Explanatory Notes This staff handbook contains 27 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. Health & Safety
13. Home working
14. Induction
15. Leave of Absence for Public Duties
16. Part Time Employees
17. Recruitment
18. Sick Pay
19. Smoking at Work
20. Special Leave
21. Use of E-Mails, Fax & Internet
22. Use of Telephones
23. Whistle blowing
24. Working Parents
25. Bonus Schemes
26. Occupational Pensions
27. 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 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 (although specific advice should be
It is essential to make clear whether the Handbook forms part of employees’ terms and conditions of employment. It is advisable to provide that the Handbook does not form part of the contract of employment. Nonetheless, Employers who regard a benefit or policy or procedure as non-contractual should make this clear in the handbook but must also be aware that the courts may regard a long-standing benefit as having acquired contractual force by ‘use and custom’. All contractual entitlements to benefits, bonus etc should be included in contracts of employment.
Employers who do not offer bonuses or occupational pensions should delete these sections (25 and 26). Please note that in addition to the obligation of employers with 5 or more employees to offer access to a stakeholder pension scheme, it is anticipated that from 2012 all employers shall be obliged to contribute to a qualifying pension scheme for all their employees or “job holders”. 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, or that where they do, there is a clear provision stating which document will take precedence in the event of a conflict.
Although we have endeavoured to take account of the legal position in England and Wales as at 1 September 2009, employers should be aware that many areas of employment law, including policies relating to rates of pay, 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 Innovation and Skills (BIS): 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 24 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 increased from 24 working days to 28 working days p.a. including bank/public holidays. 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 Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration 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 considering the monitoring of employee’s e mail/internet usage must abide by the Information Commissioner’s “Employment Practices Data Protection Code: part 3: Monitoring at Work” and the Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000 (where covert monitoring is considered).
Provisions relating to age discrimination and retirement procedures are relatively new law. Guidance is available from www.direct.gov.uk. Please note that the Retirement Procedure in the Handbook sets out the statutory minimum steps which all employers must follow. The default retirement age set by the government is currently 65, but an employer may specify a lower or higher age retirement age. However it is very unusual to have a lower retirement age as an employer would have to be able to objectively justify doing so.
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 and/or constitutes a change to terms and conditions of employment, 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). There may also be obligations to comply with the statutory collective consultation obligations. Where an employer has formally recognized either a Staff Association or Trades Union, or has in place an information and consultation agreement, 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 have 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 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 or trade union representative to accompany them.
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