As National Apprenticeship Week comes to an end we wanted to highlight the numerous advantages that apprenticeships bring to businesses and individuals alike. Here are compelling reasons why hiring an apprentice can be a game changer for your organisation: Productivity Boost: Apprenticeships inject fresh energy into your workforce, fostering a culture of innovation and productivity. Diverse Perspectives: Apprenticeships bring in a diverse pool of talent, enriching your team with fresh perspectives, ideas, and skills. Skill Development: By investing in apprenticeships, businesses can tailor tr ..read more

January is a mixed bag for most of us. On the one hand, we’re making resolutions, planning how to make 2024 productive and successful (personally and professionally), and maybe planning a holiday for later in the year. On the other hand, it’s cold and grey, we’re trying not to have too many treats, and our pyjamas and duvet are looking very appealing. While you’re setting goals, why not put wellbeing on your agenda – if it isn’t there already? We all need to take care of ourselves more, so personal wellbeing needs to be a priority. And, for business owners and managers, we need to extend that ..read more

New Dawn Resources Ltd would like to thank all of our clients for their custom this year.  Once again it’s been a challenging one for many. We hope that our business partners have helped guide your organisation through these times, and we’re looking forward to delivering  even more support next year. In the new year we shall be launching new training courses and we’ll be extending our outsource HR services too, but more of that in January. This year instead of sending Christmas cards we have donated £250 to the local food bank.  For now, we wish you ‘Happy Holidays’ from ou ..read more

New Dawn is pleased to confirm that the government has now published the long-awaited outcome of its consultation into holiday pay. You will recall that the Supreme Court case of Harper Trust v Brazel introduced significant legal changes last year, meaning that employers were no longer permitted to use the “percentage method” to calculate holiday entitlement for workers who work irregular hours or part of the year. This meant that calculating holiday as 12.07% of hours worked for these flexible and zero hours workers was set to become a thing of the past. We reported at the time and in our Nov ..read more

It is Menopause Awareness Month and the Employment Tribunals have been busy. In two recent cases, menopause has been categorised as a disability under the Equality Act, entitling the claimant to protection from discrimination and harassment. In one of the cases, the total compensation awarded topped £37,000. Whether an individual’s menopause will amount to a disability is likely to depend on the severity of their symptoms, as some will see a more significant impact on their day to day lives than others. However, these two cases are an encouraging step in ensuring appropriate protections are i ..read more

Just in time for ‘Happiness at Work’ week – Sarah Harrison shares her experience of returning to work at New Dawn Resources. I returned to New Dawn a year ago and I genuinely mean it when I say it is a happy place to work. One of the reasons for that is that the team talks, listens and evaluates what we do for our clients and for ourselves regularly. As a result of one of these meetings the team has decided to trial a 4-day working week.  During our time away the team will be learning carpentry, painting (art not walls!) and will take the time to travel more and spend time with friends an ..read more

In this latest update New Dawn co-founder and Managing Director Vanessa Scrimshaw shares her thoughts on the sponsorship of overseas workers. She breaks down the myths and supposed complications that enshroud this subject to reveal the truths behind the process. So is sponsorship only available to larger organisations? The simple answer is NO. You will have to do some legwork but it’s not necessarily complicated or expensive when compared with the fees of recruitment consultants. I would certainly recommend employers of all sizes think about it as the skills shortage continues to hold back pr ..read more

The government has passed legislation that partially updates the rules on flexible working, but there is more to come. What has happened? The new legislation allows an employee to make 2 flexible working requests per year, instead of 1. The employee is no longer obliged to consider the practicality or impact of their flexible working request when they submit it to you. The time frames for dealing with a flexible working request have been reduced from 3 months to 2 months – all work including any appeal must be completed within this time frame. Outside of this, the process remains the same. Yo ..read more

It most certainly is, and as the major Summer holiday season starts we thought it would be useful to look at holiday contracts, how to handle awkward negotiations and why ensuring holidays are taken is so important.   So, let’s start with the basic holiday entitlement in the UK Every employee in the UK has a basic entitlement of 5.6 weeks annual leave: that’s 28 days every year for full-time workers and pro-rata for part-time employees. The European Union’s Working Time Directive states that employees should be taking a minimum of 20 days leave every year.  We cover bank holida ..read more

Another month, another national day, and July has its fair few including National Workaholics Day on 5th July and Friendship Day on 30th July – when hopefully even the workaholics amongst us will be enjoying a restful Sunday with friends.  There have been lots of studies around the effects of being addicted to work; on individuals, their families and their work places. Evidence suggests that workaholics get sick more often and are less productive, they may also die younger.   The question that we pose is pertinent on two levels: workaholics may in fact die younger than expected ..read more