After a reasonably stable few years for employment legislation, a whole raft of amendments are being introduced in 2024 which are summarised in this HR Bulletin. Flexible working From April, workers will be able to request flexible working from day 1 of their employment, rather than after being employed for 6 months.  They will also [...] The post HR Bulletin: New employment legislation for 2024 appeared first on Pennine HR ..read more

As we head into the winter months and Covid infections surge once again, we look at the latest government guidance and what employers should be doing when staff test positive or have symptoms of COVID. COVID is now being treated as any other illness for the purposes of work. Therefore, employees who test positive employees [...] The post HR Bulletin: COVID Guidance for Employers – Autumn 2023 appeared first on Pennine HR ..read more

The Living Wage Foundation has announced that the real Living Wage will increase to £12 (up from £10.90) an hour and will be adjusted to £13.15 with their London weighting in the capital and it applies to all employees over the age of 18. The Living Wage Foundation began calculating the real Living Wage 10 [...] The post Real Living Wage Increases by 10% appeared first on Pennine HR ..read more

Changes to the legislation around flexible working requests have now been confirmed and are due to be implemented imminently.  Although no firm date has been given, we recommend that employers start to make the required changes to their policies and procedures.  The main changes are: Employees will now be able to make up to two [...] The post HR Bulletin: Employment Law Update – New flexible working rules appeared first on Pennine HR ..read more

National Minimum Wage breaches – Are You Guilty? Four Traps to Avoid  The National Minimum Wage is an established part of UK employment law and the rates are well publicised BUT some employers are still under-paying!  The Government recently revealed that 200 200 employers, many of them large household names, have been found to be [...] The post National Minimum Wage breaches – Are You Guilty? Four Traps to Avoid …. appeared first on Pennine HR ..read more

The Coronation of His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort will take place at Westminster Abbey on Saturday 6th May, 2023 and Monday 8th May has been officially declared a Bank Holiday for the UK, meaning many people could be off work. Despite this day being named as a Bank Holiday the Government [...] The post A Bank Holiday for the King’s Coronation – Monday 8th May 2023 appeared first on Pennine HR ..read more

Teacher Strikes – Further Planned Action Like many other sectors, teachers have been striking over pay and working conditions amid a cost-of-living crisis and high inflation. Following the first planned strikes a pay deal was offered by the government, but National Education Union (NEU) members have rejected the offer by an overwhelming majority. This means [...] The post Teacher Strikes – Advice to Employers as Further Planned Action appeared first on Pennine HR ..read more

Last week’s budget has been touted as the “back to work” budget.  One of chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s key aims was to encourage “economically inactive” adults to return to the workplace.  While much of the detail is still to be confirmed, we take a look at some of the measures that may impact small businesses. Apprenticeships [...] The post HR Bulletin: The Budget – your business and your staff appeared first on Pennine HR ..read more

It’s that time of year again!  The early weeks of December are all about advent calendars, Christmas shopping and the traditional “company Christmas party”. The party is a chance bring all areas of the business together to mark the festive season, celebrate successes achieved in the year and build rapport between teams.  However, there’s potential [...] The post Five tips to help avoid a Christmas Party HR headache appeared first on Pennine HR ..read more

As the end of the year approaches, employers can find themselves short-staffed as team members rush to use up their holiday entitlement, if they are based on calendar year.  This year there is the added complication of the Football World Cup taking place in the run up to Christmas. So now would be a good [...] The post Holiday year-end headaches and how to avoid them appeared first on Pennine HR ..read more