UKWA FOR WEB - United Kingdom Warehousing Association

8 Association News
HUMAN RESOURCES
Human resources advice at the click of a mouse
At www.ukwa.org.uk
UKWA members can
access UKWA’S human
resources partner
BusinessHR’s comprehensive
human
resource website for
just £120pa.
The site contains all
the guidance and
forms you need to run
an HR department
including a redundancy
exercise and is supplemented
by a cost
effective telephone
advice line run by
highly professional HR
advisers. The cost of
using the advice line is
£80 per hour and
unused time can be
saved for the next call.
All advice given is
quickly confirmed by
email.
In the following
article, David Rankin
of BusinessHR outlines
the steps that employers
should take when
forced to make redundancies.
With the economy taking
a serious down
turn, employers are taking
a long hard look at the
people they employ and
making the difficult decision
of deciding if they’re
still needed, writes David
Rankin of Business HR. If your
contracts have a ‘lay-off’
clause, then use this for a
temporary period, otherwise
you may have to
consider making redundancies.
Your employees are
protected against unfair
dismissal and as redundancy
is a form of dismissal,
you must ensure
that you follow the correct
rules to avoid any costly
employment tribunal
claims. The process
needn’t be lengthy and
can be dealt with within a
few weeks.
The benefits of a fair
process are:
• Reduced risk of costly
compensation claims.
• Increased chances of
retaining the staff you
want to keep.
• Enhanced profile for
employer if others can see
fairness in treatment.
• Limited costs if dealt
with properly.
Steps to a fair redundancy
dismissal
In order to ensure a fair
process:
• Consider any alternatives
first - natural
wastage, or reducing
overtime or short-time
working, offer alternative
work even if it is at a
lower level.
• Check your contracts
and employee handbooks
to see if you have a procedure
for redundancy – if
so you need to follow it.
• Decide how many roles
are to be made redundant;
special rules apply if
this is more than 20.
• Consult with your
employees regarding the
current situation and
inform them their roles
are at risk of redundancy.
• Get their views – do
they have any ideas on
alternatives to redundancy
• If you have to select
employees for redundancy
against one another –
make sure you do this
objectively and fairly.
• Follow the 3-step statutory
dismissal procedures:
1. Invite them to a meeting,
giving notice in writing
MEMBERSHIP SERVICES
Healthcare packages
2. Hold the meeting – the
employee has the right to
be accompanied by a
trade union representative
or work colleague
3. Confirm the outcome in
writing and give the right
to appeal.
Among the services available to members through
the UKWA healthcare scheme are: Medical
Insurance; Annual travel insurance; Private
Dental cover; Health Screening; Employee
Healthcare Plans; International medical insurance;
Income Protection; Critical Illness plans.
Further details are available directly from
Walter House.
Business Computer Projects Ltd (BCP)
BCP House
151 Charles Street
Stockport, Cheshire SK1 3JY
Contact:: Pauline Higgs or Tim Williams
Tel: +44 (0)161 355 3000
Email: accord@bcpsoftware.com
www.bcposftware.com
BCP is a leading provider of Supply Chain Execution
and Warehouse Management solutions with customers
across the UK and Ireland.
With almost 30 years’ experience of the specialist
markets that it serves, the company delivers leading
edge, fully scaleable, proven solutions backed by a
complete range of professional services to ensure clients
get the most out of their IT investment.
A leader in introducing Voice technology into the UK,
BCP is one of only a handful of vendors offering a flexible,
fully integrated Voice WMS which can be implemented
stand-alone or as part of a complete Accord®
solution. The company has some of the UK’s most successful
Voice installations, all demonstrating dramatic
improvements in warehouse performance.
June 2008
www.ukwa.org.uk