HR Zone Briefing #290 – Off The Record Employment Law Advice
HR Zone Briefing #290 covers key employment law issues including managing workplace romances, age discrimination laws’ impact on service awards, and the debate over CIPD qualifications. Features off-the-record legal advice from Withers LLP and insights from HR professionals on redundancy and leadership development.
Comment: The impact of age discrimination laws on service related awards … continued
Age discrimination laws permit long-service awards if employers can demonstrate they reflect employee experience, reward loyalty, and improve retention. Employers should document decision-making processes and consider multi-level, age-neutral benefit schemes to ensure compliance.
Comment: The impact of age discrimination laws on service related awards
New age discrimination legislation coming into force in October 2006 permits service-related awards, with schemes rewarding up to five years of service automatically exempt if applied equally to all staff. Longer service periods require objective justification based on loyalty or motivation.
HR Practitioner’s Diary: Training in foreign tongues … continued
Research from leading universities suggests that personality traits traditionally viewed as flaws—such as being late, lazy, moody, or gossipy—may actually indicate valuable workplace strengths like creativity, emotional intelligence, and leadership potential when properly channeled.
HR Practitioner’s Diary: Training in foreign tongues
HR consultant Sue Kingston shares her diary entry managing training for non-English speaking staff at a food business facing a critical health and safety inspection. Coordinating multilingual training sessions in English, Polish, and Russian proved challenging but successful in helping the company pass its crucial EFSIS audit.
What’s the answer? Notice periods … continued
UK employment law requires notice periods based on your contract or statutory minimums. If you lack a written contract, you must give reasonable notice. Statutory minimums range from one week for employees with one month’s service to 12 weeks for those with over 12 years’ service.
What’s the answer? Notice periods
Under UK employment law, employees who have worked for less than one month are not entitled to notice periods. For those employed one month or longer, statutory notice requirements begin at one week and increase by one week per year of service, up to 12 weeks maximum. However, employment contracts may specify more generous notice terms.
Gaynor’s Thoughts: Happy redundancies – a life changing opportunity … continued
When a factory closes, redundancy can seem like devastating loss. Yet one HR professional discovers that former employees who initially despaired have transformed their setback into unexpected opportunity, finding new careers, businesses, and personal fulfillment they never imagined possible.
Gaynor’s Thoughts: Happy redundancies – a life changing opportunity
Roy Gaynor, former HR head at an engineering company, reflects on overseeing 600+ redundancies during a factory closure and shares what he discovered about those affected when he followed up a year later.
Member’s Tip: Recruiting a UK-based worker for employment overseas
When recruiting a UK-based worker for employment in Germany, consider tax implications, social security contributions, and local employment contracts. British employees may need a ‘no tax’ code from HMRC, while German social security contributions become mandatory. Specialist international assignment advice is recommended to avoid corporate tax issues.
What happened next? Dealing with Drugs…continued. By Sarah Fletcher
This follow-up examines how an organization handled an employee’s drug use problem, revealing key lessons including the importance of early intervention and direct communication. A member forum shares different approaches to addressing substance abuse in the workplace, with experts recommending swift action and, when necessary, disciplinary measures.
What happened next? Dealing with drugs. By Sarah Fletcher
A manager shares how they supported an employee struggling with drug addiction while maintaining workplace standards. Learn about the intervention approach, return-to-work strategy, and ultimately why dismissal became necessary when performance issues continued despite offered support.
HR Zone Members Newswire #144 – Controlling the Office Gossip
Explore how confidentiality agreements can address office gossip, plus expert insights on employee rights during strikes and handling workplace misconduct issues in this HR Zone members newsletter.
Figuring Things Out: Leadership development – Maximising the yield … continued
Effective leadership development requires clear business outcomes, continuous learning beyond formal training, and structured follow-up support. Success depends on connecting classroom learning to on-the-job application and ensuring manager accountability for sustaining behavioral change and measurable results.
Figuring Things Out: Leadership development – Maximising the yield
Leadership development often fails to deliver business results because organizations struggle to bridge the gap between training and workplace application. Effective leaders manage development as an ongoing process focused on return on investment, not just the training event itself, ensuring learning translates into measurable performance improvements.
Off the record: Dealing with an office romance … continued
Workplace romances can lead to harassment complaints after relationships end. Employers should address concerns through dialogue with both parties, treating the situation consistently and sympathetically while recognizing that previous consent doesn’t extend to ongoing unwanted behavior.
Off the record: Dealing with an office romance
UK employers cannot legally ban workplace romances, but they can address performance issues or conflicts of interest that arise from them. Employment law experts explain how to handle office relationships fairly while respecting employees’ privacy rights.
HR Tip: Refusing SSP
You can refuse to pay Statutory Sick Pay if you have investigated and interviewed the employee about suspected fraudulent self-certification. Provide written documentation of absence dates, SSP paid, and reasons for non-payment, allowing the employee to appeal through grievance procedures or seek Inland Revenue adjudication.
Company cars: Choice and taxation
Company car taxation treats most accessories the same as the car price itself, though some items like mobile phones, disabled equipment, and items under £100 are exempt. Employers can set guidelines on car options, but tax considerations rarely provide strong reinforcement for vehicle policies.
Life Coach at Large: Going round in circles with work/life balance … continued
Discover a practical wheel-based exercise for assessing your work-life balance across eight key life areas. Score satisfaction levels, define your roles, and compare time spent to importance to identify gaps and set meaningful goals for achieving greater fulfillment.
