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The Elephant in the room: Mental Health – Anxiety
Anxiety can be a good thing. It helps us to avoid dangerous situations and it motivates us to solve problems. However, like many mental health issues there is a spectrum of anxiety which ranges from good mental health through to debilitating mental health. There are a number of different disorders which are classified as anxiety…
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The Elephant in the Room: Mental Health – Depression
Having clinical Depression is very different from being depressed. You can feel depressed when you hear bad news, when you read a sad story, or if you have had a bad day at the office. However, a medical diagnosis of Depression is made when symptoms last for more than two weeks and affects the employee’s…
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The Elephant in the Room: The Smelly Employee – Body Odour
Ouch! The ultimate of difficult conversations and one we have had to support a lot of employers through over the years. Unlike most of our previous smelly employee* blogs, where the employee usually has a measure of control over the smell, body odour is one which many people have little or no control over. In…
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The Elephant in the Room: The Smelly Employee – Weed
Some people will recognise the smell of weed a mile off. Others will never have come into contact with people smoking weed, but they are aware of a strange smell. Weed is cannabis. It is a drug. Also known as marijuana, pot, grass and dope, weed is illegal in the UK. As an employer, you…
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The Elephant in the Room: Smelly Employees – Alcohol
Most companies have a policy which states that you must not attend work under the influence of alcohol, and some will clearly state that alcohol is not permitted during working hours, including business lunches, networking events and formal dinners. However, in some sectors, drinking (alcohol) at work is part of the job, it’s expected. The…
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The Elephant in the Room: The Smelly Employee – Cigarettes
In my opinion, there is nothing worse than a colleague who comes into a meeting stinking of cigarettes! I remember a time when people used to smoke in offices, it was completely normal. Just like smoking on an aeroplane – smokers on the left, non-smokers on the right‼! Something my kids cannot believe was ever…
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The Elephant in the Room
This is the first in a series of blogs to mark our 14th birthday on 1st May 2021. The background to my thinking here is a little odd, but the theme of these blogs is based on ‘The Elephant in the Room’. All the things which employers do not want to talk about or deal…
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What’s The Deal With Pay Reviews?
Between COVID and Brexit, there’s been a lot of uncertainty around pay reviews this year. Many employers just don’t feel safe putting up salaries at the moment, but some are looking to see whether they can at least give a cost of living increase as we ride out the storm. The Office for National Statistics…
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When were your contracts of employment last updated?
A recent LinkedIn poll asked a very simple question, but the results were a little surprising: When were your contracts of employment last reviewed? In the last three months was a response for 20% of the respondents. While a further 32% had reviewed their contracts in the last 12 months. I was a little surprised…
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What are the Pros and Cons of a Zero Hours Contract
No guaranteed hours or fixed income A zero-hour contract is where you have no guaranteed hours or fixed income, instead work is offered as and when an employer needs you. Zero-hour workers account for less than 3 percent of total employment in the UK, and they’re most often used by sectors that require a flexible…
