2010 - February - HR UpdateWelcome to this month’s newsletter about Human Resources and staff issues for small businesses. Avoid the Hassles aims to tell you what you need to know about HR and Employment Law. There will be things that you need to do to protect your business. Or you can just “Avoid the Hassles” by giving Gap HR the job of making sure things are kept up to date! Give us a call on 0844 588 0301 to talk about making your life easier!
Bullying - Avoid the Hassles!In this issue we consider what exactly is bullying in the workplace and why you need to prevent it happening. We continue our “How to” series by looking at the best way to interview, with some free interview question resources on the website.
Communication - Avoid the Hassles!This time I wanted to talk about the issue of communication and how everyone thinks they are doing it, but nobody else seems to agree! We will look at the different approaches you can take to improve this essential part of your business. Read more here!
Credit Crunch - Avoid the hassles!I had a refreshing two and a half weeks in Hamburg and Kiel, and have returned energised to the UK in anticipation of the “usual” summer lull in HR business (everyone is on holiday or going to be and usually put off issues till September) and of course the gloriously warm summer we have come to love and cherish! The credit crunch is in the news right now, although it does seem a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy at the moment. This is a great time to concentrate on getting the most from your cur
Discrimination - Avoid the Hassles!The subject of this month’s newsletters is discrimination and how this is bad for businesses. We all know that it is the others who are discriminating, we are obviously making rational decisions. However, after reading Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Blink – The Power of Thinking Without Thinking” on holiday, I am less convinced...
Employee Benefits - Avoid the hassles!Most small companies I know have the money for salaries, but when it comes to benefits, just don't know where to start. What is the value of introducing benefits? Read more here!
Employing Women? - Avoid the Hassles!I came across this article a couple of years ago and found it put a new twist on the old chestnut "Don't employ women of childbearing age". This discrimination is as pointless as any other because it depends on the person being recruited as to whether they contribute or just take from you. However, you could recruit your caucasian male who won't go on maternity leave, but will leave you after 9 months because he sees a better opportunity elsewhere...
Employment Law - Avoid the Hassles!Employment legislation has turned into the bogey monster over the past few years, with some justification. However many employers are ignorant of, or choosing to ignore, the reasons why the employee market has become so strongly regulated, and how employers can still run successful businesses, despite everything. Read more here!
Holidays - Avoid the Hassles!I am delighted to announce that we are working together with Specsavers to offer all our clients low cost eye tests (see below for details). Also in this issue we continue the “How to” series looking at evaluating CVs, FAQs on what to do if your employees won't sign their contracts and our events at the end of the year. Happy holiday reading!
Part-time workers - Avoid the Hassles!This month I will be looking at the area of part-time workers and what the benefits, disadvantages and legal implications are of this large part of the workforce, enabling you to judge whether they will be the right solution to your employment problem. Read more here!
Recruitment - Avoid the Hassles!This month the emphasis is firmly on recruiting. You will find some ideas and research information about where job seekers go to find their next job. However it is clear from clients that using a combination of approaches and knowing your target market is what makes a job advert successful, just like marketing your business. Clients have successfully filled positions from emailing out a job advert to their networks, and through word of mouth referrals have found the perfect candidate!
Redundancy update - Avoid the Hassles!As there was so much response to my last newsletter and lots of questions and "war stories" given of redundancy situations that others have been in, I felt it was worth addressing this subject again, particularly in view of the media attention it is getting. Read more here!
Sickness absence - Avoid the Hassles!Welcome to the October issue, which covers the seasonal topic of sickness absence, as well as what to prepare for new employees to bring them up to speed as soon as possible. Don't miss the FAQs on notice periods - what notice periods are in your contracts? Read more here...