Sarah ShortApr 28, 2020Topical comment
HR people all over the country (and plenty of non-HR people too!) have been desperately trying to work out how the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme works, how it affects the employment relationship, and battling what has felt like constantly-changing guidance, with...
Sarah ShortAug 21, 2019Topical comment
As HR professionals one of the things we need to do on a relatively frequent basis is persuade employers/clients to do things. To change practices or processes, take various types of actions, implement initiatives. But in the majority of cases, the HR professional...
Sarah ShortJun 6, 2018Topical comment
People Management magazine have released the results of their first HR and L&D ‘satisfaction survey’, which asked more than 600 individuals working in HR about their working lives. There were a number of interesting statistics thrown up by the survey but something...
Sarah ShortFeb 12, 2018Topical comment
In a recent constructive dismissal case brought by an employee of the Royal British Legion, the tribunal judge was very critical of the HR team involved, saying they were “not fit for purpose… dictatorial, not impartial and unhelpful”, and seemed “not to understand...
Sarah ShortFeb 20, 2017Topical comment
The government last week published the longest-ever list of employers who have violated minimum wage legislation. Biggest offender was retail giant Debenhams, who underpaid almost 12,000 workers to the tune of nearly £135,000, with the retail, hospitality and...
Sarah ShortFeb 7, 2017Topical comment
The government has published its long-awaited review into the introduction of fees in the Employment Tribunals, together with consultation on proposed changes. The fees were introduced with the objectives of reducing the number of vexatious or unnecessary claims and...
Sarah ShortJan 23, 2017Topical comment, Work life balance
I read with interest the 2017 Modern Families Index Report from Working Families. I was interested because our consultants’ clients are among many employers who have had very low (if any) take up of Shared Parental Leave, and I have been pondering the reasons. There...
Sarah ShortOct 3, 2016Topical comment
Acas recently published a research paper on dress codes and appearance at work. The paper examined a number of areas around appearance, including dress codes in different industries, attitudes to physical appearance during recruitment and the link between employees’...
Sarah ShortSep 21, 2016Topical comment
I have been reading this morning about ‘Working Forward’ the new campaign set up by the Equality Human Rights Commission and a number of leading British businesses aimed at supporting pregnancy and maternity rights and showing employers how to ‘attract, develop and...
