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Employment

So – how is Brexit going to look now?
So – how is Brexit going to look now?

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and Brexit - how is Brexit going to look now?     So how is Brexit going to look now? It has almost been one year since the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. The negotiations on the "how" have just begun,...

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Employment Law Spring round up

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and Employment Law   Spring does not just bring flowers in bloom and good weather but also a series of legislative changes from large compliance projects for data protection and gender pay gap reporting to costs increases as...

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ECJ ruling on headscarves at work

Is it time to ditch the dress code or is it still justifiable?   I read a recent article in the CIPD Magazine People Management where the discussion centred around "Is it time to ditch the dress code?" topic. This sounded particularly pertinent to me considering...

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ASDA Equal Pay

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and equal pay   The Office for National Statistics (“ONS”) reported on 26 October 2016  that the gender pay gap between men and women (for full-time workers) has fallen from 9.6% in April 2015 to 9.4% in April 2016 which is,...

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Redundancy and restructures

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and redundancies   No one wants to make redundancies or be made redundant; from time to time, however, businesses have to re-organise themselves and cut overhead costs. Restructures and redundancies can pave the way for...

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ACAS code doesn’t cover ill health dismissals

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and ill health at work   ll-health at work can be a sensitive issue, especially when handling long term or repeated absence. Tribunals have sympathy for employees with health issues, even where no disability is involved, and...

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Byron feels the heat : the sting

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and immigration   Last July immigration officials arrested dozens of illegal workers at Byron prompting mixed reactions from the national media and the burger chain’s customers. The Home Office carried out raids, with Byron’s...

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Is back pain all in the brain?

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and workplace illness   The Office for National Statistics found that, in 2013, more working days were lost to musculoskeletal problems such as back and neck pain than anything else. Once upon a time, if you suffered from...

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It is all in your head…

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and absence   Figures from the Office for National Statistics shows that sickness absence caused by stress, anxiety and/or depression has dramatically increased from 11.8 million days in 2010 to 15.2 million days in 2013....

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Ill health and employee relations

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and employee relations   An allegation of misconduct i.e. met with immediate sickness absence, what do you do? Adjust do not delay - it is not true that employees can't be disciplined if they're off sick or don't show. Their...

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Are managers scared of pregnancy?
Are managers scared of pregnancy?

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business, Employment and maternity     Many managers don't "get" pregnancy. They are afraid to engage with pregnant employees because they are unsure what "employment law" minefield they are stepping into. Not everything is...

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Dealing With People At Work: The Unsung Hero
Dealing With People At Work: The Unsung Hero

PUBLISHED ON OCTOBER 9, 2022 THE PEOPLEALCHEMIST EDIT: CHANGE & TRANSFORMATION, BUSINESS & LIFESTYLE EXPERIMENTATION FOR THEWOMANALCHEMIST – THE UNSUNG HERO     Dealing with people at work can be challenging, especially with the unsung hero type. You...

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Long-term sickness and disability

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and long-term sickness According to HSE 27.3 million, working days were lost in 2014/15 due to absence with stress depression or anxiety counting for 9.9 million days, musculoskeletal discords 9.5 million days. The average days...

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Dealing With People At Work: the Alpha Male
Dealing With People At Work: the Alpha Male

PUBLISHED ON OCTOBER 9, 2022 THE PEOPLEALCHEMIST EDIT: CHANGE & TRANSFORMATION, BUSINESS & LIFESTYLE EXPERIMENTATION FOR THEWOMANALCHEMIST – THE ALPHA MALE   How can you deal with the Alpha male in a work environment? Alpha males have not disappeared,...

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Key Changes to Immigration rules  – Tier 2 

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and immigration rules   On 25 February 2015, the Secretary of State issued a Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules, which highlighted a number of changes,  most of which came into force on 6 April 2015. The Tier 2...

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Whistleblowing – Landmark cases

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and whistleblowing   In Chesterton v Nurmohamed, Mr Nurmohamed made the disclosure about alleged manipulation of the firm's accounts and claimed that by deliberately overstating costs and liabilities for its London office the...

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Social Media can get you into trouble

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Employment & Social Media Ok, you set up your social media account ( Facebook, Twitter and so on..) separate from your work and you do not identify yourself as working in a particular company. You have a rant or a few which of course...

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Intermittent unexplained absence

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and Absence Management   Many managers struggle to deal with an unexplained absence that also affects employees' ability to fulfil role requirements and feel there is nothing they can do. The reality is you do not have to...

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“Just in Time” learning

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, business, learning & development   If we wanted to learn how to do some task outside work we wouldn't go on a course 6 or even 3 months earlier; we would Google it or use YouTube when we do need to know and action each step "there...

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Hiring an Apprentice

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and apprenticeship   Everyone is talking about apprentices but, behind the big headlines, there is a lot of uncertainty regarding the funding and ownership of schemes. People still think that the process is complicated and...

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Accelerated practical learning

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and learning   How can we unlock knowledge in a short period of time at the minimum expense? The old way of learning was to book someone one a course/workshop etc; this can be a strain especially for small businesses both...

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Dealing with TUPE developments on legislation 

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and TUPE   TUPE refers to the "Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006" as amended by the "Collective Redundancies and Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (Amendment) Regulations...

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Testing staff for drink and drugs

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and testing for drugs    have received an anonymous letter accusing an employee of taking drugs, in and out of work, and I am suspicious: can I test him/her for drink and drugs? If this is happening in your company right now...

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Hiring your first employee

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and recruitment   It comes a time in the life of small business owners when their company is growing and they cannot continue to provide the same service to their customers just by themselves and they need to hire their first...

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Making your apprentice welcome (and thrive)

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and apprenticeship   One of the keys to making an Apprentice feel welcome is a good induction process that offers continued managerial support. This could potentially be the difference between learning, failing and then...

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Flexible working is not just for women…

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and flexible working   Flexible working is not a new concept but is one that is often misconstrued. There are many types of flexible working, it is not something only women (in particular only mothers) ask for. Neither is...

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Company liability for contractors

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and liability for contractors   A recent Employment Appeal Tribunal case showed a logistics company to be liable for its contractor's drivers under TUPE law because the activities these employees undertook were "fundamentally...

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Pay to Quit scheme 

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and pay to quit scheme   I recently read an article in the CIPD People Management magazine about an interesting people practice. Amazon is offering its staff up to $ 5,000 to leave the company immediately, the so-called "Pay...

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How do you improve productivity ?
How do you improve productivity ?

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and how to improve productivity     Can you improve productivity? And how do you characterise productivity in economic terms? It is more complex than just measuring how much you are doing in a given time. While labour...

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How do you support a new manager? 
How do you support a new manager? 

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and new managers - how do you support a new manager     It comes a time in the life of an entrepreneur/small business owner where growth leads to more staff and the consequent need to have someone else helping with...

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Creative recruitment for SMEs
Creative recruitment for SMEs

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and creative recruitment for SMEs     When you are an SME, budgetary and resource constraints mean you might need to be a little creative. The traditional newspaper ads at an average cost of £1,500 plus don't guarantee...

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What benefits do employees really value?  
What benefits do employees really value?  

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR and Business What benefits do employees really value? When employees are asked which benefits would be most valuable for them, a majority opts for benefits that help them combine work with the quality of life. The value of work-life...

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The Psychoactive Substances Act 2016

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and the psychoactive substance act   New legislation comes into effect from 26 May (today) which prohibits the production, distribution, sale, and supply of all psychoactive substances. With the exception of those in use...

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Am I liable for my staff misdemeanours?

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and liabilities   Until now, it was possible to hold employers liable for the acts (or omissions) of their employees. If they happened during the course of their employment. Are you liable for staff misdemeanours? Well, a...

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Commission and holiday pay
Commission and holiday pay

ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business and pay     Commission and holiday pay is controversial subject. But if your reward strategy includes commission and uses overtime payments, then it is time that you review your policies and contracts of employment in...

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