Staff Management

With the impacts of Long COVID still to be fully understood, how should you approach the implications it can have upon your business? While most who have suffered from the Covid illness have seen symptoms quickly pass, others have felt its symptoms lasting weeks or months after the illness has gone. But as an employer, for you, it always comes back to those questions. How do you handle the impact of Long COVID in your workplace and what does it…

Do you think twice before going to a public toilet? Do you go into the Men’s or Women’s? This can be a simple answer for most people. For certain people of the LGBTQ+ community however, this can be a complicated question. For example, a Trans person who is in the middle of transitioning genders or fully transitioned, would want to use a different bathroom to their gender listed on their birth certificate. Most people within the Trans community are happy…

As an employer, one of the main responsibilities that will fall under your duty of care will be managing a member of staff once they have informed you that they are expecting a child, a case that has recently come across my desk as one of my team informed me that she is expecting twins in the summer months. With our Operations Manager, Katie expecting the arrival of twins later this year, we are going to be sharing her journey,…

Remember to check your health and safety arrangements! With companies set to begin a phased return to the workplace, every company has a legal obligation to ensure that all of their health and safety arrangements and procedures have been reviewed and updated to reflect the change in circumstances. Providing health and safety advice to employers is among HR:4UK’s key services, and we’re delighted to be working with highly experienced health & safety, quality and environmental professional Lucy Walsh on the…

As coronavirus cases in the UK continue to rise, asking employees to work from home is one obvious measure you can take to try and protect your workplace and your employees. Homeworking, if the nature of your operation allows, will enable you to stay open for business while doing your bit to contain the spread of Covid-19. But, in practical terms, what will working from home mean for you and your employees? Is it sustainable, secure and cost-effective and how…

International Women’s Day celebrates the success and achievement of women in the workplace, and while the latest findings on gender diversity are indeed encouraging, there is still some way to go. Recent research suggests that those companies who employ more women in management roles enjoy higher profits and greater sales growth. Yet a separate study shows that two out of three board positions in Britain’s biggest businesses are still held by men. We look at why gender diversity is such…

As an employer, it is your responsibility to prevent bullying and harassment at work. Bullying can take many forms, so to stop it rearing its ugly head in your workplace, it is strongly advised that you implement a policy on bullying. ITV’s recent compelling drama, “Sticks and Stones”, written by Mike Bartlett, creator of Dr Foster, revealed just how insidious and nasty workplace bullying can be, and how situations can easily spiral out of control if employers fail to call…

We all have those days when the office becomes unexpectedly busy. The last thing anyone needs is a tedious exercise that holds up your progress. Typically, that will end up being the day you will have to complete a load of boring payroll administration. When it comes to human resource management, manually calculating and maintaining accurate records of your employees’ salaries can be time-consuming – the time of day when everything grinds to an unnecessary halt. What is the solution?…

Sickness absence due to flu can be a major headache for employers as well as employees during the long winter months. Flu is highly contagious, so once one employee has caught it, there’s every chance the virus will quickly spread to other staff across your workplace. Heavy colds are unpleasant enough, but flu is a nasty, debilitating illness, which can leave even the healthiest of people feeling weak and unwell for up to two weeks. As well as being miserable…

When you’re reviewing your workplace health and safety policies, do you also look at those that relate specifically to your premises? According to highly experienced health & safety, quality and environmental professional Lucy Walsh, businesses often fail to include bricks and mortar when considering their health and safety responsibilities. Lucy, who has recently come on board with HR:4UK to strengthen our health and safety consultancy, said: “While most employers are aware that they need to look after their people, all…

This October, businesses up and down the UK will be getting involved in supporting fundraising events as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, so sadly there is every chance that someone in your workplace, or somebody close to them, has personal experience of the disease. There are many things businesses can do to help support vital medical research, including asking staff to dress in pink on Friday 18 October for…

We all know that managing employee administration can be tedious and time‐consuming, but it doesn’t have to be like that. Brixton based charity, Young Lambeth Co-op, is one of the many UK businesses and organisations to benefit from eConnect – HR:4UK’s efficient and effective cloud-based employee management system. Adopting e-Connect, has said the charity, brought many advantages – not just in terms of reducing its administrative burden but also regarding its legal compliance. Young Lambeth Co-op CEO Ellie Johnson said: “Before…

HR consultancy is an invaluable service, but do you know what it is and how it works? Were you aware, for example, that HR:4UK can come to your premises and deal with your HR issue on-site and in some cases resolve it in just one day? Small to mid-size business owners do not always have the time to handle the day-to-day tasks – or indeed the expertise to manage complex HR matters.  Often, they haven’t got their own HR department…

Menopause and its impact on women’s daily lives is receiving a lot more attention these days. With prominent journalists, including TV presenter Mariella Frostrup and BBC Breakfast’s Louise Minchin recently sharing their menopause journeys with viewers, there is now greater openness and understanding of what was once a taboo subject. And, with women in their 50s and 60s now making up more than a quarter of the UK workforce, employers need to educate themselves on how they can help female…

Holidays give us a chance to recharge our batteries and take a well‐earned break from our usual day to day responsibilities. And, in an ideal world, we’d all return from a summer break raring to go, full of fresh ideas and enthusiasm. However, after days relaxing on a beach and getting up and going to bed whenever we want, it’s no fun having to set the alarm clock and do battle with commuter transport. Unsurprisingly, punctuality can be a problem as…