Committees are like teenagers (beware of the rant…)-If you’ve dealt with committees before, then this won’t be news to you, but I just felt the need to write this after dealing with several incidents recently made a whole lot worse by committees… A club manager we were helping being told not only NOT to pay for HR advice (standard) but also being ... Read more
The Wahlen Gauntlet-We’re recruiting again – there seem to be no end to staff issues at the moment, so we’re pretty much at capacity. And when it comes recruitment, I’m pretty ruthless – after all, I’ve got to be happy with the successful candidate giving out critical HR advice in our name, so they’ve got to know ... Read more
Uniquely portable magic-Stephen King coined the phrase, “Books are a uniquely portable magic”. I’m in total agreement – books are pretty much my joint favourite thing. The trouble is, the other thing at the top of the list is travelling, so I really do need my books to be extremely portable. Enter my Kindle, allowing me to ... Read more
Why isn’t this illegal?!-There’s a golf club that’s keen to use us for their HR support, but there’s just one snag: They’re with Citation. Having been with them for three years, they’ve decided they’re not getting the bespoke, personalised support they need, and see the value in working with someone that specialises in golf clubs. Anyway, they’d fulfilled ... Read more
Statutory Sick Pay – what you need to do-There have been thousands of column inches devoted to what Labour is going to do when it comes to employment law – some of it true, some of it less so. But one thing that seems pretty certain (albeit without a specific time frame) is that they’ll make Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) a day-one right ... Read more
Greenkeeper Bob’s back-Greenkeeper Bob went off sick at a club we work with the other day. The story goes that he was working alone on the course on a Sunday, picked up a divot box, and put his back out. You’d assume that that’d be the end of his working day, but apparently he continued to lift ... Read more
Take it from the coat rack lady-I’ve lived without a coat rack for the last six months. I know, it’s been quite the hardship. I had my hallway repainted at the turn of the year – a lovely, dark blue, and once it was done, I decided not to bother putting the coat rack back up; it was worn, old and ... Read more
Leave it to John-I’m no forensic accountant, but I’m currently embroiled in a financial fraud case. A general manager started a new position at a club and was given the “good news” that he didn’t need to worry about it – “John” had taken care of it for years, so he’d keep doing that. General managers have got ... Read more
What Labour means for employment law-The predictions were right, and the polls were fairly accurate – we’ve woken up to a Labour government. Understandably, you might be wondering what this means for your organisation—whether there will be any big changes in the world of employment law and whether you’ll need to do anything differently. First thing to say here is ... Read more
See you on the other side.-This time next week, we’re going to be waking up on the other side of the General Election – the prime minister for the next few years will be confirmed. There’s been plenty of media hype about what the various different parties might change when it comes to employees and employment law; from the sublime ... Read more
Redundancy Consultation Period For 1 Person-Whilst sometimes necessary to secure the future of your business, making employees redundant can be a minefield for employers. If you fail to properly consult with employees during a redundancy process, any subsequent dismissals will likely be unfair and expose you to unfair dismissal claims. There are strict minimum timescales for consultations when the redundancy ... Read more
Hide and Seek-“Hide and seek the general manager” – can’t see it usurping the traditional form of the game, but nevertheless, we have plenty of fun playing it in the Gap HR office. Here’s how it works: We hear from a client that they are moving. So far, so straightforward. Obviously, we hope to continue the relationship ... Read more
Cowardy custard?-We’ve had two new clients sign up on retainer this week, both with really meaty staff issues; the kind we really like to get our teeth into. There’s something else they have in common – both were already paying retainers to other HR companies when they approached us and asked us to help them with ... Read more
The most failed question-We’re recruiting at the moment – a steady stream of new clients over the last few months means we need to grow our team. Our recruitment process is pretty hardcore: after all, the person we hire will be giving advice to our clients, which means it’s got to be spot on. As part of the ... Read more
Do I have to ask before I pat a woman’s bottom?-I’ll be blunt: we have seen a large increase in sexual harassment in golf clubs in recent months. Not between employees. For the most part, they abide by the rules, and when there is an incident, it’s dealt with quickly, effectively and by the book. So, what’s the problem? In a word: the members. I ... Read more
Talk to your staff!-How about this one. The scammers targeted a new employee, let’s call her Sarah, less than two weeks in the company. They sent them an email, allegedly from the managing director, asking Sarah to buy some John Lewis and Apple gift cards to be used as gifts for valued employees. The email asked her to ... Read more
Fag packet step-up.-A client emailed this week, wanting to issue a final written warning for the chef at his club. He’d been drunk at work twice now, and they’d had enough. On the face of it, that all seems sensible – it’s clearly a disciplinary offence; potentially a dismissal. There was one teeny little snag, though: this ... Read more
My osmosis failure-We learnt plenty about osmosis during “O” level biology; trouble was that by the time it came to the exams, I’d forgotten it all. Perhaps I thought the process of osmosis would bail me out – just sleep with the textbook under the pillow, and my brain would be magically instilled with everything I needed ... Read more
It IS a word!!!-Words are important. Any serious Scrabble player reaching for the dictionary will tell you that. And when it comes to employment law, your choice of words couldn’t be more important. I experienced this recently when a golf club committee member got in touch. A member of staff at the club had submitted a grievance against ... Read more
Easter bank holidays 2024 – action required-Some of you need to start thinking about the Easter bank holidays! Keep reading if your holiday year runs from 1 April to 31 March AND you only give the statutory minimum annual leave entitlement (20 days + bank holidays). In 2024, the Easter bank holidays fall on 29 March and 1 April 2024. So, ... Read more
