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It’s that time of the year again when I try and get a little HR CPD in by reading some articles or journals and taking my head out of the other elements of practice life. And unsurprisingly the HR world is also being dominated by COVID at the moment. So, here’s a little summary of what I’ve picked up…

Update 1

It’s now illegal for an employee to ignore an instruction to self-isolate and continue to work, and it’s also illegal for an employer to ask an employee to continue working despite being told to self-isolate.

Whilst there hasn’t been confirmation of the level of fines that can be levied on the employee for breaking the law, companies could be fined up to £10,000 if caught out.

Now in our industry I don’t think for a second any of us would encourage an employee to come into work if they’ve been told to self-isolate. But we’re also an industry of people who work really hard, have a ton of goodwill and good intentions, and are committed to our roles. And I bet we’ve all got one or two individuals who may think the rules don’t apply to them for whatever reason: “I was wearing PPE”, “I can’t think of when this could have happened, so it must be wrong”, “I definitely don’t have any symptoms”, or even simply “I can’t afford to take the time off”. But to come into work knowingly is to BREAK THE LAW and to put your colleagues at risk.

So how do we manage this? Communication is key! If you have a COVID policy, or even if you just send out a message to all staff, make it loud and clear: If you come into work in breach of a directive to self-isolate, you are breaking the law. We will send you home. We may treat it as a disciplinary offence. We may report you to the police. Take it however far you feel you need to go, but make it clear.

Update 2

The number of employment tribunal cases went up massively in the first three weeks of lockdown – an increase of 18% compared to the same period in 2019.

I’ve mentioned on the forums a few times, and said to a lot of my colleagues in our area, that I’m expecting the pandemic to bring out a lot of litigation.

When the shielding criteria came out, my first thought was, “reasonable adjustments”. You can bet that nearly every single person classed as high risk is going to be considered disabled under the Equality Act 2010. But how many unscrupulous employers were quite happy to let some of them go under the guise of the pandemic? It seems that a large proportion of cases relate to the furlough scheme not being offered to staff – and my Spidey senses tell me that “failure to make reasonable adjustments” is the phrase on every solicitor’s lips.

There was also a drop in the number of claims being disposed of (which is where a summary judgement is issued without a full hearing being required). In fact, the drop was a staggering 21%. This indicates that people are bringing legitimate cases to tribunal which are going ahead to hearings – the cost of which, to employers, can run into the tens of thousands, even if the employer wins. A tribunal judge will rarely grant a successful employer the costs of the case from the complainant if they feel the case was brought in good faith, so employers need to consider the cost of defending a claim no matter the chance of success.

So, the advice here is to be reasonable! Take decent advice and ensure you’re considering all your options in supporting staff to keep working. Don’t make quick decisions. Utilise occupational health and be mindful of protected characteristics.

Update 3
Changes to ways of working appear to be here to stay.

We’ve increased remote working in general practice exponentially compared with how we’ve always worked before, but the nature of the industry means that we’re probably utilising homeworking much less than other sectors. And lots of people actually like it! A recent CIPD poll showed that less than 10% of respondents wanted to go back to their old working set-up in the event that the pandemic ended.

We’ve talked at length about how COVID has enabled a lot of the projects we’d been steadily trying to implement to take off at speed – greater electronic prescribing, telephone triage, video consultations, e-consultations, etc. – but do we honestly see ourselves ever going back to how things were before all this?

I imagine there are a die-hard cohort of patients who, when this is all over, will rock back up to our front desks, ask for an appointment and hand us a paper repeat-prescription request. Are we going to allow that, or will we be retaining some of what we’ve put in place so far? With all the flack that surgeries are getting in the press and on social media right now, I can imagine a lot of us would like to go back to the old ways, just to stop the complaints coming in. But is that what’s right for us? Were we coping when we did things the old way? Could a new hybrid model be the answer? It will be interesting to see…

Update 4

Employee well-being is more critical than ever – but who looks after yours?

There’s been so much guidance flying around about ensuring we keep in touch with our colleagues, prioritise “check-ins” to help monitor stress and promote well-being. But when you’re at the top of the organisation, where do you get that from? And surely the well-being of the PM is integral to the well-being of everyone else? We’re in that often unenviable position where how we’re feeling, behaving and leading will have a direct impact on everyone else in the practice. So if we’re falling apart, is it credible to think everyone and everything else might too?

We take this job knowing that it’s isolating. We know that we’re probably the only one in the practice who knows what it’s like to do what we do. We can have the best and most supportive partners in the world, but they still won’t get 100% what it’s like to do our job. So where do we go?

My advice is to set up a peer support network in your local area, comprised of other practice managers. We need to look outside the practice and offer to support each other. No one else inside knows what it’s like to be us, but there are plenty of people outside who do. Many of them are on this forum providing support and knowledge to each other every day.

Contact another PM in your area and offer to go for a coffee and have a chat. Give each other a chance to offload, a listening ear, a supportive smile (I would have said hug, but social distancing and all that…).

We’re not in this alone; we do have each other. It’s really important for us to maintain our own resilience, as the resilience of so many others is often riding on it. That sounds like a lot of responsibility to take on, and it is, but let’s be honest, if we wanted an easy ride, we wouldn’t be doing this job, would we?!

Sending virtual hugs to you all, and if you’re having any issues that you think I can help you with, you’re more than welcome to message me privately. To me, you’re all champions.

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Robyn Clark

Robyn Clark is a practice manager in South Gloucestershire and a director of the IGPM. She is an HR practitioner by background with experience of working in secondary care, mental health trusts and community health services. She is passionate about employee engagement, coaching and mentoring.

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3 Responses to “HR round-up”
  1. Nicola Davies Says:

    Thanks Robyn, bitesized paragraphs of info really easy to digest and cut straight to the point.

    Reply

  2. Debbie Penney Says:

    Excellent update Robyn, thanks for your expertise and insight.
    When are we getting together for a supportive coffee and chat 🙂 ?

    Reply

  3. JasperJ Says:

    Thank you for your HR insights, much appreciated

    Reply

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