Avon LMC’s blog page

Welcome to Avon LMC’s blog page. The LMC has been providing advice and support to Practices for many years. However, we realise that not all of our Practices are aware of what we provide. As well as contract advice we offer HR support, DBS checks and training courses, to name a few. Therefore, we have set up this blog in order to discuss subjects relevant to Practices and practice staff.

Have anything you wish us to write about or have any questions? Please feel free to contact the office on 0117 9702755 or info@almc.co.uk.

How to Manage Holiday Requests

With the summer holidays about the start, and the sun beginning to shine, it is the perfect time of year to take a holiday, but as an employer how do you manage these requests? Managing holiday requests is always a juggling act between ensuring that members of staff take their entitled time off to rest and relax and ensuring that the Practice is still able to safely operate. Therefore at a time of year where many employees will want similar periods of time off, it...

By: | July 16, 2021 | blog

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Employee Suspension

In its basic terms, suspension is when an employee is still employed by the organisation but is not required to come into the workplace or carry out any work. There can be several reasons to suspend an employee from medical and health and safety grounds, to the most commonly considered disciplinary grounds. Particularly in cases related to disciplinary action, suspension can be one of the first thoughts that comes to mind, in order to remove the employee from the workplace and the current situation. However,...

By: | July 9, 2021 | blog

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Parental Leave

Parental leave – what is it? Who is eligible to it? And how do they apply for it? This post will hopefully help towards solving the mystery of Parental Leave and distinguish the difference between dependant care leave. What is Parental Leave Parental Leave is a statutory leave for Parents to take in order to care for their child. This leave is unpaid and is used for instances such as, taking time to look at new schools for a child, settling a child into new...

By: | July 2, 2021 | blog

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Return From Maternity Leave

Returning from maternity leave can be a bit daunting so as an employer you should make sure that this return is as smooth as possible.   You should ensure that the employee feels supported and welcomed back to the team. You also might want to update them on any changes that have happened in their absence and on any new policies and procedures. Also maybe ask them what they need to help feel settled back in to the workplace. At this present time it is...

By: | June 30, 2021 | blog

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How to Manage Long Term Absences

Any length of absence can be disruptive to employers, but there are particular extra considerations that need to be taken into account with long term absences, ranging from how to liaise with the employee whilst they are off to how to bring them back to work if this is even possible. Long term absence is usually referred to as any continuous absence that lasts longer than 4 weeks and may be due to an illness, either unexpected or a chronic condition; an accident; or a...

By: | June 18, 2021 | blog

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Vaccination

COVID-19 Vaccination The roll out of the COVID-19 vaccination has happened at such a rapid rate, which, with all the will in the world, will offer us a return to some sort of normality. Overall, there has been a high uptake of the vaccine, however there is a group of individuals who are reluctant to be vaccinated. The reasons could be many and varied, including individuals who can’t have the vaccine (for example, on medical grounds), those who can have the vaccine but refuse (for...

By: | June 11, 2021 | blog

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What does the future hold

As it was National HR Day on 20th May, we thought it might be interesting to reflect on how HR in General Practice has changed over the past year and what issues employers may be facing in the coming months. Practices have had to battle with huge staff resourcing issues in light of the pandemic. With some staff having to shield following government guidance and many employees having to self isolate due to COVID symptoms and not to mention the challenges faced with resourcing the...

By: | May 24, 2021 | blog

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Health & Safety and HR

As you are probably well aware, as an employer, it is your responsibility to protect the health and safety of your employees.  Many of the actions taken are probably done without a second thought, such as ensuring that the workplace and equipment used are safe and risks are mitigated. However, there are some aspects that might not be as obvious, and many that might appear to be HR tasks rather than health and safety, but it is still just as important to ensure these are...

By: | May 7, 2021 | blog

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Apprenticeships

An apprenticeship combines working with studying to gain a qualification.  Anyone who is over 16 and not in full time education can apply to be an apprentice. As well as taking on someone new, apprenticeships can be offered to existing staff so that they can upskill. There are different levels of apprenticeships ranging from intermediate to degree level. An apprentice must be offered a minimum of 30 hours per week and be paid the minimum wage apprentice rate. Apprentices aged over 19 who have completed...

By: | April 30, 2021 | blog

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Now Shielding Has Come to an End

It was announced last month that Shielding was to cease on 31st March 2021. As an employer, what does this mean for you and your staff who were shielding. How to bring an employee back to work With shielding coming to an end, this may mean you can bring employees back to work who were shielding. But how do you bring someone back into the workplace safely and with the employee’s agreement? Contact the employee Make contact with the employee and discuss their return to...

By: | April 22, 2021 | blog

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