Did you know that …

• A survey by communications giant Orange found that 62% of staff working for firms with more than 1,000 employees would be prepared to work flexibly to aid their firm’s chance of survival during the recession.

• From 1 October 2009, the limit on a week’s pay for the purposes of calculating a statutory redundancy payment will rise from £350 to £380.

Although redundancy may seem inevitable to some organisations, there may be other options.  Private sector firms including KPMG, Jaguar Land Rover, JCB and Ryanair all opted to reduce working hours or implement pay freezes earlier this year in a bid to save jobs and hang on to key talent and both Nissan and Honda have cut production and brought in short time working.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants predicts that the UK economy will grow by 0.5% in the third quarter of 2009 and confidence in the economy is rising so it may not be the best option to lose skilled employees that could be costly to replace as things improve.  Short time working or layoffs can be effective in handling temporary work shortages and adverse trading conditions without having to resort to redundancy.

However, many businesses do not have a clause for this in their contract of employment which can make this area a legal minefield.

Come to our FREE Employment Contract briefing on Thursday 26th November at Basepoint Ipswich, Ransomes Europark to find out more about this and other common employment contract pitfalls.  Enjoy a buffet breakfast and networking opportunities from 8am before the briefing starts at 8.30am, finishing by 9.45am.

Following the briefing, we are offering an Open House HR surgery.  Book a FREE 10 minute appointment to speak to an HR expert for a one-to-one discussion.  Why not bring your organisation’s contract of employment along for a quick review?

To book your place please email contact@pds-hr.com or call 0800 907 1015 specifying whether you would like to attend the briefing, surgery or both.  Places are strictly limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

For more information about Pinnacle and the services they offers go to www.pds-hr.com