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Recognition in the workplace is important. It makes employees feel valued, and it encourages employee loyalty and productivity. Employee recognition is particularly important now, as the pandemic has had such a detrimental effect on mental health. Simply telling your employees that you recognise their hard work and efforts is vital, but there are also other ways you can recognise the efforts of your employees. These are some employee recognition ideas for your business.

Merchandise

It is a good idea to give your employee’s company merchandise as part of your onboarding process, such as a pen, mug, notebook, t-shirt, etc. It will instantly make your employees feel welcome as soon as they join the company, and they will be more likely to feel recognised and make more of an effort.

Extra Holidays

An unexpected extra holiday that will allow employees some important ‘me’ time to relax is a great form of recognition. It shows that you care about their mental health and wellbeing, as well as appreciating their efforts. Extra holidays can be used to show that you are happy with your employee’s performance or the extra hours they put into a project to ensure it was delivered on time.

Surprise Gift

Happy with an employee’s effort? A gift will go a long way to show you appreciate them. If they are working remotely, you can send this out to them, or if they are in the office, you can hand-deliver it. You’d be surprised at how happy your employees will be with this, no matter how small the gift may be.

Vouchers

You could treat your employees to vouchers to give them an opportunity to choose their own gift. Vouchers are always appreciated, and they are a good example of employee recognition.

Free Lunch

You may want to offer your employee a free lunch as a form of employee recognition. If you can do this in person, all the better as it gives you the chance to bond with your employees. However, if they are working remotely, a delicious lunch turning up at their doorstep will be sure to be appreciated.

Dog Day

More people than ever are becoming dog owners, with 26% of the UK population owning a dog. You might want to consider a day where employees can bring their dog to work as a token of your appreciation. Who could resist a visit from a furry baby!

Fun Break Room

What does your canteen area currently look like? Is it a place of fun or boring chat? A good way to show you appreciate your employees is to have some activities available to make lunchtime and breaks a little more interesting. Consider hooking up a PlayStation, ping pong table, or an arcade machine. It’s relatively cheap and will show your employees that you care and want to make them happy.

Social Activities

Take your team out on a social activity day to show your appreciation, such as bowling, laser tag, or even just for lunch. It is a good way for everyone to get to know each other a little more, and even more important if you have staff working remotely. If it’s difficult to get everyone together, then you could organise a quiz or similar online. 

Employee of the Month

Some companies offer ‘Employee of the Month’ as a form of employee recognition. If you appreciate your staff and want to ensure they feel valued, a reward like this can be desirable.

Office Treats

An unexpected delivery of office treats will be a hit with your employees. A pizza lunch, delivery of donuts, or a box of delicious chocolate will be sure to put a smile on your employee’s faces. If your employees are working remotely, you could always get these sent to their homes.

If you would like us to help you build employee recognition, contact us at info@bluetreehr.uk or 01787 695084

In part one of our blogs, we looked at the pandemic and how people feel about returning to work. In this blog, we will look at the results of the survey. It will include how employers have dealt with the pandemic, employer responsibilities, and what they have done to support their employees. We will offer insight and advice where possible from an HR perspective, from both the employee and employer sides.

How has the pandemic affected you?

According to our survey, just over 33% of respondents felt ‘OK’ about the pandemic and lockdown, while over 66% said they have experienced mood changes. Understandably, none of the respondents were happy about the lockdown, and thankfully, none of the respondents felt depressed. The after-effects of the lockdown are not yet known, and it is understandable to have good and bad days, even for months or years to follow. When it comes to returning to the workplace, there can be feelings of anxiety and stress. Most people will have had their mental health affected in some way.

Advice for Employees

Have an honest discussion with your employer when you return to the workplace and let them know how you’re feeling. It might also be the time to suggest flexible working if this is something that will be possible and beneficial to you. It is vital to take your time and adjust back into the real world. It’s not easy, and the more you communicate and inform your employer about your mental health, the better. 

If you are suffering from poor mental health because of the lockdown, you can take some small steps to try and improve your mood. For instance, spend less time watching the news and more time doing something creative – such as reading, writing, or undertaking a course. Make sure you get outside as much as possible and maintain a good level of fitness. If the lockdown has taught us anything, it is that most of us have not appreciated nature the way we should. Take time to do what you love and stay away from things or people that are harming your mental health. As harsh as it may be to cut ties with people, it is vital to take care of yourself, first and foremost.

Advice for Employers

Make sure you discuss mental health with your employees in a quiet place when they return to the workplace. You should also check in with them regularly, as their mental health is probably going to be changeable. You should do your best to provide information on managing mental health and try to accommodate flexible working requests. It is not the time to throw employees in at the deep end; they will need time to adjust to a new (or old) way of working. Your employer responsibilities including looking after the mental health of your employees.

Flexible Working

All the respondents to the survey said that one thing they would change about the way they work on their return is flexible working. Most of the respondents wanted some form of blended working, with time spent between the office and home. Other comments were that they would like to feel more valued and work in a more positive environment. If you are not yet offering flexible working, it is time to do it.

Employer Support

57% of respondents felt that they were adequately supported by their employer during the pandemic and lockdown. Just over 33% said they were somewhat supported and 9.5% said they were not supported at all. Most respondents (just over 66%) stated that communication with their employer during lockdown was ‘OK’, while just over 33% said it was great. The number of times employers checked in with employees was variable, with around 14% stating that their employer checked in with them daily, around 57% stating they checked in weekly, 14% monthly, 9.5% every so often, and 4.7% not checking in at all. Thankfully, for most respondents, it seems that their employers did check in with them regularly, which is a good sign, especially since this has been a new experience for most of us. For the most part, it seems that employer responsibilities were taken seriously.

Positive Changes

We also asked the respondents what their employers had done to support their engagement or development during the pandemic and homeworking. These could be useful ideas for employers considering offering homeworking in the future. The responses included:

• Virtual team games
• Group calls on Zoom
• Regular communication
• Provided new equipment, laptop, etc.
• Sunshine hour breaks
• Virtual learning
• Social time
• Early finish
• Quiz nights
• Gifts

If you want some advice and support for getting back into the workplace after lockdown or you are an employer with concerns about how to deal with mental health or flexible working requests, you can contact us at info@bluetreehr.uk or 01787 695084. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.