Redundancy Payment Calculator

Provided by the government, this handy redundancy ready reckoner will help you calculate entitlements for individual employees in the event of redundancies arising. Remember to read myhrdept.co.uk’s guidance notes on redundancies first, as it is easily possible to create an ‘unfair redundancy dismissal’ in individual cases, and special rules apply to collective redundancies.

Maternity, Adoption and paternity calculator for employers

Provided by the government, this handy calculator will help you calculate your employees Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), paternity pay, adoption pay, relevant employment period and average weekly earnings, and leave period

Business Link tool – employing illegal workers
A simple(ish) tool provided by the government to identify whether you are employing, or are about to employ, an illegal worker. If you audit your employees, make sure to audit ALL employees, not just those who you think are more likely to be in breach of UK permit to work regulations. If you single out particular employees or groups of employees, you run the risk of accusations of discrimination. Carrying out this exercise is extremely sensible as, if there is any problem in the future you can produce the results and your evidence as part of your due dilligence defence. Employing an illegal immigrant carries a maximum fine of £10,000….per employee!

Calculating employee’s holiday entitlements
This ready reckoner will help you work out your employees entitlements easily.

Employment status tool – self employed or employee?
HMRC provides an employment status check tool on their website. HMRC advise employers to use the tool each time they seek to engage a self employed person under a contract for services and to keep a record of the case number the tool generates. As this record can help provide a defence in the event of a later challenge by HMRC (which could result in the employer having to pay back tax and NICs) this appears to be a worthwhile piece of advice.

Equal opportunities (discrimination)

The Equality Act – what’s new for employers
The Equality Act (mostly in force from Oct 2010) defines employer’s responsibilities and encompasses all strands of discrimination & equal pay. The ACAS guide provides clear explanation on the act and its many implications for employers.

Eligibility to work in the UK
The documents described herein are subject to change without notice. Please ensure you check the UK Border Authority’s current list for updates.

Information and advisory sites and services

ACAS
The Arbitration, Conciliation and Advisory Service ACAS contains a wealth of employment information and access to periodicals & advice guides. Their free helpline is very useful for legal queries and their staff helpful. ACAS is sometimes rather more useful to those with a good grounding of employment knowledge already, and like most government agencies they will tend to advise on least risk solutions at the expense of pragmatic business decisions. 

Buying or selling a business? TUPE
Buying or selling a business? Taking over or letting go a contract for services? TUPE 2006 laws apply to you and breaches of the employment rights of existing employees could be heavily punished. This well written BERR guide sets out the main parts of the 2006 laws and is ESSENTIAL reading for anyone thinking of acquiring or selling a business or contract that already employs staff.

Prevention of illegal working – UK Border Agency guidance
The UKBA resource suite including links to the full and summary guidance on how not to get it wrong.

CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development)
Another useful source of guidance. 

ACAS Guide to handling disciplinaries and grievances
Replacing the statutory dispute resolution procedures from April 09 this well written guide from ACAS details how disciplinaries and grievances should be handled in the context of the new code of practice. While not legally binding the code will be considered by tribunals and decisions are likely to be heavily influenced by employer’s adherence or otherwise to it. Essential reading then for anyone contemplating taking disciplinary action against an employee (including dismissal) or hearing a grievance raised by an employee

Health and Safety information

Risk assessment tool (offices)
This tool allows those working in low-risk office-based environments to do their risk assessment quickly and easily. It enables you to produce a tailored assessment by selecting the relevant hazards and thinking about how you control them. The assessment should take around 20 minutes.

Recommended Suppliers

Petticoat Management Team
Good quality reliable payroll services are worth their weight in gold, which is why we highly recommend Petticoat Management Team. Like myhrdept.co.uk their roots are in the licensed industry, but their portfolio of over 100 nationally based clients now transcends sectors. When visiting their Gloucester office we could see that their highly committed team provide an excellent standard of customer service. They ensure clients have reliable payroll and include all related services within a very reasonable fee. They also prepare journals for accountants to complete monthly management accounts, calculate HMRC monies due and, as a BACS approved bureau, they can even make payments on their clients behalf direct from the client’s account. 

Adelante Software Ltd
Need to take credit card payments (short term or long term solutions)? Cost effective reliable payment solutions from Adelante Software Ltd.

myhrdept.co.uk Premium Plus customer Adelante Software Ltd are the leading suppliers of merchant accounts, chip and pin terminals and other mobile payment solutions. Established for 12 years, Adelante can typically save their clients substantial costs against the banks’ merchant fees and can provide short term low cost payment solutions in addition to permanent facilities.

Their Maidenhead based team would be keen to discuss your requirements. Visit their website www.adelante.co.uk or contact them on 01628 820500.