Choosing the right payroll software can be a game-changer for streamlining your operations and ensuring compliance. With so many features and capabilities available, it’s easy to see the potential benefits. But as you explore the options, one question inevitably looms large: what about the cost? The bad news? The answer isn't all that straightforward. The good news? Payroll software is heavily customisable, and many software providers offer a plethora of options to suit your business needs. As a result, the price tag can vary depending…
As a payroll professional you may at times be required to manually calculate Statutory Sick Pay, or SSP. Here's how to do the maths. How is SSP Calculated? To make sense of SSP (Statutory Sick Pay) the calculation is simple. Take the weekly rate and divide it by the number of qualifying days in a week. Then multiply this by the number of days for which an employee is entitled to. Remember, the first three days the worker is ill are known as ‘waiting days’,…
Social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are part and parcel of an employee’s business and personal life. So it's not surprising that these are increasingly being used to air grievances about employers and fellow colleagues. If a disgruntled or former employee chooses to post negative material about you as an employer online or about one of their colleagues (another employee), it has the potential to cause serious damage to your reputation at the click of a button. Publication of the material in…
With over 200 important dates for the remainder of this year and 2025, this calendar aims to highlight important themes around Diversity and Inclusion to help promote awareness of diversity throughout your organisation. Raising awareness can encourage self-learning and personal development, provide accessible information on dates, holidays and events for all employees and support your organisation’s diversity, cultural and quality training objectives. August 2024 19 August: World Humanitarian Day. Celebrate those working to promote human welfare and save lives. 23 August: International Day for the…
Let's face it – dealing with the rising absenteeism is a challenge many of us have faced. Recently, absenteeism rates in the UK have soared to their highest in over a decade, with the CIPD reporting a notable increase driven by stress, poor mental health, and minor illnesses. Have you noticed more empty desks in your office lately? You're not alone. The rise in absenteeism can be a real headache for businesses, affecting productivity and team dynamics. It's not just about the numbers; it's about…
A business is a team. No matter how large or small the organisation, in order for it to be productive, profitable and provide exceptional customer experience, every single individual and department needs to work as one. The thought of ‘tribes’ and silos existing in an organisation is unpalatable for any business owner or HR team. After all, you've spent years creating an organisation built on a set of values that promote the importance of collaboration. Communication is the key, you say regularly at staff meetings,…
In business, a culture of sharing can be transformative. Imagine a staff base that proactively shares new techniques, insights into competitor strategy, market trends and lessons learned from mistakes. What organisation wouldn’t want that kind of culture to thrive? However, getting people to share knowledge within the workplace isn’t necessarily easy - particularly with your HR function. In this article, we go through the hurdles to get past and how to develop healthy information sharing in your business. Obstacles to effective information sharing Trust Feeling…
Body odour is cited as the biggest bugbear for 70% of employees. So what should HR do to tackle this awkward and personal situation? In the first instance, you should not ignore the situation. Sitting next to, talking to, and working with a colleague who has consistent objectionable personal hygiene can be an intricate concern for employers to deal with. You should consider the hefty impact this may have on relationships between colleagues, clients, and customers. For example, working with a colleague who has body odour…
Suffering from bereavement is a difficult time in anyone’s life, especially if the person you have lost is a close work colleague or friend. Dealing with grief can impact someone physically, emotionally, and psychologically, leaving long-lasting scars that might affect their ability to do their job. Though dealing with bereavement in the workplace can be difficult to manage, it's important that you do manage it and that you provide your employees with the level of support they need to get through this difficult time. This…
Most people will experience the death of someone they know at some point during their working lives. In the last year, 24% of the working population in Britain has experienced a bereavement, which equates to 7.9 million people. Only 30% of employees say the leadership of their organisation has communicated with them about grief or bereavement in the past year and subsequently, only 32% of employees are aware that their employer has a bereavement policy. Although employees may take very different paths when dealing with…
