Managing your people T e logistics industry has some unique challenges when it comes to managing its workforce. T e nature of warehouse work naturally results in a high turnover of staff , fi nding qualifi ed and experienced drivers in a competitive industry will always be a challenge, and seasonal peaks and troughs require a degree of staff fl exibility not needed in other sectors. On top of these industry-specifi c challenges, employment laws are
changing all the time. IR35 and employment status is the hot topic at the moment and is certainly a minefi eld in itself for those who rely heavily on contractors. However, in the past two years alone there have also been changes
to parental leave, terms of employment, agency workers’ rights, apprenticeships, holiday pay, as well as the furlough scheme. With so much change in such a short space of time logistics
businesses (given their complex employment arrangements) get the support they need from experts in these areas.
Managing the unexpected If there’s one thing the last 18 months has taught us it’s that in business you need to be prepared for the unexpected. For years we have included force majeure clauses in contracts which were never needed, but then COVID-19 came along and suddenly they were vital. Whilst we all hope for the best, it’s important to plan for the worst and not just by taking out insurance. Insurance policies are clearly vital, but the insurers aren’t going to be the ones trying to get out of suddenly unprofi table contracts, fi nding new staff if your current ones go on
ALL THINGS BUSINESS
Image above from left to right
Shital Odedra -
Ian Ilersic -
Andy Harris -
Lauren Hancock
strike or running the business if a key individual suddenly becomes ill. Whilst they are a great place to start, you also
can’t assume that industry standard conditions (such as the RHA Conditions of Carriage or UKWA’s standard T&Cs) will cover the specifi c issues in your business, because they’re not designed for that. You need to make sure that your customer and
supplier contracts anticipate unexpected problems, that you’ve got robust business continuity processes in place and that you’ve got proper plans, understood by your key people, if someone suddenly has to leave the business. It is a great time to be a logistics business in our
region. T e growth of e-commerce has signifi cantly increased demand and our infrastructure should only improve with the continued development of the Oxford-Cambridge Arc. Nevertheless, our local logistics fi rms can’t aff ord to rely on geography alone to succeed and need to get the basics right to ensure that our region remains the UK’s logistics hub.
If you would like to get in touch in relation to any of the issues raised in this article, email
shital.odedra@howespercival.com or
miles.barnes@
howespercival.com or call us on 01908 672682
15
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
