Category Archives: Topical comment

Take a breath – furlough leave is not a ‘thing’!

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 information missing and details

Why commercial arguments for change are the most effective in small businesses

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 does not

“Most HR professionals get overwhelmed with stress” but why is this and what can be done?

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 which resonated with

Should HR really be impartial?

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 the meaning

As an HR professional are you confident in your payroll?

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 hairdressing sectors being heavily represented. Common practices

Have tribunal fees modified employer behaviour when it comes to legal risk?

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 reducing the cost to the taxpayer,

Is your organisation discouraging fathers who want to take part in family life?

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

Are tattoos really still a problem in the workplace?

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’ appearance and protection of a brand.

Taking maternity leave is nothing to apologise for!

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 retain’ women. The new