NEWS & ANALYSIS FMJ.CO.UK
LEGAL VIEW - EMPLOYMENT
6 NOVEMBER 2020
BESA INTRODUCES ASSOCIATE
MEMBERSHIP SCHEME
The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) has launched a new
membership category catering for individuals with a particular interest in the
building services industry.
This is a significant development for the 116-year-old trade body, which has
previously only
admitted companies and
corporate organisations
into membership.
BESA said the new
associate member
category would provide
a ‘home’ for individuals
who have wanted
to engage with the
organisation and gain
access to specialist
knowledge and share
their own expertise, but
had no avenue to do so
in the past.
They are expected to include consultants, academics, retired engineers, other
experts and young engineers including apprentices and trainees. The new category
will seek to create communities of like-minded individuals with tailored content
covering their area of interest and supporting their personal development goals.
It will give those involved opportunities to network and provide them with insight
into the sector and its ‘hot topics’. They will be able to raise their professional
profiles through membership of BESA and share ideas, problems and solutions.
They will also be given access to training materials via the new online BESA
Academy.
BESA associate members will receive a comprehensive suite of benefits including:
an invitation to join relevant BESA specialist groups; the use of a special BESA logo;
inclusion in social media groups; the opportunity to contribute to industry research
and access to reports; political consultations and articles.
The new grade of membership does not provide access to the comprehensive
suite of services enjoyed by ‘full’ company members, such as legal and commercial
support, or the Association’s governance. Individual membership also cannot be
used for project tendering purposes.
ENGIE TO HELP SOUTH SOMERSET ACHIEVE
ZERO CARBON GOALS
ENGIE has been contracted by South Somerset
District Council (SSDC) to develop a net zero
carbon roadmap to help achieve zero carbon at
10 of its largest energy-consuming sites.
The move follows SSDC’s declaration of a climate
ecological emergency in May 2019 and publication
of an environment strategy that sets out immediate
actions and long-term goals for achieving significant
reductions in carbon emissions.
The South Somerset district covers an area of 370
square miles and ranges from its borders with Devon, Wiltshire and Dorset to the edge
of the Somerset Levels. The District Council’s environment strategy sets out ambitious
targets with a goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2030.
ENGIE will carry out energy audits and carbon assessments of all the sites involved and
will develop a carbon reduction waterfall to identity priority areas where the greatest
reductions can be achieved. This will map out a path to enable SSDC to achieve optimum
carbon savings in the most e icient and cost-e ective ways.
CARRYING OUT
REDUNDANCIES FAIRLY
BY ALAN LEWIS, CONSTANTINE LAW
For many businesses the end of the furlough scheme
and the jury still out on the Job Support Scheme
has meant redundancies have become an inevitable
prospect. So, what can employers do to make sure that
they act fairly in making redundancy dismissals and
thereby minimise the risks of claims for compensation
for unfair dismissal from staff with more than two
years’ continuous service?
The starting point is to be confi dent that there is a
genuine redundancy situation. This is where there is
a potential closure of a business, of a place of work
or a reduced need for employees to carry out work
of a particular kind. So, for instance, dismissing an
employee who is costing the business too much and
replacing them with someone on a lower salary, cannot
be a redundancy situation because there has been no
reduction in the number of employees required to do
that kind of work.
The employer must follow a fair process of identifying
who is at risk of redundancy. What is the pool of
employees to select from? This can be straight forward
(such as all the warehouse operatives where there is a
need to reduce 10 warehouse operatives to six) but may
be a little more complex. Imagine an HR team with an
HR manager and two assistants and the business wants
to operate without the manager. At fi rst sight, the
pool is one, the HR manager. But what about the fact
that the HR manager could do the job of an assistant?
On that basis, if the HR manager is prepared to be
considered for an assistant role, the pool is three.
In other words, there is always a need to consider
interchangeable skills.
Having identifi ed the pool, there must be some
fair method of selecting those who are provisionally
redundant. This is usually done by scoring each person
against a set of selection criteria, such as disciplinary
record, attendance record, skills and qualifi cations
and so on. It can be appropriate to give more weight to
scores against certain criteria (for instance, skills and
qualifi cations) than others.
Sometimes, particularly where a new type of role has
been created, it will be appropriate to select successful
candidates for the role by selection interviews, rather
than scoring.
Individual consultation with selected employees is
key before any dismissal decision is taken. Save for
collective consultation (see below), this can be done
fairly quickly, often with just two meetings. It is
important that consultation is seen to be genuine and
that employees are made aware of any alternative job
vacancies in the company or with associated companies
for which they can apply.
Employees dismissed for redundancy should always
be informed of their right to appeal the decision. Any
appeal hearings should be chaired by someone without
involvement earlier in the process.
Where 20 or more redundancy dismissals within a
90-day period or less are contemplated, the fi rst step
is to collectively consult with trade union or elected
employee representatives for at least 30 days before
the fi rst dismissal takes eff ect (or for at least 45 days
where 100 or more dismissals are contemplated in 90
days or less).