As changes to employment law makes hiring and managing workers compliantly more challenging for SMEs, leading HR tech company, Qdos HR, has outlined four benefits that innovation in this area can offer these businesses in 2018.
Updates to the Criminal Finances Act, the recent scrapping of Employment Tribunal fees and increasing pressure on businesses to address the gender pay imbalance has made it increasingly important that SMEs ensure they operate compliantly, should they not want to risk heavy fines.
Qdos HR’s CEO, Ashley Horton, explains the specific advantages that HR technology can offer the UK’s 5.7 million small and medium sized businesses in the next twelve months and beyond.
‘Small but dynamic businesses often lack in-house HR resource or expertise, which is why trusted and innovative technology could be the difference between a company hiring and managing its workers inside or outside the law.’
He went on to focus on:
Pay equality
‘Increasingly SMEs’ employees and important stakeholders are rightly scrutinising any gender pay imbalance that might exist within a company.
‘HR technology can store all vital employee information in one place, making it easier for businesses to retrieve and compare salaries and bonuses, and readdress what is a clear problem in the UK.’
GDPR
‘Given just one of the changes to GDPR rules being enforced in May of this year allows employees to request data held by their employer ‘without undue delay’, SMEs must make sure they are totally compliant, otherwise risk fines of up to €20m.
‘By storing all employee data together in one place, HR technology will give businesses the best possible chance of operating within the new laws.’
Employee well-being
‘A healthy and motivated workforce is vital to any SME’s success – but it can be difficult to manually track holiday, sick leave or even store data from annual performance reviews.
‘A system that records all of this will ultimately make it simple for a business to ensure its workers are taking enough time off, do not feel under pressure to work when unwell and are fulfilled in their role.’
Brexit
‘Despite Brexit negotiations starting some time ago, it remains unclear as to whether UK businesses will be free to hire workers in Europe without extra red-tape once we have left the European Union.
‘Technology that catalogues documents on each worker and employee handbooks up to date with the latest legislation could be the difference in ensuring SMEs are able to continue engaging overseas workers without risking non-compliance.’
Further reading on HR tech
