Baby boom in the Empire

There appears to have been something in the water at an Aberdeen employment law and HR firm with four staff pregnancies in the last year alone.

Empire HR, which has 22 employees, has had four members of their consultancy team on maternity leave following the bumper year of bumps.

Three of the women, Joanna Jacob, Faye Barron and Morag Rose, work at the company’s headquarters in Aberdeen as part of the advice line team, while Maureen McKay, is a home worker. Three are still on maternity leave, which has led to some temporary team changes at the small business but as experts in this field, Empire HR had a strong maternity policy in place to help cope with the arising issues.

Many companies, however, are not prepared to deal effectively with maternity in the workplace and it is often wrongly viewed as a burden to employers, as it can be a costly exercise for small businesses.

Empire HR CEO, Steve Cook, said: “We are delighted with the new healthy additions and having a good understanding of our maternity policy has certainly been very useful this year. “On a serious note, there is bound to be a loss for any organisation but it’s difficult to measure. We had to go through the recruitment process four times and there is a very tangible cost to that. Our clients have been extremely understanding and each new member of staff has undergone intensive training on arrival and it’s been a steep learning curve. “We have a great team of people who have worked together to cover for the maternity posts, and we have worked hard to ensure that the new mums are still part of the Empire family by encouraging them to write about their maternity leave experience on the company blog.

“Empire HR has seen continued growth and it’s important that we have a great team that can re-shape to accommodate issues such as maternity leave.” Employers are usually faced with a number of concerns when a member of staff announces they are expecting, such as losing a key member of a team, having to find a temporary replacement and, of course, the additional costs.

It’s a worrying time for any organisation but it can naturally have a greater impact on smaller businesses like Empire HR. However, the employment law firm claims that if clear guidelines are in place the whole process of the pregnancy, maternity leave and return to work should be stress free for all concerned.

In Empire HR’s case, a genuine interest in the welfare of the new mums and securing good quality maternity cover has played a huge role in coping with the maternity issues which arose this year.

The Empire team were hugely supportive of the mums-to-be and worked together to ensure their workload was manageable during busy times. Necessary risk assessments were also carried out in the work place for the expectant mums, they were given parking spaces closer to the door, they were encouraged to take more rest breaks and were allocated desks near a window if they required fresh air.

The pregnant workers were encouraged to participate in ‘keeping in touch days’ to ensure they were not completely isolated from the workplace and that they still felt part of the Empire team. Faye Barron said: “We were so lucky that the team were really supportive. I almost felt isolated from work so the ‘keeping in touch’ days really helped. I think it can be easy for employees to be forgotten once they have left on maternity leave due to busy workloads but we were all invited to training days, office outings and team meetings, so we still felt very much part of the team during our leave.”

To keep employers up-to-date – here is a rundown of the current Maternity Rights:

• When an employee tells an employer that she is pregnant, the employer has a duty to carry out a health and safety risk assessment in order to determine whether there are any specific risks to her or her unborn child.

• Employees are entitled to paid time off to attend ante-natal appointments.

• Employees are entitled to 52 weeks maternity leave. Employees are required to notify their employer in writing of their intention to take maternity leave by the 15th week before their due date.

• If an employee is absent due to a pregnancy related sickness during the four weeks prior to their due date, maternity leave will start automatically.

• Employees are not allowed to return to work until at least two weeks after they have given birth (four weeks in certain cases).

• Employees are entitled to 39 weeks Statutory Maternity Pay if they fulfill certain qualifying conditions. For the first 6

weeks this is paid at 90% of their normal pay. For the next 33 weeks, this is paid at either 90% of their normal pay or the rate set by the Government, whichever is lower. The current rate set by the Government is £124.88.

• To qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay an employee must have been employed for at least 26 weeks before the 15th week before their due date. They must also earn more than the National Insurance Lower Earnings Level during a qualifying period.

• Employees who do not qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay may be entitled to receive Maternity Allowance which is paid by the Government.

• Employees continue to accrue all contractual benefits (apart from remuneration) throughout their maternity leave. This includes annual leave.

• During maternity leave, employees are entitled to agree with their employer to work for up to 10 days, without this affecting their Statutory Maternity Pay. These are called ‘Keeping in Touch Days’.

• Employees are normally entitled to return to the job they left on their return to work.

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Food and Drink Manufacturing Injury Statistics

HSE recently published its latest HSE Statistics (2009/10) on workplace injuries, work-related ill health and enforcement in the UK. During 2009/10, in food and drink manufacture, there were 4185 'over-3-day absense' injuries plus 856 'major' injuries (eg broken bones or requiring hospitalisation). Expressed as injury rates, 'O-3-D absense injuries' reduced from 1197 (2008/09) to 1165 injuries/100,000 workers, a drop of 2.7%. The combination rate for 'O-3-D absense' plus 'major injuries' fell by 1% during 2009/10 which, when added to an earlier 3% drop in 2008/09, makes an overall reduction of 4% during the period 2008/10.

Builder Prosecuted for Ignoring Health and Safety Rules

A builder whose employees were forced to work in unsanitary conditions, with no toilet or washing facilities, in Rochdale has appeared in court.

Michael Connolly, 46, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after he repeatedly ignored calls to improve his conditions at the site in Littleborough where he had employed contractors to convert a house into flats and shops.

HSE inspectors who visited the site in Church Street found that there were no toilets or washing facilities. They also discovered live wires sticking out of lug sockets, unsafe scaffolding and plaster and rubble scattered all over the site.

Inspectors deemed the site to be so dangerous that Mr Connolly was immediately served with three improvement notices and two prohibition notices following the visit on 4 November 2009.

Despite Mr Connolly's assurances that he had complied with all the notices, when inspectors revised the site on several occasions over a 10-week period, they discovered he had still not provided adequate facilities for workers, including soap and hot running water.

HSE Inspector Alan Pojur said:

"In failing to provide basic amenities like hot water, especially when workers would have been covered in building site dust and plaster, Mr Connolly showed a complete lack of regard for the welfare of the people he employed".

Minimum workplace temperatures

Regulation 7 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 (SI1992/3004) states that, during working hours, the temperature in all workplaces inside buildings shall be reasonable. However, the Regulations do not provide a minimum workplace temperature. Whether or not a temperature is reasonable will depend on factors such as the nature of the workplace and the type of work that is being carried out.

The Health and Safety Executive provides guidance on the Regulations, which recommends a minimum temperature of 16'C for workplaces where the activity is mainly sedentary, such as offices. For workplaces where much of the work involves physical effort, the minimum recommended temperature is 13'C.

UCATT warns on site safety in cold weather

With the cold weather still looming about, construction union UCATT are warning construction employers that extra checks need to be made on sites, to ensure that work can be conducted safely, during the current extremely cold weather.

Employers need to undertake additional risk assessments during extreme weather in order to ensure that sites are safe before work progresses. Employers also need to ensure that:

- Appropriate protective equipment is used
- Mobile facilities for warming up and warm fluids such as hot chocolate or soup are provided
- They introduce more frequent rest breaks
- Workers are educated on recognising the early symptoms of cold stress/ early signs of hypothermia. These include shivering, loss of co-ordination, slurred speech, memory loss and pale cold skin.


Alan Ritchie, General Secretary of UCATT, said: "cold weather brings additional dangers to the construction industry. It is essential that employers ensure sites are safe and proper facilities are provided during cold weather working. If employers do not believe that their site is safe they should stop work immediately until problems are resolved".

The first of our help videos - The Disciplinary Hearing

We are delighted to release the first of our new information videos to help you understand some of the rules and regulations and, best practice in HR.

The first video in the series is The Disciplinary Hearing and, whilst it may not be something people relish having to deal with, it is one of the most important ares of HR. Going through the proper procedure is essential for any business if they are to avoid mistakes which invariably end up costing the organisation time and money.

We hope you enjoy the video and find the information useful to you. If you would like to chat to someone about a specific case or, you would like to find out how Empire can work with you, please give us a call on 01224 701383, we will be happy to have a coffee and a chat with you.  Alternatively, you can complete the short enquiry form on our web site and someone will contact you.

We will be posting all of these resourceful videos on our network site - Empire Wire, please take a minute to visit the site and join our network where you can engage with other people involved in HR and, get some very useful information about the HR industry.  Join Empire Wire here.

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The Importance of Social Media Marketing to Businesses

Social Media Networking or Marketing as it is more commonly known is one of the most up and coming topics being discussed in the business world today. You will find numerous business publications covering articles on the theme of social media marketing, the importance it has to business and the ways in which to implement it within your company and so on.

Generally the majority of businesses are now trying to become more actively engaged in one or more of the numerous channels of social media that exist, for many different reasons. If planned and executed properly social media marketing can position itself to be one of the cheapest and most effective methods of online marketing and promotion for your business or organisation. If your business’ social media marketing is not well planned and executed, this could result in potential disaster for your company.

There are numerous reasons as to why any company or organisation should turn towards thinking about using social media marketing as one of their marketing and promotional resources. This of course solely depends upon several factors. These are; your company profile, the products and or services that you provide and your customers themselves etc. Progressively the importance of an effective social media campaign is on the rise for the majority of all companies today.

Below will illustrate some of the fundamental benefits that strategic social media marketing could bring to your business.

1. Branding
Companies can utilise social media channels as a way of increasing and expanding its willingness and reliability which could ultimately result in improved company branding through enhanced brand recognition amongst already existing customers and equally potential customers too. Social media marketing allows companies to have two way channels of conversation with their customers, which in turn builds a significant amount of credibility amongst its customers.

2. Lead Generation
Lead generation is another reason why companies should opt towards using social media campaigns. Lead generation is an integral part of a company’s success and social media marketing strategies and campaigns can help in targeting the most relevant target markets.

3. Engage with your customers
Social media channels assist in making it easier and more flexible when it comes to engaging with your customers. Customer engagement is the most significant benefit that social media marketing can bring. This facilitates in retaining the company’s existing customers and also increases the company’s brand integrity. During the recent economic downfall, a great deal of companies succeeded in retaining their customers with the support of customer engagement through the use of social media channels.

4. Generate Relevant Traffic
Traffic generation is the primary purpose of all online marketing campaigns. Social media sites are extremely effective examples of traffic generation at its utmost. There are also various niche social media channels which make it easier to generate relevant and high quality traffic to any particular website.

5. Getting Customer Feedback
Customer feedback is the backbone of any business and the feedback that is received helps in improving the products or services as per the customer’s requirements. Since social media channels helps in making customer engagement much easier, customer feedback is always near the top of the agenda and you can continuously expect helpful customer reviews and feedback which in turn help improve products or services to their ultimate best. With customer relationships being an integral part of the growth of any company, when customer relationships fail, the company and its operations are also bound to fail. Social media channels help in forming strong bonds between the customer and the organisation and thereby increases the stability of the company.

6. New Products or Services
There is no better means of a more consistent or cost effective media source than that of the social media sites, to inform customers about up and coming releases of new products and services. Social media channels assist in making straightforward ways of spreading news of new products or services to the specified targeted audience.

7. Market Trends
Social media sites allow you unrestricted access to information about up and coming trends and also the preferences of the customers which allows you to act accordingly. Knowing what preferences your customers have and the trends that will be forthcoming, makes it easier for your business to enhance and alter your products or services to meet these new customer wants and needs, and also to plan your online marketing campaigns in much more effective and direct approach.

8. Search Engine Status
Search engines are the most consistent and dependable generator of traffic for any website. Effective social media campaigns can have a significant influence on your search engine rankings. Since most of the search engine giants are using real time search results, social media updates and bookmarks will help increase your site positioning in the overall search engine rankings.