Filling the Gap in HR services: A bit like an intern.-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…-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…..-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….-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?-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!-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?!-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-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-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-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-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-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-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-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
Committing A Criminal Offence-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-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?-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-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-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?-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
