Employment Bulletin - Christmas is upon us…

Well, it’s already that time of year again when Santa and friends need some advice on various employment issues. What with the long hours the reindeer have to work on Christmas Eve (it takes a while to deliver all those presents to the good boys and girls), Rudolph being constantly teased about his red nose (too much sherry?) and the various other problems the reindeer present, Santa certainly has a lot on his plate…and we’re not talking about all those mince pies.

Comet and Cupid

Comet and Cupid have raised concerns about having to work through the night on Christmas Eve. Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, ‘night workers’ are given special protection in that their normal hours of work should not exceed an average of 8 hours in each 24 hour period. Potentially, this could cause a problem as Santa and the reindeer usually have to work longer hours than this in order to deliver all the presents in time for Christmas morning. There are even stricter rules for work involving heavy physical strain which again could cause a problem as Robosapiens are a bit heavy.

So what should Santa do? Well, it may not be such a problem. In order to be a night worker, the reindeer would need to work at least 3 hours of their working time during night time as a normal course i.e. on a regular basis. As the reindeer only deliver presents on Christmas Eve they are unlikely to be covered - although they obviously do practice runs with invisible presents during the lead up to Christmas.

If they were classed as night workers, Santa may fall within one or more of the special cases to which the time limits do not apply. For instance, the reindeer’s activities involve a need for continuity of service and there is a foreseeable surge of activity around Christmas time.

Moreover, as Santa came to us for advice at the outset, these provisions of the Working Time Regulations 1998 were modified by collective agreement. The National Union of Reindeers agreed that the importance of the task in hand meant that the reindeer could be required to give that little bit extra on Christmas Eve.

As for the heavy sleigh and potential health and safety issues this may cause, Santa actually uses magic dust to deal with this so no worries there.

Rudolph

Now, we are sure most of you will be aware of the problems Rudolph initially had when he went to work with Santa. For those of you who don’t, Rudolph has a very shiny nose. It’s red and some would even say it glows. At the beginning, the other reindeer used to laugh at Rudolph and call him names, and they wouldn’t let poor Rudolph join in any of their reindeer games. This issue was resolved by Santa allowing Rudolph to lead the sleigh so that he could use his nose as a light.

However, Dasher and Dancer have started to pick on Rudolph again and Rudolph has complained to Santa. What should Santa do?

Well, Santa should take all allegations of bullying seriously. Bullying undermines morale, can lead to increased absenteeism and also constructive dismissal claims. Therefore, in accordance with his bullying and harassment policy, he should investigate the complaints and take disciplinary action against Dasher and Dancer if appropriate. It may be that they don’t intend to hurt Rudolph’s feelings and are just having fun, but the behaviour needs to stop and how behaviour is perceived can be as important as the intentions behind it.

Another issue for Santa to consider is the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (as amended). The new amendments introduced protection against harassment. But is Rudolph disabled? Under the Act, severe disfigurement is deemed to have a substantial adverse effects on a person’s (and in this case, a reindeer’s) ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities, so potentially, Rudolph could be covered. Therefore, the issue really needs to be dealt with quickly and appropriately so that Dasher and Dancer, and all the other reindeer, know that picking on Rudolph is not acceptable.

Pensions

The National Union of Reindeer, led by Blitzen, have raised concerns about Santa’s pension contributions. At the moment, Santa contributes 2 carrots per week to each Reindeer’s pension fund, together with magic dust to keep them fresh (in case you were wondering).

This is a hot topic at the moment and a report (commissioned by the government) has recently been published by the Employer Task Force on Pensions. The report recommends that employers should aim to achieve combined contributions of around 10-15% with employers contributing around two thirds of this. Therefore, Santa may want to consider increasing his carrot contribution.

The report also makes recommendations for unions. Therefore, the National Union of Reindeer should be encouraging the reindeer to save for retirement and join Santa’s scheme.

That said, the good old magic dust should keep the reindeer going much longer than any of us…

So, from Santa, Dasher, Dancer, Pranser, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donna, Blitzen and Rudolph and everyone in the Employment Department, Merry Christmas.

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