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HR articles for business owners
Plain-English guidance on the employee situations owners hit most, the right process, the traps, and the move that protects you. Written by Samantha Newton FCIPD, Chartered Fellow of the CIPD.
Guide for business owners · 6 min read
Handling a Bullying or Harassment Complaint at Work
A complaint about bullying or harassment is one of the most sensitive situations an owner can face. Handle it well and you protect your people and you…
Read the article →Guide for business owners · 6 min read
How to Run a Fair Workplace Investigation
Behind almost every disciplinary or grievance that ends badly is a weak investigation. Get the fact-finding right and the rest of the process usually …
Read the article →Guide for business owners · 5 min read
What Is Constructive Dismissal, and How Do You Avoid It?
Constructive dismissal is one of those phrases that worries owners without them being quite sure what it means. In short, it is when an employee resig…
Read the article →Guide for business owners · 5 min read
How to Use a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) Properly
When a quiet word has not fixed underperformance, a performance improvement plan, or PIP, is usually the right next step. Done well, it gives the empl…
Read the article →Guide for business owners · 5 min read
Managing an Employee's Return to Work After Long-Term Sickness
Bringing an employee back after a long spell of sickness is a good moment, but it is one that needs handling carefully. Rush it and you risk a relapse…
Read the article →Guide for business owners · 5 min read
How to Handle Conflict Between Two Employees
A falling-out between two team members can drag down a whole team if it is left to fester. Owners often hope it will blow over, and sometimes it does,…
Read the article →Guide for business owners · 5 min read
How to Have a Difficult Conversation With an Employee
Most people problems get worse because the difficult conversation keeps getting put off. The good news: these conversations are a skill, not a persona…
Read the article →Law update for business owners · 5 min read
Can You Dismiss an Employee for a Work WhatsApp Message?
The group chat has become the new staff room, and sometimes the new disciplinary headache. An employee posts something abusive, or worse, in a WhatsAp…
Read the article →Guide for business owners · 6 min read
The 5 Employee Situations That Catch Business Owners Out
Running a business means doing a dozen jobs you were never trained for. For most owners, the people side causes the most sleepless nights, because it …
Read the article →Guide for business owners · 7 min read
Can I Dismiss an Employee Who Is Off Sick?
It is one of the most anxious questions an owner can face: an employee has been off sick for weeks or months, the business is carrying the cost, and y…
Read the article →Guide for business owners · 5 min read
Think Probation Protects Your Business? Think Again.
Many owners think that if a new employee is still on probation, they can simply end the employment if things are not working out. It is one of the big…
Read the article →Guide for business owners · 5 min read
Settlement Agreements Explained for Employers
Sometimes the cleanest way to part company with an employee is a settlement agreement: a legally binding deal where they agree not to bring claims in …
Read the article →Guide for business owners · 6 min read
Redundancy in a Small Business: How to Do It Fairly
Redundancy is one of the hardest things an owner has to do, and one of the easiest to get legally wrong, because the business case can feel so obvious…
Read the article →Guide for business owners · 5 min read
How to Manage an Employee Who Isn't Improving
You have had the quiet word. Maybe more than once. Nothing has changed, and now you are stuck, absorbing work that is hurting the business, or edging …
Read the article →Guide for business owners · 6 min read
What Is a Fair Disciplinary Process?
When an employee's conduct is a problem, a disciplinary process is how you deal with it fairly. Most owners worry about getting it wrong, and rightly …
Read the article →Guide for business owners · 6 min read
How to Handle a Grievance From an Employee
A grievance is simply a formal complaint from an employee, about a colleague, a manager, a decision, or how they have been treated. It can feel person…
Read the article →Guide for business owners · 5 min read
How Many Warnings Before You Can Dismiss Someone?
It is one of the most common myths in employment: that you must give three warnings before you can let someone go. You do not. The truth is more usefu…
Read the article →Guide for business owners · 5 min read
What Counts as Gross Misconduct?
Gross misconduct is serious enough to justify dismissing someone without notice. But the term gets thrown around loosely, often for things that are no…
Read the article →Guide for business owners · 5 min read
Can I Suspend an Employee? How to Do It Properly
When a serious allegation lands, suspension can feel like the obvious first move. But suspension is not a punishment, and used carelessly it can itsel…
Read the article →Guide for business owners · 5 min read
Refusing a Flexible Working Request: What Employers Can and Can't Do
Flexible working requests are more common than ever, and the rules around them have tightened. You can still say no, but only if you do it properly. H…
Read the article →In the press
Samantha's weekly column in Health & Wellbeing Magazine
- The Monthly Check In: The Most Underrated Wellbeing Tool in Your Business Health & Wellbeing Magazine
- Automating HR: What to Systemise First for Maximum Impact Health & Wellbeing Magazine
- How to Build an Onboarding System That Cuts Problems by 50% Health & Wellbeing Magazine
- The 5 Documents Every SME Must Have to Stay Legally Safe Health & Wellbeing Magazine
- Why Most Small Business HR Fails (and How to Fix It) Health & Wellbeing Magazine
- The 90 Day Fix: Turn Around or Exit a Struggling Hire Health & Wellbeing Magazine
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