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Three Ways For SME Employers To Achieve Statutory Compliance

Three Ways For SME Employers To Achieve Statutory Compliance

Statutory compliance, the term for abiding by certain laws that apply to your commercial activities, needs to be a key consideration in your business strategy. Failure to meet your compliance obligations concerning health and safety, data protection, and employment regulations (to name but a few) risks leaving you exposed to Employment Tribunal claims, reputational damage, and sometimes even crippling fines. To help you avoid such negative consequences, below are three actions you can take to achieve statutory compliance in employment law.

 

One – know what employment laws apply to your business and market sector

There are so many employment law regulations that the only way to keep on top of compliance is to know which ones are relevant to your organisation. Whilst you may not be aware of the names of exact requirements of the relevant statutes, it is imperative to at least have a general overview of your obligations as an employer. Several employment law requirements are covered by legislation, including:

  • Employers must provide a written statement of particulars to all employees and workers before they start work.
  • Every employee and worker must be paid the National Minimum Wage.
  • Employees and Workers have a minimum entitlement to paid holiday and rest breaks.
  • Employers have a duty to, as far as reasonably practicable, protect the health, safety, and welfare of their employees whilst they are at work.
  • Employees’, workers’, and customers’ personal data must be protected, especially in relation to data storage and processing.

As an employer you also need to be aware of non-legislative requirements, for example, the need to comply with the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures when dealing with a conduct or performance issue in the workplace or conflict resolution and compliance requirements if you are granted a sponsorship licence to recruit skilled workers from abroad.

One way to ensure you are aware of the employment regulations that apply to your business and market sector is to use Ask HR which is specifically designed to support SMEs with their day-to-day HR and employment law needs.

 

Two – keep your HR systems finely tuned

Keeping accurate records is key to compliance with employment laws. For example, if you are required to conduct a disciplinary investigation and procedure it is imperative that you evidence the steps you take throughout the process, for example taking statements, collating evidence, minuting or recording investigatory and disciplinary hearings and ensuring all invites to hearings are in writing, confirming the legal right to be accompanied where relevant to demonstrate compliance with the Acas Code of practice. This will ensure you can present a robust defence if your employee brings a subsequent Employment Tribunal claim.

Other HR functions that need to be rigorously recorded and updated include (but are not limited to):

  • Health and safety risk assessments.
  • Data protection impact assessments.
  • Employment contracts, offer letters and right to work checks

Policies and procedures within a staff handbook

  • Staff contact details.
  • The number of sick days taken by each employee.
  • Holiday leave.
  • Expenses records

HR Genie eliminates all the risks concerning failure to maintain and keep accurate records. It provides a one-stop solution for SMEs’ employment record storage and management needs. It allows you to safely store and access your employee documents using a single online portal, providing you with complete peace of mind that your records are updated and secure.

 

Three – don’t leave it too late to seek legal advice

Of all the areas of law, employment is the most volatile and the one most driven by politics and social change. For example, Coronavirus. The pandemic hastened the normalisation of homeworking. It triggered the introduction of the furlough scheme. It required changes to be made to statutory sick pay legislation. It required changes to be made to carrying forward holiday entitlement. Employers had to think about what personal data they were going to collect in connection with vaccination and isolation and how that would be recorded, processed and stored. Not only that, but the changes were continuous and evolving almost weekly, with a further change to sick pay being announced this week.

Seeking advice from an Employment Law Solicitor who understands your business and industry will give you a significant competitive advantage because:

  1. You can be confident that your HR team is up to date with fast-changing employment law.
  2. Your employment law contract and staff handbooks will be meticulously drafted.
  3. Any job advertisements you place or decisions you make that could conflict with the Equality Act 2010 will be quickly spotted, protecting you from an Employment Tribunal claim and reputational damage.
  4. You will have a legal professional by your side if you need to dismiss an employee.
  5. If you plan to sell your business, you and the buyer can be certain that you have complied with TUPE and other related employment regulations.

 

Final words

To protect your best interests, talk to an Employment Law Solicitor about statutory employment law compliance. They can take the legal elements of compliance off your shoulders, so you can focus on achieving your commercial ambitions.

To discuss anything mentioned in this article, please call us on 02476 231000 or email enquiries@askewslegal.co

Please note that this article is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.