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
Redundancy Pool (video and transcript)-Redundancy Pool (video and transcript) If you only have one person in your redundancy pool, the courts see that as unfair dismissal. They see it as a not a fair redundancy process they see it as the employer trying to get rid of one employee. And that is, unfortunately, going to be the case that ... Read more
Redundancy Pay – Zero hour contracts (video and transcript)-Redundancy Pay – Zero hour contracts (video and transcript) So, to know how much you need to pay zero hours workers for redundancy, you need to look at the last 12 weeks of pay that they have received. You would discount any weeks that they haven’t actually worked, or they’ve been on holiday and you ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: Royal Mail made me buy an iPad-Filling the GAP in HR services: Royal Mail made me buy an iPad I love reading. But, with a busy business, and two teenagers, I don’t usually get to do as much as I’d like. Lockdown was different though – the extra time at the weekends meant I could indulge my passion to the full. ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: Dodgy whatsapp images-Filling the GAP in HR services: Dodgy whatsapp images Your employees, however well you get on with them, are there to earn money. Never forget this. So many small business owners make the mistake of treating employees like family or buddies. This is all well and good when things are going smoothly. But what happens ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: A veneer of availabililty-Filling the GAP in HR services: A veneer of availability I tried to buy a TV this weekend. We’ve needed a new one for months, ever since I pressed too hard on a corner and created black lines across the top of the screen. In truth, we’ve bumbled along just fine, barely noticing the line, ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: Audible Subscription-Filling the GAP in HR services: Audible Subscription I love listening to podcasts. I’ve got my favourites – “No Such Thing As A Fish” and “The Infinite Monkey Cage” have been the pick of the bunch over the last year or so. But when we went into lockdown, I rapidly “used up” all my podcasts, ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: Tequila and TV-Filling the GAP in HR services: Tequila and TV We’ve all had our vices during the lockdown. A bar of Dairy Milk for some people, a glass of red wine for others. Mine? Tequila and television. Don’t worry, I haven’t let my liking for the Mexican liquid get the better of me – I’m not ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR Services: Night Owl-Filling the GAP in HR Services: Night Owl I’m a night owl. Always have been. Getting up at the crack of dawn has never been my thing, and consistently I’ve done my best work and had my best ideas once the sun has dipped below the horizon. But, being a mother of two, I’ve had ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: Dirty little habit of mine-Filling the GAP in HR services: Dirty little habit of mine. Since “lockdown” began, we’ve all been closer to our nearest and dearest than we ever thought we would be. And in this strange, coronavirus world, some of our loved ones’ habits are bound to be seen as cause for justifiable manslaughter – “If he ... Read more
Filling the Gap in HR Services: Caribbean in Oxfordshire-Filling the Gap in HR Services: Caribbean in Oxfordshire As we enter yet another weekend in lockdown, albeit one with cooler weather on the horizon, I can’t help but cast my mind back to last weekend. It really was lovely – one of the nicest Easter weekends I’ve ever experienced; so different from the ones ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR Services: Eight Whole Hours-Filling the GAP in HR Services: Eight Whole Hours I’ve been spending a lot of time on Zoom recently. I’m sure you have too. But when I say “a lot of time”, I don’t mean a 30-minute team meeting and a pub quiz in the evening. I mean hours and hours and hours – an ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR Services: A very lovely silver lining-Filling the GAP in HR Services: A very lovely silver lining Last night, I realised that the isolation is playing into the hands of one of my favourite creatures: Hedgehogs. I’ve been a fan of the little snuffly animals for a while – we have a family of three living under next door’s shed, and ... Read more
Filling the Gap in HR Services: Blindsided-Filling the Gap in HR Services: Blindsided We were all worried about the effects that Brexit would have on our businesses, and now we’ve been blindsided by Covid-19. Clearly the next few weeks will make running a business and dealing with staff particularly challenging, so I just thought I’d drop you a quick line to ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR Services: Coronavirus Employer Update-Filling the GAP in HR Services: Coronavirus Employer Update If you are struggling, here are some options: Reduce all the zero hours people to zero hours, if you have them. How much you still have to pay other staff? Do still need to make cuts? Next step would be to fire all staff under 2 ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: HR update – Coronavirus-Filling the GAP in HR services: HR update – Coronavirus Latest employer related updates regarding coronavirus: Statutory sick pay is now to be paid from day one of illness. No other changes to the amount paid or for how long – 28 weeks. The Chancellor said that SSP for all companies with fewer than 250 ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR Services: Being Grounded-Filling the GAP in HR Services: Being Grounded As I write this, we’re at the end of the second day of full lockdown, or “being grounded” as I like to refer to it. And what amazes me is how the media is rubbing salt in our wounds, by playing out of date TV and radio ... Read more
Filling the GAP in HR services: No planned perspiration-Filling the GAP in HR services: No planned perspiration I went up to London with Frances and Christopher at the weekend. I’d booked the Mischief Theatre’s Magic Goes Wrong at the Vaudeville Theatre, so we hopped on the train and off we went. I printed the tickets, checked the route in London, and although it ... Read more
