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
Filling the GAP in HR services: But you never said-Filling the GAP in HR services: 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 ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: Substandard Salcombe-Filling the GAP in HR services: Substandard Salcombe I was in Devon last week. First stop Salcombe for a marketing seminar, and then client visits in Torquay. It was my first few nights away since February, so hearing great things about one of the hotels in Salcombe, I decided to treat myself and book it, ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: 2 plus 2 equals…?-Filling the GAP in HR services: 2 plus 2 equals…? As you can imagine, we’ve been very busy during lockdown and furlough, so much so that we need to take on more staff. We’ve got very high standards, as you might expect, and as a result, we’ve got a pretty stringent recruitment process in place. ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: Stuffed during staycation-Filling the GAP in HR services: Stuffed during staycation We had our “staycation” last weekend. With holidays cancelled and school and university looming, it was time for a bit of TLC, and instead of travelling anywhere, the kids and I decided we’d go out every night to a new restaurant. And I’m glad we did, ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: Dangerous Air Con-Filling the GAP in HR services: Dangerous Air Con As you probably know, you’ve got a duty of care to provide a safe work place. But in usual circumstances, the commute to work is another matter – you’ve got no legal obligation to provide a safe commute; it’s up to the employee to discern what’s ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: A gym too far-Filling the GAP in HR services: A gym too far My son Christopher is now 16. For him, it means he can finally be a “proper” member of the local gym. The gym is at The Swan – the ‘famous’ hotel from Three Men and a Boat, and they don’t accept under-16s, which means we’ve ... Read more
14 Day Isolation Letter-14 Day Isolation Letter The government is announcing instant lockdowns on an almost daily basis on Twitter. Your staff may have to go into self-isolation after a week in sunny Manchester. Therefore we recommend giving out this letter to all staff who have a holiday booked in the next month, so that everything is clear ... Read more
Redundancy Process (Video and Transcript)-The process normally is three weeks consultation – it is a grey area. The ACAS guide is that it should be a reasonable consultation period. I have argued with clients, who then didn’t stay clients for very long, that one day was a reasonable consultation period. No, it’s not and you don’t want to be ... Read more
What other jobs do you have to offer them? (video and transcript)-What other jobs do you have to offer them? (video and transcript) So you’ve spoken to them individually. You’ve offered them all the jobs that are open, you don’t make any decision at this stage about whether they are suitable for them or not. You don’t say, “Oh but that s not going to pay ... Read more
