Learning in Small Bites

Key Legislation Underpinning Employment Contracts

The Employment Rights Act 1996 underpins contracts of employment in the United Kingdom.

The terminolgy to use is a written statement of particulars of employment. This summarises the main particulars of the employment relationship and must according to the legislation be given within two months of the person's first day of service.

Whilst the law states two months it would actually be poor form to encourage a person to give up an existing job or prior state of affairs without actually presenting them with the contractual terms of their new role until two months after it has started. The law is quite flexible but if we are truly focused on the quality of the engagement with the prospective member of staff the written statement of particulars really should be issued as soon as possible after the decision to appoint has been made.

Issuing the written statement of particulars at the earliest point means the person is aware of what they being contracted to and can clarify any uncertainties before accepting. Starting a relationship in this manner where possible helps ensure a more harmonious contract.

The key aspects of a written statement of particulars are as follows:

The names of the employer and employee.
The title of the job which the employee is employed to do or a brief description of the work for which they are employed.
Where the employment is not intended to be permanent, the period for which it is expected to continue.
Either the place of work or, where the employee is required or permitted to work at various places, an indication of that and of the address of the employer.
The date when the employment began.
The date on which the employee’s period of continuous employment began (taking into account any employment with a previous employer which counts towards that period). The continuous employment date is often the same as the start date. Where it is earlier this may give the new starter certain employment rights that come with longer service.
The scale or rate of remuneration/pay or the method of calculating this.
The intervals at which remuneration is paid (that is, weekly, monthly or other specified intervals).
Any terms and conditions relating to hours of work.
Entitlement to holidays, including public holidays, and holiday pay.
How incapacity for work due to sickness or injury will be handled, including any provision for sick pay.
Pensions and pension schemes.
The length of notice which the employee is obliged to give and entitled to receive to terminate his contract of employment.
Any collective agreements which directly affect the terms and conditions of the employment. In large organisations trade unions negotiate with the employer on behalf of staff, the agreements they reach with the employer are called collective agreements.

Key to the Organisation Chart

An explanation of the symbols used

	This icon represents a unit that has child units. Click it to see the child units.
	This icon means that a unit has its child units visible. Click to close the child units.
Unit name	Click on a unit to get more information on it. If the unit has child units it will open a page showing them too.
	Clicking this icon takes you to some basic theory on organisation charts and structure.
	This button is Collapse All and when clicked closes all units that have been opened up.
	This button is Expand All and when clicked opens all units so you will see every aspect of the tree.

Perceptions

One for the things we have mentioned at some length on this site is that information should be presented in a blended way that takes into consideration the different preferences that readers have.

Some people have a preference for logic, facts, rules patterns and details. Sometimes referred to as Left Brain preference.
Some people have a preference for feelings, symbols and images and creativity. Sometimes referred to as Right Brain preference.
Some people have no particular preference for how information is presented so long as it is correct.
This means that HR information specialists have a duty to try their best to present things in at least a visually engaging and a logically detailed format.

Below we are going to use a few examples to help show how perceptions of the same thing can differ.

Which chart has the greatest diameter?

Images of a 2D and 3 D Pie chart

For anyone interested in reading further on the case for being wary of 3D charts please visit the page linked below:
The Case Against 3D Charts in Dashboards

Is the silhouette of the dancer spinning clockwise or anti clockwise?

We are not psychologists at HRMISolutions so make no judgements on the illusion below but we do find it an interesting way of showing that people can see the same thing differently. This is freely available across the internet and some say that the direction a viewer perceives the dancer spinning in is indicative of whether they have a left-brain (logical) preference or a right-brain (creativity) preference.

Apparently most people see the dancer spinning counter-clockwise which apparently means they are left-brained (logical). It is also possible for the dancer's direction of spin to change even as it is being observed.

Image of the silhouette of a spinning dancer

What colour is the dress?

This arose from a simple picture that someone took in early 2015. It was incredible to see the amount of debate on the colours of the dress. I see a white dress with gold trim on the left and a blue dress with black trim on the right. What do you see? Again this is another example of how people see things differently and why in HR information work we should be mindful of perceptions and try to have a blend of ways of presenting information.

image of two dresses that look different but apparently are the same colour.

Image of two dresses that some people see as various colours