Your HR problems: solved
Breaking down your business’s HR problems
You’re the boss, so you need to handle HR and employment law problems in your business quickly. But sometimes, a people-related problem at work can leave you stumped.
Don’t worry.
You can phone someone who’ll know the answer every time, all you have to do is ask us for help.
That’s what plenty of other small business owners just like you have already done. Here are just three of the many questions we’ve answered in the last month…
- “I’ve discovered an employee’s lied to me, saying they have a qualification for the job when they don’t. Can I dismiss them?”
Do they need that qualification by law to do their job? If the answer is yes, then you can dismiss them.
If the qualification isn’t needed by law, but you still think it’s an important qualification to do the job, you can dismiss the employee. You can argue they’ve broken the implied trust and confidence of your relationship. Because if they’ve lied to you about something so important, that could be gross misconduct.
Or you could decide that the employee has done a great job without the qualification, and you can look past the lie and keep employing them.
Got a similar problem with one of your employees? Call us on 0800 144 4050.
- “I’ve found one of my employees has been making negative comments about my business online. What should I do?”
How bad are the comments? And is it the first time they’ve done this?
Two years ago, an employment tribunal rejected an unfair dismissal claim from a long-serving employee who’d made comments about her employer’s plans to move premises on Facebook. She’d worked for her employer for 17 years, and previously had a clean disciplinary record.
If an employee is over-sharing on social media, you’ll need to do a full investigation, and highlight how they have breached your social media policy (if you have one).
Be careful not to opt for a dismissal straight away—speak to your employee and give them a chance to explain themselves.
Maybe the reason your employee has taken their workplace problems online is because they’re being bullied or harassed at work. If that’s the case, you should use your grievance process to get to the bottom of the issue.
Think it might be time to rethink your social media workplace policy? Just give us a ring on 0800 144 4050.
- “If the government doesn’t agree a deal with the EU over Brexit, what happens to my EU workers?”
Even if the UK government doesn’t agree a deal with the EU, workers from the European Union currently living in the UK can apply for settled status.
The difference is that in a no-deal scenario, EU workers will need to have five years of residency by 29th March 2019 to qualify for settled status.
EU nationals will have until 31st December 2020 to apply for settled status, instead of 30th June 2021 if a deal is agreed.
Don’t let Brexit disrupt your business. Let us help you navigate through the new rules for EU workers. Call 0800 144 4050.