Five Key Employer Mistakes

Being an employer is a huge responsibility which comes with many legal obligations. Employment laws are extensive and subject to frequent changes, and you must observe these obligations, or your business may face substantial liabilities, including employment tribunal claims. A successful claim against your business often entails civil penalties and, in some cases, criminal consequences. More generally, failure to abide by your obligations under employment law can damage your business’ reputation. This article will explain five key employer mistakes every employer should avoid in the UK.

1. Failing to Keep Up to Date With Changes in Employment Law

Employment law changes frequently. Therefore, a key employer mistake you should avoid as an employer is not keeping up to date with changes to it. Not only must you understand the current state of employment law, but you must also ensure you keep abreast of changes. 

For example, the National Minimum Wage (NMW), which details the minimum hourly wage you must pay workers depending upon their age and if they are an apprentice, changes each year in April in line with inflation. As an employer, you must be aware of these changes and pay your workers accordingly. Courts will not accept excuses that your business was not aware of increases to minimum wage as a reason to underpay your workers.

2. Failing to Prevent Workplace Discrimination

As an employer, a key employer mistake you should avoid is allowing discrimination in your workplace. Discrimination is unlawful where it concerns one of the nine protected characteristics, which are:

• race;
• religion and belief;
• age;
• disability;
• sex;
• sexual orientation;
• pregnancy and maternity;
• marriage and civil partnership; and 
• gender reassignment.

The law obligates you to take all reasonable steps to prevent unlawful discrimination. Therefore, if you are aware of another employee engaging in unlawful discrimination, the law may hold you liable unless you take adequate steps to stop it. 

3. Failing to Adopt Adequate Policies and Procedures 

Additionally, you should have policies and procedures in place in your workplace. These are vital to ensure that your staff know workplace expectations. It also means that you and your employees know how to approach specific issues. Adequately drafted policies ensure you follow fair and consistent procedures when dealing with internal disputes as they arise. Therefore, a key employer mistake you should avoid in employment is not having adequate policies and procedures to deal with a range of issues you will encounter as an employer. For example, your policies and procedures should account for matters such as:

• absences from work;
• health and safety;
• disciplinary and grievance procedures; and
• performance management.

4. Failing to Promptly Address Issues 

As an employer, it is crucial that you tackle issues as soon as possible when issues arise. Letting issues fester often leads to worse outcomes that you could have otherwise avoided. For example, if certain employees have raised a complaint, you should take proactive steps to address it. You may be able to resolve it informally or through pre-established procedures. 

5. Failing to Observe Notice Periods 

If you intend to dismiss an employee, you must give them notice per the terms of their contract. Additionally, the contractual notice period must abide by the minimum legal standards. The minimum notice period is:

• one week’s notice where your employee has been working for you between one month and two years; and
• one week’s notice for every year worked when your employee has worked for you for more than two years with a maximum of 12 weeks’ notice permitted.

If you fail to grant your employee their notice, you may face a claim for wrongful dismissal. It is, therefore, important that you avoid this employment mistake.

Key Takeaways

As an employer, you must avoid making employment mistakes. Failure to do so could result in added expense, time, and damage to your business’ reputation. This article has detailed five key employer mistakes you should avoid as an employer. For example, you should take all reasonable steps to prevent unlawful discrimination. You should also stay on top of the laws. 

If you need help understanding key mistakes an employer should avoid in the UK, our experienced employment lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents for a low monthly fee. Call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.

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