CHAMBER NEWS Help your staff in lockdown
As the third national lockdown brings us full circle to the beginning of the pandemic with heavy restrictions on normal life, it creates a number of problems for both employers and employees to overcome – particularly for parents amid school closures. Lucy Robinson (pictured), the Chamber’s director of resources and HR lead, explains how businesses can help relevant staff.
OFFER FLEXIBLE WORKING OPTIONS TO PARENTS One of the biggest issues with the national lockdown for parents is balancing their work duties alongside childcare. Playing around with hours can
make a huge difference to the wellbeing and happiness of parents, so this should always be the first port of call for businesses. At the Chamber, we have
allowed staff in this bracket to take longer or more regular breaks during the day and then make up the time at either end of the day. It means they could, for example,
go for a two-hour walk at lunchtime to tire out their children and then return to their desk, where they don’t have to worry as much about keeping them occupied as they might do otherwise. Employers could also offer to
shorten the week during the lockdown period so the employee either balances out the hours across the days they are working – or work fewer hours in total for a reduced wage only during this time.
HELP EMPLOYEES ACCESS EXTRA SUPPORT FOR HOME- WORKING PARENTS The pandemic has revealed a large, and growing, divide between the socioeconomic backgrounds of workers, and not every homeworking parent can offer their child a laptop or tablet to work with during the day, or even have access to a Wi-Fi connection. A lot of councils have offered
support for equipment and schools
are acting as a conduit, so businesses could help the relevant employees by pointing them in the right direction. It may also be sensible for any
firms that have spare kit lying around their offices, particularly after reducing staff numbers, to loan this to employees so their children can use it for home- schooling. Another way in which employers
can offer support is by encouraging staff to link up to share tips on keeping children occupied during working hours and home-schooling. This could involve using
company intranet sites, WhatsApp groups or Zoom meet-ups – or even just getting people to reach out to their colleagues.
FURLOUGHING PARENTS Of course, not everyone is able to work from home and a study by the Institute of Fiscal Studies in March last year found that 42% of key workers, who are by and large required to attend a specific workplace, have at least one child aged 16 or below. And of this cohort, about 28% have a partner who is also a key worker. Thankfully, schools have
remained open for children of key workers so this should offer help with childcare. But if parents don’t have key
worker status and therefore can’t use schools or grandparents for child support, one option might be to offer either full or partial furlough leave for a set amount of time. This is something we’ve found
that not every employer is aware of, but they have the right to use
the Job Retention Scheme to support working parents while schools are closed. Research from the TUC found
that 16% of mothers reduced their working hours during the first lockdown because of school and nursery closures – and it can continue to be an option this time around as the latest restrictions look set to continue until March at the earliest.
DID YOU KNOW ABOUT QUEST
AND CHAMBERHR? All Chamber members benefit from free access to the Quest service, which offers support for HR, health and safety, legal and tax issues. Members can access our Information and
Knowledge Hub at
www.chamberhr.co.uk. It features more than 400 free downloadable documents on aspects such as redundancy, maternity, absence, disciplinary and recruitment. The news feed is regularly updated with the latest HR news. As part of ChamberHR, members are entitled to a free health
check via a one-to-one review with a Quest business manager to check your level of HR compliance, advise on any issues you may have and then give an honest appraisal of what you need. Members also have unlimited 365-day access to experienced specialist HR advisors via our advice line by calling 01455 852037.
Virtual event to help with hiring process
Employers looking to improve the way they hire in Nottinghamshire have been invited to a virtual recruitment event. Recruiting Talent in Nottinghamshire brings together
experts who can advise firms on changing the way they recruit and retain staff, accessing a wider pool of local talent and contributing to greater productivity. Hosted by Nottinghamshire County Council in
conjunction with partners including the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership and the Chamber, it will take place on Wednesday 17 March via the new Collab virtual conferencing platform designed by Gusto Group
founder Steff Wright. Keynote speakers include the county council’s CEO Anthony May, D2N2 CEO Sajeeda Rose, Department of Work and Pensions district manager Jane Cooper, a representative from the Chamber and Jess Barnett, co-founder of The Treat Kitchen.
Employers, exhibitors and sponsors should register their interest at
www.rtnotts170321.eventbrite.co.uk. For more information on the event, contact Nottinghamshire stakeholder manager Maria Ward on
maria.ward@nottscc.gov.uk or 07548 224423.
business network February 2021 51
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