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As UK hospitality businesses emerge from pandemic-related disruption, other challenges for the industry remain. Among these are resilience, retention and workplace reform, which we consider further here.
Employment Rules & Laws
Resilience
Even with social distancing and other measures in place, hospitality remains an industry that involves a high degree of contact among staff, and between staff and suppliers and customers. It is therefore inevitable that COVID-19 infections and other illnesses will have some impact on staffing levels.
Contingency planning therefore becomes critical to ensure that a sufficient pool of staff remain available if an outbreak occurs. For example, it might be possible to operate bubbles for different cohorts of employees, thereby reducing the risk of a single infection spreading throughout the business. It may also be appropriate to implement an adequate sick-pay provision so that staff members are not tempted to attend work when infectious due to financial reasons.
Retention
The perennial challenge of attracting and retaining staff has been exacerbated by the pandemic and a general reduction of available labor.
To address this issue, businesses are offering additional benefits and perks to staff. These include bonuses for recommending new personnel who remain in post for a particular period, personal development programs, and free or discounted meals. It is important when offering such arrangements to have in place clear terms and criteria regarding applicability.
Another consideration for retention would be to include longer notice periods for termination. The increased commitment provides greater security for businesses. Of course, the trade-off is that terminations become more expensive. This places more emphasis on ensuring that the recruitment process is geared toward identifying strong performers.
Reform
With effect from December 5, 2022, the UK government has widened the ban on exclusivity clauses, which restrict staff from working for multiple employers, to include all low-paid workers whose weekly guaranteed income is less than the lower earnings limit (currently set at £123 per week).
These reforms affect an estimated 1.5 million workers and mean that those in this group who have exclusivity clauses are now free to “top up” their income with extra work from other employers if they choose.
Related enforcement rights have been introduced as protection against being unfairly dismissed or subjected to detriment for reasons relating to the ban. To the extent that workers within the hospitality sector fall within the impacted group, it will be important to ensure that these clauses are no longer included in contracts and are not enforced if already in place. Giving workers the flexibility to take on a second job if this suits their personal circumstances may help hospitality businesses fill vacancies with those who would previously have been banned from working for another employer.