Expectant Mothers – Risk Assessment

Normally, when an employee advises the employer that they are pregnant, the employer will say “congratulations” to the expectant mother. However, depending on their job role, you may have to consider whether there are any aspects of the employee’s job which could be putting the expectant mother and unborn child at risk. This isn’t scare-mongering […]

Managing Menopause in the Workplace

The Menopause continues to be one of the biggest HR hot topics in the workplace. Why? The legal context The Menopause is effectively covered by various strands of legislation. Under the Equality Act, 2010, the Menopause is potentially covered under 3 protected characteristics – age, sex and disability. Also, the Health and Safety at Work […]

Employment law – upcoming changes and what you need to know.

In this article we’ll take a look at the upcoming changes to Employment law and what you need to know. Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 Pregnant employees or those returning from maternity, adoption, or shared parental leave will be protected from redundancy. It will be the employer’s duty to offer these […]

Employee Loans

Employee Loans We are living through a cost of living crisis and employees are facing increases to all their utilities bills, rent and mortgage payments are going up and they struggle to make ends meet from one payday to the next. So, in amongst all this, employees are turning to their employers for either an […]

Interview Feedback

The vast majority of people who go for a job interview will say that they receive little or no feedback about how they performed. Candidates don’t normally receive any feedback other than a rejection and whilst some may say this is disappointing, it is clear that there are 2 opposing points of view that need […]

Varying Terms and Conditions

Most Companies at some stage, for whatever reason, will want to understand how to vary or change terms and conditions of employment. In short, it is possible to change terms and conditions but any change should follow a consultation process and wherever possible, a mutual agreement to change terms and conditions is always preferable. What […]

Medical Certificates

What is meant my medical certification? We all have different names for the same document – a note issued by the Doctor to certify that the employee is not fit for work. Sometimes, they’re called Fit notes, Medical Certificates, Doctor’s note, or maybe a Statement of Fitness for Work, Med 3 or sick note. Regardless […]

Christmas parties – the HR nightmare

It’s party time. The Christmas party should be fun and festive but for employers it can also be the worst nightmare with all the issues associated with unwanted advances, religious discrimination, drink driving, drugs, pictures on social media or dealing with the employee who fails to turn up the next day because they are too […]

Employment that comes with Accommodation

It is not uncommon for an employee’s employment to include the provision of accommodation. This may come about in many different ways – for instance – Residential tutors in the Education setting Accommodation on site for a school caretaker Chefs with Rooms in the hotel/hospitality sector Farm workers who have a cottage on the farm […]

Managing Cancer in the Workplace

At some point every business will be impacted by an employee who comes in with the dreaded words that they are either going through tests for cancer or they have had a diagnosis. So, what is the position and how should a Company manage the situation? The simple and generic answer is that the employer […]

Exit Interviews

What is an exit interview? An exit interview is a discussion or on-line questionnaire that takes place with an employee as they exit the business and the purpose of the discussion is to gather information about their new job role (although they aren’t obliged to tell you anything) but more importantly to get their views […]

SOSR Dismissals

You could easily be forgiven for not having heard of  SOSR Dismissals– some other substantial reason – dismissal. So, let’s explain. An employer can fairly dismiss an employee for one of the 5 “fair reasons” Capability Conduct Redundancy Breach of a statutory restriction Some other substantial reason. SOSR is sometimes seen as the last resort […]

Constructive Dismissal

In this article we look at debunking some common constructive dismissal myths. How many times has an employer said – “I’m worried that they might resign and claim constructive dismissal?” Similarly, how many employees have bragged – “they can’t do that – I’ll take them for constructive dismissal” I’ve lost count so let’s shatter some […]

Probation Periods

Probation periods – what you need to know… It is common practice that when a new employee is recruited, they are advised that their employment is subject to a 3 or 6 month probation period. Everyone is familiar with the concept and the expression but how significant are they? Is a probation period a statutory […]

Managing Long Term Absence – when enough is enough

The Employment Rights Act clearly states that it is fair to dismiss an employee for reasons related to “capability”. There will come a point when an employee who is absent through long term sickness is incapable of doing the job they’re employed to do but the question is – when is that time? There is […]

Mental Health – conflict of interest

Mental health in the workplace is one of the most significant HR challenges and rarely is there a disciplinary or grievance issue or bullying investigation or a performance management issue where mental health is not referenced. It is an ever present in the workplace and it is important to understand from a legal standpoint that […]

The HR Challenges of a Heatwave

The HR Challenges of a heatwave. So typically British – we are only happy when we’re talking about the weather. The Summer also poses challenges for those that aren’t on holiday – they are stuck inside and may be covering colleagues and having to deal with stuffy offices with poor Air Con, windows that don’t […]

Job Descriptions

What is a job description? A job description – often just called a JD – is a documentation of the scope, duties, tasks, responsibilities and accountabilities of a job and also in many cases sets out through a person specification a summary of the skills, experience, competences, attributes and personal qualities etc that the potential […]

Sexism at Work

It doesn’t matter if it is the BBC, Westminster, the Police – every single day we see a new article in the media about sexism, sexual conduct or misogyny at work. Consequently, the whole subject of sexism in the workplace is back on the agenda like never before and what we see, in some cases, […]

Occupational Health Referrals

This article covers the topic of Occupational Health Referrals. In the last few years, there has been a significant increase in long term work related absence, much of it in connection with mental health, stress and anxiety but also being driven by symptoms of long- Covid. Whatever the cause of the absence, it causes operational […]