The Couch?! What a waste of time!
A survey reveals that 40% of managers consider pointless meetings their biggest time-waster, with most losing up to five hours weekly. Emails, phone calls, and administration rank as secondary culprits, leaving the average worker spending at least two days per week on unproductive tasks.
The National Minimum Wage: a hike too far?
The UK’s National Minimum Wage has risen significantly since 2005, breaking the £5 barrier for workers aged 22 and over. While the government aims to eliminate poverty pay and help a million workers, employers warn that inflation-busting increases are raising costs, squeezing wage differentials, and threatening business competitiveness.
Review: The Motivation Game
The Motivation Game is a box of 140 cards and instruction booklet designed to help teams explore what motivates and demotivates them through discussion activities. Rather than a traditional game, it functions as a visual aid tool featuring activity, inspiration, obstacle, and condition cards for organizational training exercises.
What’s the answer? Is time off for IVF sick leave?
IVF treatment time off exists in a legal gray area regarding sick leave classification. While employers aren’t required to pay sick leave for IVF recovery, cautious employers should consider doing so to avoid potential sex discrimination claims under fertility treatment law.
Colborn’s Corner: Who cares?
The tragic Morecambe Bay cockle-picking disaster highlights poor labor management in UK gangmaster operations. This article explores how better regulation, consumer awareness, and corporate accountability can help prevent similar tragedies among migrant workers in low-skill sectors.
Hard(y) Law Talk: Parental rights at work – whatever next?
UK parental rights include maternity, paternity, and adoption leave, plus flexible working options and parental leave. Despite these family-friendly policies, workplace disputes continue to arise as employers navigate complex leave management and compliance with employment law.
SOSR dismissal: A managerial prerogative?
Recent case law clarifies that “some other substantial reason” (SOSR) for dismissal is a residual category allowing employers to dismiss beyond the standard grounds of capability, conduct, or redundancy. However, courts have consistently rejected the notion that SOSR operates as a blanket managerial prerogative, requiring employers to demonstrate the dismissal falls within the reasonable responses of a fair employer.
Beating the clock: Tackling lateness
Persistent lateness is affecting many UK workplaces, with 17% of employees arriving late at least five times monthly. Rather than relying solely on penalties like wage docking, addressing lateness effectively requires examining employer responsibility, employee engagement, and creating positive incentives that improve both timekeeping and workplace morale.
Case Study: Change management – the blended approach
Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Trust adopted a blended change management approach to successfully merge three NHS Trusts across three counties with 200+ sites. The strategy combined training, tools, and knowledge management to deliver a major reconfiguration program while maintaining continuity of mental health and learning disability services to local communities.
HR Zone Members Newswire #121 Guidance on sick pay, workplace relationships and gross misconduct
HR Zone Members Newswire #121 covers essential employment guidance including sick pay rules, workplace relationship policies, and gross misconduct procedures. The issue features expert advice from employment law specialists and practical tips for HR managers navigating common workplace challenges.
CSR and beyond: Volunteering is good news for HR Directors
Community volunteering is emerging as a powerful recruitment and retention tool for HR directors, rivaling salary and benefits in attracting candidates. Companies increasingly blend corporate social responsibility with structured training programs—labeled “socially responsible development”—where employees develop leadership and project management skills while delivering real community impact.
Opinion: Simulation puts training in context
Simulation technology allows finance organizations to train staff on new systems before development is complete, reducing time-to-market while maintaining service quality. By decoupling training from the critical development path, companies can deploy products faster and gather valuable employee feedback during the design phase.
Payroll Tip: Entitlement to benefits during maternity/adoption leave
Employees on maternity or adoption leave retain most employment contract benefits, including holiday accrual, private medical insurance, and professional subscriptions. Cash payments like wages are suspended unless work is performed, though statutory maternity pay (SMP) and certain bonuses may be paid during this period.
Employment law: Case round-up
Alison Wallace provides a round-up of recent employment law cases, including rulings on religious discrimination, race discrimination, and disability discrimination, alongside data showing declining tribunal applications in 2004/05.
Alcohol and drugs at work: The Kate Moss issue
Recent allegations involving Kate Moss and new alcohol licensing laws have heightened employer awareness of drug and alcohol abuse in the workplace. Employers have a legal duty of care to protect employee health and safety, but face challenges when misconduct occurs outside work hours while balancing employee privacy rights.
Extracts of a Life Coach: Trouble with ‘de math’
Life coach Emma Ranson Bellamy explores how negative beliefs shaped her struggles with math, examining how parental attitudes and family narratives instill self-limiting beliefs in children that become self-fulfilling prophecies affecting confidence and achievement.
Indirect sex discrimination: A clouded view?
A graduate lost his indirect sex discrimination claim against an employer who withdrew a job offer due to his height posing safety risks. The case highlights how discrimination claims can arise from unexpected angles and the unpredictable application of justification defenses in employment law.
Review: Learning paths
Learning Paths is a practical guide that helps organizations reduce the time required for employees to reach full productivity using a six-step methodology. Written by experienced training professionals, the book includes templates, forms, and tools on CD to implement faster employee onboarding and development.
The Couch?! Colleagues from Hell
The Couch?! team shares their top 10 most annoying colleague habits, from loud talkers and gossips to poor hygiene and personal space violators. Recognize yourself in any of these archetypes? Share your own workplace pet peeves in the comments.
What’s the answer? Sick pay rules
Employers can legally provide sick pay policies in communal areas if accessible and referenced in employment terms, but best practice recommends giving each employee a personal copy. This prevents disputes about employee awareness and ensures compliance with employment law requirements.
