As we begin a new month under lockdown, the economic future remains shrouded in uncertainty. There are some glimmers of an easing of restrictions in the not too distant future, and we have seen other countries begin to relax controls and allow a cautious return to work for some sectors. Avoiding a second spike in COVID-19 cases whilst enabling some sort of economic recovery has become the new dilemma.

As businesses come gradually out of hibernation over the coming months, we are likely to witness the formation of a totally new economic landscape. As business owners, leaders and managers, we can either simply observe and try to adapt; Or we can make decisions and take action that will influence exactly how that landscape takes shape and what will become the new “normal”.

Many businesses have had an adaptation to digital technology forced upon them by the coronavirus restrictions; largely affecting how they communicate or where employees work from. Even if you don’t think your own business model has been affected, consider how your customers may have been disrupted and their customers further down the supply chain.

By recognising early on and predicting where changes may need to be made instead of playing the reactionary game and waiting to see what happens, we can be ahead of the curve and shape the future instead of having to mould into it.

As you think about the changes you’ll need to make, be creative. Just consider how close we are to seeing driver-less cars on our roads or having our Saturday night take-away delivered by drone.

You may have to re-skill some of your staff; maybe all of them. In addition to working with new technologies, you should consider how your team will deal with the changes generally and provide support so that you apply the correct management practices and maintain your advantage.

Remember that our own Leadership training is available online (we’ve already made that change), funded for SMEs in Worcestershire, Bristol and Wiltshire and at a reduced price for other areas. It includes modules that will help with change management as well as collaborative working and we have options for all levels.

There may be some difficult decisions to make too; and with them some challenging conversations. For some, online conferencing software might make this easier to deliver but it will probably have a negative impact on the person on the receiving end. A face-to-face meeting in person will always be the best option, observing guidelines on social distancing of course.

Finally, remember your duty of care to employees. Whilst you look forward to a brave new world there will be those who are less able to face change and the challenges it presents. Furlough will be a stressful situation for many, compounded by uncertainty. The loss of the regular routine of work will possibly have an effect on mental health and even though your staff are at home and being paid, you still have responsibilities over their wellbeing.

We’re running FREE wellbeing sessions for furloughed workers and employees who are still working, delivered via Zoom. Your employees are welcome to attend although we do have a limit of 100 attendees so it will be first come-first served. Go here for the details.

In the meantime, for further help and support in the management of your future business, please call us as usual on 01452 331331 or e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Next course dates: 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th October 2025

Who should attend this four day course?

This course is perfect for the first time manager and team leaders. It will provide an excellent understanding of the essentials for those who oversee day to day operations within the business. 

Why should you attend?

Managing others to deliver the business goals and objectives requires a set of skills that cannot be substituted by enthusiasm and dedication. This four-day course provides the essential management skills and know-how for employees stepping up and transitioning to a Team Leader or supervisory role. It will impart tried and tested managerial practices and recognised techniques to enable your new Team Leader to get the most from their team. Accredited by the ILM, delegates will achieve a a widely recognised qualification upon which they
can build and progress.

Next Course Dates: 6th, 13th, 20th & 27th November 2025

Who should attend this four day course?

This course is perfect for aspiring as well as established line managers to receive an understanding of the essentials of line management. It provides development on the fundamentals of what it takes to be an effective line manager. 

Why should you attend?

Effective Line Managers are able to maximise their team’s performance by recognising individual team member’s capability for any given task and applying appropriate management techniques.  This four-day course will provide managers with the skills and know-how to develop their own high performing team and who can confidently deliver the organisational objectives. ILM accredited, this is an engaging and participative course that encourages group debate and discussion. Line managers can share and listen to experiences of best people management practice. To obtain the Certificate, delegates are required to attend each day andsubmit assignments following each day of learning.

Next Course Dates: 4th, 11th, 18th and 25th November 2025 

Who should attend this four day course?

This course is perfect for line managers and aspiring senior managers. The vital training will bring an element of self awareness to the leader and aid them to better understand how to get the best out of the team. 

Why should you attend?

This four-day ILM course is designed to support those in senior positions consolidate their leadership experience and care for the team’s wellbeing whilst managing business objectives. This course is also aimed at aspiring senior managers who want to be successful in their next endeavour. How can a manager ensure that the business needs as well as the employee’s emotional and mental health are cared for whilst they are juggling clients and projects? Well, on this ILM course, the senior manager will learn key skills to do just that. To obtain the Certificate, delegates are required to submit an assignment following each day of learning. 

Monday (20th April) saw the launch of the Government portal for re-claiming employment costs for furloughed workers under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). Over 140,000 companies accessed the portal to make claims on the first day alone and there seems to have been a largely positive response. Fears of the system being overwhelmed are apparently unsubstantiated.

If you are yet to access the portal to make any claims, your best starting point is probably at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wages-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme

A point of note however is that if you, as an employer, receive the Employers National Insurance allowance (increased to £4,000 for the 2020/21 tax year), then this will affect how much Employer’s NI you can claim for under the scheme. In other words, the Government will not fund Employer’s NI twice, and you may need to make an adjustment to your claim.

With this major element of the CJRS largely under control, we have received a new tranche of enquiries, mostly in regard to managing workers returning from furlough or having their furlough extended. We have distilled these down into a number of FAQs below.

Q. I need some of my employees to end their furlough and return to work. How do I do this?
A. You should write to confirm they are required to recommence work and the date they are required to return, even if you are asking them to resume duties from home. It’s okay to un-furlough only part of your workforce if perhaps you require certain skills. If you want to un-furlough say, 50% of a team that does the same job, make sure you do so fairly and without any exposure to discrimination claims. Consider those who are shielding and have childcare issues. We have a letter for this in our toolkits.

Q. Can I furlough employees again after they have been un-furloughed?
A. Yes. You might ask a furloughed employee to return for a few days or weeks to complete some maintenance or run specific tasks. You can then furlough them again. This might also be a solution if you only need part of your workforce furloughed and you want to swop who is furloughed and who is working. Just remember the minimum furlough period is three weeks.

Q. How do I extend furlough for employees?
A. This might depend upon the wording you used when you furloughed them in the first place. If you did not specify an end date to the furlough period, then there’s nothing to worry about. If you said something like the initial furlough period would be three weeks and then reviewed, you should write to confirm that it has been extended. You’ll want to show continuity of furlough from the original date if you are extending so that you meet the three-week minimum. We have a letter for this in our toolkits.

Q. It sounds like my business won’t be back to normal for many months. How long can I furlough staff for?
A. The initial CJRS stated a 12-week furlough period, extended to 16 weeks. As with everything else during the pandemic, this will be up for review so if you need to, continue to furlough for this period. We expect an announcement from the Government about any extension to the scheme, or otherwise, as we near the end of the 16 weeks.

Q. I still don’t know what I should be doing about holidays for staff on furlough.
A. Neither does anyone else. This is still an area that remains subject to clarification, however holiday should continue to accrue during furlough because it’s a statutory right. The Government has changed the law to say that un-taken statutory holiday can be carried over the next two years, but we believe this is to ensure that key workers don’t lose holiday they are unable to take. We still advise that you can give notice to furloughed workers to take holiday whilst they are furloughed. You must top up their salary to their usual full pay however for any days taken as holiday days.

These FAQ’s are just a summary of some of the more frequent questions we have been getting. For more detailed and specific support, we’re available as usual on 01452 331331 or via e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Whilst the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has introduced furloughing staff as an alternative to lay-off and redundancy during the current crisis, another three weeks of lock-down, as announced last night, could mean some drastic rethinking for some businesses.

Other organisations may have found the lock-down period to be something of a revelation. Being forced to operate online or with a skeleton staff may have revealed some efficiencies and cost savings that can be made that will positively impact profit.

Even when restrictions are lifted, it’s unlikely that a return to work as we knew it will be an overnight event. It’s much more likely that we’ll see a phased return with certain businesses and industries starting back before others, albeit with distancing measures still in place. Spain for example has recently announced that some construction work can recommence.

Whichever end of the phased return a business sits, some planning and preparation is paramount if it’s going to come back firing on all cylinders. We’ve spoken previously about keeping furloughed employees engaged through training to maintain their drive and energy. We enabled our courses for online delivery with funding still in place for qualifying areas.

There may also be a period of restructuring, including making redundancies for some businesses. We’ve seen an increase in the number of enquiries to the helpline regarding redundancy, even if it’s just for preparedness.

Despite the current situation, all of the employment legislation wrapped around restructuring and redundancy is still in force. If you’re looking at a radicalisation plan, don’t be tempted to take any short cuts. You would still be liable for any potential unfair or wrongful dismissal claims.

We’ve put together some top tips regarding making redundancies, but these are just to keep you aware of some of the pitfalls. If a restructure looks like it’s on the cards, you should speak to us for specific and detailed support.

1. Give full and careful consideration to your business case rational and which employee groups are at risk
2. It is not an easy process for you or your staff, so getting the communication strategy right, including a consistent message cannot be understated
3. Remember it is always jobs that are at risk of redundancy, never the person
4. You’ll need to formally open a consultation for two to three weeks if less than 20 jobs are at risk
5. You’ll need a selection criteria that’s fair AND transparent and stands up to scrutiny
6. Conduct meaningful 1-2-1 meetings; preferably face to face and if your using technology, find a platform that allows this
7. Employees have a right to representation at all 1-2-1 meetings
8. Once consultation is closed and you’re giving formal notice of dismissal hearings, be sure to follow the correct procedure including adequate notice, the right to representation and the right of appeal
9. You don’t have to have all the answers on the spot. It’s OK to come back later
10. Keep notes of all discussions with staff, and send confirmation

We're still open for business supporting organisations with ongoing issues surrounding Coronavirus, staff training, redundancies and more. Call us on 01452 331331 send an e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Thanks to the Government Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), we’ve all learned a new word this month, ‘Furlough’. Through the CJRS, employers now have the option to furlough workers and claim back 80% of their employment costs from the Government rather than simply let them go where they have no work.

Today, the Government has released more details about how the scheme will work giving us some of the answers we’ve been waiting for. You can read the full details on the .gov website but for a lighter read we’ve distilled down the most pertinent points and created an FAQ style article.

What is Furlough? – Furlough is a period when an employee is not required to work but maintains employed status. Where an employer is unable to operate or has no work for its employees because of the Coronavirus pandemic, it can furlough its employees instead of laying them off or letting them go. The Government will reimburse the lesser of 80% or £2500 of furloughed employees wage costs backdated to 1st March.

Who should be Furloughed? – Any employee who was on your payroll as of 28th February is eligible. However, only employees who are not working because there is no work for them should be furloughed and there should be a minimum furlough period of three weeks. Here’s how most employees will be categorised during this period and how they should be paid:

• Working as normal – Paid as normal
• Working from home – Paid as normal
• Off sick for any reason – Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). Can be furloughed when sick leave ends
• Self-isolating – SSP
• Shielding – Can be furloughed
• On unpaid leave – Can be furloughed if the leave commenced after 28th February
• Maternity, Paternity, Adoption & Shared Parental Leave – Remains on statutory pay eg SMP. Can be furloughed when due to return to work
• Furlough – Furlough Pay

Do I need to Furlough everyone? – No, you only need to furlough those who you have no work for. If you only have work for a proportion of your staff then you only need to furlough the relevant proportion. Your selection criteria should be fair however and you might want to swap around who is furloughed, but there must be a minimum three week furlough period.

How much is Furlough pay? – Employers should pay and will be able to claim back 80% of employees’ normal salary up to a maximum of £2500. So 80% of £3125 is £2500 which is the maximum you’ll be able to claim back. You can top up pay to 100% but you won’t be able to claim the extra back. Bonuses and commissions are not included in furlough pay?

What’s the process? – Usually you would need a lay-off clause in your contract but under the circumstances you can furlough employees with mutual agreement. On the basis that you would otherwise have to make your staff redundant or let them go we don’t expect that there should be much objection. You should put it in writing and get written confirmation from any furloughed employees. We have a letter template you can download from the Toolkit section of our website which is free for our EmployerGuard clients.

How do I claim back the Furlough pay? – The Government is setting up a portal for employers to make their claims. This should be live over the coming weeks. You should keep accurate records of everyone who is furloughed in order to make your claim. We’re uncertain as yet if you need to make a separate entry on your payroll system but if might not hurt to do this if you have the facility. Information released today says that you’ll also be able to claim back employers National Insurance and minimum auto enrolment pension contributions.

Can employees work during Furlough? – The idea of furlough is to pay people for not working so that they stay at home and reduce the spread of the virus. Therefore they cannot work for you or anyone else during the hours they are contracted to you. If they already had another part time job, they could still do that.

NB. Furloughed workers are allowed to volunteer and undertake training during the furlough period. For businesses in Worcestershire, Bristol and Wiltshire, this is an excellent opportunity to make use of our funded training which we are running via webinar during this period. See the home page for a course schedule

We think we‘ve captured the main points here but we know there will be more detailed and nuanced questions from employers. As usual we’re on hand to support you. Contact us on 01452 331331 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Unsurprisingly this week, the majority of calls have concerned how employers should manage staff and the available options following a sudden and unexpected downturn in business. For many there is a fine line between being able to come to a reasonable and acceptable solution for everyone and the business closing completely. If you’re suffering at this time, we hope we can help you to make the right decisions.

We’ve included details of the options available but before you make any decisions, we think you should hold fire until the Government announces its businesses support packages which is promised for later today.

First of all, Coronavirus and the effect it is having on the country is 24/7 news so your staff may already be expecting bad news if you’ve experienced a notable downturn in business. The important thing is to be open, upfront and honest without causing alarm. It’s better that news comes from the owners and managers of a business than from the rumour mill.

If you think that you’re going to have to make reductions in the workforce, your options are:

Lay-off: You need to explicitly have a lay-off clause in your contracts to enable this. You would use it when there is no work at the moment, but you potentially expect it to return. You’ll need to pay a maximum lay-off payment of £29 per day for five days, so up to £145. Staff are still employed and continue to accrue holiday but any pension contributions for example would be reduced in line with pay. Staff are allowed to undertake other work with your agreement and can ask for redundancy if lay-off continues for four weeks.

Short-time working: This is where you reduce the number of working days per week and you’ll need a clause in your contracts for this too. You may for example reduce from five to three days per week. You would reduce pay accordingly, so in this example, to 60%. You would similarly reduce other benefits including holiday accrual and pension contributions. Again staff can find other work with your say-so.

If you do not have either of these clauses in your contracts, you can implement them provided you come to a mutual agreement with your team. You may need to stipulate that you need 100% buy-in from staff so that conflict is avoided.

Forced Holiday: You can stipulate that staff take their paid holiday. In order to implement this, you need to give twice as much notice as the holiday taken, so for two weeks holiday you’ll need to give four weeks’ notice.

Dismissal of short-term employees: If you reach the stage that you really need to let staff go then those with less than two years’ service will be the obvious first choice. You’ll only need to pay them their notice period plus any accrued holiday unless your contract states otherwise.

Redundancy: If drastic measures are called for and you have to lose staff who have more than two years’ service then you’ll need to make them redundant. Follow a proper selection procedure if it doesn’t apply to everyone and remember that it’s always the position that is made redundant and not the person.

This is top-line information only and each case will be different and require explicit advice so if you need further support and letter templates, please contact us on 01452 331331 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Now that the UK has officially moved from a state of containment to one of delay, we can expect a rapidly changing landscape over the coming weeks. There is so much information available now about COVID19 Coronavirus that we have attempted to distil everything down to a single page of information. To download a one-page .pdf document of the below, please go to https://hrchampions.co.uk/COVID19_On_One_Page.pdf

For support with all aspects of employee management and HR, including employee wellbeing, call us on 01452 331331 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.