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Establishing a successful recruitment process and clear written employment contracts for new employees can have a major impact on your business.

Every business needs to be aware of its obligations under minimum wage and equal pay laws, as well as recent pensions auto-enrolment changes.

You must comply with legal restrictions on employees' working hours and time off, or risk claims, enforcement action and even prosecution.

The right employment policies are an essential part of effective staff management. Make sure any policy is clear and well communicated to employees.

While sick employees need to be treated fairly, you need to ensure that 'sickness' is not being used as cover for unauthorised absence.

Most pregnant employees are entitled to maternity leave and maternity pay, while new fathers are entitled to paternity leave and paternity pay.

As well as undermining morale, illegal discrimination can lead to workplace grievances. Employee discrimination is covered by the Equality Act 2010.

Home, remote and lone workers are becoming increasingly commonplace. Key issues include communication and how to manage and motivate people remotely.

The right approach to consulting with and providing information to your employees can improve employee motivation and performance.

Disciplinary and grievance issues can be a major burden to employers. Putting in place and following the right procedures is essential.

Following the right dismissal and redundancy procedures helps protect your business and minimise the risk of a legal dispute at tribunal.

Employment tribunal claims are a worrying prospect for any employer. A tribunal case is a no-win situation – even if the claim is unjustified.

One in two small firms plans to change broadband supplier

7 December 2021

A new study has found that more than half of UK small businesses are planning to leave their current business broadband provider, as three-quarters say they have been impacted by slow broadband over the past year.

A new study conducted by Censuswide for Sky Connect has revealed that 51% of UK small businesses are likely to leave their current business broadband provider. This is despite the fact that 71% have invested in business broadband or adapted their business to improve their online service to customers over the past 12 months. Bad customer service, slow upload and download speeds as well as unreliable broadband connection were cited as the top reasons for leaving.

The study of SME connectivity has found that 77% of small businesses have been affected by slow broadband over the past year. The impact of unreliable business broadband can be huge, with inability to communicate with customers and suppliers (33%), hampered productivity (32%) and even losing customers (32%) cited as the biggest knock-on effects.

Recent analysis of Google Trends by Bionic has found that searches for terms like "internet down", "broadband down" and "downdetector" (the platform used to detect internet outages) have increased by +400% since 2015. On average, 2021 has had the most searches for internet and broadband outages on record.

Two-thirds of small businesses polled by Censuswide say they are planning to increase their investment in digital services such as broadband, broadband security and digital customer offerings, to support hybrid business models and cater to customer expectations. Nearly three-quarters say they are planning to invest in full fibre connectivity when it becomes available in their area - giving them a more reliable internet connection, faster and more consistent speeds and the ability to connect more devices.

Kevin O'Toole, managing director at Sky Connect, said "Broadband is not something businesses will - or should - be thinking about day-to-day, but it's noticeable as soon as it isn't up to standard, and can have damaging consequences. As SMEs continue to adapt to an increasingly digital world and deliver additional online services, more than ever before, broadband providers must prioritise reliability to enable small businesses to focus on what really matters to them."

Written by Rachel Miller.

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