HR 101: Master the art of compliance

Compliance is an essential part of an HR team’s responsibility. They need to make sure that charities are meeting their legal obligations, from health and safety to staff entitlements.

 

HR, employment law, and health and safety services Croner says that HR compliance is: “The commitment of your business to follow the working standards set out by UK employment law. This affects your policies, procedures and documentation, as well as day-to-day responsibilities.”

 

There are three types of compliance:

• Statutory compliance, which is “the legal obligation to be compliant”
• Regulatory compliance, which “refers to a legal obligation that a regulating body issues”
• Contractual compliance, which is “an obligation made between yourself and the employee” through a contract

 

Why is compliance important?

 

Compliance is vital for the successful running of your charity. If you don’t comply with laws, rules, and regulations, you can face fines and criminal charges. It may also lead to industrial disputes or tribunal claims.

 

It’s also important to comply with your legal requirements to protect your brand. Journalists cover non-compliance stories in the press which could damage your reputation. You want to create an environment where staff enjoy working and feel safe.

 

 

Who is responsible for compliance?

 

It is the role of the HR team, or sole HR person, to advise the senior leadership team about compliance and implement relevant policies and procedures. But the overall responsibility for compliance lies with the chief executive or the most senior HR professional.

 

All managers need to be involved in HR compliance and trained to put policies and procedures into practice. Staff across the organisation also need to know what their responsibilities are, and where to go for support or raise concerns.

 

HR teams need to consider the following areas when looking at compliance:

 

 

Writing and updating policies

 

HR compliance can be challenging because UK employment law regularly changes. So, HR teams need to keep up to date with changes and review documents, policies and contracts to make sure the organisation is complying. Put together a checklist of all the different items to review, including your employee handbook

 

 

Fulfilling responsibilities to staff

 

HR teams need to make sure the organisation is complying with its legal responsibilities to employees. It’s a legal requirement to give staff contracts within eight weeks of them starting. You must also pay them at least the National Minimum Wage and automatically enrol them into a pension scheme.

 

 

Maintaining health and safety

 

Organisations should keep up to date with legal requirements for health and safety from the Health and Safety Executive. This includes choosing someone in your charity to manage health and safety, appointing first aiders, understanding and abiding by the Health and Safety at Work Act, and identifying hazards and assessing risks at work through risk assessments.

 

 

Practising fair recruitment

 

Law firm Harper James says to make your recruitment fair, you must be objective, consistent, and non-discriminatory when selecting people for jobs. The selection process could involve shortlisting, psychometric testing, assessment centres, and interviews.

 

It’s important to think carefully about the selection criteria for the role. Criteria needs to be objective so it can be fairly measured.

 

Organisations also have a duty of care to volunteers, not just paid staff. They must look after volunteers’ health and safety in the workplace and assess the risks of volunteering roles to keep people safe.

 

Charities also need to include volunteers in their safeguarding policies and have insurance in place to protect volunteers and those working with them.

 

 

Tackling discrimination

 

An article in People Management says that HR professionals and senior leaders play a critical role in tackling discrimination in the workplace.

 

“Staff need to feel included at work to be creative, innovative, and productive, and addressing racism and all other forms of discrimination is one way to achieve this.”

 

The professional body for HR and people development CIPD says you can’t discriminate against anyone based on protected characteristics. These are: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, and sex and sexual orientation.

 

 

Looking at the gender pay gap

 

Organisations with 250 or more staff in England, Scotland and Wales need to publish their gender pay gap data each year.

 

The Equality and Human Rights Commission says: “The gender pay gap is the difference in average pay between the men and women in your workforce. It is different to equal pay, which means you must pay men and women the same for equal or similar work.”

 

You need to submit your organisation’s data and provide a written statement to the gender pay gap service. You also need to publish your report on your website.