Manufacturing sector – Useful Employment Law & HR
information
NatWest
Mentor can help your
manufacturing business with its Employment Law compliance and HR
needs.
Keeping things going is important
Staff absenteeism and poor timekeeping can cause problems to
your manufacturing business. Workers who fail to show up can mean
you’ve a gap on your production line and nobody around with the
skills to fill it, or moving people around to cover means logjams
elsewhere.
You can’t prevent all unforeseen staff absences, but you can
operate policies and apply contract terms and conditions that
discourage it.
You should:
- Have robust absence reporting policies and management
procedures in place
- Ensure sick pay policies don’t operate to encourage
intermittent absences
- Understand when it is appropriate to take disciplinary action
against staff who repeatedly cause problems.
NatWest
Mentor can provide:
- An Employee Handbook with appropriate absence policies and
procedures
- Online management tools to record and monitor staff absence,
and highlight any triggers for further action
- 24 / 7 telephone advice to guide you through any disciplinary
proceedings.
For your sales team – and possibly for your production
team too - nailing down bonus and commission arrangements is
key
Your manufacturing business relies on a well-motivated sales
force to drive business your way. You might also have incentive
arrangements on the production line. You’ve got to get the right
range of incentives and rewards in place.
But too often, when things go wrong, you can find yourself
involved in time-consuming, ill-tempered and costly disputes about
bonus and commission payments. Some contractual wording might leave
you with too little room for manoeuvre to vary commission schemes
when circumstances change, but deciding things on a handshake with
no written proof may leave you open to claims for breach of a
“custom and practice” contract.
You should:
- Ensure all bonus and commission arrangements are agreed and
recorded in writing
- Take care that employment contracts give your business the
necessary discretion to vary bonus and commission schemes
- Avoid regular, but informal, arrangements that might give rise
to “custom and practice” claims.
NatWest
Mentor can provide:
- Appropriate terms and conditions of employment and contract
documentation
- An Employee Handbook containing procedures appropriate to your
business
- 24/7 telephone advice and support on matters such as bonus and
commission arrangements.
If you use agency temps to help out, take care you don’t
breach the Agency Workers regulations
All manufacturers need extra help from time to time, and agency
staff are often called upon to fill in gaps for staff absences or
when you’ve a rush order to complete. However, since October 2011,
new rules apply which mean that agency staff who are with you for
12 weeks or longer must have the same pay and other conditions as
the permanent staff they work alongside.
This may alter the way you look at agency temps – you might, for
example, consider hiring temporary workers directly to cover longer
absences such as maternity leave.
Getting these things wrong can be costly – because you may find
it difficult to dismiss your temporary staff or be liable for the
difference in pay between agency and permanent staff.
You should:
- Review your use of temporary and casual workers, and ensure
they have fit for purpose contracts
- Ensure all workers have entitlement to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday,
as required under Working Time regulations
- Consider how your business uses agency workers and where
possible avoid long-term use that triggers parity rights.
NatWest
Mentor can provide:
- Contracts of employment tailored to the needs of your
business
- Online holiday recording on MentorLive
- 24/7 Advice and support on matters such as the operation of the
Agency Workers’ regulations.