Member Blog

Changes to employment law in April

News

This Newsflash summarises the changes to employment law which are due to come into force in April and over the next few months.

Implications

Employers should ensure that their line managers and Human Resources Departments are aware of the changes to employment law which are taking place in April. In addition, payroll departments, or those employees responsible for administering pay, will need to be made aware of the increase in statutory payments which also takes place in early April.

However we are still awaiting confirmation from the Government on the exact date that various other changes to employment law are going to come into force. Therefore employers need to be aware that, unlike in previous years, some changes to employment law could take effect in May, June, July or August.

We will send out further Newsflashes as soon as we have information on exactly when these further changes to employment law will come into force.

Details

Changes to be introduced on 6 April 2013

Reduction in Collective Redundancy Consultation Period

The current minimum period of consultation where an employer is proposing to dismiss 100 or more employees is 90 days.

When the proposal to make 100 or more employees redundant occurs on or after 6 April 2013, the minimum period of consultation will be reduced to 45 days.

However the existing minimum period of 30 days consultation for proposals to make between 20 to 99 employees redundant will remain the same.

Furthermore, employees whose fixed-term contracts are expiring (on a particular date or on completion of a particular task) will no longer need to be taken into account when calculating the numbers of proposed dismissals for collective redundancy consultation purposes. Such employees will still count towards the numbers of dismissals if the fixed term is being brought to an end early.

During April ACAS will issue new guidance on collective redundancies.

Increase in Statutory Sick Pay

The rate of statutory sick pay will increase from £85.85 per week to £86.70 per week.

Changes to Codes of Practice for skilled migrant workers

New Codes of Practice for skilled migrant workers from outside the European Economic Area will apply from 6 April 2013. These codes set out which occupations are sufficiently skilled to qualify for tier 2 of the points-based system, minimum rates of pay for each occupation and how employers should carry out a resident labour market test and to determine whether there are existing workers within the UK who could do the job.

Changes to be introduced on 7 April 2013

Increase in Statutory ‘family leave’ payments

The standard rate of statutory maternity pay, statutory paternity pay (including additional pay) and statutory adoption pay will all increase from £135.45 per week to £136.78 per week.

The weekly earning threshold will increase from £107.00 to £109.00.

Changes expected to come into force by the end of April

Consolidation of National Minimum Wage Regulations

There are currently 17 sets of Regulations dealing with the National Minimum Wage. The Government intends to simplify the rules by producing a single set of National Minimum Wage Regulations by the end of April 2013.

Changes expected over the summer

There are a number of other changes to employment law which we anticipate will be made over the summer, although at time of writing we do not have the exact dates these changes will become law. Howes Percival will send out further Newsflashes with more details as soon as we have this information.

• No qualifying period for unfair dismissal where the reason for dismissal is, or relates to, the employees political opinion or affiliation (see Howes Percival Newsflash 19 February 2013).

• The Compensatory Award for unfair dismissal to be capped at 12 months pay or £74,200 – whichever is the lower.

• The introduction of fees for bringing a claim in the Employment Tribunal or appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (see Howes Percival Newsflash 18 July 2012).

• Making pre-termination settlement negotiations between an employer and an employee inadmissible in any subsequent unfair dismissal claim (see Howes Percival Newsflash 25 January 2013). A new Statutory Code of Practice about this will also be introduced.

• Changes to whistleblowing legislation. The definition of a qualifying disclosure for the purposes of a whistleblowing claim will be amended so that the disclosure must, in the reasonable belief of the worker making it, be made ‘in the public interest’. In addition the good faith requirement for a protected disclosure will be removed. However, Employment Tribunals will be able to reduce compensation by up to 25% if the disclosure was not made in good faith. In addition employers will be held vicariously liable for their employees if they victimise their co-workers because they have made a protected disclosure (i.e. blowing the whistle), unless the employer can show they took reasonable practicable steps to prevent such action by their employees.

• New Tribunal rules will come into force (see Howes Percival Newsflash 20 March).

Should you require further assistance, please contactNicola Butterworth.

Contact Us The Guildyard 51 Colegate Norwich NR3 1DD

Tel: 01603 762103

Email : [email protected]

There’s no denying it’s a difficult economic climate, but there are things you can do to increase your chances of success in the job market.Your CVis the first chance to sell yourself to your prospective employer, andyou have seconds to make AN IMPACT.With our adviceyou will immediately improve your chances of securing that all-important interview.

First, Put your unique profile at the top – a hard-hitting summary of your experience and achievements. It has to be relevant to the job and show how you make an impact. Hook your recruiter in to read more. You may find it best to write it last.

Summarise your education and qualifications – most recent qualifications first. If you have a degree, list this before ‘A’ levels. Include grades and dates. If you are older, there’s no need to list every course you’ve been on. And list your employment/work experience – dates, location and industry sector. Note any breaks in employment and say what you did e.g. travelling/raising a family.

Demonstrate the role and responsibility you had for each position. But don’t use your precious space to summarise your job descriptions! Review the job specification you’re applying for and ensure you give more space to the most relevant roles.

Concentrate on your achievements and describe them with positive language such as ‘improved, initiated, established, and developed’.

Recruiters also love numbers, so state the impact you had and demonstrate it in actual numbers if possible. Again, select achievements which are relevant – CVs which are constructed with a specific job in mind are much more successful.

Make it easy to skim read. Recruiters have to scan numerous CVs and you need your key points to stand out to even get through a first sift. Use bullet points rather than paragraphs. But keep it factual and accurate Recruiters are experienced in spotting lies and you’ll only come unstuck in the interview.

Don’t use more than 2 pages – do a long draft and then cut, and try not to use jargon – avoid the dreaded A.C.R.O.N.Y.M.s where possible.

Don’t list a range of irrelevant hobbies. Put them last and keep it brief, and certainly not ‘clubbing’ or going down the pub, unless you’re applying for DJ-ing or something in the off-licence or entertainment business!

Don’t forget to spell check and check grammar. You look careless and unprofessional and are likely to be out in the first sifting just by having a couple of silly mistakes. A fresh pair of eyes does help

Don’t over complicate your layout by using different typefaces, decorative fonts and graphics (unless you’re applying for a creative job, we’ll leave that to your creative eye!). The whole piece needs to look simple and professional. Use good quality paper if handing it out.

And lastly – make sure you include your contact details on your CV including home address, home and mobile telephone number and email address. You’ll want to make sure that the recruiters know how to beat a path to your door!

Some people leap at the chance to be the face of an internal training video, or to be the spokesperson for the company in a marketing video or TV interview. But others accept the request to be in front of the camera more reluctantly.

But take heart! Production companies and journalists have got a lot of experience in putting those in front of the camera at ease. For the past thirty years we’ve been preparing our clients for their appearances in videos, so we’ve put together a list of tips to help you breeze through your moment of fame.

Tips for being a direct-to-camera presenter are similar to those for being an interviewee, although you’ll often be under greater time and pressure constraints in an interview situation, but they are all relevant to anyone with a camera pointing at them.

Being interviewed:

1) Decide in advance the top three or four crucial points you have to get across, and don’t get distracted from delivering them. Filling silence with superfluous ‘and also…’ items as your mind wanders can muddy the message you intended to convey.

2) Make your answers short, precise and relevant – don’t be afraid to stop when you’ve made your point. There is a tendency for people to feel they need to keep talking for as long as the camera is pointing at them.

3) Usually the interviewer won’t be there to grill you, but to make sure all of the pertinent responses have been gathered for their piece. Their side of the conversation will often be edited out to leave them with your soundbites. You’ll likely be asked to respond with closed sentences that will make sense when edited out of the context of the question. For instance, the answer “Yes, it’s going to exceed all expectations” won’t mean a thing without its preceding question – whereas “This year’s figures are going to exceed all expectations” will make a lot more sense when placed on its own.

4) Where should you look? If you’re being interviewed, look at the interviewer and keep your gaze on them – wandering eyes can make you look shifty. Those may sound obvious directions, but we have had interviewees who’ve been asked a question, and then turned directly to camera to deliver the answer.

5) Maintain your interviewer’s gaze at the end of your answers – don’t spoil a great response by glancing to a colleague for a thumbs-up at the very last moment.

6) If you’re being interviewed in an office, make sure you are standing or using an open chair or sofa. Talking from behind a desk puts up a barrier between you and the viewer, making you seem unapproachable.

7) If you need a moment to gather an answer to a question don’t glance upwards, or look to someone off-camera. Instead, look downwards for a second as it gives the impression that deeper thought is going into your response.

Presenting:

1) Where should you look? Unlike an interview situation, when you’re presenting – look directly at the camera! No need to stare or rigidly deliver a monologue – just talk to the lens as you would a person stood in its place.

2) If the production company offers you a prompter take them up on it! If you’ve got to deliver something lengthy or technical directly to the camera, and it really has to be word-perfect, a prompter really will help you get the piece done more swiftly and with fewer hesitations – and zero chance of inadvertently saying the wrong thing!

3) If you’re working without a prompter then conventional wisdom says that ‘practise makes perfect’, but unless you’re a professional presenter recalling someone else’s script you can sometimes inadvertently trip yourself up by over-rehearsing your own words. We’ve all met someone who can talk off-the-cuff about their business with enormous passion, yet give wooden performances when they’ve spent the night before making cue-cards for themselves. A piece to camera doesn’t need to be a speech – a relaxed and natural delivery sounds far more genuine.

4) Trust us, you’ll begin to feel more comfortable as you go along, so it’s a good idea, once you have completed your piece, to go back and record your opening deliveries again. Second-time around they’re often more succinct and flow more naturally as you’ve warmed up.

Remember your mic:

1) Whether your contribution is an interview or a piece to camera you’ll almost certainly have a radio-microphone attached to you. The sound recordist’s day will be much easier if you’re wearing a jacket with an inside pocket, or trousers with a back pocket – they’ll have places to discreetly clip the mic and hide the transmitter pack.

2) Radio-microphones typically have a range of about 100-metres… politicians have something of a poor track-record for forgetting that their off-camera conversations in the room next door can still be heard. The same is true of leaving your microphone on when you take advantage of a recording break to pop to the bathroom.

3) Lastly, don’t get up and leave until the recordist has removed your microphone – countless people have wandered off after we’ve finished shooting with a wire trailing after them, or got in their car to leave with a radio-mic still in their pocket. I know that one of our recordists would also like me to point out that radio-mic transmitters are expensive… from experience dropping them in a toilet is not advisable.

Q: When is a fall back not a fall back?

A: Almost never!

A High Court challenge to the grant of planning permission for a new out-of-town retail development has offered some judicial explanation of when a planning authority can take a fall back position into account when deciding whether to grant permission for a new development.

One of the material considerations that a planning authority should take into account when deciding whether to grant planning permission for a development proposal is what the alternative is for the site in question. When the development is not welcomed or is contrary to policy, the question of what can be done with the land without the need for planning permission can be particularly relevant.

An existing planning permission, permitted development rights and the existing use of a site are all examples of possible fall back options that developers may ask a local planning authority to take into account when deciding whether or not to grant planning permission. Often, especially when the planning authority is seeking to refuse permission, the question arises as to whether the fall back position that is being put forward is a genuine fall back that qualifies as a material planning consideration.

The case of Zurich Assurance v North Lincolnshire Council involved a challenge by Zurich, the owners of much of the retail centre of Scunthorpe, to a decision by North Lincolnshire to grant planning permission for an out-of-town retail development on an existing garden centre site. One of the grounds of Zurich’s challenge was that the Council had wrongly taken into account the potential for a fall back open retail scheme. This fall back was claimed to arise because the garden centre had, for many years, sold a wider range of goods than was permitted by the conditions imposed on its planning permission.

While Zurich sought to argue that the committee should have been advised that they could only take a fall back into account if it were a realistic possibility, the Court rejected this; finding that the fall back does not have to be probable or even have a high chance of occurring. Instead the Court held that, in order to be a material consideration, a fall back only has to have “more than a merely theoretical prospect”. While the likelihood of the fall back occurring may affect the weight to be attached to it, the Court did not feel it affected its status as a material planning consideration.

Comment: Fall back options occur frequently and not just in retail planning. Residential development proposals, for example, often involve a consideration of a fall back option as part of their justification for approval. This case sets the threshold for a fall back option very low indeed, although it leaves open the question of how much weight can be attached to something that has only an outside chance of ever happening. Local planning authorities need to be alive to the possibility of a fall back option when determining planning applications and developers should never overlook the potential for a fall back position to support their application.

Government relaxes law on amending planning obligations in viability push

Following on from a consultation last year, the Government has published new regulations that will give developers the right to seek to vary a planning obligation more quickly.

At present a planning obligation that is less than five years old can only be varied with the agreement of the local planning authority. This means that if an authority refuses to renegotiate there is little that a developer can do to force the issue during the first five years. The only option open to a developer is to submit a new planning application and, if necessary, appeal a refusal of the application on viability grounds. This is time-consuming and expensive and so unattractive, not to mention also having a further adverse impact on a scheme’s viability.

The situation is different for planning obligations that are more than five years old. For such agreements a developer has a legal right to require an authority to reconsider its terms and a right of appeal if agreement cannot be reached.

In a further attempt to kick-start development of stalled sites, the Government is extending the legal right to have the terms of planning obligations reconsidered to any obligation entered into before 7 April 2010. The intention is to enable developers to renegotiate planning obligations that are making development unviable more quickly if an authority is refusing to renegotiate.

The Town and Country Planning (Modification and Discharge of Planning Obligations) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2013 come into force on 28 February and enable an application under section 106A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (and a subsequent appeal under section 106B) for modification or discharge of a planning obligation dated before 7 April 2010.

Any application under the new regulations cannot be made before 28 March 2013 and the changes will not affect any planning obligations where the five year period has already expired (which can already be the subject of an application for modification or discharge) or any planning obligations entered into after 6 April 2010 (which will still not be able to be modified or discharged other than by agreement with the local planning authority for a period of five years from the date of the obligation).

Comment: These changes only affect planning obligations entered into in the five years before 7 April 2010 and, if the local planning authority is willing to negotiate, a formal application may not be necessary. But, for those planning agreements entered into at the top of the market that are now holding back development by making it unviable, these changes enable a developer to force a reluctant local authority to reconsider the level of planning obligatiions, backed-up by an appeal to the Secretary of State if necessary.

For many the new legislation introducing compulsory employer pension contributions has come at a bad time but in this article Chartered Financial Planner Richard Ross considers a more holistic approach that could see the legislation used as a catalyst for creating value

The latest raft of workplace pension reforms came into being in 2012, and saw the introduction of compulsory employer pension contributions for the first time. Although it will be well into 2015 before the majority of smaller firms are required to do anything and not until late 2018 before the changes take full effect, its worth starting to plan a strategy now. Being well prepared can help you turn a cost into an investment.

Times are tough and likely to get tougher. Businesses are rightly focussing on controlling costs but it is important to resist the temptation to simply cut ever more deeply and risk going beyond rooting out waste to causing lasting damage. Reducing costs produces short-term and once-only gains. The more hard-won but valuable objective is to create sustainable competitive advantage that will contribute to true underlying profit growth on a continuing basis. Often this requires changing the cultural web – the unique shorthand combination of practices, protocols and ethos that makes an organisation ‘who’ they are. It can be summed up as ‘the way things are done around here.’.

At a time when managers are responding to the tension between their employees’ experience of inflation and their own inability to pass on increased wage costs, care must be taken to protect and positively influence the cultural web to ensure it aligns with the firm’s objectives. In this article I use a real-life example to consider benefit provision holistically and explore ways that an appropriate reward structure can best support the firm’s strategic objectives. Viewed from this perspective the new legislation becomes an opportunity to create value rather than simply a cost.

A Case Study

A company’s value does not sit with its equipment, its outlets or its people. These are all resources that only become valuable when they are combined to create capabilities – for example, the capability to attract customers, persuade them to stay until they have maximised their spend and encourage them to return. Thus the company’s value is vested in its ability to successfully apply its resources. Competitive advantage is gained when a firm can apply a resource that is rare and valuable.

We have a couple of clients in the Adult Gaming Centre industry – what used to be called amusement arcades are now big business run by very professional operators with multi-million pound turnovers. The AGC industry is essentially an entertainment industry. Customers will typically be looking to spend a specific amount of money on being entertained for an expected period of time. They will return if they feel there is a chance their entertainment time will be extended (e.g. better payout rates), be heightened (e.g. bigger wins, more exciting machines) or if they feel the environment is particularly welcoming and conducive to their overall feeling of well-being. In this mix it can be seen that the attitude of unit staff is crucial in defining and delivering the firm’s proposition.

Of the three areas high-lighted only one is truly capable of being developed to create a rare and valuable resource. Payout rates are simply price competition and it is open to any competitor to offer better rates. Maximum prizes are restricted by legislation and apply equally to all in the industry, so while there may be some competitive advantage delivered to those more financially able to benefit from any legislative changes this will be limited, as will the effect of new machines. By adopting more efficient funding methods the company increases its ability to benefit from these changes but they remain available to the market generally. The area where the company can significantly differentiate itself by developing a rare and valuable resource is in its customer service and its means of delivery – the front-line shop-floor staff.

If the shop-floor staff are a key resource it follows that staff turnover is a key factor in determining the operational efficiency of the firm. Short-term staff have a direct cost in terms of increased supervision and training and represent a general drag on efficiency as, being less committed, they are, for example, more likely to be absent and less likely to take the initiative when issues arise. Equally importantly, high staff turnover represents a leakage of a valuable resource that has a direct effect on the customer experience.

Managers need to develop a clear understanding of the cultural web they wish to support. What are the core values the firm wishes to encourage? Is the company focussed on cost or value? Professionalism and a focus on customer service are both hallmarks of a progressive management style. Comparing a firm’s performance in these areas against direct competitors will give an indication of how well it is delivering and highlight areas for improvement but for more meaningful gains it is useful to look beyond the core industry to examples of excellence in a particular field.

So, in terms of customer service, it could be useful to look at a firm like John Lewis who appear to perform at a consistently high level. Setting John Lewis as a benchmark rather than a direct competitor would force the firm to raise its game by more than would otherwise be the case. It is interesting to consider how important the cultural web, ‘how we do things around here’, is in creating the overall customer proposition at John Lewis. For example, while there are doubtless basic rules, the attitudes and actions of the staff are overwhelmingly driven by an unspoken but widely understood expectation – the cultural web in action.

In a similar way, when it comes to staff retention if the firm Is operating in an industry where high staff turnover is endemic it should look across to firms in other industries that are able to employ lower-paid staff without the same high levels of turnover. Basing employment conditions on these best performers is more likely to result in improvements in staff retention than simply extending historical precedents that apply to the firm and its direct competitors. A well designed and applied employee benefits package can be seen as supportive to the creation of a professional, customer focussed cultural web by offering a reciprocal best practice employer response.

Motivating and Retaining Staff

Particularly at the lowest level, it is easy to think of the shop-floor staff as an homogenous commodity resource with effectively unlimited availability of a broadly standard quality. However this view is at odds with the principle that the customer-facing staff are a potentially valuable resource. Developing the resource is expensive in terms of time, training and management resource. High levels of staff turnover, especially at this level, mean that too often this initial investment is wasted or not used effectively. The nature of the work, the level of remuneration and the basic skills required mean that it will tend to attract recruits with irregular employment patterns and following disorganised lifestyles. This has led to high levels of turnover in the first few months being viewed as inevitable. However, it is the contention here that by challenging this view the firm has the potential to significantly increase its operational efficiency and therefore its profitability.

Most value lies in the longer-serving staff. Those that are still with the company after a year are well vested in, and broadly supportive of, the cultural web. In terms of their skills and ongoing training needs they require little more than routine maintenance. They are a profitable, relatively stable constituent of the human resource. Measures targeted at increasing the population and reducing the attrition rate of this cadre are likely to add most value.

Applying differential pay rates to reflect length of service is problematic where the duties undertaken are not similarly differentiated, but there is scope for offering an improved overall package that recognises the increased value of these staff over a new recruit and the opportunity gain of retaining them.

Factors influencing employee behaviour can be divided into two specific categories – Hygiene factors, the provision of which will help avoid dissatisfaction; and Motivators that will lead to satisfaction. The semantics are important – lack of dissatisfaction is not the same as satisfaction. Hygiene factors are extrinsic to the job and include company policy and administration, supervision, interpersonal relationships, working conditions, salary, status, and security; while Motivators are intrinsic and include achievement, recognition for achievement, the work itself, responsibility, and growth or advancement. Hygiene factors are responsible for most unhappiness at work. Unhappy people will be more likely to leave so it is important to ensure appropriate hygiene factors are in place as a first step towards reducing staff turnover.

Hygiene factors are not consistent throughout the organisation. A senior manager would have a greater number of hygiene factors, or basic expectations, than an hourly paid unit operative.

Although many of the hygiene factors can be seen as necessary costs their value can be increased by considering their motivational utility and aligning it with the cultural web so this aspect is leveraged. This article is considering pension provision so we can look at that as an example. Taking the view that any provision represents solely a cost becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy – it results in a cost producing little or no added value.

Taking a more holistic approach from within a cultural web that says that this is a paternal employer who values long-serving employees, an appropriately structured pension scheme can become both a hygiene factor and, as recognition and a reward for preferred behaviour (i.e. not leaving), a motivator. Given the likely cost of staff turnover – the tangible cost of recruitment, training etc and the less tangible impact of loss of experience, knowledge, consistent customer experience etc – a benefits package that can straddle the divide between hygiene and motivating factors has the potential to be cost effective.

Does it work?

We are fortunate to have been able to observe closely the attitudes towards benefits at all levels of many businesses over several years.

When we analyse membership data we find there is a strong correlation at all levels between membership of the pension scheme and commitment to the company. It is not possible to demonstrate from data analysis that this is a causal relationship from either direction (i.e. do people join the scheme because they are committed to the company or does the pension scheme increase their commitment?). What can be reasonably concluded is that the presence of an employer contribution increases pension scheme take-up significantly and that this forms part of an active decision process undertaken by the employees. This has important implications from the perspective of developing an appropriate corporate web – this is a strong indication that the value of an employer contribution is both understood and appreciated.

Conclusion

Employers are faced with a fundamental choice between cost and value. In the short term a lowest cost strategy will reduce overheads and increase profits. This would involve delaying the introduction of a pension to the last possible moment and making the minimum employer contributions. However, in the longer term a more strategic approach that seeks to treat the cost of benefits as an investment to support an appropriate cultural web is likely to lead to increased value via improved staff retention rates and, consequently, a better customer experience. An obvious dilemma facing the management is that the costs are a known figure and are incurred now, whereas the value is difficult or even impossible to calculate and will be seen some time in the future.

NEST – the facts

• NEST (the National Employee Savings Trust) is a simple, low cost pension any employer can use to meet their new automatic enrolment duties. NEST is run by the NEST Corporation, a not-for-profit organisation set up with funding from the Government, which it is expected to repay.

• Starting in 2012 all employers will be required to automatically enrol all eligible employees over 22 in either NEST or a qualifying alternative

• Roll-out will be phased through a series of staging dates with most smaller employers not being required to comply until well into 2015 or later.

• Check your staging date herehttps://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/employers/staging-date-timeline.aspx

• Once enrolled, employees will have an option of opting out. If they do not take that option their employer is required to make a pension contribution.

• The minimum level of contributions will be phased-in so that between an employer’s staging date and September 2017 there will be a requirement for the employer to pay 1% of qualifying earnings, with employee contributions and tax relief taking this total to 2%. This will then increase to 2% from the employer with a total of 5% starting from October 2017, and 3% from the employer with a total of 8% from October 2018.

• Private sector alternatives to NEST could offer significant advantages and advice should be sought before deciding.

Unfortunately many conferences begin to go downhill from the moment the first speaker utters those all-too familiar words, “We have a lot to go through today, so we’ll press on and try to get through it all as swiftly as possible.”

The easiest and most productive conferences stick to accurately-timed and well-rehearsed agendas and have good supporting-content prepared in advance. For instance, embedding video sequences into your presentations can significantly raise the level of interest and engagement in the room – it’s actually very simple to include video clips in PowerPoint slides. And of course, today your presentation can be made even more seamless by streaming it wirelessly from your iPad or other tablet – no more awkwardly standing within reach of your laptop’s spacebar.

More importantly, video can convey a crucial point very clearly in just a few seconds – something that even the most eloquent speaker might stumble with on the big day. A video can of course also be approved and perfected in advance, so it’s one less thing to worry about. Purely from a sympathetic onlooker’s point of view, we’ve put together some other suggestions that will also help make your event go with a swing:

1. Consider arranging overnight accommodation near (or at) the venue for key guests and speakers. We’ve all heard of conferences where the senior management team and main presenters were held up on the motorway for the most obscure of reasons – but, cows on the carriageway? Always be there ahead of your delegates!

2. Get your room and its acoustics correct in advance. Even for a modest event a dedicated conference-staging company can resolve a lot of potential issues at your venue ahead of time. Starting your day with a room that’s freezing-cold, missing the crucial cable to get the pictures on the screen, or a lack of batteries for your microphones isn’t just a hassle for you, it doesn’t present a very polished image to your guests!

3. Never put yourself in the position of wasting the pre-conference coffee and networking time to kneel by the podium shifting your slides or attempting to reinvent your talk with last-minute details. You’ll risk look scatterbrained when you reach a slide you weren’t expecting to see.

4. Avoid vague and rambling introductions about yourself or your business, think ‘elevator-pitch’, taking less than a minute to explain why you’re the authority on your subject is often plenty – and hopefully you are the speaker everyone has already been anticipating hearing!

5. Use slides only to further reinforce or enhance what you’re saying. The audience doesn’t need you to read word-for-word from slides they can see for themselves. Otherwise, why are you up there talking? If you’re adding nothing by being there you could have just emailed your PowerPoint!

6. Don’t cover old ground and use the back-arrow to return to previous slides. Know when you’ve made your point then move on – skipping around your presentation will only serve to trip you up.

7. Unless you actually have a successful sideline in stand-up comedy be wary of using jokes. Few things kill a presentation quicker than polite laughter to a mediocre gag, or an inside-joke which half the audience aren’t in on. Strive to be interesting and relevant, not to attain the biggest laugh for a corporate anecdote.

8. Decide how you’ll end your piece, go out with a bang – not a whimper! Winding-down to a vague close with “Thank you for listening” or by asking “Any questions?” more often than not gets a lacklustre response whilst the audience considers whether or not it would be polite to leave for lunch. If you’re hoping for feedback, have a couple of pertinent questions in mind to ask your audience. If you’re intending to do a Q&A with a large audience make sure your AV company will provide a wireless microphone for the room – it helps when both you and the rest of the room can actually hear the questions that are being asked!

9. Always compare presentations with other speakers in advance to avoid duplication, or unknowingly preempt something that will be happening later on.

We heard, via a conference organiser, of an AGM where the final profit for the year was to be revealed at the end of the morning session, complete with a rousing video build-up, drum-rolls, and pyrotechnics on the stage. At the very beginning of the day the Chief Executive took his place at the podium, welcomed everyone to the conference… and proudly announced that year’s profit. The production team stifled a yell and sat down, head in hands. If there is a planned dramatic cue in the running order for the day make sure all the speakers are aware of it, there’s no need to duplicate information – or worse, jump the gun!

10. Lastly, would your wider organisation benefit from being able to watch either the whole conference, or selected highlights? Don’t miss the opportunity to make more of your investment in the day, or your guest speakers, by recording it for further syndication.

Aviva shares a common aim with its fleet customers to reduce risk and consequent claims spend. Research, including Aviva’s own statistics, consistently confirms that the lowest accident rates are displayed by companies with clear driving standards and unambiguous driving rules, including effective driver vetting procedures.

Why Carry Out Driver Vetting? • On the UK’s road network, 10 people are killed and around 1,000 others are injured every day • Nearly 33% of all fatalities involve the use of a company vehicle, whether it is a car, motor bike, van or commercial vehicle • 33% of all large motor vehicle insurance claims involve drivers who have been employed for less than 12 months, regardless of age or driving experience • Over 65% of all company vehicles will be involved in a road accident in the next 12 months

The above facts make for gruesome reading but sadly, are very true.There are both human and financial costs to road accidents for businesses. Medical treatment, compensation, business interruption and ‘bent metal’ costs must all be paid for. If the root causes of accidents are left unchecked, the result will be higher operating costs for the business.

As employers you have a legal and moral obligation to ensure the safety of your employees and others, who may be affected by their driving at work activities. This is in addition to existing legal obligations under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974.

Companies running commercial vehicles under the terms of an ‘Operators Licence’ must also comply with any other specific requirements imposed by their individual ‘Operators Licence’. Employers are also “vicariously liable” for harm caused through the negligence of employees / operatives in the course of their driving duties.

“If they are doing something for you and about their duties (including driving a company vehicle), you are responsible – even if they are behaving totally improperly and against your orders” (Greville Janner. Q.C.)

Employers, from the driver’s supervisor right up to directors of the company, can be liable for charges of ‘Corporate Manslaughter’ if an accident results in loss of life. In order for this charge to apply, it must be proved that the accident resulted from a lack of ‘duty of care’ or a failure to comply with any of the legislation listed. Fines imposed on the guilty parties can be unlimited, with prison sentences of up to 10 years.

Ashley, Director of Hugh J Boswell, states “We like to be proactive with clients in terms of vehicle risk management, from providing advice on policy excess levels to supplying accident management kits for their vehicles. This activity assists the client in reaping the rewards in the form of a better claims frequency and subsequently reduced insurance premiums. Setting a clear and concise driver vetting policy is recognised as a useful tool in the management of a companies vehicles and helps identify increased risk to the business.”

You may have been asked to right or review your company’s Health and Safety Policy- but where do you start!

The Health and Safety at Work Act just says that you have to have one! There is a template one on the Health and Safety Executives website – but it is brief and it needs tweaking to fit your business

So where do you start? A Safety Policy should have 3 distinct parts; the Safety policy statement- which gives the company’s intent and commitment to Health and Safety

Then the organisation bit whicgh details who & how you are going to manage Safety, and then the Arrangements- which is the real detail- statements and how you are going to manage safety in your organisations key hazard areas

Let’s begin

1. Health & Safety Policy Statement

General statement in accordance with the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974, Section 3

It is the policy of XX (“the Company”) that its operations are executed at all times in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of all its employees and all others including s who could be affected by our activities. To this end it is the Company’s policy:

• To promote a positive Safety Culture throughout the Organisation

• To plan, organise and control our work activities to ensure the health and safety risks arising from, and in connection with, our work activities are removed or controlled

• To consult employees on matters affecting their health and safety

• To provide information, instruction and supervision for employees

• To actively prevent accidents and work related ill health

• To ensure proper welfare facilities and arrangements are in place

• To undertake Risk Assessments

• To review and revise this policy on an annual basis

This Policy applies to The Company’s operations at XXXX

Signed on behalf of XX

Date XX 2. Organisation

Who is responsible? For example • Overriding responsibility – name & what responsible for • Day to Day responsibilities • Employees responsibilities • Arrangements for visitors & contractors • Competent assistance- this is required by the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulation Section 7 – ensure who is assisted you is competent (trained/ knowledge/ experience) • Enforcement- list the contact details of the Enforcement officer • First Aid- where are First Aid boxes & who are the First Aiders, include RIDDOR • Fire Safety- Who manages this- the testing of extinguishers/ alarms/ fire drills- who are the Marshalls • Emergency provision & contact details including security • Risk Assessments; who is going to do them & where kept • Consultation / communication with staff • Training including Induction & any specialised training

3. Main Hazard Areas

Give a statement on each of the key hazard areas facing your business; topics could include those listed below; you could simply add a do/ don’t list for each; it needs to be clear to the reader (your staff) what is expected on them

• Electrical safety
• Gas Safety
• COSHH
• Manual handling
• Slips trips & falls
• Lone working
• Working with Display Screen Equipment
• Equipment
• Driving for work & use of vehicles at work
• Asbestos
• Legionella
• Work at height
• Housekeeping
• Personal Hygiene
• Security including interface with the public and cash handling
• Stress etc etc

• Review table; that the policy is reviewed at least every year- you do not need to rewrite it; but it will need looking at to make sure that it is relevant

A good detailed Safety Policy that is effectively communicated to your staff does make the Risk Assessment process a lot easier too!

Radio remains a great tool in every advertiser’s belt – familiar, trusted, and locally focussed. Radio advertising has inate power, but here are several useful tips to make sure your campaign delivers results.

1. A successful commercial has focus

What can you do in ten seconds? What can you do in twenty seconds? What can you do in thirty seconds? Well, rather a lot actually, just so long as you don’t overstretch yourself!

• Less is more.
• Simple is always better.
• One idea per commercial.

Want to target trade customers and domestic customers? Create two separate commercials. That way you can split the information and give a stronger emphasis than you’d be able to achieve in a single commercial.

Want to push the pensioners offer, the games room and the quiz night? Rather than cram all of these into one commercial leaving very little room for creativity, surely it is better to split them into separate commercials that are better targeted at the correct audience?Be concise, don’t waffle. Be clear, don’t confuse. Be focused, don’t try to do too much.

2. A successful commercial talks to the right audience

Knowing your target market is key to creating a successful commercial; it dictates everything from music choice to voice casting to tone, style and selection of language. Get these factors wrong and you may end up alienating the very people you wish to attract. Very few businesses can boast a broad, mass appeal. You might think you want to trade with everyone, but does everyone want to trade with you?

You’re an independent jewellery shop catering for the high end of the market; would you prefer 1000 people to visit your store, spending nothing, or 5 people to visit spending a grand each? That’s the difference between trying to target a large number of people, most of whom can’t afford your stock and so ignore your commercial entirely, and targeting those few specific customers who can afford and are very willing to spend big bucks with your business. That’s the difference between advertising being a valuable asset to your business and a costly failure. That’s knowing your target market. So, the next time you advertise, refrain from trying to appeal to anyone and everyone. Think about who your actual customer base is, and appeal to them.

3. A successful commercial chooses the correct tone of voice

The right tone of voice can invite, excite, reassure the listener; it can enhance the attractiveness of your product or service. The wrong tone of voice can turn the listener off. Literally, off the airwaves. So striking the right tone is crucial.

There are the obvious ones; bright and enthusiastic tones for products aimed at children. Serious and direct tones to convey an anti-drink driving message. Warm and inviting tones to attract listeners to the good-old country pub. And then there are those products or services that need more thought.Take the funeral home; somber, solemn tones might spring to mind. But wouldn’t someone who has just lost a loved one be better reached with a more positive, reassuring tone?

Knowing the right tone to use on the air is brought about by knowing your target audience, your product and your business – and knowing what you want to achieve from advertising. Many new radio advertisers want big, they want attention grabbing, they want… shouty!

There’s a big difference between ‘the hard sell’ and ‘the desperate shout’. The hard sell uses a strong, urgent tone with stress on the words that will make the most impact – the shout just sounds annoying.You wouldn’t shout at a customer face to face; so don’t do it on the radio!

4. A successful commercial is always underwritten

“I’m paying for a 30 second advertisement, I should make the most of my investment by including as many details as possible”, hmm we seem to encounter this view a lot, but it happens to be completely counterproductive.

If a voiceover isn’t given room to breathe and just has to gabble through the script, how on earth is the listener going to absorb it all?

Let’s be completely blunt, the listener doesn’t want to listen to a commercial, they are willing to listen to a commercial. If you’re talking to the listener in clear, concise, smoothly paced way then they will be more likely to take the message in and act upon it.Underwriting is the key to this!

5. A successful commercial only includes one response mechanism

Too often an advertiser will want to cover all their bases by putting in multiple methods of contact. The result? Confused listeners!If you want to make it clear to the listener how they should respond to the commercial, then you should just present them with one simple method of response.You want footfall? Focus on your location. You want people to find out more? Highlight your web address. You want phone enquiries? Give your phone number (landline, never mobile!)

By keeping the response mechanism to a minimum you’ll get the maximum response.It’s also important to choose the right contact detail. What is it you are trying to achieve with the campaign? If you’re a clothes shop, it’s no good trying to monitor the success of a campaign by the number of phone calls the commercial generates. After all, why would a clothes shop receive any calls in the first place? So choose the correct contact!

6. A successful commercial is transparent

You wouldn’t lie to your customers face to face, so why mislead in a commercial?As well as the creative side to radio production there is of course the legal side too. Youdon’t want something to be interpreted in the wrong way. Depending on context, use of the words ‘biggest’, ‘exclusive’, ‘best’ will most likely require substantiation to ensure they are true.You want to attract the listener to your business, but you don’t want them to feel let down once they get there. So make a conscious effort to represent yourself accurately in your commercial.

7. A successful commercial uses music wisely

Music influences mood. It can motivate, sadden, inspire; listening to a favorite track is even known to release ‘feel-good’ chemicals in the brain. With such a strong ability to enhance and manipulate our feelings, its no wonder music is integral to advertising.

Advertisers have long used music to help set the tone of their commercials, and evoke the desired response from listeners. Advertising a sale? Then use music with a sense of urgency to excite and motivate your target audience. Advertising a spa? Include a slow, ambient backing track to create a sense of escapism and relaxation. Music can be used to enhance your message, but it can do much more than this. It can convey the things you don’t have time to say.

Words such as ‘friendly’, ‘reliable’ and ‘welcoming’ are so common place in advertising that they have lost much of their impact; clichés don’t hold much weight with the average listener. So instead of wasting precious seconds on a defunct buzzword, simply convey this information through your choice of music.

But don’t forget who your target audience is. Put personal preferences aside and consider the right sound for your market. For instance, a hair salon advertising with a pulsing, R&B track will convey to listeners that they offer cutting edge fashion cuts for a young market. Conversely, a calmer, more stylish theme will attract an older generation of listeners, and all without you having to clarify it in the copy.

8. A successful commercial uses sound effects wisely

If you have something interesting to say then people will listen to it.Using a siren / klaxon / car horn / explosion etc in a not-so subtle attempt to make the listeners pay attention isn’t necessary, plus it’s not allowed.

A well-chosen sound effect used in the right way can add a layer of atmosphere, it can generate humour, underline a point or place characters in a scene (saving you precious time having to use the voices to establish the location or situation).

But you have to ensure the sound effect that gets used is clear enough! There’s a reason why radio stations run competitions called “what’s that sound?” It’s because a simple, ordinary, everyday sound can be unrecognisable when you have no visual clues to go by.Good sound effects properly integrated into the script can really enhance a commercial.

9. A successful commercial makes the best use of scheduling

The key advantage of broadcast media is the ability to schedule a commercial at a specific time of day to ensure it is heard by the most suitable audience:

A Kitchen Company? Schedule the commercial during breakfast time when people are in the kitchen. A Car Dealer? Schedule the commercial during drive-time when people are in their car. A Family Attraction? Schedule it during the school run when all the family can take notice. A Restaurant? Schedule it during the day when people are making plans!

By working out when your target audience is most likely to be listening to the radio, you can get the maximum response to the campaign.

10. A successful commercial is part of a well structured campaign

Too often a radio campaign is a hurried affair, a last-minute dash to cram some selling points into a single radio commercial and hope for the best. Successful campaigns think long term.If you are going to be a regular advertiser then you need to give yourself an on air identity. Build a brand. For continuity you could use the same announcer voice or music on each commercial. Create a strapline? Use characters? Incorporate a jingle or sonic ident? There are many ways of turning a single commercial into a continuous campaign.

If you’re doing a launch, a teaser campaign building up to the event would work well. If you’re holding a sale, then a series of time sensitive commercials that run before, during and towards the end of the sale would all help to keep the event in the spotlight.

Lastly – If these suggestions should require additional investment, be assured that radio is a medium in which it’s almost guaranteed that the more you put in – the more you get out.

Television advertising and programme sponsorship go hand-in-hand as elements of an effective high-profile campaign, but they are very different animals. To understand both the potential and the restrictions of sponsorship from the outset is to make both deliver even better results.

Individual series and day-part sponsorship have grown in popularity during recent years, often running alongside a client’s traditional 20 or 30-second spot advertising. It’s a great place for advertisers to be. I asked Kelly Bredin, Head of Sponsorship at STV Group (a.k.a. Scottish Television) to clarify a few questions on behalf of some of our clients:

How does sponsorship differ from advertising in its value to an advertiser?

The media value is evaluated in the exact same way as spot advertising, i.e. based on the audience, universe, CPT, timelength of bumper, the number of bumpers and the TVR (TV Regions) performance. In short, sponsorship is very beneficial in keeping brands front-of-mind and increasing brand-recall. It’s also a great way for new brands, especially online brands, to build their name recognition in the run up to a wider campaign. The sponsor’s brand often springs to mind along with the name of the programme, there’s a positive association created. When people think of X-Factor, many will also likely recall TalkTalk.

A client wants to mention the special offer they will have during the campaign, is that okay?

No, mentioning specific sales messages in sponsorship campaigns is not possible as it would then fall into the category of advertising. Sponsorship does not count as part of a channel’s advertising minuteage quota, it is deemed to be part of the ‘programme-time’, and hence it cannot be an advertising message. Brief details as to nature of business can be permitted if the sponsor is not already a well-known brand – but no specifics, offers or price-points are allowed. The sponsor’s logo and brief contact details – phone number, text number, hashtag, or most often a website URL – are permitted, however these can only appear as visual graphics. Any voiceover on the sponsorship would also have to avoid the potential of being misconstrued as an invitation for the audience to contact the sponsor.

What format does sponsorship take? The bumpers in the X-Factor never seem to appear twice – does the client have to make a lot of versions?

Generally the standard broadcast timelengths are 15-seconds for the intro to a programme, 10-seconds at the start and close of each ad-break in that programme, and a 5-second closing bumper at the end of the programme’s credits. However – dependant on the programme, the broadcaster and the schedule it is sometimes possible to use 10-second bumpers throughout all parts of the programme, which still offers clients the same minuteage, accreditiation and frequency. Either way, generally you have to produce a minimum of three bumpers. Obviously for a series extending over many weeks (such as X-Factor) it’s good to stay fresh and to be able to rotate from a larger pool of bumpers. Often you’ll see that the tone and style of the sponsorship adapts as a series progresses, it’s been developed specifically to be a really good fit with the programme it’s paired with – e.g. incorporating user-generated-content in the TV bumpers as part of a wider online exposure.

Is sponsorship more expensive than a regular TV commercial?

More often than not, no. Sponsorship is much more cost-effective than the traditional media buy and is something that media-agencies are often able to negotiate on very competitive terms. However as there are absolute restrictions on promotional messages/advertising messages/taglines and so forth that require substantiation it is not entirely a like for like comparison.

Sponsorship bumpers seem relevant to the programme they’re sponsoring, are there any programmes that broadcasters would consider an advertiser unsuitable to sponsor?

There are many variables to this, but firstly all news and current affairs programmes are prohibited of sponsorships (see full Ofcom regulations). Secondly, advertisers that are not allowed to advertise on television would also be unable to sponsor shows. Of the advertisers able to consider sponsorship there are BCAP restrictions dependant on the content of programme, as is the case for regular TV ads. For example, a show indexing highly for kids such as X-Factor couldn’t be sponsored by an HFSS (High Fat, Salt, Sugar) brand. Sponsorship largely follows the same standard restrictions for advertising, e.g. a pre-9pm restriction on gambling companies unless they opt out of their own self regulations. The sponsorship of gameshows by betting or bingo brands has recently been prohibited as an unsuitable combination.

Outside of everyday regulations there can also be personal or business considerations in deciding the suitability of a sponsor. A presenter or major talent may have their own opinions on the suitability, or a presenter may already have an existing contractual arrangement with a particular brand and therefore the show couldn’t accept sponsorship from a rival of that brand. Also it wouldn’t be possible for an advertiser to sponsor a programme in their own direct interests… i.e. a travel agent could not sponsor a travel programme that showcased holidays that the agent could source, this would tread too narrow a line between sponsorship and co-advertising.

Every employer deals with recruitment at some time or another. In the HR Forum on 6th March we will be looking at the obligations that immigration law places on employers to prevent illegal working, and the effect that these obligations should have on your recruitment practices. The aim of this Forum is to demonstrate that all UK employers, regardless of their industry or sector, should be aware of the requirements they are expected to meet.

We will discuss the responsibilities that the UK Government imposes on all employers, such as ensuring at the point of recruitment that all members of staff have a valid right to live and work in the UK. We will also look into the civil and criminal penalties for failing to comply with the current requirements, and will put these into context by looking at some recent high profile cases involving, amongst others, Tesco and London Metropolitan University. The Forum will also address how illegal working can reduce or remove an employee’s employment rights.

During the Forum we will provide practical, straightforward advice on how to follow up and implement these requirements into your own recruitment policy. By ensuring that the proper checks are carried out on all recruits and employees, you will be typically be able to identify illegal workers at the point of recruitment. Training all staff involved with recruitment to understand the requirements will not only highlight issues at the outset of employment, but will also provide your business with a defence in the event that an employee is later found to be working in the UK illegally.

The consequences of mistakes in this area can be costly. Ensuring you know your obligations and have suitable procedures in place does not require significant time or costs, but will enable you to better protect your business and minimise the risk of employing an illegal worker.