This is a tough competition judged by business experts. To be a finalist is a major achievement. Finalists have been selected for their business acumen, determination, creativity and tenacity. Almost 90% of start-ups fail in the first 3 years and all our finalists are all shining examples of being successful entrepreneurs who have proved their success to our judges.’

Melanie Knight, who started the business in 2016 said “The Best Business Women Awards are specifically for female business owners who are making a real impact for their clients and I am absolutely delighted to have been selected as a finalist.”

Who is snooping at your personnel files?

Posted on June 15, 2018 by Blue Tree HR

[vc_row type=”in_container” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Back in the 1990s I started my first full time job, I was earning £7000 per year and I thought I had hit the jackpot! I really enjoyed my role, learning different skills and working with a friendly team.

I was really surprised when one day my fellow colleague asked me “Do you want to know how much everyone is earning?”

I’ll be honest, what other people were earning in the company was of no interest to me, I was a newbie and happy with my lot. I found it strange that this person was so intrigued.

Anyway, this colleague told me that when he came in at weekends to work, he was given access to the key store. Now it wasn’t that simple that he found the key to the personnel file in there, no.

He found the key to the MDs office, and in that office, there was a cupboard, inside the cupboard hanging hidden from view was another key, this key opened the desk drawer.

The desk drawer had the key to a filing cabinet, inside the filing cabinet was another key. This was the key to the fire proof/bomb proof personnel file located in another office. Shame it wasn’t sneaky employee proof!

This employee accessed every employee file and found out the salary of every worker.

A lot of effort to go to – but it shows that if someone is determined they will figure it out.

Also, what a lot of effort the MD or personnel manager had to go to every time they needed to access the files for every day purposes. Probably how this employee had figured out the hiding places as anyone would have had to follow this routine of getting each hidden key when they wanted to file something in this filing cabinet.

I never told anyone about my colleague’s antics and he got away with what surely was an act of dishonesty, and quite possibly gross misconduct. He knew it was wrong and revelled in the fact that he had done it. I wasn’t in HR in those days and I dismissed is as none of my business.

Generally, most files are electronic these days, but there is still a dusty old filing cabinet for personnel files in many offices.

What information is lurking in the filing cabinet and is it secure?

Nowadays, with data protection, we like to think that employers are generally more careful with personnel files, but are they?

Are businesses relying on their staff being honest?

Is sensitive information or personal information left on your desk or in a post tray?

Do you limit access to your computer every time you leave it?

Are sensitive folders on your PC, password protected with strong passwords.

Does your PC automatically populate passwords?

Does your office use a shared printer – could your confidential print-outs accidentally get picked up by the wrong person?

With the new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) which came into force in May 2018. It seems businesses are desperately making sure they have privacy policies in place, emailing everyone for consent and business owners are worrying that they might get in trouble for emailing somebody who hasn’t given written consent.

But are people protecting the data that is under their noses? Are the paper copies safe in your business?

People do tend to have a curious nature and even though they probably don’t consider opening confidential filing cabinets with secret keys, people would take a peek if information is left lying around.

GDPR turned into a bit of a last-minute frenzy, so now the heat is off, take a few minutes to check that personal information is being kept safe in the office – cabinets are locked, keys are secure, computers are password protected, and all staff are taught in general good practises of data protection.

For more information about GDPR best practises at work and HR software to manage your personnel files – eliminating the requirement for a filing cabinet– please get in touch. melanie@bluetreehr.uk[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]