Scary stats-Scary stats In a normal year, we’re hard at work advising our clients. In the last 12 months, our busyness has been off the scale. Thanks to the pandemic, more employers than ever have needed our help to ensure they do the right things, operate in the right way, and stay out of employment tribunals. ... Read more
No such thing?-No such thing? At the best of times, dealing with corporate monstrosities is pretty challenging. Since Covid, it’s become an utter nightmare, with more barriers and irrelevant questions in every single interaction. Take Thames Water as an example – they called me yesterday to book a date to install a water meter. The guy on ... Read more
What is the current default retirement age?-What is the current default retirement age? I ask this during my presentations quite a bit, and get A LOT of different answers, with “65” being the most common The real answer? There isn’t one. It was abolished in October 2011, with a short transition period where you were allowed to give your employees six ... Read more
Failing at Dismissal-Failing at Dismissal We’ve had a few clients failing at the “dismissal stage” recently. Each one for exactly the same thing – not telling us that they KNEW the employee had long term mental health issues. As the saying goes – the truth will out, and it always does, just as soon as the employee ... Read more
The metaphorical unicorn that this employee never saw-The metaphorical unicorn that this employee never saw. I was talking to a friend the other day, and she was probing me about human resources-related stuff (occupational hazard!). One of the things she was keen to know was whether there was a requirement for an employer to have a handbook that they gave to their ... Read more
The Goldilocks Principle (and rats!)-Last month, my daughter saw a rat. She was in our (very messy) garage with our miniature schnauzer Comet, and it scuttled right in front of them. Comet successfully ignored generations of breeding and let the rat go, choosing to focus on a manky tennis ball instead. Luckily, one of our clients specialises in pest ... Read more
Employment Law Scrapped-Employment Law Scrapped I was speaking to a prospect the other day, and while he was interested in our support, it quickly became clear that he didn’t feel he would need it going forward. Not because he wouldn’t experience issues in his organization, but because – in his words – “Now we’ve had Brexit, the ... Read more
Can you make an employee get the vaccine?-Can you make an employee get the vaccine? I got a question today from an employee asking whether he could be disciplined for not getting the vaccine if/when it is offered. The government has been pleasantly surprised with the take up of the vaccination programme in the UK so far – they were hoping for ... Read more
Can I make them return to work after lockdown?-Can I make them return to work after the lockdown? If you’re anything like me, you’ve definitely got an ear to the ground for the inevitable leaks that’ll come from the government ahead of Boris’ big speech on Monday. You’re probably also thinking about your employees, can I make them return to work after lockdown? ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: Pregnancy myths shattered with a rant…-Filling the GAP in HR services: Pregnancy myths shattered with a rant… I got an email from a business coach the other day, and halfway through it, I felt like I’d been slapped. In the middle of a perfectly acceptable rant about poor service, the rant segued into saying how no business owner should ever ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: Insert expletive of your choice-Filling the GAP in HR services: Insert expletive of your choice ‘It is a real shame that ACAS is falling down in its main job: supporting people who have been unfairly treated by their employers. We’ve always had a lot of contact on our client’s behalf with ACAS at the Early Conciliation level (the month ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR Services: No choice but to share this idiocy-As you’d expect, we read about tribunal cases all the time. And occasionally, as last week, I feel I have no choice but to share with you the idiocy of the employer involved, in the hope that you won’t make the same mistakes. This week is no different, and this time it’s the NHS in ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: Women are more expensive than men-Filling the GAP in HR services: Women are more expensive than men It’s an accepted “fact” of business life – women are more expensive to employ than men. But is it true? Few people like to go on the record about it – largely through fear of getting a knock on the door from politically ... Read more
Filling the Gap in HR services: Incurably itchy wrist-Filling the Gap in HR services: Incurably itchy wrist I bought myself a new Fitbit for Christmas. I kind of had to, because I lost my old one at the end of last year, and while health is actually the point of exercise, turning it into a competition makes me far more likely to engage ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: Undeserved reputation-Filling the GAP in HR services: Undeserved reputation You might think that once you’ve got a box of Christmas decorations, you’re done – the same collection can come out and go on the tree each and every year. But that’s not how I operate – despite developing a reputation for Grinchiness, I do rather love ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: Cynicism gives way to desire-Filling the GAP in HR services: Cynicism gives way to desire As you’ll know, from the many, many (many) emails sent out by retailers, last week was Black Friday – the one time of the year when my cynicism gives way to be desire for a bargain. I’ve wanted a robot vacuum cleaner for ages, ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: The most popular page…-Filling the GAP in HR services: The most popular page… Every now and again I take a look at the most popular pages on our website. And pretty much every time I do, the same answer comes up, which is an article on the penalty for not issuing an employment contract. Since it’s proved very ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: Off to the Apollo….-Filling the GAP in HR services: Off to the Apollo…. Got any plans for tonight? I’m off to the Apollo to see Jimmy Carr. I’ll get into the Big Smoke early, grab myself a bite to eat and enjoy an evening out. Not really. That was the plan, before Lockdown 2.0 got involved. Now I’ll ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: Canny employees will hate this shift-Employers rejoice – the eternal battlefield of employment law has made a small but significant shift in favour of the employer. And it’s in the area of disciplinaries. Some employees are extremely canny when it comes to the disciplinary procedure. They’ll push and push and push until it seems they can push no more, and ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: Square Root of Diddly Squat-Filling the GAP in HR services: Square Root of Diddly Squat I doubt I’m alone in feeling a sense of déjà vu this week – the shelves are bare, Zoom quizzes are already being organised, and I’m receiving scores of emails from restaurants, hotels and other businesses explaining the degree to which they’re open or ... Read more
