Hybrid working, or the ‘new’ way of working, has been a popular model with many employers and has gained a lot of positive press with employees throughout the UK over the past 18 months, as we have navigated working during the pandemic. However, ‘work from home if you...
You may have seen recent coverage of an Employment Tribunal case that hit the headlines because of the large amount of compensation - £185,000 – awarded to an estate agent who succeeded in a case of indirect sex discrimination against her employer for refusing her...
Flexible working has become much more common and grown in importance as a way of working in the last couple of years, as we all struggled to work out how best to work from home during the Covid-19 pandemic, and our staff got used to the flexibility of working remotely...
The Covid-19 pandemic stopped employees all over the country from coming into work, and subsequently sparked a culture shift for the UK’s workforce towards working from home. As we emerge from the pandemic, the option of combining the two in hybrid working is becoming...
When planning the move to remote or hybrid working, it’s easy to focus on the money you’ll save on your office space. But it’s important to keep track of any additional expenses you might incur, to make sure you’re not losing out overall. Ever since we all locked our...
With travel opening up this summer, you may well see some employees asking to work for extended periods from warmer, drier climes if they have the chance to spend a few weeks abroad. With the advances in remote working during Covid, you may be happy to try to...
As schools break up for the summer and Covid 19 restrictions ease, you may be struggling to work out how to manage staff absences over the summer period, especially if they will be required to quarantine after a holiday abroad. This may not be as much of an issue if...
Are you considering shifting your teams to a hybrid working model? While the ‘new’ way of working has gained a lot of positive press, there are a few things to consider before you jump on the bandwagon. Right now is the perfect time to consider switching to a hybrid...
Before you make the leap and move your office space or cancel a lease, there are lots of things to consider about hybrid working. Hybrid working is one of the hottest trends in business because in theory, it suits everyone. In an ideal world your team will work...
Welcoming back furloughed employees won’t be as simple as giving them a quick call and telling them to start on Monday. If you want to help them feel welcome and part of the team again, you’ll need to plan their reintegration. Whether your employees have been...
Although the government has urged companies to return to the office, over the last year lots of us have realised that home working can actually work. But is it the right decision for your organisation in the long-term? And what adjustments do you have to make? Many...
It’s not an ideal situation working from home with children, but during a prolonged crisis like the Coronavirus pandemic, lots of your parent employees and indeed you, may find this situation unavoidable. Looking after a child and home-schooling is a full-time job in...
Managing remote interns can be tricky. You want to give them the right amount of guidance and trust, but how can you mentor someone thousands of miles away? Setting your remote intern up for success with these best practices is crucial. Who would’ve thought that...
Giving ongoing constructive feedback is one of the best ways to let your employees know how they are performing and what is expected from them. This is especially important when staff members aren’t performing at their best to help prevent any negative feelings that...
If you’re involved in a TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment) transfer process, either as the outgoing employer (the “transferor”) or incoming employer (the “transferee”), there are several crucial steps you need to follow to make sure you get...
Now that 99% of people have a smartphone in their pocket, it’s a real worry for employers that they’ll find themselves being secretly recorded by an employee. This can throw up all sorts of problems, from creating mistrust between colleagues to leaving you on the...
Sometimes, particularly in small businesses, a situation arises where only one employee needs to be made redundant. Without a pool of candidates to choose from, how do you prove that you’ve followed a fair redundancy process? Firstly, it’s important to remember that...
The need to make redundancies is often an upsetting and difficult time for any business. Offering voluntary redundancy can be one way to ease the situation and preserve employee relations. But what’s the process for voluntary redundancy? What steps must you take to...
An employee file, or personnel record, is a group of documents that contain all relevant information about an employee’s time in your business, from their job application to their resignation letter. You may be confused about what should be in an employee file or...
Under UK employment law, someone is defined as disabled if they have a mental or physical health issue which: makes it difficult for them to carry normal daily activities which will usually include their normal day to day activities at work has more than a minor or...
Restrictive covenants are clauses in employment contracts that help prevent employees from taking unfair advantage of their employers when they leave. This could include joining a competitor or starting up in competition to their previous employer within a few months...
Your compassionate leave policy, also known as a bereavement leave policy, should set out how much paid and/or unpaid leave bereaved employees are entitled to and the process they should follow to request this. Every employee will experience a bereavement at some...
If you're defining their working hours, or there's no clear sense of when they'll stop working for you, there's a chance your contractor might now be an employee. Working with contractors has its advantages – they’re often highly skilled, flexible and take up less HR...
Are you “Happy to Talk Flexible Working”? That’s the strapline the Flexible Working Task Force is urging employers to use when advertising jobs as part of their campaign to increase the availability of flexible working. And while managing flexible working arrangements...