Susi O'Brien HR

HR Top Tip! Reasonable adjustments.

Under the Equality Act 2010, employers have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments for workers with disabilities.

What are reasonable adjustments? Well, they're workplace adjustments which are... reasonable. (I know, that's not very helpful!)

Tribunal case law has shown that the definition of reasonable adjustments is broad and wide-ranging. They're assessed on an individual basis and can include anything from wheelchair access, to voice technology, flexible shift patterns, changes to job duties, or adjustments to standard sickness absence management processes.

If considering reasonable adjustments for a disabled worker, then listen to the individual's thoughts and suggestions, consider seeking occupational health advice, and challenge yourself to think 'out of the box' about what might be practical - and even beneficial - for your organisation.

As a HR consultant I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Do follow this page if you want to see future tips.

HR Top Tip! Why do I need to consult with staff if wanting to change their contract terms?

Why indeed! Well here goes…

A contract is a legally-binding document between parties. It can’t be changed without the agreement of both those parties. Therefore if one of your staff comes over to you and says “Here, boss, from next week me and the team have decided that we’re entitled to three months’ full sick pay a year” when the contract only allows for two months, then you could justifiably tell them “Errr… no. That’s not happening!!!” By the same rules, you can’t announce to your staff that you’re reducing things like their contracted hours, holiday entitlement, or salary without agreement.

If the change is a positive one and you’re increasing the pay or benefits that people get, it’s unlikely anyone is going to object. Just tell them what’s happening and answer questions as needed. However, if the change proposed isn’t 100% positive, you can’t assume that staff will agree to it. Formal consultation will be needed.

I’ve supported many employers to run successful consultation processes to update contract terms. If your business is planning changes and would like to discuss these, do get in touch.



As a HR consultant I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Do follow this page if you want to see future tips.

HR Top Tip! Prepare for UK political change.

It’s happened! We have a Labour Government in the UK.

On a personal level, your feelings towards this might be thrill, terror, or ambivalence - and that's totally up to you. But as an employer, it’s most likely going to create changes for your business in future.

Labour’s manifesto included a wide-ranging plan to ‘make work pay’ which included many proposals including:

🧑‍⚖️ Allowing new employees to claim unfair dismissal from day one of employment (rather than requiring two years’ previous service as is currently the case).

🧑‍⚖️ Abolishing ‘exploitative’ zero hours contracts.

🧑‍⚖️ Giving workers on irregular/casual/zero hour contracts the same workplace rights as other employees.

These are just the headline changes. Labour have made many more proposals related to employment law as well. I will be monitoring developments and advising my clients over the next few months and years to ensure that their policies and practices remain legally-compliant. I’ll also be supporting them to ensure that these legal changes, where appropriate, are implemented in a positive way which provides business benefits.

If you’d like to access this kind of support for the future, please get in touch.

As a HR consultant I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Do follow this page if you want to see future tips.

HR Top Tip! "I think submitting my resignation was a mistake..."

Did you know that if someone changes their mind after resigning, most of the time it's at the employer's discretion whether to accept that retraction (i.e. let them stay on)? There's usually no automatic right to keep your old job after handing in notice.

The exception to this is if the resignation was made suddenly in the heat of the moment - such as a dramatic announcement of "I QUIT!!!" during or just after a big argument. In these cases, the employer should allow a short cooling off period of roughly 1-2 working days for the unhappy employee to reflect and reconsider. If the employee does change their mind during that cooling off period, then they can keep their job, though a wise manager will ensure they follow up on whatever underlying issues remain!

As a HR consultant I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Do follow this page if you want to see future tips.

HR Top Tip! Managers, earn the right to give negative feedback.

I know fine well that I’ve put on some weight over the last few years, but I wouldn’t respond happily if a slight acquaintance told me as such without invitation!

As humans, we’re hardwired to struggle with negative feedback, especially from those who we don’t fully know or trust. The fact that someone is a manager may give them an organisational right to provide negative feedback but doesn’t mean that employees will – from an emotional perspective – accept that this is ok. Managers, just like everyone else, should seek to earn the right to give negative feedback. This way, the employee is more likely to listen and respond helpfully to it.

A 'right' to give negative feedback can be earned in various ways – but it all comes down to the strength of relationship created. Holding regular 1:1s, good team meetings, listening to staff, providing support, showing patience, and very importantly - giving regular praise when due (not just when you’re using it to sandwich something negative), are all pretty essential if you want later negative feedback to be effective. This is hard on newer managers, so it’s necessary to build up trusting relationships as quickly as possible.

One other tip is to turn giving feedback into a two-way highway. By this I mean you directly encourage the employee to give you negative feedback as well as the other way around. By demonstrating you are willing to listen and adapt to their feedback, you earn the right to give yours in return.



As a HR consultant I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Do follow this page if you want to see future tips.

HR Top Tip! Play fair (and legal) by your zero-hour workforce.

Did you know that it's unlawful to restrict a zero hour worker - or anyone earning under the Government's lower earnings limit (currently £123 per week) - from taking a second job? This means that any clause in such a worker's contract which says they have to ask permission from their manager to take another job is effectively null and void. Having your employment contracts reviewed regularly by a HR or employment law specialist will help to ensure that these kinds of issue are highlighted early on.

As a HR consultant I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Do follow this page if you want to see future tips.

HR Top Tip! Keep employee data up to date.

It’s a pretty obvious one eh? Keeping data accurate is one of employers’ key duties under the GDPR.

In practice though, small businesses without expensive IT systems will often have employee data (such as addresses, contracted hours, holidays taken, etc) listed in a variety of locations on their server. It’s easy to forget to update a particular spreadsheet when changes happen, or to copy and paste detail from an employee’s old contract whilst forgetting their address has changed since then, etc.

This is just a wee reminder that these errors can cost time – and sometimes money – to fix in future.

For the business owner, good data systems and/or meticulous data habits are worth their weight in gold.



As a HR consultant I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Do follow this page if you want to see future tips.

One of the privileges of being a HR consultant is knowing the immediate impact my work can have for managers and small business owners I work with. Here are a few comments I've received over the last fortnight in response to training or urgent advice given.

I know they're not long, deliberate testimonials. But the fact that clients take a moment to say things like this makes my day.

"Thank you kindly Susi. Again your answers are so clear and to the point."

"Very helpful indeed... Thank you for getting back to me so promptly. It is appreciated."

"Very interesting and fast paced session - no improvement needed!"

"That's really helpful, thank you... all questions answered."

HR Top Tip! Think positively about neurodivergence.

Neurodivergence is an umbrella term. It includes a wide range of conditions including autism, dyspraxia, ADHD, and dyslexia. Whilst some of these conditions have been under-recognised in the past, we know that neurodivergent people have existed throughout history. In today’s society, it’s estimated that between 15-20% of people are neurodivergent.

That’s a lot of people! So we should expect that as awareness grows over time, employers will continue to adjust for this. It makes commercial, as well as legal sense to support our staff to feel comfortable in the workplace. Neurodivergent employees often offer essential business perspectives, diligent work, and solid team support.

There’s no need for any of us to be afraid of neurodiversity. It’s always been out there. We're just starting to see it clearer now.



As a HR consultant I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Do follow this page if you want to see future tips.

HR Top Tip! Should you recruit via application form or CV?

Simple answer here – it’s up to you 😊.

Application forms are a great way to get clear, consistent information from which you can compare different candidates. Questions on the form can be tailored to elicit the exact experience, qualifications, etc wanted.

But all too often application forms are old and unwieldy. They ask pointless questions. (Who wants to know about your GCSE results from 22 years ago?!?) Many candidates avoid them, preferring to submit a quick CV which reflects their personal communication style.

Buuut… is submitting a CV *too* easy? Often it encourages candidates to apply for multiple roles without careful thought about job details and requirements, which in turn creates extra work for employers. Generally, folk who take the time to complete an application form properly are likely to be your strongest candidates anyway.

What I’m trying to say is that in my opinion, there’s no right or wrong decision on the question. Roughly speaking:

📄 If you want to promote the largest number of applications and/or get a sense of applicant written presentation – go for CVs.

📝 If you’re willing to get fewer job applicants in the hope that they’re better and easier to compare – go with an application form.



As a HR consultant I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Do follow this page if you want to see future tips.

HR Top Tip! Be clear whether people’s breaks are paid or unpaid.

Yeah, this sounds like a weird thing to talk about, but on a practical level it can cause so much confusion for employers. It affects things like minimum wage calculations, pro-rating for part-time workers, and arguments about flexible working.

Your employment contracts should make it clear what people’s working hours are. Ideally, they’ll give a total number of weekly hours (e.g. 37) and set out rules/expectations about when these are to be worked. From this information, it should be obvious to the employee whether their breaks are considered as paid or unpaid time. And that – believe me – can save you headaches later!



As a HR consultant I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Do follow this page if you want to see future tips.

HR top tip! Carry out stress-risk assessments.

If responding to an employee's concern that they're suffering from work-related stress, I recommend carrying out an individual stress risk assessment. This enables you to look at the triggers for stress in a thorough, systematic way. It also encourages reflective problem-solving on the employee's part.

An individual stress risk assessment process often looks like this:

1. The employee lists each individual trigger for their stress at work (which may be a short or long list) and makes suggestions about how each one could be resolved.

2. The manager takes on board the employee's feedback and responds to their suggestions - possibly adding in the manager's own as well.

3. Employer and employee agree a stress reduction action plan which includes set timescales and review points.

For example - Joe is absent with work-related stress. In his individual stress risk assessment, he lists three main factors contributing to this. They are excessive working hours, feedback from his manager about poor performance, and upcoming changes to team structure which he's nervous about. He suggests that in future he only works his contracted hours, his manager stops hassling him, and the team stays in its current form.

Joe's manager considers this and agrees that Joe has previously been working very long hours which should stop. But he also thinks there are some specific areas where Joe's performance is below that of his colleagues, and there are good (separate) reasons why the team restructure should take place.

Joe and his manager meet to discuss things in an honest but respectful way. They agree that Joe will receive further training and coaching on some job tasks to help him complete them faster with fewer errors. Joe will finish work at his contracted time each day and will keep his manager informed if this leads to any problems with workload. Joe's manager persuades him about the reasons for team restructuring, but plans to tweak those plans a little after hearing Joe's valid concerns. A face-to-face review to discuss progress with all these issues is planned for the following month. In the meantime, Joe feels like he's been listened to. He is fit and ready to return to work.



As a HR consultant I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Do follow this page if you want to see future tips.

HR Top tip! Recognise the workplace rights of those with gender-critical beliefs.

This may be a controversial post – but I wish it wasn’t. For the record, I consider myself a trans-inclusive feminist and strongly believe in the concept of individual gender identity. Naturally, I advise organisations to support trans staff members and those (like me) who are uncomfortable with transphobic language and actions within society.

However, it is not, and never has been acceptable in the workplace to make unevidenced assumptions about the way someone’s religion or beliefs will affect the way they carry out their job. Tribunal decisions such as Forstater demonstrate that this applies very much to those with gender-critical beliefs. Employers must remember that simply holding a gender-critical belief is not, and should not, be a breach of workplace policies. Therefore, any management action in response to employees communicating such beliefs should be carefully considered and as always - reasonable.

Most employees with gender-critical beliefs will treat trans colleagues and customers with dignity and respect. Harassment (including deliberate or careless misgendering) is obviously a no-no. But this applies to *everyone* at work. Those with gender-critical beliefs have the right to carry out their jobs without being called names, being excluded, or being unfairly discriminated against too.



As a HR consultant I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Do follow this page if you want to see future tips.

HR Top tip! Right to appeal following disciplinary.

If you've issued a formal sanction to an employee (potentially including dismissal) for misconduct, performance, or absence, you must give them the opportunity to appeal this afterwards. Preferably that appeal should be held with a more senior manager/director than the person who issued the initial warning.

Failure to offer a right of appeal could potentially result in a successful employment tibunal claim, with compensation awarded to the employee increased by up to 25%.

Getting the process right from the start will help to protect your organisation.

As a HR consultant, I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Do follow this page if you want to see future tips.

HR Top Tip! Do you have a pregnant employee who wants to use annual leave to help them manage financially during maternity leave?

They can't use any more than their 10-day KIT day allowance without ending the period of maternity leave completely. However, shared parental leave rules mean that where an employee qualifies, they may be able to divide up their maternity leave period and 'share' it with themselves in order to allow a longer period of annual leave to be taken midway through.

As a HR consultant, I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Do follow this page if you want to see future tips.

HR Top Tip! Be aware of the NEW statutory right to carers’ leave.

As of 6th April, employees who care for someone else (usually a family member) with a long-term health need have been entitled to unpaid leave of up to one week per year for caring purposes.

A typical usage of this right might be an employee whose elderly parent needs to move into a new care home. The employee needs some time off to manage the transition, but they don’t have sufficient holiday to cover that time. What can they do?

Leave can be booked in increments of half a day or higher. If they want to take less than 1.5 days’ leave in one go, they must give three days’ notice. If they want to take more than that, they must give twice the notice as time requested. (So for example, if they want to take four days of leave, they need to give eight days of notice.) If notice is given correctly, the employer must give them the time off, but this leave can be unpaid.

This legal change should be reflected in your internal HR policies. If you’d like support to do this, and/or would like to chat through other options for supporting carers amongst your workforce, please message me.

As a HR consultant, I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Do follow this page if you want to see future tips.

HR top tip! How to tackle a problem performer.

Ignore it and hope the problem goes away??? Nah, that might work occasionally if you’re *very* lucky, but it’s not a management technique to be relied upon. Performance problems should be dealt with upfront; with honesty and assertiveness, but also compassion and consideration.

First of all you identify WHAT the performance issue is and WHY. Then you work with the employee on HOW these problems are to be resolved. Usually the latter is done via a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). If the PIP does its job and performance improves, hooray! If it doesn’t, then formal meetings and warnings may be appropriate - but only so long as support by the employer continues along the way.

The number one error in performance management I see again and again is managers who choose to avoid a formal performance process until issues have been going on so long they’ve already metaphorically washed their hands of the employee and their prospects. Starting too late like this means things are almost doomed to failure – and its painful for everyone involved. My advice is to start PIPs much earlier. That way the employee is given genuine opportunity to improve and things are fairer overall.

As a HR consultant, I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Do follow this page if you want to see future tips.

HR Top tip! Running impartial workplace investigations.

Some years ago there was an Employment Appeal Tribunal case called Ramphal v Department for Transport which sent tongues flying about how to run an impartial disciplinary investigation, and whether HR should keep its nose out of the latter.

It’s a fascinating case, and its conclusions are sometimes misunderstood I think. From a small employer’s perspective, the important things it teaches are as follows:

🔎 That it should be clear and apparent who is running any workplace investigation.

🔎 And whoever the above person is, THEY should be the one who decides on the investigation’s key findings.

🔎 Secret backroom interference in an investigation process and its findings (whether by senior management, HR, line managers, or the office cat) is an absolute NO.

If you’d like support to run a thorough, professional, and impartial workplace investigation, this is a service I provide. Please message me for a chat.

As a HR consultant, I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Do follow this page if you want to see future tips.

HR Top Tip! When should an employer review its HR policies or handbook?

Given the number of employment law changes coming into effect within the next fortnight, I’d say the answer is now! See my post from last week if you’re wondering what those changes are.

Throughout the course of 2024 we’re expecting multiple further updates to legislation, including an upcoming right for variable-hour workers to request a more predictable working pattern. If you’re a small business or charity, this is where having good retained HR support really comes in handy. My retained clients will have their handbooks updated as and when needed. This gives them peace of mind, knowing that internal policies are correct and can be relied upon.

My retained rates start from just £180 per month for 12 months’ support (but prices may be reviewed soon) so if you want to discuss getting support here and now, please message me so we can chat.

As a HR consultant, I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Do follow this page if you want to see future tips. .

HR Top Tip! What UK employment law changes are happening on 6th April 2024?

April will be a big month for employment law. Various changes are taking effect. These run as follows:

❗ Updates to flexible working legislation, which include the right to right to make two statutory requests per year, and abolishing the previous 26-week continuous service requirement.

❗ Updates to paternity leave rules, aimed at giving greater flexibility to employees. Leave can thus be taken at any point during the 52 weeks after birth, only 28 days’ notice will be required to make a paternity leave request, and the two weeks can be taken separately if preferred.

❗ Extension of existing redundancy protections for those on maternity leave so that they also cover employees who are pregnant, or who have recently returned from maternity/adoption/shared parental leave.

❗ Introduction of a new right to planned (unpaid) carers’ leave for up to one week a year for those looking after others with a long-term health condition.

❗ And finally, if your organisation’s annual leave year runs April-March, then subject to contract terms, you may be able to start rolling up holiday pay of part-year and variable-hour workers at a rate of 12.07%. (If your holiday year runs Jan-Dec then you’ll have to wait until next year unfortunately.)

This is a very quick and condensed version of the changes. For more information, and to arrange support with updating policies, message me directly. I’m doing a standard April changes update package for just £225, or ask me about retainers for HR support which start from £180 per month.

As a HR consultant, I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Do follow this page if you want to see future tips.

HR top tip - Can you stop employees from discussing their pay?

Have you ever been tempted to prevent employees in your business from telling each other what they earn? It might feel like an easy way to stop pay-related grumbles and comparisons, but in reality it tends to do the opposite. Individuals may suspect that the reason for such an order is to hide unfairness and potentially even discrimination in the workplace. And any 'pay secrecy' clause in an individual's contract will be invalid if it prevents employees from pursuing their equal pay rights.

Best to have fair, competitive pay rates which you're happy for employees to potentially know about. This may even promote motivation and engagement for some!



As a HR consultant, I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Do follow this page if you want to see future tips.

HR Top tip - "Do I have to list a salary on job adverts?"

Strictly speaking you don't *have* to, but.....

When recruiting, it's a good idea to list a salary range rather than simply saying 'competitive rate' or similar. Including a salary range in a job ad helps job seekers know if the job is a good fit for them and saves everyone time. It also makes the hiring process fairer and more transparent. Employers can attract the right candidates, and job seekers can be confident they're being treated fairly.



As a HR consultant, I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Do follow this page if you want to see future tips.

Tuesday’s HR Top Tip!

Do employees accrue extra holiday if they work regular overtime?

It’s a sensible question and the answer is – sort of yes and sort of no. There you go, clear as mud.

To answer this question properly we need to separate out holiday TIME and holiday PAY. They’re two different things. Someone who works regular overtime won’t usually accrue additional holiday time, but they are likely to accrue additional holiday pay. How does that work?

For workers in this position, the pay rate for when they go on holiday (or at least four weeks of it each year) may be higher than their basic contractual rate. That’s because nobody should be ‘punished’ for going on holiday by earning less money than they normally would do.

This is unfortunately a complicated area of law, and there’s quite a complicated holiday pay calculation to go with it which is based on earnings over the previous 52 weeks. But not paying the correct holiday pay rates could lead to future tribunal claims. Many SME businesses benefit from getting professional HR advice and support to get things right on holiday pay matters. If you’d like to have a chat about it, get in touch.



As a HR consultant I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Do follow this page if you want to see future tips.

Tuesday’s HR Top Tip!

How do I stop people being late for work?

Well, you could hire gangsters to kidnap and drag them into the office at 8:59am every morning. But there are laws against that sort of thing… I work in HR, so advise a dull, but less risky approach to persistent lateness.

If someone is regularly late, the first thing is to point it out to them. Ask why it’s happening. Are there any easy fixes? For example, do they need to set their alarm a bit earlier? Could their working hours be adjusted slightly to take the bus timetable into account?

If problems persist, keep talking about it. Let them know you’re still noticing! Commence an investigation and formal disciplinary process into the matter if appropriate, and issue warnings in line with that policy. Eventually, the employee is either going to have to improve their timekeeping or face dismissal. Usually, in my experience, the former happens. That’s best for everyone.

And no gangsters needed!



As a HR consultant I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Do follow this page if you want to see future tips.

Tuesday’s HR Top Tip!

If you agree to a flexible working request, do you have to say yes to every other employee who asks for the same or similar arrangements forever and ever afterwards?

In a word – no!

Logically, if you had a team of ten people and one person asked to reduce their hours to four days and take Friday off, this might be manageable. You could grant the request, change their contract, and all is well.

If hypothetically the other nine people all decided that they all wanted Fridays off as well, could your business accommodate them all? Very unlikely! That’s why flexible working legislation focusses on individual situations and circumstances. There’s no requirement to make the same decision in every case.

This is important because sometimes I hear managers worry about granting an individual flexible working request – not because it’s unworkable by itself – but because they worry about what will happen if other employees make similar requests in future. You must only decline statutory flexible working requests for specific lawful reasons – and worries about what other employees might ask for in future isn’t one of them. Don't disappoint a member of your team unless you really need to.

If you’d like further advice about managing flexible working requests, get in touch. I support SME employers with this regularly.

P.S. Did you know that statutory flexible working request rules will be changing from April 6th? I can help to update your policies if needed. I love a bit of policy work!



As a HR consultant I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Do follow this page if you want to see future tips.