FAQs

Introduced in 1996, protected conversations are confidential discussions between employers and employees, aimed at amicably ending employment without ongoing disputes. They exclude issues like discrimination or unfair dismissal and are optional for employees, with employers needing alternative legal routes if refused. […]Read More… (Read more)

The cost-of-living crisis is a topic we’re all aware of. It has dominated the media and the impacts are being felt in the every day life of many people. As a business owner have you thought about how this may be negatively impacting the financial well-being of your team and therefore your business? Evidence from […]Read More… (Read more)

Options When you have an issue with your staff, there are a few options: 1 – DIY 2 – Instruct an Employment Solicitor 3 – Work with an HR Professional As you might imagine, all of these have their pros and cons. Do It Yourself Unfortunately, doing what feels right isn’t necessarily the right thing […]Read More… (Read more)

Workplace surveillance is any form of employee monitoring undertaken by an employer. Although surveillance methods have existed and have been used for several years, during lockdown they have become more and more common. Questions arise regarding what is legal, what is ethical and what is effective people management practice? Monitoring as an effective people management […]Read More… (Read more)

  The type of HR support that you need in your business is very much going to depend on where you are now and what sort of internal resources you have available. It will also depend on whether you want to keep things in house or whether you want to outsource everything completely. For every […]Read More… (Read more)

One of the biggest questions prospective clients have for us is how much is it going to cost? At the end of the day, you’ve got a budget. Yes, you need the job doing, but there is a cost associated with that. In this video, Donna shares some of the elements that make up the […]Read More… (Read more)

When an employee is off sick or is still at work but has confirmed they have a medical condition which impacts on their ability to work in some way, it is possible for HR, the line manager or the business owner to request medical information. In an ideal world, your contract of employment will make […]Read More… (Read more)

Whether an HR policy is contractual depends on the policy, the organisation, the law and the contract of employment. In all cases, it should be easy for both staff and managers to determine whether something is contractual or not. The first place to look for contractual clauses is the contract of employment. The contract of […]Read More… (Read more)

There are lots of reasons why an employee may want to have a confidential conversation with someone, and HR can be a great starting place. In some cases, HR will be part of an internal department or an individual in the business with responsibility for HR. In other cases, it may be an outsourced HR […]Read More… (Read more)

They should be able to do so, but it depends on several factors: what you ask them for whether you accept their recommendations how much they really understand your business how often the law and best practice changes how they keep themselves up to date with changes Then, like with many things, it may not […]Read More… (Read more)

What HR Support you need, what HR support you want and what HR support you can afford should all be the same thing, but the reality is that very often, they are not. Determining your need for HR Support (see Do I need HR?) is one thing; deciding how you get that support into your […]Read More… (Read more)

Unless the employee is actually in the HR department, HR should not actually be the ones making the decision about whether or not to fire an employee. The documents you need to look at in your business are the contract of employment and the employee handbook. It is essential that, if you have these documents, […]Read More… (Read more)

From the time that a business takes on its first employee, it needs HR. It will be informal at first and will be the business owner managing their employee, but even from day 1, there are legal obligations which a company owner is responsible for. When a company takes on its first employee, the 5 […]Read More… (Read more)

HR is the commonly used name for Human Resources. In the past, it has also been referred to as Personnel, Staff Welfare or Human Capital Management. The need for ‘personnel management’ started during the industrial revolution when social reformers such as Lord Shaftesbury started to exert pressure on employers with poor employment conditions. HR has […]Read More… (Read more)