HR Insights for Small Business Owners

I had a call last week. A client asked if they could fire an employee for faking a sick note. It’s a standard question, but it reminded me of a case from a few years ago that still makes me shake my head. An employee was off sick for three weeks with a bad back. He claimed he couldn't sit or stand. The doctor's note looked real, and the employer was sympathetic. They even rearranged his workload and told him to take his time. Then someone saw him on Facebook. He was jet skiin

Over more than three decades of doing this, one thing that still amazes me is how persistent the misconceptions are about who can actually represent an employee in a formal disciplinary or grievance hearing. HR sees this all the time: people turning up with friends or relatives like "Aunty Sandra, who used to be quite high up in HR." If I had a pound for every time I corrected company heads on the misconception that their staff member's representative can attend but is not pe

After 30 years in HR, one thing's clear: the same problems keep coming up. Last month, a Conwy business faced a £4,000 tribunal claim over a missing contract. Here are 5 common HR mistakes and how to avoid them.