Pincher by name…..-Unless you’ve sworn off the media completely (and I wouldn’t blame you if you had), you’ll be well aware of the Pincher saga – the bad behaviour of MP Chris Pincher, and the government’s various attempts to deal with the situation. What I’m more interested in is how the Carlton Club – the venue for ... Read more
Fit note frenzy?-Fit note frenzy? It’s not the easiest time to be a business owner, what with staff shortages, inflation, cost of living, Brexit and Ukraine. Which makes it the natural moment for the government to make your life even harder. From next Friday, sick notes (officially Fit Notes) can be officially signed by registered nurses, occupational ... Read more
You’re fired. But before you go…-You’re fired. But before you go… The moment when Lord Sugar points the finger and gives the contestants their marching orders has gone down in TV folklore. But I’ve never seen him ask someone to complete a task after firing them. After all, they’re fired: why would they? Bizarrely though, we’ve seen employers attempting to ... Read more
Just because you’re bored with it…-Just because you’re bored with it… I went shopping last weekend. The official reason was to buy birthday presents for others, but you know how things go: I found myself in my favourite perfume shop, L’Occitane. I’ve been wearing Oud & Rose since last summer, which I really love, so I thought I’d treat myself ... Read more
Are they over yet?-Are they over yet? Being a full-time business owner and mum is great. But it takes its toll in the summer. I had a plan to write something about the whole ‘back to school’ period, but then I came across something written by a friend of mine, Sara Southey, which is beautifully put, so rather ... Read more
What Is Their Notice Period If They Don’t Have A Contract?-When it comes to employment law and notice periods, one of the most common questions we’re asked is ‘what is their notice period if they don’t have a contract?’. Of course, any worker you hire has rights under employment law, and employers also have rights when it comes to people leaving the business. If you’ve ... Read more
Do zero hours and casual workers need holiday pay?-Do zero hours workers need holiday pay? Yes! All employees earn holiday pay. It is also important to remember that part time employees cannot be discriminated against, which means that you cannot give them less holiday (pro rata) than full time workers. The reason for this is that the majority of zero hours or casual ... Read more
Can I just fire zero hours and casual workers?-Can I just fire zero hours and casual workers? No! You can never “just fire” any employee. As an employer, you have a duty to make sure that you follow a fair and legal process when dealing with any employee. The easiest employees to dismiss are those under two years. If an employee has been ... Read more
What is the notice period for a zero hours or casual worker?-What is the notice period for a zero hours or casual worker? As the employment term for a zero-hours or casual worker feels different to that of a full-time worker, most employers feel as though their notice period too should differ from that of a regular employee. Because zero hours or casual workers have the ... Read more
What constitutes a zero hours or casual worker?-What constitutes a zero hours or casual worker? Unsurprisingly, just like with all other employees, there is a formal process you must follow whilst employing a zero hours or casual worker. They must have a contract when working for you, and if not – then they don’t count as a zero hours or casual worker. ... Read more
Sickness absence with a silver lining-Sickness absence with a silver lining The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has just released its sickness figures for 2021. And they aren’t as bad as you might think. In 2021 approximately 149.3 million working days were lost due to sickness or injury. Which sounds a lot but is the same as just 4.6 days ... Read more
Optional auto enrolment?-Optional auto-enrolment? I was talking to a club the other week that’d got themselves in a sticky situation, pension-wise. An employee had left them back in February and had come back to them to let them know that his pensions was now “set up” and ready for them to make payments. Got the foggiest? No, ... Read more
Sickness absence – too much?!-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 ... Read more
How to turn raving fans into vocal critics-How to turn raving fans into vocal critics Cast your mind back to July last year. We’d just come out of Lockdown 3, and although life in the UK was returning to normality, it was still super difficult to get on a plane, or travel to other countries. And there I was looking at holidays ... Read more
Settlement agreements and redundancy- A settlement agreement is where an employee gives up their right to bring legal action against their employer at the end of their employment, usually in exchange for payment. Once an agreement has been reached, the employee has officially given up their right to bring a case against you in an employment tribunal. It’s ... Read more
Hiring your first employee- Hiring my first employee was scary for me, because I really did know all the horror stories about staff behaving badly from my work advising clients. But I realised that I could not move the business forward without hiring my first employee. I had tried freelancers and it worked, to a point. But there ... Read more
Modernism lessons from the Guides-Modernism lessons from the Guides By September, both of my children will have flown the nest (at least for a while). Which means that for the first time in about 20 years, I’ll have ALL of my waking hours free of commitments. It sounds fantastic, but I’m under no illusions that I could get a ... Read more
Statutory entitlements-Statutory entitlements The beginning of April is one of the most significant times in the annual HR calendar. Because that is when all the statutory employment entitlements change. There is no legal requirement to inform your staff of the changes to the statutory payments other than the minimum wage. Statutory payments (per hour) From 1 ... Read more
Bet you can’t get 10-Bet you can’t get 10 Disciplinaries. Every employer’s heard of them, maybe some have even used them as part of their “process”. But do you actually know how to conduct a disciplinary in a way that moves you closer to your desired outcome, without falling foul of the long arm of the law? The truth ... Read more
Book promotion-Book promotion As a regular reader of this blog, you’ll already know that working in HR is very much like working on the submissions team in the creative writing department at Random House. Every day brings a selection of new short stories, each one packed full of unforgettable characters and unexpected plot twists. So many ... Read more
