According to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) unemployment in the UK fell by 57,000 in the three months to June, bringing the jobless rate down to 4.4% - its lowest since 1975.
At 75.1%, the proportion of people in work is the highest it has been since 1971 - partly due to the introduction of a later state pension age for women. There were 32.07 million people in work in the three months to June - 338,000 more than for the same period last year.
Matt Hughes, senior labour market statistician at the ONS: “The employment picture remains strong, with a new record high employment rate and another fall in the unemployment rate.”
Jobs were created in the construction, accommodation and food services sectors and transport and storage industries.
If you are running a business, then taking that first step to employing somebody else can be both exciting and daunting. The business has been your baby but now you are required to delegate – harder than it sounds – and share your vision and business mission with others.
At this point, you may want to consider creating a staff handbook, but as Tim Winner says in a recent blog on Entrepreneur Network: “Let’s face it - most employee handbooks are terrible. They don’t answer the real questions new employees have when they begin. They also do a terrible job of communicating an organisation’s culture - the most important influencer of employee engagement.”
While it’s important to include some ‘company law’ in the handbook, you should also make sure it represents your firm’s culture. Make it something that’s readable and doesn’t look like ‘War and Peace’ as it lands on your employee’s desk on their first day.
Once you’ve got a few employees on board, then consider adding a quote from a recent employee, maybe including their top tips to surviving those first few weeks at your company; things they’d wished they’d known or asked.
You know your business best and can weave its culture into your employee handbook and, here at CooperBurnett, we can make sure it includes the important legal framework – so you and your employees know where they stand. Arguably, employees thrive better if they know where the boundaries are…
We also advise on employment contracts and employee issues, so can be there to help with disciplinary procedures, redundancy and dismissal.
