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The Employer’s Handbook An Essential Guide to Employment Law, Personnel Policies & Procedures Barry Cushway This book has been endorsed by the Institute of Directors. The endorsement is given to selected Kogan Page books which the IoD recognizes as being of specific interest to its members and providing them with up-to-date, informative and practical resources for creating business success. Kogan Page books endorsed by the IoD represent the most authoritative guidance available on a wide range of subjects including management, finance, marketing, training and HR. The views expressed in this book are those of the author and are not necessarily the same as those of the Institute of Directors. First published in 2002 Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licences issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address: Kogan Page Limited 120 Pentonville Road London N1 9JN UK © Barry Cushway, 2002 Figure 13.4 reproduced by kind permission from Pearson Education Ltd. The right of Barry Cushway to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 0 7494 3698 0 Typeset by JS Typesetting Ltd, Wellingborough, Northants Printed and bound in Great Britain by Thanet Press Ltd, Margate Contents Acknowledgements xvi Introduction Aim of this book 1; Style and conventions 2; Employment rights 4; Company size 7; Keeping up to date 7; Further information 8 1 1 Recruiting staff Deciding whether to recruit 9; Preparing a job description 10; Preparing a person specification 12; How to recruit 15; Application form or curriculum vitae (CV)? 17; Interviewing 19; Other selection methods 30; Avoiding discrimination in selection 34; Making a job offer 36; Taking up references 42; Medical reports 44; Checking qualifications 45; Rejecting candidates 45; Withdrawing a job offer 46; Employment of offenders 46; Restrictions on employing children 46; Employment of overseas nationals 47; Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 47; Further information 47 9 2 Writing employment contracts Deciding whether someone is an employee 49; The contract of employment 50; Statement of employment particulars 50; 49 Contents Specific contractual clauses 57; Types of contract 62; Amending contracts 64; Further information 64; Appendix: Specimen service agreement 65 3 Paying staff Deciding how much to pay 83; How pay is made up 88; Pay structures 89; Bonuses 98; The National Minimum Wage 99; Guarantee payments 102; Equal pay 102; Deductions from pay 102; Tax and national insurance 104; Itemized pay statement 106; Benefits 108; Further information 112 83 4 Performance management 115 The importance of managing performance 115; The performance management process 115; Training and development 129; Further information 136 5 Dealing with absence 137 Planned absences 137; Reducing unplanned absences 139; Pay during absence 147; Dealing with persistent absence 150; Frequent lateness and unauthorized absences 153; Company health check 153; Further information 154 6 Maternity rights Time off for antenatal care 155; Medical suspension during pregnancy 156; Maternity leave 156; Statutory maternity pay (SMP) 162; Forthcoming changes to maternity and paternity leave