What Rights Do We Have? There are comprehensive guidelines issued by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) regarding employees’ rights. The HSE do not have a specific unit, but say that the temperature in the workplace should be ‘reasonable’. This is an arbitrary guideline and allows for variation in the way it is kept ‘reasonable’ as it does not specify how they want you to do so. An employee will be unable to be efficient with their work if they are uncomfortable. Employees must abide by dress codes set by their employers, however, it has been recommended that dress policies are relaxed in the circumstances, whilst maintaining a smart employee presence. Employers are also required to provide their workers with access to drinking water, but unfortunately there are no rules regarding an employee’s right to ice lollies! How Can We Manage This Lull? It’s the summer season, kids are out of school and people are looking forward to their holidays basking in the good old British summer. In the summertime, there is a 19% decrease in employee attendance due to the increase in holidays taken and child responsibilities, not because people are trying to get away from their day-to-day jobs. As a manager of a business how can you minimise this productivity decrease and keep your employees focused on the job in hand whilst maintaining a positive vibe around the workplace:

• Communication – Communicating with your employees is vital in ensuring that they are happy with their workload and able to complete their tasks efficiently and with care. This collaboration enables you to gauge the mood around the office and become conscious of the productivity of your company.
• Goals – Setting achievable goals allows a team to understand what is realistically expected of them, which could be the difference between an employee turning up and an employee maintaining their productivity levels.
• Office climate – More lenient dress codes to allow for more comfortable working and keeping the office at a respectable temperature can only be beneficial to keeping workers satisfied.
• Flexible working – An idea becoming more and more popular is the idea of allowing for flexible work hours, for example working a bit longer during the week to leave earlier on a Friday. This can motivate workers to get their work done during the week to allow themselves to have a stress free weekend.
• Working from home – Employees with responsibilities at home may find it difficult to manage their work load and home life. To enable for maximum well-being and work efficiency it could be an idea to allow more work to be done at home over this period. This would enable someone to have a healthy mix between their responsibilities, potentially reducing their stress if the situation is not abused and productivity is maintained.

Can We Still Enjoy Our Summer? It could be equally argued that this holiday period will mean that employees are fresher and focused after their holidays, so maybe relaxation over the summer could result in a more productive end to the year. From all at S4B we hope you enjoy your summer. S4B are Chartered Accountants in Maidenhead who understand how to help get the most from your business. We can help you make the right decisions by providing you with budgeting, forecasting and cash flow help. Please contact one of the S4B team at [email protected] or call us on 01628 623444 to see how we can help you.