Dear Aunty Back in 2008 our business was struggling and we had to cut everyone’s pay by 10% to avoid making redundancies.  This was quite a painful process but in the end most staff accepted it.  Unfortunately, it now looks like we are going...

Dear Auntie, I am a partner in a small financial advisory firm which is an appointed representative of a major network.  We hire a number of independent financial advisors as sales consultants on a self-employed basis. I’ve heard that...

Dear Auntie, I was recently talking to another HR colleague and he mentioned that there have been a number of recent cases on disability discrimination and, in particular, the duty to make reasonable adjustments.  It made me realise that I’m...

Dear Auntie I’ve heard a lot of talk recently about positive action in employment.  Is this another example of political correctness gone mad?!  As an HR manager, I need to know what’s going on. Does ’positive action’...

Dear Aunty I know the Agency Worker Regulations are coming into force soon but I haven’t had a chance to find out what they are all about.  Please can you give me a quick bullet point guide which I can share with my team and the managers in our...

Dear Auntie With only one year to go to the London Olympic Games, we need to start planning and getting in shape! The summer holidays always cause a headache for us in the HR team, but we are expecting August 2012 to be even more challenging when the...

Dear Auntie I have read a case recently in which the Court decided that only the information known by the person dismissing the employee is relevant to whether the reason for dismissal was fair or not. Does that mean that we can withhold relevant...

Dear Auntie Unfortunately, our company is planning to make an employee from our sales team redundant.  The sales team is headed by a manager who works with one male and one female assistant but we now only have enough work for one assistant. The...

Dear Auntie, I have already received some holiday requests in relation to the 2012 Olympic Games, even though they are over a year away. Is it too early to start thinking about the Olympics already? Miss Onya Marks Dear Onya, Any employer could be...

Question: Dear Auntie, I have been reading around some changes that I understand are due to be made to the Employment Tribunal system.  There is some talk, for example, about claims having to be sent to ACAS before they are submitted to the Tribunal...

Dear Auntie I know that ACAS has produced updated guidance on handling redundancies – what do I need to know about it? Yours sincerely Miss D. Charge HR Manager Dear Miss Charge A new booklet containing guidance for employers, trade...

This is the second serving of our selection of key cases from 2010.  1. KRAFT FOODS v HASTIE – age discrimination / justification For more details of this case, see our Ask Auntie piece from our August 2010 newsletter . Summary:  ...

2010 was a very busy year for employment tribunals and courts with plenty of interesting cases.  Here are our chosen case highlights: 1. Compensation in discrimination cases – stigma loss Chaggar v Abbey National plc [2010] IRLR 47 The...

Dear Auntie,  I am aware that discrimination on grounds of gender reassignment was unlawful under the old law and assume that that is still the case under the Equality Act 2010 – is that correct?  What are the key issues and possible...

Dear Aunty I know that the Equality Act came into force last week, but I have not been able to keep up to speed with the changes it introduced. Please can you summarise the ones most likely to be relevant to HR? Thanks Harry Harman Dear Harry ...

Dear Auntie I am an HR Manager for a medium size company and I have just come back from holiday to a stack of disciplinary matters. Can you help me with a couple of matters which are causing me a real headache:- 1. A male employee has complained...

Dear Auntie,  Our company has a generous redundancy policy which is subject to a cap. The cap ensures that a redundant employee does not receive more than he or she would have earned had they remained in employment until retirement age.  A few of...

Dear Auntie,   I’m concerned about a recent decision taken by our company’s board of directors and would be grateful for your views.  It all started with the media attention around under-representation of women and minorities in...

Dear Aunty,   Our CEO wants to dismiss one of our managers as he has had enough of his incompetence.  He does not want to go through any process - he says that it will take too long and there is no point as we will end up paying him something...

Dear Auntie,  I have become aware that one of our board members has been seriously undermining a senior manager, Tom, for some time by belittling him in front of colleagues at management meetings, telling more junior staff that Tom has no long-term...

Dear Auntie My company current requires employees to obtain a sick note from a doctor when they are unwell for over seven days in order to get sick pay.  I understand that doctor’s sick notes are going to be replaced by a “fit...

Dear Auntie, We have just returned from a Case Management Discussion and the Employment Tribunal has ordered that disclosure be carried out over the next month.  We have a number of internal documents about the litigation which we would rather not...

Dear Auntie At my organisation there is a member of staff (Tim) who has been off work with a bad back for 3 months. My MD wants to dismiss him but, as HR manager, I am worried about doing this. Please could you give me some guidance as to the issues...

Dear Auntie My company has landed a large contract and I am now looking to recruit 50 new employees over the next few months.  I have never managed a large scale recruitment process before so I would like some best practice tips. Any help...

Dear Auntie, Well, it’s that time of year again and we’re busily preparing for the festive season in the office.  In a break from tradition, the directors have decided to invite some of the company’s top clients to our office...