How would you feel if you got into work to discover the cleaner had been sacked to save money, leaving you and your colleagues to do the dishes? Not very happy or very productive, according to a recent survey that said small business employers were alienating employees through inappropriate cost-cutting schemes.
The survey, Are You Britain’s Tightest Boss?, claimed that 70% of small business bosses have taken desperate action to reduce costs and that this has had a negative effect on employee morale and productivity. Some of the cost-cutting initiatives cited in the survey included getting rid of the office cleaner and expecting staff to do the dishes (20%), cutting back on heating and air-conditioning (6%), extending staff working hours with no pay increase (23%), banning taxis (24%), banning personal telephone calls (25%) and cutting short employees’ lunch breaks (9%).
“The survey was a real eye-opener,” said Simon Bennett, small business spokesperson at One.Tel. “When we asked people how they were saving costs it always seemed to be along the same lines — things that are quick to implement and make an instant saving. But doing things like banning all personal telephone calls seems very draconian. It is also counterproductive because people will probably just nip outside to use their cellphone instead and that means more time away from their desks.”
David Bishop, spokesperson for the United Kingdom’s Federation of Small Businesses, agreed that such measures were over the top. “We were surprised by the results of the survey and would be concerned if these cost-cutting measures were as widespread as One.Tel suggests. Cost cutting can be a fact of life, but there are more appropriate ways to do it. Utility bills, for example, are often an area where major savings are to be made.”
According to Bishop, the most common way for small businesses to reduce costs is to move to smaller or less expensive premises. He recommended that businesses do an audit on their suppliers and check they are getting the best deal available.
It is not only some small businesses that ban employees from making personal calls from work — big international companies have been known to do it, too. Employers that do implement blanket policies such as this need to be careful that they do not fall foul of the law.
“In certain situations, such as if an employee’s child was ill, if the person was prevented from making necessary telephone calls from work then they could argue that it was a breach to their right to a private life,” explained Carl Richards, employment specialist at law firm Fox Williams.
Richards said employers need to be mindful that they have an implicit duty of care towards their employees and employment tribunals may not look too kindly upon companies that forget this.
This implied duty covers a wide range of areas, from a right to a private life to providing an environment in which employees can work safely and comfortably.
If employers switch off the heating in the middle of winter, for example, and let the office temperature drop to below 16°, then they could be contravening health and safety regulations. — Â