According to the OECD (Office of Economic Co-operation & Development) Mental illness costs the UK economy an estimated £94 billion per annum in lost productivity, social benefits and healthcare. Because mental health conditions are treated as disability, they immediately fall under the remit of the Equalities Act 2010. The wrong course of action towards an employee with a mental health condition, such as anxiety or stress, can easily lead to a discrimination claim; potentially ending in an Employment Tribunal. And because mental health is a Protected Characteristic, Tribunal awards are unlimited.

Remember, there is no obligation to declare a mental health issue during recruitment and you may not become aware of an employee’s condition until an episode occurs. Having a strategy in place to recognise, manage and support employees’ mental health wellbeing will help you maintain a productive, happy and motivated workforce.

Mental health issues can be complex, diverse and wide ranging. The more common conditions we are aware of include stress, anxiety and depression. These can be bought on by a tough work schedule or deadline or perhaps external factors such as the death of a loved one or physical illness. Additionally severe and enduring mental illness can be life changing.

As employers, our approach to mental health should be the same as any other health condition. We have a duty of care towards our employees and should ensure they are safe and that the work environment is a safe place to be. Because mental health issues don’t generally have any outwardly visible signals like a plaster cast would be for a broken arm, or a streaming nose and red eyes from an allergy, we need to take other steps to identify it.

It’s commonly reported that admitting to having mental issues is shrouded with stigma and is seen as a weakness; especially amongst men. Few people want to admit to being unable to cope or that that are feeling stressed. However this is exactly what needs to change. We should try to create an environment where employees can express their concerns and what is causing them problems.

If we are able to catch the causes of mental health issues early on then we can do something about it, thereby increasing the chances of resolving the issue before it gets out of hand and causes anyone to have to take time off work.

During our seminar, speakers from HR Champions, Menzies Law, and NHS 2gether Trust will talk around a variety of mental health topics. The aim is to equip you with the tools you need to be able to spot the signs of mental health conditions and effectively manage mental health issues as they arise in your workplace.

This seminar will help you:

• Recognise the signs, behaviours and triggers that an employee has a mental health issue
• Understand your legal obligations and duties including making reasonable adjustments and protecting employees from harassment
• Appreciate the risks associated with failing to follow Employment Legislation
• Understand what community support is available for employees with mental health issues
• Create a culture to prevent the stigma of mental health and enable employers to work effectively with sufferers of poor mental health

For help and support with mental health cases, you can as usual call us on 01452 331331 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Or book now to come along to the seminar. Your attendance fee of £50 will be donated to local Mental Health charities.

So, following a weekend of significant snowfall, we now find ourselves in the grip of Storm Eric to batter the UK with gale force winds and torrential downpours. Once again we’re experiencing an adverse weather event. You know the routine; expect major disruption as schools and businesses close, public transport is cancelled, the Met Office and police advise “Do not travel”.

Some employees struggle to make their way into work whilst others don’t even make it off the drive. So, what are the rules for businesses regarding payment for employees?

Here’s the low-down.

Where a business is unable to open owing to adverse weather, but employees still make themselves available for work, then they should still be paid as they are fulfilling, or attempting to fulfil, their duties under their contract of employment.

Conversely, should your business remain open during adverse weather, but your employees are unable or unwilling to get to work, then there is no obligation to pay them.

Those are the hard and fast rules, but, for the sake of employee relations and maintaining morale and goodwill within your organisation, we would always advise discretion and compromise; particularly for smaller businesses.

The type of business and business premises involved will probably dictate how seriously you are affected. For a shop, restaurant, factory or warehouse the effects are likely be significant. For office based staff on the other hand, the availability of the Internet means that there may be some options such as working from home or arranging to work from an alternative site.

For some businesses, adverse weather may make it too dangerous for employees to be working; roof-workers in icy conditions for example. Here, a “lay-off” clause might be an appropriate solution.

Your employees have a right to know what to do should adverse weather strike, so we strongly recommend that all employers have a robust Adverse Weather Policy in place. The policy should clearly lay out how the organisation will act in cases of adverse weather and how it expects its employees to behave. It should lay out the options available to employees and should also include how employees pay might be affected.

Having a properly implemented Adverse Weather Policy in place is a cheap and effective solution that will leave everybody in an organisation clear about what to do, what to expect and what is expected of them.

If you don’t already have an adverse weather policy or yours needs updating, perhaps because of the opportunities that the Internet now provides, we recommend that you take the appropriate action. We can’t do anything about the weather, but as businesses we can be prepared to manage what we do about it when it turns bad.

If you would like further help or advice regarding the issues raised here or anything else related to HR and Employment Law, just call us on 01452 331331 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

We usually try to keep this blog a Brexit-free zone, however with the shenanigans going on in Westminster at the moment over the terms of the deal under which we leave Europe, we thought it would be a good idea to give some ideas about what might happen with Employment Law after 29th March.

We don’t actually expect any aspects of UK Employment Law that have arrived as a result of EU directives to be repealed. There is potential however; especially for some features of the Working Time Directive. Other laws, which have been initiated in the UK, such as the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage will definitely remain.

As we near the end of the two year period to negotiate the terms of our exit, discussion has revolved almost exclusively around trade and immigration. Whilst sovereignty was one of the key canvassing issues on the run-up to the referendum, little has been debated about UK governance post-Brexit.

Because many of the laws that have come into effect as a result of EU Directives are to the benefit of employees, their sudden withdrawal would be likely create discord amongst the workforce, potentially leading to protests and even strikes. Imagine the reaction from employees if, for example, their rights to holiday pay were withdrawn.

Some UK legislation has been implemented completely independently of the EU and its repeal as a result of our exiting Europe is implausible. It could have been superseded by European Law if we had elected to stay in however. Such legislation includes.

• The National Minimum and Living Wage
• Unfair Dismissal
• The right to strike

Laws that have been implemented as a result of EU legislation and therefore have potential to be repealed include:

• The Working Time Directive
• Parental Leave
• TUPE
• Equal pay
• Collective Redundancy Consultation
• Protection for Part-time and Temporary workers

The Working Time Directive is seen to be the most costly legislation for UK employers to implement and we continue to feel its effect. It was under WTD legislation that a European ruling held that field based employees should count travelling to their first and from their last appointments as working time.

We often hear talk from MPs about alternative exit strategies such as ‘Norway Plus’, but no-one has explained whether free movement of people will mean having to maintain EU directed laws. Moreover, would it mean an obligation to adopt any new laws that the EU introduce.

When we do eventually leave, we must hope that common sense will prevail; that the good laws will stay and the less favourable ones will be scrapped. It’s unimaginable to think that the ban on smoking in indoor public places will ever be repealed for example. Whereas there’s a strong case to ditch the ruling that VAT must be charged on gas and electricity.

Whilst we wait for the final exit, if you find yourself with workplace issues that involve UK Employment Law as it stands, then do call us on 01452 331331 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Insistence on written documents has given way to e-mails over recent years and now the likes of banks and even the Inland Revenue accept, and sometimes insist that communications are made electronically.

More recently still, mobile messaging and social media apps including text messaging and Whatsapp have become much more prevalent as businesses and organisation recognise their speed and effectiveness for communicating to employees and customers.

As mobile communication becomes engrained in organisational culture however, we recommend that a line is drawn and some communications are only ever be made as hard copy. An employee is unlikely to expect to receive his or her contract of employment as a text message, so when it comes to leaving the company it’s right that something as serious as a resignation should be formalised in a written and signed letter.

Text messaging, or SMS (Short Messaging Service), has been around for over twenty-five years, so texting and its derivatives are common forms of communication for many. Messages are usually read very soon after receipt, but they don’t necessarily interrupt the recipient unless he or she chooses to allow it.

It’s easy to understand why someone might choose to use a text message to deliver news that may not be welcomed by the recipient. Resignations and ‘calling in sick’ are classic examples. The message is effectively in writing, and the sender doesn’t have to be present or speak to anyone to deliver the news. However, apart from being impersonal and impolite, some reasons why we advise not to accept them for resignations at least include:

• The text may have been sent ‘in the heat of the moment’ as a result of a disagreement or other situation that has disgruntled the employee. Has he or she simply reached for their mobile phone and ‘fired off’ a text as a way to let off steam?
• Was the text actually sent by your employee? It could have been friends or colleagues just ‘having a laugh’, or more sinisterly, deliberately trying get the mobile phone owner into trouble.

Well worded clauses in your company handbook stating the company’s views on mobile messaging is a good idea, though make sure that your managers abide by the rules too. If accepting holiday requests by text becomes common practice, it may become too common to overturn if it is later decided that it isn’t acceptable.

You might even want to consider being specific about exactly what types of messaging are acceptable for what. Don’t forget that texts, Whatsapp messages and Tweets come with an in-built date and time stamp, and so can prove very useful if a timeline of events has to be substantiated; in a disciplinary case for example. Formal matters should always be supplemented by a written communication that requires a signature. No-one has ever been issued a ‘final texted warning’ after all and we don’t think we could get it to stand up as being part of the disciplinary process.

If you are the recipient of a resignation by text message, you should offer a meeting with your employee to establish if he or she deliberately sent the message and to discuss the issue. Perhaps allow a short period of time for them to reflect on their actions if you feel it is appropriate or that the text may have been a mistake in the heat of the moment.

If the resignation is genuine then write to the employee reminding them of their contractual notice period and ask for a formal letter of resignation on paper for your own administrative purposes and so that you can confidently fulfil your duties to the inland revenue and issue a P45.

If you would like support and advice regarding what is and isn’t acceptable as a text or mobile message, call us on 01452 331331 or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

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It’s about this time of year, as we approach the festive season, that the police traditionally announce their crackdown campaign against drink-drivers.

Employers might want to consider taking a similar stance when it comes to drug and alcohol testing at work. Especially with NHS statistics claiming that as many as 1 in 12 adults between the ages 18 and 59 had taken an illicit substance in the year to 2017 and with little in the way of deterrents against drinking in the recent budget,

Drug and alcohol testing at work should form part of your Health and Safety policy and we recommend that it is promoted as being there for the welfare of employees. This is particularly relevant where you have employees who’s ability to do their job safely could be impaired if they are under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. And remember they could harm colleagues and members of the public as well as themselves.

Employees that would be considered to be in ‘high risk’ groups include amongst others, drivers, those who work at height, handlers of hazardous substances or those who work with vulnerable adults and children.

To avoid risks of victimisation or discrimination claims, drug and alcohol tests should be carried out either on the entire workforce, or on a selection of employees that you can prove has been chosen at random. Testing only the high risk employees amongst your workforce is acceptable and we would advise this is done as a minimum under a business’s corporate manslaughter responsibilities. However you may choose to test all staff, or representatives of all staff or departments to ensure that workers are not on site under the influence of illegal substances.

Although self-use kits are available, when conducting tests it’s a good idea to use a professional external organisation to maintain consistency and avoid mistakes. You’ll also be able to ensure that proper records are kept and it will be less likely that any positive results are objected to.

The frequency of tests and whether they are applied to the whole workforce or a random selection and/or just high risk employees should be information contained within your staff handbook. This should also detail the likely consequences of a positive test result depending upon which substances are identified in the test.

We recommend that it is made very clear that tests will be held at random. Giving notification of when drug and alcohol tests will happen totally negates the reason for applying them.

For further help and support in managing drug and alcohol testing, your staff handbook wording and what to do in the result of a positive test, call us on 01452 331331 or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Effective performance management isn’t rocket science. By implementing tried and trusted management practices we can nurture an engaged and motivated workforce where high achievers are recognised and rewarded and the under-performers are safely exited.

The challenge is applying these practices fairly and consistently. Many of the performance issues we are asked to help solve on our Employment Law Help Line could be avoided with a little more rigidity in the application of management practices. Sometimes difficult conversations are called for but that’s part of the territory.

Here are our top 3 tips for improving employee performance. Even if you are already doing these consistently it’s worth standing back to check how you’re doing. It’s easy to let things slip and get a little sloppy so a periodic review is always a good idea. If you’re not already doing these then get in touch if you’d like some support.

1. Clear Job Descriptions: Employees need and respond to knowing exactly what is expected of them. Ambiguity or vagueness will enable staff to float between tasks, never really achieving anything. Clear and defined job roles will give them a sense of purpose and a structure that they can be held accountable to. By all means include a clause that allows you to ask more of them but fundamental key roles and responsibilities are a must.
   
   
2. SMART Objectives and Targets: The acronym SMART which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound should be exercised against just about every task or target you set for your staff. Without it employees can’t be held to account. Increase sales! By how much? Paint that wall! By when? Improve customer Service! Compared to what? Appropriate objectives and targets should be the cornerstone of your performance management strategy.
   
   
3. Regular Reviews: Performance must be regularly reviewed to measure employees’ outcomes against their targets and objectives. Overachievers might need a reward such as praise to keep them motivated or higher targets to keep them challenged and aid retention. Under-performers might need to be offered training or support, or other action. Reviews don’t have to be onerous. Five minutes might be enough. Make sure though that they are regular and appropriately frequent and use them to set new objectives.
   
   
4. Bonus Tip. Consequences: If someone isn’t meeting expectations there needs to be consequences or you and your team will just continue to carry them leading to disgruntled good workers who will reduce their own performance to match; or simply leave. A disciplinary route might be appropriate which could ultimately end in dismissal. Using the tips above will either shape them into one of your high performers or it will prove you acted fairly and appropriately in case of a Tribunal claim. 

If you need further help and advice with performance management talk to us by calling 01452 331331 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

You've probably had enough analysis of this week’s budget so we’ll keep comments to just the one point; IR35.

As we predicted back in June 2017, the Government are tightening the screw on IR35 legislation. Apparently this is the single most lucrative change in the budget and is set to net the Treasury an estimated £1.6 Billion.

First introduced in 1999, the legislation is designed to close the tax-avoiding loophole of workers who set up limited companies to provide services on a business-to-business relationship basis, where in fact an employer-employee relationship is more appropriate. IR35 means PAYE and NIC deductions are made at source as though the contractor was in fact an employee.

When we discussed it last June, HMRC were only looking at those contractors who supplied goods and (predominantly) services to the public sector. Chancellor Philip Hammond announced in this week's budget that enforcement will now extend to contractors supplying larger businesses. It’s probably only a matter of time then before all businesses are affected.

The individuals who will be affected by the enforcement are arguably getting a raw deal as they will have to pay tax and NI as though they are employees but get none of the benefits such as sick pay and holiday pay. The move smacks of hypocrisy as a number of high profile court cases this year have determined that “self-employed” gig economy workers should enjoy employee status and its associated benefits.

As there are tax implications for businesses who get the IR35 legislation wrong, it is vital that businesses refer to workers correctly and use the appropriate status of worker for any particular job.

To help you establish the status of your workers’ we’ve compiled a brief definition of each type. If you are in any doubt about how a worker should be treated then you should contact us for further advice.

• Full-Time Permanent Employee: An employed member of staff who works a full working week.
• Part-Time Permanent Employee: The same as a full-time employee, including rights accrual, but will work for a reduced, set number of hours or days per week.
• Temporary Employee: A member of staff employed for a set period usually of less than 6 months.
• Temporary Employee – Agency Employed: For very short term appointments of just a few weeks or even days, temporary staff are often taken on via an agency.
• Fixed Term Contract: Fixed term contracts are usually used to employ staff to manage or cover a specific project or period of maternity leave.
• Casual Workers: Casual workers are likely to be employed on a zero-hours contract. They are only given work when there is work to be done and therefore only paid when they have carried out work.
• Contractor: A contractor would be self-employed or employed through another company and provide services to you for a fee. This is the status that will be affected by the IR35 regulations.

In all cases you should at the very least check that your employee’s contracts describe what you believe their status to be. If there is a discrepancy, don’t act without seeking advice as you may unwittingly be in breach of contractual terms. You can contact us for further advice or assistance regarding employee statuses and relevant contracts by telephone on 01452 331331 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Workplace communication is a subject that always features prominently on our training courses. Delegates are usually very keen to share instances about the communication at their own organisations. Very often however it’s because of failures in communication that delegates are so vocal.

During a Level 3 Leadership and Performance Management course that we ran this week, communication was the topic and the discussion gravitated towards making the tea. In particular, the diversity in communications methods when making tea or other beverages for a group of co-workers.

This may at first appear quite trivial, but consider how something as simple as getting a round of drinks correct, or badly wrong, demonstrates the effectiveness of communication generally throughout an organisation. Not to mention potentially making your co-workers very grumpy.

Our Level 3 group, made up largely of middle and first line managers, discussed the issues often encountered when someone made the tea at work. Sugar or milk may have been omitted when it was requested; or added when not required. Drinks might get made too strong or too weak or the wrong drink might have been made for certain individuals. Some people may have been excluded from a drinks invitation entirely.

What the group really focussed on however was the steps and systems that had been developed and put in place in their respective places of work to overcome tea making dilemmas. Wall charts detailing personal preferences were commonplace, even down to specific tea colour, as we use at HR Champions.

One company represented by our group for example announces tea rounds via Microsoft Yammer, a social networking service designed for private communication within organisations. Whilst the opportunity for social interaction may be lost, the potential for making a mistake or missing someone out is minimised.

The point here is that if you can’t get basic communication right about the simplest things, how you can expect the really important issues to be communicated effectively. If you’re not able to make everyone who wants one a cup of tea or coffee with the right amount of milk or sugar, how can you expect to know what standards your co-workers aspire to in their work? What are their deadlines, targets and restrictions? How should reports be presented, in what format and for whose consumption? What are the goals and targets for the department, the business or the global organisation?

We know how vital effective communication is for the proper functionality of a business so it should manifest itself in every aspect of the workplace. From top level boardroom decisions down to whether or not the milk goes in first.

If you want to be part of stimulating and progressive discussions, sign up to one of our ILM training courses which are currently fully funded for businesses in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire. Call 01452 331331 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

We think it’s a good idea to remain mindful of the “Protected Characteristics”; the grounds for discrimination claims which were originally set out in the Equalities Act 2010. Since the implementation of the act there have been a few updates and changes and additions to the definitions. All employers should be aware of what the protected characteristics are as they will always be considered by a Tribunal in cases of dismissal.

Awards against claims for discrimination are unlimited with the highest UK award standing at a staggering £4.5 million. It’s understandable then that when we are discussing an employee dismissal with a client, we invariably ask if there are discriminatory factors or protected characteristics to consider.

Remember that discrimination can occur during the recruitment process too so an individual doesn’t even have to be an employee to make a discrimination claim. This is why it is vital to have a fair and transparent recruitment process.

Here’s a brief overview of each of the Protected Characteristics though please call us if you are ever in doubt or if you suspect an issue:

• Age – You can’t make decisions about employees that is influenced by their age, whether they are young or old. Asking someone to retire for example is a big fat no.
• Disability – Employers must make reasonable adjustments to the workplace in order to accommodate employees with a disability. There may be limits to what you can do of course but you must be able to prove that you have gone to reasonable lengths. Remember that disability covers mental health too.
• Gender reassignment – Staff who propose to, have started or have completed a process to change their gender must have equal treatment and facilities. This may for example, include installing a female toilet in a previously all-male environment or changing toilets to unisex.
• Marital Status – Whether a person is married, single or divorced should not influence any decisions made about their employment status or terms. This includes Civil Partnerships.
• Race – This includes race defined by colour, nationality or ethnicity. Current thinking on this suggests omitting job applicants’ names from application forms so that race or nationality cannot be guessed and to stop employers making subliminal judgements.
• Religion or belief – Similar to race; a person’s religion or belief should have no bearing on how they are treated or decisions made about them. Having no religion, ie Atheism, counts too.
• Pregnancy & Maternity – Treating someone differently because they are pregnant or on maternity leave is another big no.
• Sex – Whether an employee is male or female should make no difference. Sex discrimination is often cited in equal pay cases
• Sexual orientation – Relates to whether a person’s sexual attraction is to the same sex, the opposite sex or both sexes. 

To avoid discrimination cases, always make sure that you follow a clear and consistent process that is equal across the entire workforce, particularly where dismissal is concerned. However even those who resign voluntarily may still come back with a constructive dismissal claim if they feel they have been discriminated against.

Remember, if there is an inkling that a case could give rise to a discrimination claim, call us first for some advice. Better safe than sorry. Call us on 01452 331331 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

I was fortunate enough this week to attend a dinner event with Sir Clive Woodward OBE. The first professional coach of the England Rugby Union team, Clive, as he prefers to be addressed, famously steered the team to triumph at the Rugby World Cup in 2003. But you already knew that.

What you may not know is that following his time at England RFU, Clive went on to manage the British and Irish Lions on their tour of New Zealand in 2005 followed by a term as Director of Football at Southampton Football Club. His next appointment in 2006 was as Director of Elite Performance for the British Olympic Association.

During the evening, Clive gave many insights into his time and experiences in his various roles, and in particular as the England Rugby coach. One message was very clear throughout however and Clive repeated it several times, “Great teams are made of great Individuals.”

He expanded on this in more detail, explaining how crucial it is that everybody in a team is fully capable and competent at doing their job, to the extent that the other team members are able to rely on them without question. Otherwise he explained, things just fall apart.

Clive was really able to drive this point home through an anecdote he recounted about a team-building exercise he undertook with an early version of the England Rugby squad at the headquarters of the Royal Marines. An officer took Clive to one side and suggested that some members of the squad wouldn’t make it as a marine. As he succinctly explained it “you don’t get on the helicopter with someone who can’t do their job.”

When clients approach us with staff performance issues because someone isn’t doing their job, we look at a number of things; capability, conduct and motivation.

Is the individual capable of doing their job? Do they have the necessary skills and abilities to fulfil their duties? If not, can this be fixed with appropriate training or are they never going to cut the mustard?

If they are capable, then perhaps the problem is conduct. Is the individual an inherent troublemaker, lazy or have a bad attitude? Is their performance being affected by the behaviour of another team member?

Perhaps the problem is motivation. Representing your country in your bid to win the greatest prize in your sport is probably motivation enough for most rugby players. Employees have a tendency to require motivation in other ways and remuneration is only part of the answer. For example, as managers, we are responsible for applying the most appropriate management style to the employee’s level of ability for any particular task. Our Situational Leadership training has this down to a tee.

Getting the most from your team through the effective management of individuals is a message that we continually echo. Our training courses have something for all levels, including the team members themselves. And at the moment we can offer it totally free to businesses in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire. Call us on 01452 331331 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to find out how to get your hands on it and start building great teams like Sir Clive Woodward.