5 Common Mistakes When Managing Grievances
Dealing with employee grievances can be one of the most challenging issues in the workplace. Employees can be disgruntled and the issues are typically complex. In this blog post, we’re going to look at the common mistakes that are made when dealing with grievances and give some tips on how to avoid them.
When Should You Suspend an Employee?
Suspending an employee used to be the first action when an employee may have committed an act of gross misconduct. It was also very normal for employees to be suspended during redundancy processes. This post looks at the current law on suspension and when you should and should not suspend an employee.
Does My Employee Have the Right to Be Accompanied at a Probation Review?
When the probation period is failed, there is the question as to whether an employee has a right to be accompanied at the meeting in which they are told that they are being dismissed. The purpose of this post is to help employers understand where they stand and whether the right to be accompanied should…
Should You Hire or Outsource HR?
When a business reaches the point where it requires more formal HR support, one of the questions asked is “Should we outsource or hire HR?” There are pros and cons of each option so the purpose of this post is to set out some of the things you should consider when deciding on what approach…
Employer Guidance for Visa Sponsorship
Over the last few years, we have seen a sharp increase from businesses who are looking to offer a visa sponsorship to workers who do not have the right to work in the UK. In this post, we’ll outline some of the key areas that you should be aware of if this is something that…
Giving Feedback: Is it Really Worth the Effort?
As a manager, you’ll have heard repeatedly that giving constructive feedback is the answer to many of your management challenges. It’s a challenging area but developing skills in giving feedback is definitely a worthwhile investment. Our post provides managers some insights and tips on giving feedback.
What Are the Factors That Lead to HR Outsourcing?
There are various factors that can lead to a company making the decision to outsource HR. We talk with many companies who are considering outsourcing their HR and there are some common themes as to why they are considering this. In this post, we review the themes that lead to companies outsourcing HR.
What Should You Consider Before Outsourcing HR?
Outsourcing is one option for businesses to manage their HR. The success of outsourcing is, of course, mostly down to the quality of the outsource provider. There are, however, some steps you can take to ensure the partnership is a success. In this blog post, we look at what a company should look at before…
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace – Simple Steps for Employers
Gone are the days when you could point to your Equality Policy and say “There you go. We say we’re an equal opportunities employer and therefore we are one.” Expectations of your employees and potentially your clients are changing when it comes to diversity and inclusion, and so we explore what employers can and should…
Quiet Quitting at Work
You will have most likely seen the repeated use of the term “quiet quitting” in the press in recent months. In this blog post we’ll look more at the concept of quiet quitting at work and explore how you can identify if it’s happening, what you can do if it is and what you can…
How to Conduct ‘Right to Work’ Checks
On 1st October 2022, the way in which companies check right to work documents changed. This article summarises the new rules, and provides reminders for conducting right to work checks and the penalties you can face for employing individuals who do not have the right to work in the UK.
Employee Engagement Surveys:
What Are Your Employees Thinking?As an employer, you will no doubt want your employees to enjoy working in your organisation and not just turn up every day because they are paid to, but how do you know what they genuinely think about working for you if you don’t ask them?
The Right to Appeal – What Does It Mean and When Does It Apply?
Employees have a right to appeal decisions relating to certain HR processes and in this blog post we look at this right in more detail so that you can understand when it applies and how you should deal with appeals.
Management Discretion: Consistency in Applying HR Policies
Many of our clients have policies in place which set out clearly what their position is and yet they all tend to contain the phrase “Any variation from this policy is entirely at management discretion”. Clients have found themselves being accused of discrimination because they have treated individuals differently, so is it really possible to…
Can and Should You Always Dismiss an Employee for Gross Misconduct?
Many employers have a list of behaviours in their employee disciplinary policy that constitute gross misconduct. If an employee commits one of these ‘crimes’ then the outcome is clear, right? Well, not necessarily. This post sets out the process and considerations that you need to make before dismissing an employee on the grounds of gross…
How Can Employers Avoid Age Discrimination in the Workplace?
Age discrimination legislation has been around since 2006. Despite this, some workplaces still seem to be catching up with the idea that inappropriate references to age in the workplace can land them in the same kind of legal nightmare as inappropriate references to gender or race.
Simple Steps to Check Your HR Practices are Legal and Relevant
We would probably all agree that having regular ‘check ups’ is essential for ensuring smooth running of any machine, organism or an organisation. Your business changes frequently, as do employment laws, so how do you make sure that your HR practices stay up-to-date?
Attracting Talent: How To Compete for the Best People
How do you go about attracting talent when simply competing on salary and benefits isn’t something that’s an option for many small and medium businesses?
Holiday Headaches: Managing Planned and Unplanned Absence
During the holiday season, office parties, over-indulgence and last-minute holiday requests are commonplace. This post provides guidance for employers on the headache of managing both planned and unplanned employee absence at this time of year.
Honesty in the Recruitment Process
There was extensive press coverage of the case of Stella English, a winner of the TV show ‘The Apprentice’. Ms English won a £100,000 position at the end of the series but claims that the role did not turn out to be what she was expecting. This case got us thinking about how transparent a…
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