HR & Employment Law Insights

Helping family businesses, start-ups and early stage growth, third sector, professional services, trades and construction, manufacturing and engineering, and other growing or established businesses throughout the UK make sense of HR and employment law challenges.

We hope you enjoy the wide range of blog articles featured. We cover a wide range of topics including HR best practices, employment law updates, recruitment strategies, employee engagement, tips for effective people management, and addressing people challenges to help businesses navigate their HR needs with confidence.

Summer Work Placement at The HR Booth

Over the few weeks we have had the pleasure of having university student Fern Barclay working with us, where she has been learning about HR Administration and some generalist HR cases. Fern is studying International Business at Strathclyde University and is about to...

What does Brexit mean for my business?

With the recent vote for the UK to leave the EU many businesses are in a state of uncertainty. Brexit has many implications for all of the UK. In terms of business, Brexit can be seen as make or break, with economic forecasts showing a rocky financial future, many...

How to make a fair disciplinary outcome decision

In a recent blog article, we looked at how to conduct a fair disciplinary meeting. Below we follow up on this article by providing you with some key steps to take when deciding an outcome of disciplinary hearing. If you followed our previous advice on how to conduct...

How to Engage and Involve your Staff

Employee engagement is more than keeping your staff happy or satisfied, although both are important goals to work for, satisfied or happy staff are not necessarily engaged. Engaged staff have well-defined roles in the organisation making strong contributions, actively...

How to Hold an Effective 1-1

We work with a number of businesses throughout the UK, and a common topic we help with is managing performance. Quite often, we see practice where managers have not engaged in 1-1 discussions to tackle performance or conduct, and as a consequence the behaviour...

How to conduct an effective team meeting

Effective meetings are not only integral to achieve team goals and successful completion of tasks, but also are reflective overall of team functioning. They also allow for open conversation that draws upon each employee’s knowledge, skills, and perspectives to solve...

The Impact of Social Media on Recruitment – How Social Media has changed the Way Employers Recruit Their Staff

A social media recruitment training workshop Over the last five years social media has played an increasingly prominent role in the way employers recruit their staff. It is clear that social media is changing the way employers recruit their staff in this article we...

How to Conduct a Telephone Interview

As you know, finding the right candidate for your business can be a time consuming process and being able to reduce the time it takes to find the right person can be an advantage to you and your business’s needs. Here at The HR Booth, we understand that finding the...

How to Conduct a Fair Disciplinary Meeting

As your business and team grow it’s likely that from time to time you may experience some unforeseen challenges with your employees that you will have to deal with. We recognise that it’s important to the smooth running of your business to be able to nip these things...

A guide to workplace savings

With finances being tight in recent years, many employers are looking for ways to make cost savings in the workplace, in a way that prevents them from having to sacrifice quality. With a little thought and effort, there are many things you can do to cut costs in the...

What are the benefits of a jobs description?

A jobs description not only helps you to have better job postings to attract the right candidates, it also helps you to avoid being in a situation where your employees are not fulfilling their duties. It sets clear expectations at the outset of their employment and...

What documents do I need to show employees are eligible to work in the UK?

If you fail to do so you may be liable to pay a fine (known as a 'civil penalty'). If you knowingly employ an illegal migrant worker, you may face criminal prosecution, which could result in an unlimited fine and/or a maximum two-year prison sentence. In this weeks...

Holiday Pay Update – March 2016

The March 2016 Holiday Pay Update reveals a significant ruling in favor of Mr. Lock, a commission-based British Gas employee. The European Court of Justice and the Employment Appeal Tribunal agreed that holiday pay calculations should include commission and bonuses. Employers are advised to update their pay structures, considering the role of pay and leave in employee satisfaction.

My employee has resigned, is there anything I need to do?

An Employee resignation is a common occurrence in the workplace. While it can be challenging to see a valuable team member leave, it's essential for employers to handle the situation professionally and ensure a smooth transition. There are specific steps that...

Why it’s important to keep your employees hydrated

Today it is increasingly common to find one if not more water coolers within an office space. Why? Because keeping employees hydrated creates a wide range of benefits, which we’re going to explore in this article. Keeping your employees hydrated will help to promote...

Can shop workers opt out of Sunday working?

In this week's Question of the Week Alistair answers "Can shop workers opt out of Sunday working?" Question An employee who works in our shop has asked to opt out of Sunday working, what should I do? Answer All shop and betting shop workers can opt out of Sunday...

Can Employees See Their Personnel File?

We were recently asked 'can an employee see their personnel file'. This is a really important question and it's crucial that all businesses know the answer to this. In addition, we will answer this once and for all in this article. In short, yes, employees in...

How Work-based Learning Courses Benefit Employers

Work-based learning is made up of classroom study (or long distance) and hands-on experience in the workplace. More and more colleges and universities are now offering vocational work based learning courses in partnership with employers all over the country. In this...

What are the advantages of a probationary period?

In this weeks question of the week, we explain what the advantages are of have a probationary period in place. Question What are the advantages of a probationary period? Answer It is good practice to make use of a probationary period with a new staff member. By having...

What is a Company Handbook?

We get asked HR related questions every day and each week we share our top question of the week that we have been asked here at The HR Booth. In this week’s question of the week, we explain what should be in a company handbook. Question What is a company handbook and...

Managing your employer reputation

Now we leave tracks in more places than ever The Importance of Managing Reputation When operating in the competitive world of attracting talent, managing your reputation can be a key element of your success. Your reputation can suffer all kinds of knocks from every...