12th December 2016
Most micro and SME employers start life with either the owner, director or a jack of all trades handling all employment matters, walking a tightrope of contractual policies and statutory procedures in an ever-changing HR landscape. It’s scary. One step in the wrong direction and you could be up for grievance and bullying issues or worse still claims of constructive dismissal or Employment Tribunals. Taking on a specialist HR person may not be cost effective at this time. Is it worth considering an Employment Helpline?
The Small Business Survey 2015, published in May 2016 analysed the biggest obstacles to over 11000 small businesses.
- 49% of SME businesses thought regulations and red tape were obstacles to business
- 32% had issues with staff recruitment and skills
- 49% find it difficult to implement automatic enrolment in the workplace
- And one in ten consider employment regulations a hurdle.
A One Poll survey commissioned by Jobandtalent, found that only 37% of SME owners have a good understanding of employee rights and employer regulations and keep updated on regulatory changes. Only one in four understand current regulation and to keep up with changes and 12% felt had no understanding of present employment regulations – let alone changes in the future.
Can Employment Helplines help with HR issues?
The short answer to that must be yes, especially for smaller companies who have not got a dedicated HR resource. Most HR situations rely on a delicate balance between saying the right thing with the employee and having rock solid paperwork to back it up. Having an employment professional on hand to seek advice, or bounce potential solutions off of, should be a must for any savvy small business owner.
A good employment helpline should be able to assist you with the general day to day issues to keep you legally compliant, and provide the additional services that set your business up correctly – so policies and procedures, employee terms and conditions, and a handbook for employees to pull it all together.
Your outsourced payroll providers may offer this as a cost-effective bolt on to their normal payroll services.
