Tuesday 19 June 2012

week13- how do we maintain staff welfare records‏


Organisation maintains records to demonstrate that staff welfare is supported.  Suggest any ways in which this could be improved.

Snowdrop is on online HR system which holds records of absence, including stress-related illness and periods of compassionate leave. This system is used by all managers and HR staff to monitor and manage staff welfare. If member of staff has been sick for a long period of time and this may impact their pay, a meeting will take place between HR and their manager to discuss/ justify why pay should not be affected and this is also documented on the system but once again only visible to management and HR department. I believe this is a great way of recording and maintaining such records, it is available easily and if member of staff moves to different areas of business this information would move with them as it is attached to their Snowdrop employee file. The only downside is that if there is ever a system failure or cyber attack this information can easily be lost and records won’t be held elsewhere. So it may be useful for these to be kept in staff’s paper files.

We also have the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). EAP - Employee Assist Programme
The EAP helpline is a confidential advice service provided by First Assist and funded entirely by us. Staff can confidentially call one of their qualified professionals on a wide range of subjects. This includes: legal advice, money management, consumer advice, managing stress, domestic matters, anxiety and depression, child and dependant care, substance misuse, phobias, traumas, bereavement, emotional and health problems. They can provide our staff with telephone and face-to-face advice and counselling.  Managers may ask staff to contact the helpline if there are issues/problems that are affecting staff’s attendance, performance or health at work and this would be logged in an individual’s Personal development folders in which records of all monthly meeting with individual member of staff are held. These files are maintained in locked cupboards only accessible by individual’s line Manager. So there is reassurance that no one else would be able to have access to this information and it remains confidential. I believe this way of maintaining these records is very effective.

Occupational Health Advisor – Managers or Health and safety officers might ask staff to see the OHA if they are concerned about an individual’s health. The OHA may ask member of staff permission to obtain medical information about them from their GP. LV= expect staff to meet any reasonable requests from their OHA about releasing information to LV= or to have a medical examination. My organisation pay for any medical reports or examinations that OHA has ask staff members to have.  LV= treat’s this information as confidential and the OHA will make any appropriate recommendations to HR and Member of Staff’s line manager.  All these records are maintained by Health and safety department (marked as confidential) and made available to HR and Manager if it is deemed necessary. A paper file and electronic file will be maintained

At my organisation we also have First Aiders, LeOn modules –online health and safety and staff welfare awareness. DSE assessments records are kept by Health safety department and also a copy is held in staff’s files. Staffs are also provided with free eye tests and these request and records are also held on Snowdrop. Staff that are Working from home are provided with the following guidelines  (see below bullet points) and required to sign document confirming they understand and will adhere to the guidelines.( record of these is held by HR and Health and safety department)
  • Make sure the furniture you use is suitable
  • Your working area should be well lit with access to fresh air
  • Equipment provided by LV= should be kept clean
  • Cables should be out of the way to avoid trips/falls
  • If your equipment becomes damaged, let your line manager know and don’t try to repair it yourself
LV= Employers Liability Insurance certificate is kept on LV=’s internal site, so it is visible to all members of staff. We also have a Dedicated Employee Relations function within HR, Special Investigations whose duties extend to staff welfare. E.g. physical security, abusive callers, Harassment and Victimisation. There is confidential form that can be filled in by employees and send to HR. each employee has the right to discuss any issues with their ECF (employee representative) and take them along to any meetings with management and HR. all meeting records are held by HR’s Employee Relations function and confidentiality of these files is key priority.

LV has a great IT security and all files are password protected and encrypted if ever need to be sent to another department. All paper files are locked securely. LV=’s Health and safety, HR and Management work closely together in order to ensure staff welfare records are recorded and maintained appropriately and regular training and briefing is provided when changes take place with in the organisation. All staff welfare policy/forms etc are available easily to all members of staff. I don’t believe currently any further improvement is required and feel confident in the way LV= currently maintain their record to demonstrate that staff welfare is supported.

Communication between my tutor / comments:

My respond:

Hi Vaughan 

Thank you for your email.
The Leon modules keep staff informed and these are completed every six months, plus all forms and information is available on LV=’s internal site which all staff have access to.
Accident forms are kept by Firstaiders and they will complete these and send to health and safety department
As we are such a big company, staffs hardly ever have to deal with filling in accident form etc

Kind Regards
Mona

Tutors comments:

Mona

The level of detail is fine, and the records seem extremely comprehensive, more than I have seen generally in the past.  The only comment I can make, and the answer may be in the many records kept, but do you have any thing as basic as an accident book? And are staff aware of what record should be used for what, do managers have to keep updating their staff on this?

Vaughan






No comments:

Post a Comment