Employment law is a pain in the a**!-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!-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
Top complaint is bad body odour- 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-£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?-£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-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!-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?-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?-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….-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….-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’m in love…..-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?-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.-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”-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…..-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
Pregnancy myths shattered with a rant.-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
What’s your handicap?-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….-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-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
