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.

7 Interview Lessons From a Candidate’s Perspective

How do you feel before a job interview? I get very nervous before and during interviews. I find I get sweaty hands, a dry throat and I feel like I’m not able to get the words out that I am trying to say. I’m sure you can relate. Applying for a job, going to interviews...

Holiday Pay Update April 2015

Regular readers will be aware of the developing cases around holiday pay, specifically in relation to overtime and commission. We were already aware of the ruing around overtime, and on 25 March 2015, the long-awaited outcome in Lock v British Gas was handed down by...

Shared Parental Leave – Are you Ready or this major change?

From 5th April 2015, the final round of changes to “family-friendly” rights under the current government comes into effect. A new system of shared parental leave will replace additional paternity leave, for parents of babies due from 5th April. So what is it? Shared...

Spring Clean Your Work Environment = More Efficiency

As we are now in Spring, it’s a good time to carry out a Spring clean. Being untidy or disorganised at work, either working with a cluttered desk or an untidy van, is a real drain on efficiency. Disciplining yourself to work tidy not only improves productivity, but...

When is The Right Time to Seek External HR Consultancy in Your Business?

An HR Consultant will help you keep your finger on the pulse in the HR world. Regardless of what industry you work in, if you have employees you will have to ensure that you perform certain HR functions and comply with legislation. Depending on the time and resources...

How to Drive Higher Levels of Employee Retention

Staff are a Company’s biggest asset, employee retention needs to be a key priority. Managing expenditure is one of the most fundamental requirements to keep a company profitable, but without question one of the biggest costs is employee-related. Getting staff to...

The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 Explained

The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, aimed at aiding UK small businesses, introduces key changes like overhauling the tribunal system, updating copyright laws, and simplifying regulations. It focuses on reducing unnecessary overheads and legal burdens, including revising health and safety rules and encouraging settlement agreements over tribunals, while introducing a fast-track system for challenging anticompetitive behavior and simplifying equality measures.

A Guide to Human Rights in the UK Workplace

The European Convention on Human Rights was created in the aftermath of World War II, and designed to prevent the atrocities which occurred from ever being allowed to take place again. Employee monitoring is legal but must comply with all human rights legislation. The...

Is HR an Art or a Science?

Human Resources is a field that deals with the management of people within an organisation. It encompasses a range of activities, including recruitment, training and development, performance management, employee relations, and compensation and benefits. However, the...

Pros and Cons of Online Management Training vs. Classroom Based training

When it comes to training new and existing employees, the majority of businesses either have the option to provide online management training or classroom based training. In the ever-evolving landscape of education and training, the debate between online and...

Tackling Gender Diversity Issues in HR

Does your workplace suffer from gender diversity issues? According to a new published study on gender diversity in the workplace, both men and women claim to prefer working with members of the same sex. Although this isn’t particularly shocking, since we are all well...

Why Investing in HR Management Will Give Your Business a Competitive Edge

If you are running a business you will appreciate the importance of taking the time to do things properly and not rushing the parts which matter. Factors like quality, budget and customer service might be high on your radar but you shouldn’t underestimate the...

Approaches to Take When Hiring Seasonal Labour

Ensure your seasonal recruitment process is as robust as your permanent one That time of year is fast approaching when the Christmas shoppers step out in force and the phones don’t stop ringing. Many businesses will find Christmas to be their busiest time of year,...

Holiday Pay Ruling Announced by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT)

You will recall our previous communication regarding this case. The long-awaited outcome was confirmed yesterday. This case centred on what calculations should be included in “holiday pay”. The cases started when UK airline employees claimed that their holiday pay...

HR Vehicle Tracking or Automotive Spyware? How HR Departments Can Responsibly Use this Technology

HR departments can use vehicle trackers to pinpoint the location of their employees. The latest GPS technology used to create in-vehicle trackers allows HR departments to access data regarding their employees’ work vehicles and locations. Whereas some see this GPS...

6 Employee Engagement Ideas Your Staff Will Love

Get your employees communicating and supporting each other by sending them on a team assault course. One of the best ways to improve employee engagement is to get your staff working together. We completely understand that traditional team building exercises can be...

8 Job Internship Benefits for Employers and Employees

A Job Internship can open up the door to many employment opportunities. Finding work can be a real challenge, especially if you lack experience. It’s almost a catch 22. You need a job to get experience, but you struggle to get the experience you need without getting a...

How a Yes Vote in Scotland’s Referendum Will Impact HR

I was honoured to be approached last week from Washington by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) to get my thoughts on what a yes vote would mean for HR in Scotland. For those of you that don’t know, the Society for Human Resource Management is the world’s...

Marketing or HR – Who Manages Social Media Channels?

Today almost all businesses can benefit from using social media to promote their products and services, strengthen their brand identity and increase customer engagement. However, when it comes to deciding who should run their social media channels, many businesses are...

Managing employees under the influence of alcohol at work

If somebody is under the influence of alcohol in the workplace, you have a duty to look after your staff. Some of your employees may enjoy a drink or two in their spare time outside of work. However, what do you do if they cross the line and it begins to affect the...

How are Flexible Working Patterns Changing the Role of HR

The traditional 9-5pm working day has long since been redundant but the move towards flexible working patterns is quickly gathering momentum. With effect from 30th June 2014, all employees with more than 26 weeks continuous service were given new rights to request...