The Employment Law Guidance Programme

The Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR), has launched a campaign to promote ways in which employers can reduce the admin involved in meeting employment law obligations. Evidence suggests that, across a range of areas, employers are routinely over-complying, duplicating activity or paying professional advisers for advice that they can get for free.

For example:

Written statement of terms and conditions

You must give every new member of staff a written statement of their terms and conditions within two months of starting their job. Many employers are unnecessarily duplicating these statements alongside contracts of employment, at extra cost. These statutory obligations can be met quickly, easily and cheaply by using the Written Statement tool. It takes you, step by step, through a range of questions then uses the answers to generate a bespoke – and legally reliable – statement. It should take just 15 minutes to complete and can also be used to generate a new statement each time an employee’s terms and conditions are varied.

Working Time Regulations

The formal opt out agreement for the Working Time Regulations need not be long or complicated - it only needs to confirm that the employee agrees to work more than 48 hours per week; and to state a period of notice (of up to 3 months) that he or she must give you to end the opt out. You can use the simple and legally compliant proforma agreement.

Flexible Working

You can also use the proforma letters that simplify the notification requirements needed for Flexible Working. These fully meet the statutory requirements and can save businesses a significant amount of time and money. A written notice of a decision can be produced in around 15 minutes.

The Business Link website is also an excellent source of information for anyone running their own business. It has been improved and updated and has free advice and online tools designed to help with a full range of employment issues.