Blink, pub and tuba Hiring. It’s not an easy thing is it? You’ve got to get your job advert out there, look at some CVs, choose some people to interview and work out whether they’re up to the job. And – not to forget – you’ve got to deal with your inbuilt sense of prejudice. … Read more
My employee resigned, didn’t she? This case was frustrating because my client had really bent over backward to help, and it had backfired badly. The employee had resigned, and then said that as she was intending to move up north, and things hadn’t been finalised, could she stay on till the end of term (this … Read more
The wind and the sun – a modern sales tale I was on my first cruise last week, island hopping in Greece. Needless to say, it was beautiful and the weather was even hotter than in the UK! As well as some proper R&R on the beach, we got out on a number of excursions, … Read more
I was speaking to a restaurant owner this week about a shift manager that wasn’t performing. There was a long list of things that this person: Wasn’t doing but should be doing… Was doing but shouldn’t… …plus general comments about him not being ‘proactive’. But the cherry on top? “He has not been doing his … Read more
Not much happening in the hot weather Now that the holiday season is upon us, you might feel that your staff aren’t really working at their “full potential”. But take consolation that they are probably working more than this guy! A Spanish civil servant has been banned from holding public posts, after his bosses found … Read more
Standard practice for you I’m currently working with one of our clients on a professional negligence disciplinary case. The employee going through the disciplinary process is a standalone bookkeeper in the company and he’s been there for over two years. And he’s been making mistakes. A lot of them. He’s been on holiday for the past two … Read more
Grumpy and relaxed Frances has finished her GCSEs now, so she’s hanging around the house. There’s only so much scrolling down her phone she can do though, so I decided to drag her out and do something nice. After chatting it through, we settled on a spa visit, so I jumped straight online to research … Read more
Far more serious One of the things I realized in the midst of the GDPR furor was that most people were only taking action because there was a natural deadline – the 25th May. But as an employment law expert, it all seemed a bit ironic to me. You see, all of these people were moving … Read more
Your card has been declined. I had a call on Saturday from my bank’s fraud department. They were concerned about some transactions on my account. Unfortunately, I couldn’t identify one of them and I couldn’t look it up at the time, as I was out with Comet. So the lady asked me to call back … Read more
What a palaver that was! If you cast your mind back just a couple of weeks, you’ll remember the hoo-haa that preceded the General Data Protection Regulation coming into force. Every Tom, Dick and Henrietta was emailing their list, asking them to ‘opt back in’, and snake oil salespeople galore were making money from the … Read more
Does GDPR mean e-mail marketing is dead? If you’ve been in business for a while, you’ll be familiar with the trends coming round and round again. And often in small business marketing, with marketers trying to sell new initiatives all the time, methods die and then rise from the ashes like a phoenix, only to be pronounced … Read more
he acronym on everyone’s lips…. What’s the acronym you’ve heard most this year? For me, there’s only one answer: GDPR. The whole country’s been swept up into a widespread panic, with all and sundry concerned that they won’t be ‘compliant’. And as an employer you probably won’t be. GDPR for staff is VERY different to … Read more
If you’ve been in business for a while, you’ll be familiar with the trends coming round and round again. And often in small business marketing, with marketers trying to sell new initiatives all the time, methods die and then rise from the ashes like a phoenix, only to be pronounced dead again when the marketer … Read more
Most of us have a non-compete and confidentiality clause in the contract reminding employees that the data they work with is confidential and not to be taken outside of the company (if you don’t, give me a call!). However, if you do have an ex-employee who you discover has taken your client data to a rival … Read more
You won’t guess what my festive ritual is…. I went in for my annual health check this week. The “official” reason I go for a check each year is to ensure there aren’t any “hidden dangers”. Unofficially, I want to see impact my dissolute lifestyle is having on my body, and whether I need to forego … Read more
Poisoning the Greenkeeper. “A Greenkeeper has just accused his colleague of poisoning him. What shall we do now?” This is the absolute corker of a client question this year so far, by miles! And here’s the story… The Greenkeeper in question had decided that all of the drinks he had at the club tasted “funny”. … Read more
There. I’ve said it. Am I allowed – as an employment law expert – to say that? Aren’t I supposed to pretend that this is all perfectly reasonable? I’ll be honest with you, there are some processes in employment law that make me want to bang my head against a brick wall. And I can … Read more
Off on the road again! I am very proud to be sponsoring the prestigious GCMA Team of the Year award this year. And you know what? I get to do a fun road trip as well! Yesterday I went to the very sunny wilds of Wales to assess Pyle and Kenfig Golf Club, finalists in the … Read more
This was mentioned at our recent training session, so I thought you would be interested in this article about how to deal with smelly bods! Bad body odour is the most disliked personal hygiene problem – 70% of employees say it’s their top bugbear. If you receive a complaint about someone’s BO, what’s the … Read more
£1,500 part two Well it’s fair to say I got some interesting responses from Friday’s email. To jog your memory, I told the story of a club who had £1,500 go missing from the safe, with the last person to see it an employee who was cashing up. And the question was: what’s the right … Read more
£1500 missing? What would YOU do? I’ve got to be honest: I love a good whodunnit. And I’ve got one for all the Sherlock Holmes fans out there. Here’s the scenario: You run the bar at a golf club. One week, although the till shows takings are good, there’s actually £1500 less in the safe … Read more
Fixed Term Fired Many employers, particularly those with projects, like to offer employees a fixed term contract because they think it will be easier to get rid of them. Their perception is that the contract will just come to an end and they won’t have to do the awkward bit of “giving notice”. It doesn’t … Read more
NMW how to avoid getting your name in the paper for all the wrong reasons! Thanks to my accountant, Greg at Fizz Accounting, for this timely and helpful guide to a surprisingly tricky area. The National Minimum Wage has been a hot topic recently, with some big-name employers like Argos getting caught out for underpaying … Read more
VW not so much for the “people” after all? I’m after a new car. My lease expires in January, and I’m in the process of using the end of quarter sales targets to get a brilliant deal. And yes, I want ‘brilliant’, not just ‘good’. Last weekend we went round 8 car showrooms, on the … Read more
Summer holidays – Are they over yet? Being a full-time business owner and mum is great. But it takes its toll in the summer. I had a plan to write something about the whole ‘back to school’ period, but then I came across something written by a friend of mine, Sara Southey, which is beautifully … Read more
Committees are like teenagers…. 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 … Read more
Throwing £360k away…. As adults we learn a few “truths” about life: There’s no such thing as a free lunch Too good to be true usually is Your pay always looks less impressive when it hits your bank account But there are also gender specific “truths” that “everyone knows” and that some people are foolish … Read more
I was speaking to a company the other day and they asked a worrying question. “We’ve had an account manager on light duties since December last year because he has shoulder problems. When can we reduce his salary?” I almost fell off my chair. They had continued to pay full salary for someone only doing … Read more
I’m in love….. I’ll admit it: I’m in love with Amazon all over again. It’s my default shop for buying stuff, any stuff, because they make it easy to buy and I know that I will get what I have ordered or can get my money back, without any hassle. Not to mention the fact … Read more
Is ageism alive and kicking? Research from the Department for Work and Pensions has shown that age discrimination is still a problem in Britain today. The Attitude to Age report showed that one third of those asked said that they had experienced ageism at least once in the last year. I have actually experienced this recently, when helping … Read more
Pretty but not switched on. I was at a charity boxing match on Saturday night. Not my thing usually, but a friend was getting in the ring to raise money so I thought I’d support him. And I loved it! I have always been against blood sports, but I was shocked by how quickly I … Read more
137.3 million days “Off sick” The Office for National Statistics (ONS), has just released its sickness figures for 2016. And they aren’t as bad as you might think. In 2016 approximately 137.3 million working days were lost due to sickness or injury. Which sounds a lot, but is the same as just 4.3 days per … Read more
If you can’t stay on the fairway, you shouldn’t be playing….. You probably saw Rory McIlroy’s less than stellar start at the US Open yesterday, and after his horror show round, he wasn’t making any excuses, admitting that his timing was off and he was a little bit rusty. He also said something else really … Read more
Solicitors in redundancy are always a hot topic – but you’re probably wondering where the law stands about this.. Can they bring a solicitor to the redundancy meeting? As you’d expect, we’re having a lot of conversations about redundancy at the moment, and if you’re sadly having to consider redundancy, then here are some must … Read more
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 employ a woman of childbearing age, … Read more
Yes! If you employ anyone, be it a receptionist, sales person or nanny means that you have responsibilities under employment law. As is usual in law, ignorance is not a defence and will not protect you! You don’t need to pay redundancy to staff who have worked less than two years for you. You will … Read more
What’s your handicap? I’ve been solving staff issues for years, and that combined with bringing up two young kids historically hasn’t left me with much time. These days though, with the business going well and the kids more independent, I now have a small amount of time for myself, and in the last 12 months, … Read more
How the dog throwing up on my camel made me think…. I woke up on Saturday morning to the sound of Comet the dog throwing up on the bed. The quickest way to get wide awake and out of bed at 7am on a Saturday! Despite my best efforts to stop him throwing up in … Read more
Don’t do this…..recruitment When you recruit new staff, DON’T: Recruit someone you find attractive (apparently most of us do! You are NOT Hugh Hefner!) Accept their word that they can do something – test them Reject them giving one of the protected characteristics as a reason (unlimited £££ tribunal claim) If you know of a … Read more
Short answer to this is no (sorry, know you didn’t want to hear that!). They may have stormed out after a row. They may have calmly handed in their notice once their pay was on their bank account. But as far as they’re concerned, it’s over. You could try and get them to stay with … Read more
