Colborn’s Corner: Legislation – HR’s friend or foe?

Annie Hayes

Sift

Editor

Colborn’s Corner: Legislation – HR’s friend or foe?

By Annie Hayes

With the weight of publicity surrounding age discrimination reaching a peak this week, Quentin Colborn looks at the whole topic of employment legislation and considers what impact it has on the HR function.

You can hardly pick up a newspaper or review a business website at the minute without the topic of age discrimination coming to the fore. On one hand the number of books seminars and articles available to HR professionals seems immense, possibly over the top.

However, there is no denying that the impact of the legislation will be significant and may well outweigh the impact of any other legislation since the Equal Pay Act.

Clearly good HR professionals will have already reviewed the likely impact of the new regulations and taken steps to amend policies and practices where needed. I’m sure though that some are still doing so! And there will of course be some organisations that somehow remain blissfully unaware of the impact the legislation will have on them – I’m sure they will have a big shock in store!

But what does this legislation, and its predecessors, have on the perception of HR people either as employees or as consultants? Is there a sense that new legislation is actually welcomed by these groups by providing a raison d’etre in some cases? Certainly for those who run seminars on the topic, age discrimination has provided a very welcome shot in the arm in terms of business opportunities. But do we ever ‘milk’ legislation and make it out to be more difficult to understand than is actually the case? Do we use situations like this to build dependency on HR providers, whether they be internal or external?

Whilst we may often be unwilling to admit it, I suspect there is a perception among HR staff that new law is good for business and increases our ‘street cred’. Yet how often does legislation simply play into the hands of what is good business practice anyway? I accept that virtually no business would voluntarily adopt the legislation surrounding TUPE, although I think precious few understand it anyway, but what about age discrimination?

Many firms, especially within the retail sector, have actively championed the employment of people beyond the traditional retirement age of 65 and found business benefits flowing from it. There could be an argument that legislation has dealt them a harsh blow, removing their potential to be more highly competitive in the labour market by raising everyone’s standards at the same time.

Working with businesses both large and small, I think it is fair to suggest that generally legislation has a disproportionately heavy effect on the smaller businesses than the larger and it’s often the smaller businesses that don’t have HR support.

For example, a number of smaller employers end up in Employment Tribunal with a claim for unfair dismissal being brought against them because they haven’t followed the statutory disciplinary procedures. Of course size of business can be no defence in these situations, but frequently the absence of a HR resource means the business falls foul of the law.

So how do we view employment law? Is most of it a social necessity to ensure fair and equal treatment of employees and ensure their employment rights are protected? Alternatively, is it a route to reinforcing the HR role within organisations by making ourselves that bit more indispensable to our masters? Let’s hear your views.

Quentin Colborn is an independent HR consultant based in Essex who works with organisations to review their contractual approach to employment and works with clients to ensure their documentation both keeps in line with the law and business requirements. To contact him T: 01376 571360 or e-mail him at Quentin@qcpeople.co.uk

Colborn’s Corner: series articles