IPA appoints new director

The Involvement & Participation Association has appointed Nita Clarke, until recently an adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair, as its new director. She will take up the post in January 2008 taking over from the current director Willy Coupar who is standing down early next year.

Nita Clarke became the special adviser on trade unions at Number 10 in 2001. Much of her work has focused on policy development. She has been responsible for initiatives such as the two-tier workforce agreement in the provision of public services and has recently taken a lead role in attempts to improve the conditions and life chances of vulnerable workers.

Before joining the prime minister's team as an assistant political secretary, she worked for several years in the communication department at Unison where she worked on public service policies and the national policy forum.

The IPA is the only UK organisation to specialise in assisting both unionised and non-unionsed organisations to develop effective information and consultation processes and workplace partnership. It is a completely independent, not-for-profit body funded via membership subscription and fee income from consultancy and training services.

Gary Hoyte provides associate consultancy services to the IPA.

October 2007

Recent and current work

Examples of assignments this year include:

* a TUPE transfer of local authority staff to a client
* a staff attitude survey for a company
* briefing elected staff representatives about redundancy and TUPE exercises
* operational HR support to SMEs
* a restructuring of a charity's senior team
* a review of staff support services

To discuss how we can help you, please email info@ghconsulting.co.uk or visit our contact page.

July 2007

The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 come into force on 1 October 2006. They cover direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation and employers can be held responsible for the actions of employees in all of these situations. Key changes include:   

• A national default retirement age of 65 will be introduced making compulsory retirement below age 65 unlawful (unless objectively justified)

• All employees will have the ‘right to request’ to work beyond the default retirement age of 65 or any other retirement age set by the employer who will have a ‘duty to consider’ requests from employees to work beyond 65

• Benefits based on a length of service requirement of 5 years or less will be exempted  

• The upper age limit for unfair dismissal will be removed as will the lower and upper age limits for redundancy payments but the current age-banded redundancy payment calculations will continue

Gary Hoyte comments, “All employers must satisfy themselves that their systems can provide the timely and accurate information to manage these requirements; recruitment and retention policies and practices are compliant and that all managers and staff are aware of this new dimension to employment and working relationships.”

To find out more about how we can help you, please Contact Us.

September 2006

Reducing compliance burdens on small business

The policy has been published in the DTI’s strategy paper Success at Work – protecting vulnerable workers, supporting good employers.

Help for the most vulnerable workers will include:

• fulfilling the Government’s commitment to make time equivalent to bank holidays additional to annual holiday entitlement;
• introducing a new pilot to develop a comprehensive approach to identifying and helping vulnerable workers
• cracking down on employers that operate illegally, e.g. minimum wage enforcement;
• ensuring employees have better awareness of their employment rights through interactive information on the Direct.gov website and improvements to telephone helplines.

The strategy also sets out a number of measures to help business, including:

• identifying ways to simplify employment law by reviewing discrimination law, redundancy payments and dispute resolution procedures;
• working with employers and HR professionals to establish a voluntary employment standard to reduce compliance burdens on small business;
• consider tougher action on employers who use illegal migrant labour.

Gary Hoyte comments, “Handling key employment issues and changes in regulation can be a daunting task. Our consultants have considerable experience of working and consulting with small and medium sized organisations in the private and voluntary sectors helping them to meet their employer obligations from day one and build a long term approach to people management support and grow with the business.”

To find out more about our work please visit the Services area of this website or Contact Us.

April 2006

NCVO Approved Consultant 2006

NCVO Approved Consultant 2006 Gary Hoyte Consulting has been awared Approved Consultant status for 2006 from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations. NCVO approved status is reassessed annually and details of our services will appear in the January 2006 edition of the Directory of NCVO Approved Consultants which is distributed to all member organisations.

NCVO approved status means that a consultant or consultancy has demonstrated a commitment to providing a high quality service and comes equipped with experience and expertise of the sector.

To find out more about our work please visit the Services area of this website or Contact Us. There are also many useful sources of information about the voluntary sector in the Links section.

December 2005

National Ban Bullying Day 7 November

This is a stand alone campaign, spear-headed by The Andrea Adams Trust, the world's first, not-for-profit charity dedicated to tackling workplace bullying. The campaign is the run up to the UK's 3rd National Ban Bullying Day which is set for the 7th November 2005.

The key objective for Ban Bullying at Work Day and the campaign is to raise awareness of the issue across the UK. The campaign is independent and needs organisations to get involved and participate in the day by taking ownership of the ethos and raising awareness of the issue within their workplaces. More details about the day are available from www.banbullyingatwork.com.

Gary Hoyte Consulting's Associate Chris Ball is chairman of the Andrea Adams Trust and an adviser to the Parliamentary All Party Committee on Dignity at Work. An article by Chris, including a tribute to the life of Andrea Adams can be found at: www.personneltoday.com.

November 2005

New UK employment law from 1 October 2005

The two main dates for new UK employment law to come into force are 1st October and 6th April.

This October shows no let up in the growth of legislation including changes to sex discrimination, health and safety, and public interest legislation and employment tribunal and employment appeal tribunal procedures.

The adult hourly rate of the minimum wage (for workers aged 22 and over) will increase from £4.85 to £5.05. The development rate (for workers aged 18-21 inclusive) will increase from £4.10 to £4.25.

The changes to sex discrimination laws include new definitions of indirect discrimination and harassment and clarify the position that less favourable treatment of women on grounds of pregnancy or maternity leave is unlawful sex discrimination.

Handling employment issues can be a daunting task. We can help small and medium sized enterprises, private businesses and charities - to meet their employer obligations from day one and build people management policies, processes and practices for a successful future.

For more information please visit our SME Support page or contact us.

September 2005

New Governance Code for voluntary sector

The newly launched Code is designed for all those involved in the governance of voluntary and community sector organisations, and particularly for trustees, and chief executives. It aims to help stakeholders understand what they can expect from a well-governed organisation.

The code is being promoted by the Governance Hub for voluntary and community organisations in England, one of six national hubs being established by the voluntary and community sector. The other national hubs cover: workforce development, performance improvement, ICT, funding, and volunteering. The six hubs are working with each other and with regional, sub-regional and local infrastructure to improve the support available to voluntary and community organisations in England.

The code can be downloaded via the Voluntary Sector page within our Links section.

Gary Hoyte Consulting is an NCVO Approved Consultant 2005. To find out more about our work with the voluntary, public and private organisations please contact us.

July 2005

To read ghc associate Chris Ball's article in the Daily Telegraph on lessons from Finland on how to turn an ageing workforce into an asset click here.

We can help you prepare for the implementation of Age Discrimination legislation next year. Contact us.

July 2005

We are delighted that Gary Hoyte Consulting has gained Approved Consultant status for 2005 from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations. Details of our services appear in the latest edition of the Directory of NCVO Approved Consultants which is distributed to all 3650 member organisations.

NCVO approved status means that a consultant or consultancy has demonstrated a commitment to providing a high quality service and comes equipped with experience and expertise of the sector.

To find out more about our work with the voluntary, public and private organisations please visit the Services area of this website. There are also many useful sources of information about the voluntary sector in the Links section.

January 2005

Legislation previewed in the QueenÕs Speech on 17 May, 2005 included:

• An Equality Bill to establish a Ôsingle bodyÕ Commission for Equality and Human Rights
• A Parental Rights Bill to increase paid maternity leave to nine months and allowing a proportion of payments to be transferred between parents
• A Pensions Bill to respond to the recommendations of the Pensions Commission chaired by Adair Turner due in the autumn.
• Reforms to Company Law to reduce small company regulation and to make it easier to set up and run a company.
• A new asylum and immigration bill with tougher penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants.
• A Corporate Manslaughter Bill to hold management to account for negligence leading to someoneÕs death.

To discuss how we can help you plan for change please email info@ghconsulting.co.uk or visit our contact page.

May 2005

We reported last January on the introduction of common commencement dates [CCDs] of 6th April and 1st October for UK employment law changes. The DTI is now phasing in the use of these dates for consumer, corporate and intellectual property law.

The 2005 statement of forthcoming regulatory changes lists:

• Changes to take effect on 6 April and 1 October 2005
• Domestic and EU Regulations whose published commencement date is not aligned with the CCDs
• Other key activity by DTI that will impact on 2005 and beyond

The statement can be downloaded from:
http://www.dti.gov.uk/ewt/common_comence5.htm

All employers with 150 or more employees should already be aware that 6 April 2005 sees the implementation of the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations. The Regulations give employees in the UK new rights to be informed and consulted by their employers about matters that affect them at work.

The legislation will apply to firms with 100 or more employees from 2007 and 50 or more employees from 2008. To link to the Regulations and DTI visit http://www.dti.gov.uk/er/consultation/proposal.htm

Help with your I & C arrangements
Our consultants have extensive experience of developing and operating information and consultation processes in unionised, part unionised and non unionised organisations across all sectors. To discuss how we can help you ensure your I & C arrangements meet your needs and the law please call 0845 068 4 068 or visit our contact page.

March 2005

Chris Ball specialises in employment relations, with extensive experience in collective issues in the private, public and non-profit sectors. Prior to consultancy he was a National Officer of Amicus and its precursor union MSF. He is a freelance writer and has published many articles on employment issues, including in The Guardian and the London Evening Standard. In earlier posts he worked for the Greater London Enterprise Board (as Senior Adviser on employee involvement and social enterprises), as a teacher, as a lab assistant for the Gas Council and various jobs in the construction industry.

Chris's experience embraces presenting, facilitation of joint or separate sessions around change, establishing policies and involvement structures, measuring employee opinion (including via surveys), and investigation and analysis of issues from change, occupational health and involvement matters to sensitive complaints by individuals.

Visit Our Services/Consultant Profiles to find out more about Chris and our associate network.

February 2005

Another highly skilled and experienced consultant has joined the associate team at Gary Hoyte Consulting.

Jacky has an extensive HR/OD background in the retail sector gained in blue chip and private equity financed companies. She holds a Masters Degree in Strategic HR Management & Development and is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD.

For more about Jacky and our associate network visit Our Services/Consultant Profiles.

December 2004

Gary Hoyte will be speaking at the Involvement & Participation Associations fringe meeting at the CIPD Conference in Harrogate on 28 October.

How to Get the Best from your Employee Representatives will focus on the identifying and meeting their learning and development needs. The session is for organisations with an employee forum, or who are considering establishing one and runs from 6pm to 7pm at St George Swallow Hotel.

Gary is an Associate of the IPA, a centre of excellence for organisations developing world class strategies for employee involvement and partnership.

October 2004

Based on a sample of employers May annual returns to the Inland Revenue detailing tax, National Insurance Contributions etc. for 2003/4 an early and very approximate estimate by the DTI suggests 2199 received statutory adoption pay and 79210 statutory paternity pay during the last tax year.

More information on this and related topics can be found in the Working Parents area of the DTI Employment Relations web site.

We work with organisations to create policies and procedures across all areas of HR and health and safety. Contact us to find out more or to discuss your requirements.

August 2004

From 1 May 2004, there are changes to the types of document which an employer must check to avoid employing illegal workers and a Workers Registration Scheme will operate for people employed from eight of the ten new European Union member states (see below).

A booklet about these issues can be downloaded from the Employers Information page on the Home Office Immigration and Nationality Directorate web site. There is also an Employers Helpline on 0845 010 6677.

What an employer must do
Section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 requires all UK employers to make basic document checks on every person they intend to employ. Employing an illegal worker is a criminal offence and making the right checks is necessary to establish the statutory defence against conviction.

Under the changes, you must be provided with and copy either an original of one of the documents included in List 1 on page 15 of the guidance booklet; or a combination of two original documents specified in List 2 (on pages 1617). It is not sufficient just to see a document with the person's National Insurance Number.

You are also required to satisfy yourself that the potential employee is the rightful holder of the documents by taking certain reasonable steps such as checking photographs or dates of birth and document expiry dates. These issues are also set out in the guidance booklet.

The checks must be made before a person starts working for you and of course all potential new starters must be treated in the same way without discriminating against individuals on the grounds of their race. It is therefore important to ensure recruitment procedures are compliant and fair.

EU Enlargement
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia join the EU on 1 May. Nationals from all ten countries are free to come and work in the UK from that date.

However in addition to the pre-employment checks above an employer must ensure that a person from a new member state (apart from Cyprus or Malta) who starts work after 1 May registers with the Home Office. Again these requirements are summarised in the guidance booklet and more information is available via the web link above.

Our Links section contains several sites related to the EU and EU Enlargement.

May 2004

Speaking to the Wantage and District Business Breakfast Club of SMEs, Gary Hoyte set out a four point strategy for facing the challenge of employment law changes.

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