Supportis help hundreds of SMEs like yours with unlimited, fixed-fee HR and Employment Law advice. Here’s our monthly round-up to keep you in the know:
Menopause Awareness
October was Menopause Awareness month, and if you follow our socials you’ll have seen we shared some tips on how employers can best assist your employees going through the menopause.
We suggestsimple, practical adjustments, policies, flexibility, management education and cultural change. Common symptoms of menopause include mood swings, brain fog, hot flashes and insomnia. Taking menopause seriously and offering support where it’s needed can make a huge positive difference to your employees.
World Mental Health Day
10th October saw World Mental Health Day raise awareness for those suffering with mental health problems. ACAS state that if employees have mental health issues, employers must take them seriously, and be ready to talk about what is wrong and how they can help.
Discrimination due to mental health can be difficult to define because, while mental health isn’t directly a protected characteristic, disability is.
The Equality Act 2010 defines a disabled person as someone with a physical or mental injury. It must be substantial or long term (likely to last more than 12 months) and affect their ability to conduct day-to-day activities.
So for discrimination based on mental health to be unlawful, the mental health issue needs to fit the definition of a disability. The employer also must know – or be reasonably expected to know – about the disability.
Baby Loss Awareness Week
9-15 October 2022 was Baby Loss Awareness Week, for those affected to remember their lost loved ones, and to raise awareness of baby loss. How an individual deals with baby loss will be unique to them, shaped by their journey to becoming pregnant and the circumstances of the loss. Because of this, it is important not to treat all those impacted by this the same, but instead treat them as individuals and be guided in how they wish to be supported.
Will there be a bank holiday for the King’s coronation?
The date has been set for Saturday 6th May 2023 – a Bank Holiday won’t be called for that day (when a moveable Bank Holiday falls on a weekend, a substitute day is observed so a new Bank Holiday would never be set for a Saturday).
There have been calls from some MPs for the Early May Bank Holiday (currently to take place on Monday 1 May 2023) to be moved to Monday 8 May 2023 to create a long weekend or for an extra Bank Holiday to be announced, but there is no confirmation of an extra or moved Bank Holiday right now. Watch this space!
New law grants carers one-week unpaid leave entitlement
The Carer’s Leave Bill passed its second reading on 21 October. This will grant employees a new entitlement to take up one week of unpaid leave each year to provide or arrange care for a dependant with a long-term care need.
The legislation will allow unpaid leave, regardless of length of service, offered to eligible employees from the first day of their employment. Carers taking the leave won’t be required to show how or for whom it will be used. We will update you further as this develops as it hasn’t been officially written in law yet…
Flexible Working Bill receives strong support from MPs
A bill that seeks to enhance employees’ right to flexible working has received broad support from MPs during its second reading in the House of Commons.
If the Bill is passed, an employer would need to consult with their employee before rejecting a flexible working request. The period within which an employer would have to respond to a request would be reduced from 3 months to 2. Employees would also be able to make 2 flexible working requests within a 12-month period…
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