HR Support for the Care Sector
People management and employee engagement within the care sector has become increasingly challenging considering the COVID-19 pandemic.
A very turbulent couple of years have taken their toll on staff. We have witnessed an accelerated number of staff absences and shortages, with concerns over well-being as more care givers have reported feeling ‘burnt out’. Sadly, many care givers have re-evaluated their situation and chosen to leave the profession.
The industry has faced a number of challenges in recent years, from COVID-19, mandatory vaccination, Brexit and DBS checks that have resulted in a smaller pool of people to select from. This has decreased recruitment opportunities for new employees who are suited to the demanding nature of care roles.
Recruitment and Retention
We appreciate how hard employees are working and believe it is important to assess whether rewards could be introduced to give back to those who continue to work around the clock to support our loved ones. Additionally, a review of benefit schemes and joining bonuses can be useful tools to attract new employees.
Effective people strategies are paramount if the care sector is to balance increasing workforce pressures and maintain health and safety standards for its vulnerable patients.
Fitzgerald HR can help you develop both staff recruitment and retention policies and implement:
Employee relations and compliance with regulations can prove difficult to master in a sector that typically has more disciplinary and grievance issues than many.
The care sector has a number of employment regulations and important issues to navigate, including a duty of care to report safeguarding issues to the police.
Disputes and issues must be handled in a timely manner to ensure clear consequences and accountability. We can work with you to develop procedures to help management teams navigate safeguarding and employee relations issues.
With the implementation of new policies, it is crucial to fine tune existing and new contracts to ensure they include relevant clauses e.g., vaccination and DBS requirements. The revision of these contracts should make current employees feel more protected, as well as ensuring any new recruits are compliant with the regulations.
Policy support for
the care sector
- Bespoke HR policies
- Bespoke Contract of Employment
- People Management
- Business Change
- Employee Relations
- Health and Safety Policy
- Data Protection Policy
- Pay and Benefits
- Grievance Policy
- Whistleblowing Policy
- Bullying and Harassment Policy
- Absence Policy
- Holiday Policy
- Confidentiality Policy
Are you equipped to handle disputes and issues as and when they arise?
At Fitzgerald HR we can offer out of hours support to complement the work carers are putting in 24/7.
You may have in-house HR expertise that can work hand in hand with external partners when required, or you may want to outsource all your HR requirements; either way Fitzgerald HR can provide a solution that is tailored to work for you, that can offer tribunal insurance and give you one less thing to worry about.
“We’ve worked with Fitzgerald HR for many years now, they not only help us with day-to-day HR situations but also with more complex issues like disciplinaries and grievances. What’s important to us is that we get support quickly when issues arise. Due to the nature of our business, it is vital for the safety and welfare of our residents that we deal with any issues in an efficient manner. We have built a great relationship of trust with Fitzgerald HR knowing that they will always do the right thing for us.
Some recent work we have done with Fitzgerald HR includes consulting with all of our employees on the compulsory covid vaccination legislation. They managed the whole process for us; from writing to the employees and notifying them of the requirements, to holding the consultation meetings and confirming the outcome of each consultation meeting. They were there to advise us each step of the way and ensure we were aware of any risks that were involved. Although this legislation was eventually revoked, Fitzgerald HR’s support enabled us to quickly respond to changes during this challenging time.
Fitzgerald are always great to work with, our HR consultant is professional, friendly and proactive. For us, one of the biggest advantages is that Fitzgerald have really got to know our individual business, there are far too many services out there that give you general advice, but Fitzgerald give the personal touch, it enables them to really understand how we operate and as a result we receive advice that truly is tailored to us.
Fitzgerald always go the extra mile, are available to attend face to face meetings and are always on the end of the phone when we need them. Overall, the service that Fitzgerald HR provide is invaluable and helps us to free up time to focus on caring for our residents and not become consumed with managing staffing matters. To ensure we’re doing the right thing by all employees, the key things we are looking for from an HR partner is up to date legislation and, specifically, guidance on how it applies to the care industry. We definitely get this from Fitzgerald HR who provide a high level of expertise coupled with an excellent understanding of the care industry and the challenges involved.
We would definitely recommend them.”
Tom Bond
Manager West Heanton Residential Home
Some of the Care providers we partner with to provide HR solutions
