Contracts of Employment Archives

1 Month Notice Period UK

Does a 1 month notice period still apply after 8 years? No, is the quick answer to that. In the first month of employment, notice can be immediate on both sides. Their notice period After the first month, it has to increase to one week on both sides. You can keep the notice period at … Read more

If They Don’t Have A Written Contract, What Holiday Pay Do I Have To Pay?

If They Don’t Have A Written Contract, What Holiday Pay Do I Have To Pay? If you’ve got workers who don’t have a written employment contract, there’s a few questions you probably have. It all comes back to what their rights are when it comes to employment law. But when it comes to holidays, what’s … Read more

Is it illegal to work without a contract in the UK?

Is it illegal to work without a contract in the UK? No, not at all – any worker can work without a contract in the UK. However, you may want to think twice before not issuing a contract As an employer, a contract is the one piece of legal documentation that allows you to control … Read more

What rights do zero hours or casual workers have?

A zero hours worker or casual worker is an employee that works for you, who does not have fixed hours in the working week. As far as you, the business owner is concerned, they act like a tap that you can bring in whenever you need the extra help during the week. 5 Quick facts … Read more

How Lucrative Is Stealing Client Data – Is It THAT Bad?

Most of us have a non-compete and confidentiality clause in the contract reminding employees that the data they work with is confidential and not to be taken outside of the company (if you don’t, give me a call!). However, if you do have an ex-employee who you discover has taken your client data to a rival … Read more

Can I make them work their notice?

Short answer to this is no (sorry, know you didn’t want to hear that!). They may have stormed out after a row. They may have calmly handed in their notice once their pay was on their bank account. But as far as they’re concerned, it’s over. You could try and get them to stay with … Read more

Tales of an HR Consultancy Expert – Day 25: Check the DBS number!

When you employ a new person, it is important to check references. All you are looking for is confirmation that they really did work for that company as stated on their CV. More than that is unrealistic to expect nowadays. But what else do you need to have? In addition to the usual references, sometimes … Read more

Tales of an HR Services Expert – Day 24: Professional negligence?!

Professional negligence?! I do tribunal audits on employment contracts and handbooks so that the company knows what needs to be updated, how much risk they are at, and whether the documents are really “fit for purpose”. Once they have that knowledge, they can make an informed decision about whether they will be updating their paperwork … Read more

Tales of an HR Services Expert – Day 21: Another happy client!

KCC Basildon is a Korean-owned manufacturer of silicone compounds, antifoams and emulsions. I started working with them on my HR Navigator package. Their line managers were good on the soft skills of managing, but unsure on the details of employment law. So we spent the next 12 months tightening up on exactly how to deal … Read more

Tales of an HR Services Expert – Day 20: Overtime doesn’t earn holiday!

Overtime doesn’t count towards holiday entitlement – or does it? The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) decided on 4 November 2014 that any overtime worked does count towards an employee’s holiday entitlement. Yikes! What does that actually mean? It means that if you have in their contracts that they work 20 hours a week, and they … Read more

Verbal warnings

When can you give verbal warnings to an employee?

Never! Verbal warnings were abolished in 2009.

At a recent talk I was asked “but can’t we keep using them, if they are part of our policies and procedures?”.

Tales of an HR Services Expert – Day 11: Discrimination costs!

How much would you have to pay if you lost a discrimination case at tribunal – what is it capped at? Bad news – it is unlimited! Which is why all those female city bankers can claim millions of pounds in compensation. What irritates me more is when the NHS, who should know better, do … Read more

Tales of an HR Services Expert – Day 10: Sickness absence don’ts!

If your employees call in sick there are things that you shouldn’t do. If you are worried about levels of sickness absence, there are ways to solve that. These things are not the way to go! Make them call you every hour they are sick, to prove that they are still at home Call them … Read more

Tales of an HR Services Expert – Day 9: Avoiding expensive mistakes

So. You’re a small business with just a few employees, and managing them is one job you have to do yourself. And do it well. Learn from the costly traps that other employers have fallen into, with this free guide on the pitfalls you simply must avoid. Remember these are the seven biggest mistakes that … Read more

Tales of an HR Services Expert – Day 4: Sickness absence – too much?!

In the past few months we have been asked by 6 separate clients (different industries and locations) to help them deal with sickness absence. Before that, we hadn’t had to do any GP reports for almost a year. What is going on out there??!! The situation could be long-term sickness absences (are they ever coming … Read more

Invasion of the Identity Snatchers

What, an invasion? Well, not that bad, but it is an area that employers need to protect themselves. From what? Identity fraud and unwittingly employing illegal workers. In Terminator they used dogs to sniff out the “intruders”, the robots. We need to use a much more banal way – seeing their photo ID! This might … Read more

Flexible working even more flexible!

Sometime this year, employers worst fears will be realised: EVERY employee will be able to request flexible working!

This is a change which was supposed to come into effect from April 2014, but somewhat strangely ACAS had not got the guidance finished on it in time, so the introduction of this new right has been delayed.

My employee resigned, didn’t she?!

This case was frustrating because my client had really bent over backwards to help, and it had backfired badly. The employee had resigned, and then said that as she was intending to move up north, and things hadn’t been finalised, could she stay on till the end of term (this was in a preschool). My … Read more

£4000 fisticuffs!

I went on a conflict management workshop recently. Which you might think is a bit strange, considering that a lot of my business comes from when conflict doesn’t get resolved. But believe me, I would have enough to do without sorting out playground fights! That became clear when Marc went through the amount of time … Read more

Don’t do this!

Recruitment Recruit someone you find attractive (apparently most of us do!) Accept their word that they can do something – test them! Reject them giving one of the protected characteristics as a reason (unlimited £££ tribunal claim)

Employers: Penalty For Not Issuing Contract Of Employment (5 Reasons)

Most employers think that they’re being clever by not issuing a contract of employment – what could the harm of that be? Is there even a penalty for not issuing a contract of employment? The answer is actually quite a lot of risk involved. Here is a short guide as to why you must issue … Read more

It is great having Gap HR working with us for all our HR. Brilliant company.

Nick Jobson

05/12/2023

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Alisa Tolmaciova

07/11/2023

I work for a local council and we began working with Gap HR a few months ago. I have found them an absolute pleasure to work with - very responsive, thorough and knowledgeable. Above all I feel that I am working with a friendly and empathic team who understand our needs and are dedicated to helping us achieve what we need to achieve. I am very grateful to have their support.

Claire Bird

11/10/2023

GAP HR has been supporting our business for a while now and they are very helpful and thorough in everything they assist us with, from the small to big issues. Great company to support your business. All staff are friendly and on point with all the knowledge they share. Thank you GAP-HR

Neath Afan Gymnastics And Activities

15/09/2023

It has been great working with Gap HR, their guidance has helped immensely with the day to day running of the business. The whole team are extremely responsive and knowledgeable which makes the experience a pleasurable one.

Will Cairns

27/06/2023

Great support from the whole team. The knowledge, advice and support that Gap HR give is second to none. They give me the confidence to know that i am doing the right thing. 👍

Jeff Wicks

06/06/2023

We are really delighted to have hooked up with Gap HR Services Limited – the team interpreted our brief perfectly and their advice and assistance was delivered in both a pragmatic and professional way. A big THANK YOU to both Carolyne and Cathy who steered us through the legislation with a best practice and smart approach. Gap HR’s sense of urgency in fulfilment and delivery matched our own so we can do nothing but positively recommend the team for your HR needs.

BCAS Ltd

28/04/2023

We receive excellent advice and service from the team at Gap. Professional, but helpful with any question big or small. They save us from many hours of debating if we should do x or y - just email Gap is the answer, which makes it easy for us and minimises mistakes - thank you Gap HR!

Jacqueline Shields

24/04/2023

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Robert Creer

13/01/2023

I have been using GapHR for many years and find them a great company to work with. All of the team I have worked with are very professional and experienced in many areas. I would highly recommend using GapHR as there services are fantastic.

Tommy Fisher

11/01/2023

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