Workforce planning

Question 1

Zero hour contract

Answer 1

A contract between employee and employer:
- the employer is not obligated to provide any minimum hours
- the worker is obligated to accept any work offered

Question 2

The number of British people on 0-hour contracts

Answer 2

Approximately 1.03million are on zero-hour contracts in the UK

Question 3

Disadvantages of zero hour contracts for Employees

Answer 3

• causes anxiety (there is uncertainty about when and for how long they will work & they dont know wether or not they’ll be able to pay their bills)
• It holds down wages (as it is usually bigger corporate firms that have zero hour contracts it restricts employees ability/power to demand higher wages)
• Creates exploitation of workers (Denied some employment rights and may be worried about complaining due to fear of losing hours).

Question 4

Disadvantages of zero hour contracts for Businesses

Answer 4

• Business reputation may be harmed

Question 5

Advantages of zero hour contracts for businesses

Answer 5

• Creates leaner, more profitable businesses as there is no obligation to denied some employment rights and offer hours.
• Helps to react to fluctuations in demand

Question 6

Advantages of zero hour contracts for Employees

Answer 6

• Increases the numbers of jobs available.
• Flexibility suits some workers i.e. students

Question 7

Disadvantages of remote learning

Answer 7

• lack of facilities
• may be more distractions at home
• employees may do less work without discipline
• lack of the social aspect
• commute can be seen as a time for reflection
• it blurs the lines between home / work

Question 8

Flexi-time working

Answer 8

a working schedule which allows employees to choose when to start and end their workday, and/or how long to take their break for, within agreed limits set by management.

Question 9

Advantages of flexitime to employees

Answer 9

• helps them to avoid traffic
• be able to drop of/pick up kids from school/childcare
• helps to achieve a better work-life balance
• easier to work around out of work occurrences

Question 10

Disadvantages of flex-time working

Answer 10

• Communication may be disrupted
• Meetings may be more difficult to schedule
• employees may be unproductive during any unsupervised hours
• there may be tension if not all employees are allowed to work this way
• some variable costs may increase as a result of the premises being open for longer

Question 11

Part-time employment

Answer 11

A contract with less than 35 hours worked per week

Question 12

Positive impacts to businesses of part-time workin

Answer 12

• Helps the business to cover sickness and busier periods
• makes the business cost efficient as they dont have full time staff without the business demand.
• increased retention as more “family friendly”

Question 13

Negative impacts to businesses of part-time workin

Answer 13

• Leads to more training, appraisals etc (there is a time/cost aspect to this)
• Communication could become more different.

Question 14

Term time working

Answer 14

Where working hours mirror term-time days

Question 15

Potential benefit of term time working to the business

Answer 15

• The employee will feel more motivated as they get to spend time with their child, increasing productivity (better work life balance).
• Reduced labour costs
• Increased flexibility for employees

Question 16

Time off in lieu

Answer 16

Where the employee is required to work more during busy periods and can have time off during quieter periods, they are only paid the hours on their contract e.g. 9 – 5, meaning they wont get paid for overtime but will be paid when they arent working.

Question 17

Potential benefit of time of in lieu to the business

Answer 17

• The business will have to employ less people as they can have the same amount of employees but have them working as and when they need them
• Reduced costs for the business as smaller workforce
• Employees may be better engaging with work

Question 18

Job sharing

Answer 18

This is where a full-time job is split in between two employees that share the workload, usually split on a morning/afternoon bases or a day-to-day basis

Question 19

Potential benefit of job sharing to the business

Answer 19

• Employees are able to the hours or days that suit them better and therefore the business can gain the staff it needs
• If one job sharer is sick they will still have a extra employee (job sharer) that is able to cover the employee that is sick

Question 20

Compressed hours

Answer 20

this is where the number of hours worked in a week are compresssed into a shorter period of time, e.g. a 5 day working week is compressed into a 4 day working week

Question 21

Potential benefit of compressed hours to the business

Answer 21

• Employers may reduce the variable costs as employees are in for less days
• Staff moral may improve as they have a extra ‘day off’
• Productivity may increase

Question 22

Annualised hours

Answer 22

thiss is where a employee is required to working a certain amount of hours throughout the whole year, this has a degree of flexibility but usually a set number of hours are set per week, and the left over hours are worked inline with the employers needs in order to meet demand.

Question 23

Potential benefit of annualised hours to the business

Answer 23

• Employers can use the workforce as and when they need too
• Employers don’t have to pay overtime costs, therefore reducing costs meaning the business is more competitive

Question 24

Workforce planning

Answer 24

It is about deciding how many and what types of workers are required

QUANTITY & TYPE

Question 25

Factors to consider when deciding upon the type of worker

Answer 25

• age
• skills
• experience
• qualifications
• physical fitness
• honesty
• literacy

Question 26

why are older employees better

Answer 26

• may need less training
• more experience
• more guidance

Question 27

Why are younger employees better

Answer 27

• New skills
• Modern ideas
• Motivated

Question 28

How to reevaluate a workforce plan

Answer 28

• analyse current workforce i.e. how many? Are they the right type?
• asses future need i.e. will more, less or

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Question 29

Factors to consider when creating/amending a workforce plan

Question 30

Why is it important to get the right number & types of workers

Answer 30

• meet customer needs
• achieve business aims and objectives
  efficient
• avoid high levels of staff turnover
• to support pension planning (i.e. when older workers retire)