Hi folks, what are people doing about hearings that were scheduled to take place whereby managers or staff members may be self isolating due to the advice. I have a number of hearings scheduled to take place over coming weeks including some potential dismissal hearings - should we be postponing them until this is all over or should we be looking at alternatives, i.e. holding skype meetings, doing meetings via email etc.

In reply to Catherine Fehilly:

Hi Catherine,

Any hearings we have scheduled and where we have managers / employees in self-isolation we have postponed until the self-isolation period is over (14 days). If we have a manager self isolating for potentially a longer period of time due to being in the at risk category or because of their age we have asked them if they would feel comfortable using Skype / video conferencing options for a  disciplinary / appeal meeting as they could be absent for months!

We have also written to staff members who have upcoming meetings if this would be a suitable option for them as we accept many of them may not have the IT / confidential space to do this. We've also asked them if they wish to be accompanied how we can best facilitate this. We plan on exploring every single possible avenue and documenting this so we can demonstrate we have tried to find suitable alternatives.

Hope this helps a little!

In reply to Catherine Fehilly:

I would postpone the non urgent ones, ones where time is of the essence, then video conferencing is fine.This was shared earlier.....www.judiciary.uk/.../

Hi, its certainly a challenge being in HR right now!! Wanting to balance the needs of employees against everything else we are hearing.

We are all set up to work from home now but have a couple of employees who are struggling as they have young children. We are trying to offer as much flexibility as we can with working hours but not sure what else we can do as well as offering unpaid leave/holiday etc. Money is an issue for one of the employees so they don't want to take unpaid leave. The government have announced help for those who might be laid off but is anyone aware of any other help someone working from home having to take unpaid leave might get??

Thanks

HI all, I'm not sure if I have missed a discussion on this particular element yet, but with agency workers and considering parity for sickness and other related benefits, when would the AWR suggest that this kicks in? Would it be after 12 weeks? What should we do with paying agency staff who are self isolating, or unable to work due to pre-existing health conditions? Thanks

In reply to Stacey:

Hi Stacey, how did you get on with this? I was just on an ACAS webinar and they mentioned temperature checking would be special category data under GDPR.

In reply to Sienna:

Hi Sienna unfortunately I think there are a lot of working parents in this situation now trying to juggle work with full-time childcare. It’s really challenging for them but it sounds as if you are being as flexible as possible by offering flexible working hours and opportunities to take paid or unpaid holiday. There’s also emergency time off and parental leave but they too are unpaid. The Government’s schemes wouldn’t apply unless you laid people off. So it may be that some employees may have to reduce hours and pay. Which could be hard financially of course. I think in these unprecedented times it’s trying to work out with each individual the best possible solution in a very challenging situation. Rachel, Senior Policy Adviser CIPD

Has anyone had to put a halt on annual salary reviews? An annual cost of living review is carried out every April but the owners want to put this on hold for 3 months. Are there any issues with this? We want to try and protect jobs and the business while we go through a difficult few months. Thanks

In reply to Sienna:

I sent an email to those affected by our inflation related salary reviews saying we were postponing to a later date, date TBC. We are a small company and only a few people would have been eligible. I haven't any push back on it. we haven't given increases in the past, as far as I'm aware as I only started in October so any possible custom and practice doesn't apply for us but might be different for you.
I would hope most people wold be happy with you postponing it due to the current situation!

In reply to Sienna:

We have always reviewed and increased salaries every April (not contractual but it is expected...) and we sent out a letter to all staff saying that due to the impact of Coronavirus and it affecting cash flow and profits, we will not reviewing salaries this April. Our staff have been really understanding about it and even thanked us for being open and transparent around how Coronavirus has impacted us.

I wanted to share our engagement ideas as a few of you helped when I asked the question originally...

1) Every Wednesday and Friday evening we will have an open video call session where people can discuss the latest from the downing street conferences.

2) Every Monday afternoon we have a Q&A with our employees and Senior Management Team via video call. Employees can ask any questions they like to our SMT and it's been a big hit. It doesn't have to be Coronavirus related - it can be something funny/personal or just a question about the business in general.

3) We have some master bakers in our workforce, they've nominated to do a baking masterclass every fortnight (that gives people time to gather the baking ingredients when they are collecting their essential shopping) and they do a live tutorial. A Microsoft form goes out of a list of 3 cakes and employees select the one they'd prefer to bake via live tutorial.

Our clients were really well prepared for Lockdown and now we've got them all preparing for the 'new normal'. Lockdown is giving them the time to think it all through.

Try Public Health England. I signed up to their updates and get regular updates about posters etc.
coronavirusresources.phe.gov.uk/