From time to time we will be challenged as to whether an employee who is to be disciplined has to have a seperate investigatory hearing in order for any disciplinary sanction to be fair. There are very valid reasons why we might conduct a seperate investigatory meeting: When we need to establish more facts before […]
Many organisations like to celebrate with a Christmas party or meal with colleagues. Often the employer will either host the event, be responsible for organising it, or pay for certain parts of it. Ideally the day following a Christmas Party will be a non-working day, but for many organisations that is not possible and some […]
Employment rights for those affected by the collapse of Thomas Cook and their employers. Today we wake up to the news that Thomas Cook has collapsed at 2 a.m. this morning. Whilst the 9000 UK based employees are in all our thoughts, this article will focus on employment rights if you have employees affected by […]
From time to time, people meet at work. Hey, me and Mr Edmunds met at work, and his first attempt to get my attention was as a footer to an email. Sadly some people use email to harass colleagues who have already advised the other party that they are not interested. For employers this is […]
What do you do if an employee suddenly informs in the middle of their shift, without notice, that they need to go out to a doctors appointment in an hours time? Or any other personal appointment? What about a midwife appointment? It’s not a personal appointment but surely if it’s a pregnant employee, they have […]
We are thinking about communication today as we prepare for a workshop in 2 weeks time. We often talk about talking and the importance of getting our points across. But when we are communicating its really important that we listen. Learning to listen can be an obvious skill but not easy one. Often when we […]
Commencing on 5 May 2019, Ramadan is an important part of the Islamic faith involving a period of fasting during daylight hours. We recommend you consider how these commitments could affect workplace performance and how you can support Muslim employees during this time. Abstaining from eating or drinking during daylight hours can take its toll […]
Background The government has introduced some changes to the legal requirements of the trusty payslip and these changes came into force on 6th April 2019. Payslips can be confusing enough at the best of times and can lead to misinterpretation and misunderstanding which can result in negativity. No one likes to think that their payslip is […]
When we think about performance management, we tend to think of the annual appraisal process to ensure that targets have been met throughout the year, and set goals for the following twelve months in line with organisational strategies and goals. However, this is becoming a somewhat more stagnant approach. Although the idea of an annual […]
Tis the season to be jolly…but this one can occur all year round. With the festivities rapidly approaching, what are the risks for businesses with people over indulging in the celebrations with 1 or 2 too many Eggnogs and then attending work next day, some what worse for wear. People attending work under the influence, […]
Since April 2020 your contracts of employment need to show whether you have a probationary period. But remember they only occur once in employment, they don’t reappear when you issue a new contract or when someone has a promotion or new title. Probationary Periods have to be used carefully. For example if your contract has […]
Yes they can, so long as they can show that they have given the request due consideration and haven’t discriminated. It is not uncommon for employees returning from maternity leave to request flexible working. Agreeing to changes may cause a detriment to the business, but in today’s litigious environment, saying no can leave rise to […]
How do I balance employees’ understandable interest with the needs of the business? You are not the first person to have asked me about this. World Cup fever is setting in around the country, right on the back of Royal Wedding fever. Even ACAS is on board and has issued advice to businesses, encouraging them […]
All too often we read about Day Nursery and Pre-school employers being told, don’t worry you can dismiss that person, they have under 2 years’ service. There’s nothing they can do about it. In the UK, we have what are classed as ‘automatically unfair’ reasons, this is where the dismissal is connected with the employee […]
In a unusual case at Employment Tribunal, a Belfast mother has won a disability discrimination case against the community advice centre that employed her. Maria McKeith was awarded £19,000 in compensation after she successfully brought a claim against her employer, the Ardoynne Association. She had worked part time since 2010 but was dismissed in March […]
Arrested! It’s been one of those weeks. Lots of interesting HR challenges to keep us on our toes and our pencils sharpened and dealing with an employer whose staff member had been arrested the night before was one such challenge as its not every week it happens. Case it should happen to you, here’s some […]
[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”] At the end of July you will have read that a decision has been reached in the courts on the case brought by Unison regarding how fair it was for the Government to introduce fees for applicants for employment tribunals. […]
Most weeks we get a request to help calculate holidays often with atypical contracts. In terms of staff queries, holiday entitlement is up there at the top of the list when it comes to staff querying with their employer whether the employer has got it right or not. As an employer you always want to […]
Can a Company be vicariously liable for the action of an employee? It depends on what the case involves. In a recent case a Company was found not to be vicariously liable for injuries caused by an employee after a work Christmas party has ended? This was because it was after the Christmas Party and not during […]
Employment References It is common place for organisations to request employment references to establish the facts of employment and a necessity for Early Year’s employers. We normally approach the most recent employer, supervisor or educational establishment before other references. It is good practice only to seek employment references once a job offer has been made, not prior […]
Note taking in a disciplinary hearing is an important role, but who will do it? A common concern for Line Managers when conducting disciplinary hearings. The days of an employer having a skilled secretary to take short hand in disciplinary hearings are long gone for many an employer and so the role is left to […]
Stages of discipline- A Useful reminder of Disciplinary Warnings. Disciplinary hearings are common in many organisations. Employees are naughty and the employer feels that dealing with the misconduct formally under the Company’s Disciplinary procedure is the best course of action. I often get asked whether an employee can be given a final written warning before […]
Workplace conversations – why they matter For some time I’ve been a firm believer that we are losing the ability to talk as managers. We want to (or some of us do), but we don’t know how, or we are worried we’ll get it wrong so we either don’t say anything or we say it in texts, […]
How to Deal with an Employee with Regular Wind? Thankfully this issue doesn’t come up that often but dealing with an employee with wind is always a sensitive issue much like body odour. How would you address an issue of an employee with regular wind, who tells you that they have IBS. In addition what would […]
Dealing with staff with body odour
Today I have been talking to an employer about a case of employee fraud. This time the employee has been claiming for commission on sales they didn’t make, and the employer’s systems were not in place to spot the claim before many thousands of pounds had been paid out incorrectly. It’s a timely reminder that […]
According to the news 11,000 UK citizens are stranded on holiday in Sharm at the moment. That figure is made up of approx 9000 package holiday makes and 2,000 flight only guests. It would be fair to estimate that could be 6,000 or so employees of UK employers will not be back at work on […]
From time to time, you may face handling a grievance under your organisation’s Grievance Policy & Procedures. Here’s a checklist for you to use when handling a grievance. Checklist when handling grievances under ACAS Code of Practice Has the matter been tried to be resolved informally, if not does the employee want the matter to […]
I come across a lot of employers who tell me that they have had to find light duties for their employee, because the doctor told them to. When pressed about this, it is often apparent that no light duties existed and the employee is being paid to sit around. The employer felt obligated to allow […]
Meetings rarely proceed in a neat fashion with orderly stages. Here a Disciplinary Hearing Checklist to use to get your disciplinary hearing off to a good start. If the employee has not brought an accompaniment – check that they do not want one and that they are happy to proceed unaccompanied. Make sure this check is […]
