Top 3 employment law concerns 2010

The top three employment law concerns in 2010 are dealing with sickness absence, performance management, and proposed changes to the national retirement age, according to a recent survey by law firm Charles Russell.

Sickness Absence
As well as reducing productivity, sickness absence has a negative impact on morale and increases stress on the workforce as workloads increase.  Stress itself is a key cause of absenteeism.

Employers can mitigate some of the effects by:

• monitoring sickness absence
• identifying undue pressures
• improving communications with staff to learn of concerns early
• redistribute workloads where possible
• offer support through counselling or time off.

Performance Management
In the current economic climate inefficient workers cannot be ‘carried’ but are not necessarily those who qualify for redundancy.¬† Good performance management will help to address this issue by:

• early identification and warning of under-performance
• clear communication of required improvements
• effective monitoring, backed by support and training.

National Retirement Age
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is currently carrying out a consultation on whether the default retirement age of 65 remains appropriate and necessary. If this is removed employers will need to consider the implications for their business such as
more part-time working and job sharing.