HR in 90 Seconds - February 2020

Finally, we have welcomed February after what felt like 99 days of January…there were lots of good things in January 2020 for us to look at!

• Irish Employment Law Updates with A&L Goodbody and RDJ - we take a look at the top takeaways.
• Are you supporting Carers within your organisation?
• Managing Intoxicants in the Workplace
• Six steps to more effective decision making

Irish Employment Law Updates – Top Takeaways

The first Legal Island webinars of 2020 were the all-important Irish Employment Law Updates with A&L Goodbody and Ronan Daly Jermyn.  If you missed the amazing annual review in 2019 this was your ideal opportunity to catch up with 3 of our speakers on what were the key cases and employment law issues from 2019. So, what did we learn…

1. When considering making accommodations for a disabled employee it's important that you objectively evaluate what appropriate measures could be put in place, and you look at the entirety of the individual's role.
2. Keep Working Time Records - there is a strong onus on employers to dissuade employees from working outside their normal hours, this can be done through company culture and line managers setting an example.
3. Parents leave - is now a separate and distinct leave called parents leave which employees are now also entitled to. That is a shorter period of leave. It's a two-week period within the first year effectively of the child's life and parents are entitled to two weeks paid leave from the state.
4. Independent Contractors – there is case law moving around in this area and this whole question, are you genuinely self-employed or are you an employee? There may be big consequences for an employer had independent contractors who are deemed employees rather than independent contractors. Keep an eye on this one!

You can listen again and read the full transcripts of the webinars here.

Do you know how many Carers you have as employees in your organisation?

There is a growing and urgent need to support carers in the workplace, supporting employees who are working and acting as an unpaid carer. It is important to define a Carer and remember that you may need to identify a Carer who does not count themselves as a Carer.

As an employer have you considered how you can best support Carers in the workplace, following some research here are some ideas:

1. Introduce a Carers Policy -this can encourage employees to inform employers about their caring responsibilities.
2. Train line managers to support carers through an understanding attitude, line managers are key to making carer-friendly policies work.
3. Provide Flexible Working options -this helps employees balance their work and caring commitments.
4. Use FW options to support short notice leave to Carers
5. Educate employees in your organisation to support colleagues and peers in times when they may need to provide care to a dependent e.g. Create a carers guide 

There is a useful LI podcast on the notion of making Flexible Working a default rather than putting the onus on employees to request flexibility. Listen to Mairead Regan and Hugh McPoland consider are all roles suitable for FW and the importance of being mutually flexible.

Making more effective decisions – can we use the evidence?

As HR professionals we make decisions everyday which affect our people, our talent – those that are at the heart of everything that we do. These decisions should be evidence based, leading to better judgment calls rather than simply relying on anecdotes, received wisdoms and other possible untrustworthy sources. Karl O’Connor, OCN Coaching Champions discusses using evidence-based decision making with a structured 6 step approach to help at times when you have so many conflicting resources.

Managing Intoxicants in the Workplace

Caroline McEnery, Managing Director at The HR Suite discusses the importance of having a policy to deal with situations involving intoxication in the workplace.   Caroline will be discussing this in more detail with us at a webinar on the 31^st March at 1pm.  Click here to register for the webinar.

You can also listen again to Caroline’s most recent webinar on Handling Investigations here.

What's coming up with Legal Island?

Event

HR Symposium – Acquiring and Retaining Top Talent

During the current times of almost full employment in Ireland, you need to acquire the best people in the face of stiff competition and a short supply of labour because there will be a higher turnover of staff. The Legal Island HR Symposium for 2020 takes this problem and brings you practical advice, examples and options to consider when acquiring and retaining top talent.

It takes place on 25th March 2020 at the Red Cow Moran Hotel, held in association with Eversheds Sutherland, provides practical advice, examples and options for acquiring and retaining top talent, regardless of the economic outlook.

Webinar

New – Schools Sector Webinars

On Tuesday 24th March, we start a new service for school leaders and others interested in schools and teaching in Ireland in association with a panel of experts from NAPD, Mason Hayes & Curran, and THC Consult.  We will run three webinars before the summer holidays – 24th March; 5th May; and 23rd June (a Primary School special edition). 

4.15pm - 5.00pm on Tuesday 24th March 2020

Register here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1917475016449739788