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Explanatory Notes
Staff Handbook
This staff handbook contains 29 Sections which cover the following topics: 1. Absence
2. Additional Employment
3. Annual Leave
4. Appraisals
5. Capability
6. Data Protection
7. Dignity at Work
8. Disciplinary &Grievance Procedures
9. Education & Training
10. Employee Responsibilities
11. Equal Opportunities
12. Fixed Term Employees
13. Health & Safety
14. Home working
15. Induction
16. Leave of Absence for Public Duties
17. Overtime
18. Part Time Employees
19. Recruitment
20. Sick Pay
21. Smoking at Work
22. Special Leave
23. Use of E-Mails, Fax & Internet
24. Use of Telephones
25. Whistle blowing
26. Working Parents
27. Bonus Schemes
28. Occupational Pensions
29. Retirement Please note that text within square brackets and/or italicized will require amendment to ensure that it matches the requirements of individual employers. Clearly remaining sections must be re-numbered and the Contents pages amended accordingly. In addition, Employers should carefully review the Handbook and make such adjustments or additions as are appropriate to take account of company practices and procedures that are already in place. In particular please note that in some areas (e.g. annual leave, maternity/paternity/adoption leave/pay, sick pay) the employee's rights are restricted to the statutory minima. If employers wish to offer more generous arrangements they must reflect this by amendment of the Staff Handbook. Where employers have in place either a redundancy scheme that is more generous than the statutory minimum or arrangements for voluntary redundancy, details should be provided in the Handbook. Where additional employee benefits are provided they too should be included. To ensure labour flexibility and to minimise liability for redundancy payments employers should state in either a staff handbook or contracts of employment that employees are expected to relocate given reasonable notice and distance from home. Commonly employee handbooks combine contractual provisions, policies/statements of intent not intended to be of contractual effect and employee benefits such as bonus schemes that are entirely discretionary. Employers who regard a benefit as non-contractual must make this clear in the handbook or contracts of employment but must also be aware that the courts may regard a long-standing benefit as having acquired contractual force by 'use and custom'. Employers who do not offer bonuses or occupational pensions should delete these sections (27 and 28). Please note that from 2012 all employers shall be obliged to contribute to an occupational pension scheme for their employees. Further and detailed advice is available from The Pensions Advisory Service: www.pensionadvisoryservice.org.uk/occupational; the Pensions Regulator: www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk and HMRC: www.hmrc.gov.uk/PENSIONSCHEMES. Employers considering starting or changing an existing occupational pension scheme should take specialist legal/tax advice before acting.
It is important that contracts of employment and staff handbooks complement each other and do not contain contradictory provisions. Although we have endeavoured to take account of the legal position in England and Wales as at 1st October 2008, employers should be aware that policies relating to working time, maternity/paternity leave/pay, "family friendly" practices, in particular, are both detailed and subject to frequent change. Further and more detailed advice is also available online from the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR): www.berr.gov.uk. In particular employers should be conversant with the detailed advice set out the section entitled "Employment Matters: Work and Families" which deals, amongst other topics, with maternity/paternity/adoption pay/leave, flexible/part time working and time off for dependents (section 26 of this handbook). Valuable advice is also given with respect to the application of the Working Time Regulations 1998 (as amended) including record keeping requirements and opt-out rights and procedures. Employers may also wish to consult our guide to employment contracts Z153. With effect from 1 April 2009, the statutory minimum entitlement to annual leave increases from 24 working days to 28 working days p.a. The precise entitlement of an employee in the transition period will depend on when their leave year begins. There is a useful ready reckoner on the BERR website that can be used to work this out – at www.berr.gov.uk/employment/holidays/page40455.html. Employers may wish to note that the statutory entitlement to annual leave does not entitle employees to take bank holidays as paid leave; it is up to employers to decide whether bank holidays are to be taken as part of the statutory entitlement. The Arbitration Conciliation and Advisory Service ("ACAS") is not only available to assist employers/employees resolve disputes but also publishes both on line (www.acas.org.uk) and by way of booklets particularly helpful advice on Rights at Work, Resolving Disputes and Trade Union Recognition. The ACAS help-line is 08457 47 47 47.
Employers should note that the present three-part model for handling discipline and grievance issues (written notification, formal meeting, appeal) is to be replaced from April 2009 by a less prescriptive emphasis on procedural fairness. Further details are not as yet available. Employers considering the monitoring of employee's e mail/internet usage must abide by the Information Commissioner's "Employment Practices Data Protection Code: part3: Monitoring at Work" and the Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000 (where covert monitoring is considered). Further advice may be available from employers associations such as the CBI and Institute of Directors or local Chambers of Commerce who should be able to give prior warning to members of impending legal and regulatory changes. All changes to a staff handbook must be properly notified to all employees in advance of the change and where a change is arguably to the detriment of employees it is prudent to give as much notice as commercially possible (as a broad rule 3 months notice will suffice although shorter notice may be unavoidable). Where an employer has formally recognized either a Staff Association or Trades Union, they should be consulted in advance of such changes wherever commercially possible. As well as providing an on-line version of a staff handbook it is advisable to use a loose-leaf paper version so that updating will not require the re-printing of the entire document. It is prudent to undertake a thorough annual review by a specialist lawyer to ensure that the handbook remains up to date legally. In particular sections governing harassment, performance, discipline and grievance issues must be considered in the light of the nature of employment, and the size and structure of the employer (e.g. references to "HR" should be amended in the case of smaller employers who do not require a separate HR department; and the identity of the person who is to hear appeals from employees/the nature of the appeals process will depend in part upon the size of the employer). Where an employer has recognized either a Trade Union or a Staff Association, employees are entitled to insist upon a representative of either organisation accompanying them to a formal hearing. Where there is no such organisation an employee has a right to ask another employee to accompany them.
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