The start of a new year is a symbolic time for businesses. It can represent the start of what is anticipated to be a good year or can be an indication of how the previous year didn’t go to plan. The New Year provides businesses with the opportunity to reflect on things that they think have been beneficial to the company and also change aspects that might have not worked in a positive manner for the business.
Therefore, with the New Year fast approaching, our team here at HPC have brought a useful checklist to ensure a smooth transition into the New Year from a business’ perspective.
Annual Leave
Everybody loves to book holidays, and that’s why annual leave is so important within your business. The leave allowance acts as a motivational tool for employees as it acts as a reward for doing hard work throughout the year. For many organisations, 1st January marks the start of the leave year, so it’s key that annual leave entitlements have been calculated correctly and put into place for when the new leave year begins. For those businesses who operate a different leave year (for example 1st April to 31st March) it may be useful to complete an audit on leave entitlements and monitor if any employees have used all of their leave or have the majority of it left to take.
Bank Holidays
A long weekend is always an added bonus and a nice to change to the usual 9-5, 5 days a week. Therefore come the start of the New Year it is crucial that your business knows the official dates which bank holidays are taking place.
From the businesses perspective it is vital that a decision is made whether bank holidays are going to be included in annual leave or as a bonus as well as having an annual leave allowance, as this will affect the time available to employees to book holidays or time off. Some businesses may still be open during Bank Holidays so it’s important to note that if any employee works a Bank Holiday they must get the day off back in lieu.
Appraisals
Another crucial part of business to organise for the New Year is appraisals. It is vital that appraisals are recorded in everyone’s diary, so that the annual review can take place. This gives the business the opportunity to reflect on how the individual has performed in the past year and also gives the employee the chance to voice anything that they would like to.
Legislation
A new year often means new rules, therefore it is key for businesses to be aware of any changes to laws or new laws that will be implemented throughout the business year.
As mentioned in one of the previous blog posts by HPC, in April 2019 there will be a number of new laws that are going to be implemented within the business sector. The most noticeable are seven laws that are either being changed, updated or implemented with regards to employment law. Keep your eyes peeled for a future post which will detail this nearer the time.
Your business must be up to date with any legislation in order to make sure everything that the business is doing is legally compliant and void of any risks.
Handbook
Internal policies and procedures are often found in the company handbook. Therefore, the turn of the New Year provides a good opportunity for any changes to the company rules to be applied to the handbook and then shared with the employees.
Finally, when your business is booming and busy, it is easy to put tasks off or leave things to the last minute, however with the New Year approaching it may feel that you are running out of time. It is therefore vital that anything you or your business have been putting off gets done before the turn of the year. This could be anything from changing a lightbulb to doing your taxes; it just allows for your business to run efficiently and productively to get the new year off to a great start.
Do you feel ready for a new year? Have you decided on any new year resolutions you want your business to adopt? If you have any questions regarding this checklist then please do not hesitate to contact one of the HPC team:
T: 0151 556 1975
E: help@highpeformanceconsultancy.com
Twitter:@HPC_HRservices