Carolyne Wahlen Filling the GAP in HR services: Discrimination grievance I was speaking to a lady this week who’s recently won a disability discrimination case against her ex employer. The employer, despite having in-house legal counsel, made many, many mistakes. One of which was to NOT carry out a proper investigation of a grievance. Patricia had raised a grievance against her … Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: Named and shamed I was at a networking meeting the other day, and – as you do – I ended up speaking to a business owner and trying to explain the point of HR to him. I say “trying”, because that is what he was being – trying! His … Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: No more suspension. Things change. But some things change more dramatically than others. For those of us who have read “1984” (spoiler alert: it is NOT an uplifting book!) one of the key parts of their world was the absolute change of direction and allies from one day to … Read more
One of the trendier ideas in the big companies, especially the Silicon Valley ones, is to offer an unlimited holidays policy to staff. For most employers, this will understandably seem like a scary concept – with most concerns centring around staff taking advantage. But when we delve deep into it, there are further problems than just being … Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: Snowdon Walk I walked up Snowdon last week. It was a great experience, made even better by the glorious sunshine and pleasant breeze that meant there was zero need for my expensively acquired waterproof trousers. It was my friend Claire and I that made the trip happen – we’ve been … Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: Your invalid agreement We’ve had a rash of settlement agreements to draw up recently. Usually we’re asked to do these because the business doesn’t want to go through a lengthy disciplinary process before possibly parting company. However, the struggle is usually getting the business to understand that they are not just … Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: Preston Fairytale I was up in Preston last week. I don’t generally venture that far up north, but I was asked to give a talk at a GCMA meeting up there, so it was well worth the trip. And here’s an admission: one of the reasons I love my trips … Read more
We had a call from a company the other day who’d received an Early Conciliation claim for their apprentice. They’d spoken to ACAS, who’d told them they had no choice but to pay it, but – not really happy with that advice – they’d turned to us for help. Unfortunately for them, we had to … Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: Perfect boots I’m climbing Snowdon at the beginning of July. I’ve always loved walking, but I’ve only ever scaled the Welsh peak by train, so I jumped at the chance to take part. And with just over a month to go, I’ve started training to make sure I’m ready for it … Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: Black box I had a somewhat stressful weekend. My daughter has just passed her driving test and as a condition of the insurance she needs to have a telematics black box fitted. The insurance company sent a helpful video where a young lady in a modern MINI fitted the box in … Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: Why I stopped networking I went to a group last week. I love networking. I enjoy the buzz of meeting new people, understanding more about different industries and hearing stories about how people have made sales and businesses in various areas and niches. But I don’t do it much … Read more
We recently had a client whose staff member had decided to work all the hours of the night and weekend. She claimed that it was so busy that she had to work in the small hours of the morning, regularly sending emails at 2.35am, 4am, Saturday evenings at 10.45pm, and so on. Our client wasn’t … Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: My court date I’ve now discovered the biggest deterrent to using the civil courts to sue for money owed to you: attempting to pay the trial fee so you can actually defend your case. I’m currently in dispute with a recruitment agency about a fee that I feel I should be … Read more
Filling the Gap in HR Services: It doesn’t get much lower than this…. You are NOT going to believe the lengths that this employee went to avoid being sacked for non performance. He was employed last September in a sales role in a recruitment company. The company have really good sales software, so they could track what … Read more
Filling the Gap in HR services: She uses the internet too much. Can we fire her? But my client hadn’t spoken to the employee at all! They did have proof (they monitor all their computer and phone activity), but had not had a disciplinary or even an informal chat with the employee. To complicate matters, she had … Read more
Filling the Gap in HR services: A bit like an intern. One of our clients contacted us recently about a “one-week work trial” for a potential new employee. Essentially they wanted the candidate to work for nothing, “a bit like an intern”, and if she was good, then they wanted us to put together a contract … Read more
Filling the Gap in HR services: Unfit to work, but not to meet… There are a lot of myths about sickness absence. One of the most common is the idea that an employee who is signed off sick is unfit to attend any meeting. Especially if they have been signed off for “stress at work”. This … Read more
Filling the Gap in HR Services: It’s like a foreign country….. After Christmas, I went – with the kids – to Berlin and the Christmas markets. It was great have a Gluhwein (okay, a few), and to be back in Germany with the kids again, for the first time since 2011. I’m in Germany most years, … Read more
Filling the GAP in HR expertise: Getting more expensive…. Well, we’ve made it past Christmas and the next significant date in the HR world is the 6 April. That’s when all the Statutory employment entitlements change. There is no legal requirement to inform your staff of the changes BUT we would recommend letting them know the change … Read more
Do I have to pay them during maternity leave? The issue of maternity pay has come up A LOT lately. We’ve had several calls from clients indignant that new staff members have now told them they are pregnant. So here’s the first thing: You can’t fire them for not telling you they are pregnant – they are not legally … Read more
People think I make this stuff up! You couldn’t make it up. Most employers know, for good or bad, that it is tricky to dismiss a pregnant woman. But not impossible. There are ways to part company if performance or attitude is bad, and they involve documenting meetings, setting deadlines etc, so that you can prove that … Read more
He’s pregnant?! Under shared parental leave (introduced 2014) the husband, civil partner or partner of the pregnant women has the right to unpaid time off to attend up to 2 ante-natal appointments. Action: don’t laugh when a man asks for time off to go to an antenatal appointment.
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 … Read more
Bye bye, Bob I’m back, with another story about the unbelievable states golf clubs get themselves into! In this particularly story, we’re on the employee’s side of the fence, rather than the Club. “Bob” was supposed to meet up with the chairman on Friday afternoon to have his weekly catch up meeting. However, on this occasion he … Read more
Dress policy is racist by omission When a new client comes on board, we update their handbook and contracts, explaining and agreeing the contents with them. This process can lead to some interesting conversations, with such an example presenting itself this week. While going through one of the contracts, we discussed the dress policy – which is … Read more
You should be Kean for this Usually I steer clear of puns. They’re not my thing. But I couldn’t help it today. You see, in the last few months I’ve come across a lovely lady called Laura Kean, and her surname just lends itself so wonderfully towards positive puns that it almost felt wrong NOT to … Read more
Calories, not bargains We went to our local bonfire night on Saturday. It was a fine evening – not too cold, but cold enough that we wanted some warm nibbles afterward. The fireworks were in a field in Wallingford, a mere 100m from a nice, spacious Waitrose. So, once the final bang had passed, we headed … Read more
Employee horror story As it’s Halloween I thought I’d share a horror story with you, but then I realised that pretty much all of my emails are horror stories about things that employers try and get away with, and I wasn’t sure whether I had anything that could reach new levels of horror. And then … Read more
Trained to ignore My car told me I had a flat tyre the other week. That’s how sophisticated they’ve become – before you’ve even felt anything, the computer explains loudly and clearly that you need to do something about your tyre. And they don’t just tell you once. They tell you again and again. But … Read more
Auto-enrolment pensions are now a requirement for all staff. No excuses. Even in the smallest of companies, the employer AND the employee have to make a percentage contribution to the pension. And I’ve got to be honest – it makes sense. We all know how pensions have taken a battering over the last few years, … Read more
Unsuitable A client got in touch with us last week, and it wasn’t good news. It was from a lady who was off on maternity leave, and she’d discovered that while she was off, the company had created a new role and invited employees in the department to apply. But here’s the problem – they offered out … Read more
When is she coming back? I had a question from a Club last week which left me entirely speechless: “My admin assistant is on maternity leave, has been for about 6 months I think, and is due back soon. How do I work out when she is due back?” The problem with the question is … Read more
Welby weighs in I see Justin Welby has waded into the new cycle of zero hours bashing in the media. But I’m still just as confused as to why zero hours contracts are subject to the vilification they receive. I mean, sure, when Sports Direct was using them to “trap” a bank of tame workers, … Read more
Heavyweight lightweight advice Christopher went on his first D of E hike this . Getting him kitted out for it was a powerful reminder of how far hiking has come in the last 30 years. You see, I did Silver and Gold D of E, in Cyprus and the UK. I walked a lot of … Read more
Not worth the paper? We were setting up a new client last week, and while we were going through the handbook we got the section about company cars. The client was very pleased with themselves as they had a process to take a photocopy of all employees’ driving licences, both the card and the paper … Read more
But you never said Many employers don’t like to have formal meetings, i.e. in private, with closed doors, with staff who are not performing. Instead, they feel that an “informal” comment at their desk or the coffee machine will be enough for the person to understand the feedback and act on it. In an ideal world, … Read more
Blink, pub and tuba Hiring. It’s not an easy thing is it? You’ve got to get your job advert out there, look at some CVs, choose some people to interview and work out whether they’re up to the job. And – not to forget – you’ve got to deal with your inbuilt sense of prejudice. … Read more
My employee resigned, didn’t she? This case was frustrating because my client had really bent over backward 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 … Read more
The wind and the sun – a modern sales tale I was on my first cruise last week, island hopping in Greece. Needless to say, it was beautiful and the weather was even hotter than in the UK! As well as some proper R&R on the beach, we got out on a number of excursions, … Read more
I was speaking to a restaurant owner this week about a shift manager that wasn’t performing. There was a long list of things that this person: Wasn’t doing but should be doing… Was doing but shouldn’t… …plus general comments about him not being ‘proactive’. But the cherry on top? “He has not been doing his … Read more
