The emergence of quiet quitting

Lockdown saw the emergence of a wave of people trying to instil the idea of ‘hustle culture’, capitalising on their new-found free time with business ventures such as producing and selling beauty products, wax melt, candles etc. There’s also been a surge of employees taking up a second job, aka a ‘hobby job’ and passive income such as investments, selling Etsy printables and other digital services have rocketed the last couple of years amongst younger generations, to boost income and ensure every second of the day is capitalised on.

Contrastingly, the idea of ‘quiet quitting’, in which disgruntled employees do the bare minimum at work, as they ‘work to live not live to work’ has come to prominence this year, particularly on social media, much to the concern of employers who are already facing extra challenges such as adjusting to post-pandemic people management.

Quiet quitting’s inception appears to be TikTok, and in essence it’s doing the working bare minimum required in order to retain a job. Employees engaging in this practice will not seek out new challenges or projects, and seems to nod to the wider anti-work movement which the pandemic has exacerbated amongst millennials and Gen Z.

Work-life balance vs. quiet quitting

We must stress, quiet quitting is not simply ensuring tasks are completed within working hours and arriving and leaving work at your allotted time. Time management and boundary-setting are to be praised. However, it does seem to be the lack of a work-life balance that has seen the rise of quiet quitting.

Reddit, a self-proclaimed ‘network of communities where people can dive into their interests, hobbies and passions’, host an active ‘anti-work’ forum, in which one contributor stated that they felt burnt out after pressure to work extended hours and not utilise annual leave.

Subsequently, the value that some people place on their employment is declining. A recent survey found that over 51% of young full-time workers said the pandemic had ‘decreased the importance [they] place on [their] career.’ 63% of all British workers said they had recently experienced burnout, and only 49% considered their work-life balance as ‘good’. This opens up debate around the positives and negatives of the pandemic fusing the workplace with the home; smartphones mean many of us struggle to set proper boundaries with work, responding to emails at all hours.

Open communication

If you’re concerned about quiet quitting in your workplace, it’s important to ensure there’s open communication between senior management and the wider workforce! Having adequate staff in place, checking that employees are coping with their workload and setting the expectation that long hours should be the exception, not the norm are all ways to combat quiet quitting. Overworking almost always ends up counter-productive when employees end up burnt out and resentful.

Moreover, employees should be engaged with your company’s mission and eager for new opportunities to contribute to it.

Be pro-active!

Anonymised surveys are a great way to gauge how employees are feeling. If you’re confident that you personally encourage employees to have a healthy work-life balance and have an open line of communication with them, there will be no anxiety around hosting such a survey.

Hosting regular one-to-ones with employees to check on how they are, discuss their evolving workplace goals and possible opportunities for advancement will guarantee that your workforce will feel more comfortable approaching you with any concerns in the future. Don’t forget remote workers in this process, as often they can be overlooked if not a physical presence in the office, however, they should also feel motivated and part of the mission.

If you think your business could benefit from our 24/7 HR, Employment Law and H&S services, please give us a call on 0161 603 2156 to see how we can help your business flourish.

• Do my staff have the right to time off on bank holidays?

• Can I make staff work on bank holidays?

• What’s the law around bank holidays?

These are just some of the questions we’re often asked by our clients when a bank holiday approaches… In this article, we look at the law around bank holidays to answer some of your questions around what can often be a confusing topic for Employers.

Employees often believe they have a right to time off work on a bank holiday, but this is untrue.

There’s no official requirement that workers work on bank holidays; rather, this is governed by their employment contract. The employer’s stance on this will typically be influenced by the nature of the business operations and commercial requirements.

You need to check the specific wording within their contract carefully, as this will make clear what your position on time off for bank holidays is. If you only offer the statutory minimum (5.6 weeks) holiday, you’ll need to give time off in lieu for working on a bank holiday as otherwise you’ll be giving under the minimum allowance.

There’s no requirement to pay over the standard hourly/daily rate for working a bank holiday, contrary to popular belief. You can of course offer this as an incentive if a bank holiday is a non-working day for a particular employee, or as a gesture of good will to motivate staff. Of course, ensure that you’re paying NMW or usual contractual pay where this is higher.

If employees request annual leave on a bank holiday that would usually have been a normal working day, you can treat this request as you would any other according to your holidays policy. If there’s a business need to refuse the request, you’re within your rights to do so. You could also arrange a ‘shift swap’, banked time off in lieu or unpaid leave as a last resort.

Depending on the wording of their contract, if someone works part-time, they’re entitled to request holiday on a bank holiday on a pro-rata basis – subject to your agreement. If the worker isn’t contracted to work Mondays for example, they won’t usually automatically be entitled to time off on a bank holiday Monday or TOIL to compensate.

The 2022 August bank holiday weekend is fast approaching. You should therefore remind your workforce that Monday 29th is a bank holiday and confirm whether or not you require them to work. As an employer, making clear the arrangements with plenty of notice is not only helpful for employees to get organised, but will save you stress down the line of last minute requests and possible absences on the day.

You could also consider offering incentives such as snacks or meals, a relaxed dress code etc. to boost productivity and motivation for staff who are obliged or choose to work on a bank holiday.

If you have any queries around bank holiday working, or anything else HR, Employment Law or H&S related, please contact us at [email protected] or on 0161 603 2156 to see how we can help ease your worries and help your business flourish.

According to a poll, too many companies are failing to take advantage of the potential of “rebound” workers.

More than 2 in 3 (71%) of organisations, lack an offboarding procedure that encourages workers to leave on good terms and possibly return in the future.

Furthermore, 78% of organisations have trouble finding replacement workers; 21% of employers struggle to fill a position by the end of the departing employee’s notice period, and 22% struggle to find any replacement.

The ongoing great resignation is making the growing skills shortage—which is already a problem—worse for many organisations.

Employers frequently disregard the importance of boomerang employees as a potential remedy for this issue. When it comes to developing a good company brand, happy former employees who have positive things to say about their former employment are essential.

Returning former employees may provide a much-needed source of skilled labour. This not only enables businesses to address the skills gap, but it also ensures that time and resources invested in workers’ professional development will continue to be a wise investment.

Maintaining a positive connection with people who are deciding to relocate may be important in addition to employing strategies like more thorough training programmes for entry-level personnel and reskilling efforts for current employees.

Supportis can help with onboarding, offboarding and any other HR procedures you can think of! Get in touch with our friendly team today on 0161 603 2156 for a free, no-obligation chat around how we can help your business flourish.

In a landmark tribunal case, a Caretaker successfully claimed long Covid as a disability. Supportis dissects what this means for employers…

Mr T Burke, a charity caretaker has become one of the first to successfully claim that his symptoms of long Covid amounted to a disability.

An employment tribunal heard that he was dismissed on grounds of ill-health after being unable to work for 9 months following substantial suffering with long-term side effects from Covid-19. He first contracted covid back in November 2020.

He claimed he was unfairly dismissed and also discriminated against on the basis of age and disability – citing his disability as long Covid – and adding that a redundancy payment wasn’t offered by his employer.

Although the judgment has not yet been passed regarding whether or not the dismissal is deemed to be unfair, it was ruled that in this instance, long Covid DID amount to a disability under the Equality Act in a recent preliminary hearing.

Judge Young, the sitting judge at the Employment Tribunal in this case, stated that:

Burke’s condition had a ‘long-term substantial adverse effect’;

meaning it was likely to last for a period of 12 months; and

His impairment had ‘an adverse effect on day-to-day activities’.

The Judge said of Mr Burke “I consider that the relevant tests are met to meet the definition of disability, and that Mr Burke was a disabled person in the period of the alleged discriminatory acts.”

This landmark judgment could potentially be the first of many long Covid-related Employment Tribunal cases. With this in mind, Employers should treat employees that come forward stating they’re suffering from long Covid on a case-by-case basis and take their complaints seriously. This includes risk assessments and possibly putting in place reasonable adjustments to accommodate requests from suffering employees. This includes instances where medical evidence is inconclusive, as a tribunal could decide either way and it would be prudent to mitigate any risk of a disability claim.

It’s also expected that more employees may come forward with similar claims now that this case has proven long Covid can be deemed as a disability under the Equality Act in certain circumstances.

Burke undertook employment as a caretaker at Turning Point Scotland from April 2001-August 2021. The tribunal heard that Burke contracted Covid in November 2020 and suffered the typical flu-like symptoms whilst in isolation. However, after the isolation period, he developed fatigue and severe headaches.

Burke addressed the tribunal, sharing that following isolation, after waking, showering and dressing, he would need to lie down from exhaustion and that he struggled with even standing for long periods. It became difficult to walk to his local shop to buy a newspaper, so he stopped.

Other symptoms reported by Burke include joint pain in his arms, legs and shoulders, a loss of appetite, problems concentrating and problems sleeping. The tribunal noted Burke felt too unwell to socialise and attend important events, including a family funeral in December 2020.

Over this period, Burke had multiple GP consultations; he was diagnosed with post-viral fatigue syndrome and submitted several extended sick notes to his employer.

In the 9 months between testing positive for Covid and his dismissal, Burke did not work. He did however have a phone consultation with occupational health (OH) who subsequently provided a report in April 2021, concluding that Burke was “medically fit to return to work” and advising a phased return approach. The report also stated that it was “unlikely” that Burke’s illness would be classed as a disability under the Equality Act.

A review consultation followed in June. Burke was dismissed on 13 August 2021 on grounds of ill-health.

The dismissal read: “It is my view that you remain too ill to return to work and there appears to be nothing further we can do to adjust your duties or work environment that would make your return more likely…. there does not appear to be a potential date on which there is a likelihood of you being able to return to full duties in the future and due to uncertainty around a potential work date.”

Judge Young ruled that while Burke had not suffered “substantial adverse effects in a consistent manner” from his long Covid, his symptoms were likely to recur and therefore should be deemed to have a “long-term effect within the parameters of the legislation”.

The case will now proceed to a hearing in respect of the claims of discrimination arising as a consequence of disability, indirect disability discrimination and failure to make reasonable adjustments.

A representative at Turning Point Scotland refused to comment on the case as it is ongoing.

It’s more important than ever to ensure that as an employer, you have a legally compliant sickness absence policy so that you don’t fall foul of the law.

Supportis can provide legally compliant contracts, handbooks, policies and training. Give us a call on 0161 603 2156 for a free, no-obligation chat with our friendly team around how we can help your business flourish.

We’ve seen a lot of controversy online over the past couple of days regarding law firm Stephenson Harwood’s announcement that they’re to cut pay by 20% for home workers. Here, our legal experts from Supportis HR wade into the discussion…

Stephenson Harwood announced that employees were welcome to work remotely 100% of the time, however, this would come at a cost of a 20% salary reduction. The policy was extended to all staff, including lawyers, below partner level.

This has been heavily criticised, and a rep from the company responded by highlighting that they also operate a Hybrid Working policy, in which employees can come into the office at least 3 days out of 5 for full pay.

It’s not gone unnoticed that none of those who have taken the firm up on the 100% remote option are trainee or junior lawyers. With the cost of living higher than ever, we find it difficult to understand how deducting from pay would be deemed a reasonable solution to any issues employers might find wfh causes. Especially as of course they will be saving on operating costs including office space whilst employees aren’t in the office.

Having a ‘one fits all’ policy such as the one Stephenson Harwood have implemented not only bypasses individual consultation (which we would always recommend when changing any terms and conditions of employment, especially for staff with over 2 years’ service!) but it’s also risky in terms of being potentially discriminative.

If working from home has been favoured by women with caring responsibilities, or by a disabled employee for practicality reasons, docking their pay is running the risk of leaving the company open to claims of indirect discrimination.

By virtue of the policy offering less pay to those who wfh, this also must infer that home workers aren’t as productive, hardworking or committed as those in the office. We have seen research to the contrary of this outdated view time and time again.

Furthering a point we’ve touched on above, those who wfh will inevitably face higher utility costs as they’ll be home all day as well as the evening. With soaring costs of living, it could certainly be argues that docking pay for home workers is ignorant to this issue and contributing to employee’s struggling to pay bills – a real and unfortunately more common problem than most employers would like to address.

We’re no stranger to reporting on the ‘great resignation’ of 2021. As millennials and gen Z especially simply aren’t willing to put up with remaining in professional situations where they don’t feel valued, employees wanting more flexibility will end up looking elsewhere.

In conclusion, employers thinking of cutting pay for those who wfh would need to be able to justify that cuts were a legitimate and proportionate measure, e.g. by proving that 20% of wages were saved by the employee by not coming into the office. We argue this wouldn’t be reasonable or practicable.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts… Connect with us on socials @supportishr and join the discussion, where we report on all things HR, employment law and H&S every weekday!

Digital right to work checks are currently due to end on 30 September 2022. This date has been delayed further multiple times because of employer concerns around the return to in-person checks. Also, with the shift to remote working for a number of employers, in-person checks can be difficult to conduct.

The UK government recognises that digital checks are favoured and have therefore announced implementation of digital right to work checks for employees.

What’s new?

• From 6 April 2022, foreign nationals who have a biometric residence card, biometric residence permit or frontier worker permit can only be checked online, not manually. They must provide their DOB and share code to allow the employer to check their status using the Government’s online checking service. This is a free service and as a result, manual checks will no longer be permitted. Employers don’t need to carry out a retrospective check for employees where a manual check was completed on or before 5 April 2022.
• From 1 October 2022, employers will use certified Identity Service Providers (IDSPs) to complete digital right-to-work checks for British and Irish citizens with valid passports. This will be an alternative to manual checks, and the IDSPs will complete these digital right-to-work checks on behalf of employers for a fee. The digital check will involve submitting images of personal documents rather than the original documents using Identity Document Validation Technology instead.
• Manual checks can continue to be carried out for employees not covered by point 1 above. This will mainly cover British and Irish nationals who do not require permission to work in the UK.

Supportis have a wealth of resources to help you and your business with all things people management. Give our friendly team a call on 0161 603 2167 today, or email us at [email protected] to see how we can help!