WoodcoteHR

WoodcoteHR Partnering with business owners and existing HR teams for all things HR related.

Think a bad hire just wastes a bit of time? A single bad hire at mid-manager level could cost your business over £132,00...
10/06/2026

Think a bad hire just wastes a bit of time?

A single bad hire at mid-manager level could cost your business over £132,000. That's more than three times their average salary (based on £42k). That’s according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation.

What's more, from July 2026, employees gain ordinary unfair dismissal rights after just 6 months. That means if a bad hire isn't managed properly from day 1, you could be facing a tribunal claim.

If you want help with tightening up your hiring process or putting a proper probation structure in place, we're here for a confidential chat whenever you're ready: https://woodcotehr.co.uk/contact/

04/06/2026

🚨 Employment Rights Act Milestone Incoming: Prepare for 6 month dismissal rights

From 1 January 2027, the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal claims drops from 2 years to 6 months.

Anyone you employ from 1 July onwards can bring an ordinary unfair dismissal claim after just 6 months. The first claims could land as early as January 2027.

💡 So essentially, from 1st July 2026, employees will gain the right to claim ordinary unfair dismissal after just 6 months of service. That’s now less than 1 month away.

For small businesses, this is a significant shift. If a new hire isn’t the right fit, there’s far less time to identify issues, manage performance and make decisions safely. But this can be mitigated easily through ensuring your processes are right.

If you’re unsure whether your probation, onboarding or performance processes would stand up to scrutiny, now is the time to review them.

🔗 Get in touch here: https://woodcotehr.co.uk/contact/

01/06/2026

June is Pride Month 🏳️‍🌈

Pride Month is a month-long celebration that takes place every June, recognising the LGBTQ+ community, its history, achievements and ongoing fight for equality.

But while changing a logo to a rainbow can show support, true inclusion goes beyond visible gestures. "Rainbow washing" is when organisations publicly show support for the LGBTQ+ community without backing it up through their policies, practices or culture.

What does your handbook actually say? How would a new starter know they're safe to be themselves?

We can help you review your policies and make sure inclusion is built in, not bolted on.
🔗 Get in touch here if you'd like support: https://woodcotehr.co.uk/contact/

That performance conversation you’ve been avoiding with a member of your team? The longer it’s left, the harder it becom...
28/05/2026

That performance conversation you’ve been avoiding with a member of your team?

The longer it’s left, the harder it becomes to fix.

Small issues quickly turn into patterns and, before you know it, what could have been a simple conversation becomes a formal process.

We know that giving feedback is something many business owners and managers put off. Not because they don’t care, but because they want to handle it the right way.

That’s why we’ve put together some practical advice on delivering feedback that’s clear, fair and actually helps improve performance.

👉 Swipe through for our tips, or get in touch if you need support managing performance conversations in your business.

Since April, Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is payable from day one, and the lower earnings limit has been removed. Have your ...
21/05/2026

Since April, Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is payable from day one, and the lower earnings limit has been removed.

Have your processes caught up?

For small businesses, this means more employees now qualify for SSP and the cost of absence starts sooner. If short-term absence is already a challenge, the impact can build quickly.

Here’s what to review:

💷 Payroll setup Make sure your system reflects the removal of waiting days and the earnings threshold. If not, you could be underpaying or overpaying without realising.

📄 Sickness absence policy If your policy still references waiting days or minimum earnings limits, it’s out of date. Managers and employees should be working from the same current process.

🔄 Return-to-work conversations A quick check-in after every absence is one of the simplest and most effective tools you have. It doesn’t need to be formal, it just needs to happen consistently.

📊 Attendance tracking Without accurate absence records, patterns are easy to miss until they become expensive.

🗣️ Manager confidence Managers are usually the first to spot rising absence levels. Make sure they feel confident having early conversations before issues escalate.

The changes themselves may seem small, but if your processes haven’t kept pace, the costs can add up quietly and it can get confusing for all involved.

14/05/2026

What does HR actually do for your business?

One of the things we often hear from business owners is:
“I’m not entirely sure what HR should be doing for us.”
And that’s completely fair.

HR can cover a wide range of areas, and unless you’ve needed support before, it’s not always obvious what’s available, or where the gaps might be.

💡 In reality, it can cover a wide mix of things. That might be day-to-day support like managing performance, handling absence, or having tricky conversations. It can also include putting the right contracts, policies, and processes in place so expectations are clear from the start.

And then there are the more complex situations - disciplinaries, grievances, investigations, or supporting you through a difficult employee issue where you need to get things right.

It can also play a role in hiring and onboarding, as well as helping managers feel more confident in how they lead and support their teams.

ℹ️ Not every business needs all of these at once. But having an understanding of what sits under the “HR umbrella” can make it easier to spot where a bit of support could save time, reduce risk, or simply make things run more smoothly.

🔗 Get in touch if you’d like a chat: https://woodcotehr.co.uk/contact/

11/05/2026

“How much are we actually spending on HR?” 💰

It’s a question many business owners don’t immediately have an answer to.

Often, it’s because HR isn’t seen as a defined cost. There’s no clear budget line, so it feels like it’s not really “spend” at all.

But in reality, most businesses are already investing in HR, just not always in a planned or visible way.

It tends to show up reactively:
⏳ Time spent managing grievances or disciplinaries
🔎 Investigations that pull managers away from their day jobs
🚨 External advice brought in once something has already escalated

When you also factor in sickness linked to unresolved issues, or recruitment following avoidable turnover, the true figure is often higher than expected.

With employment law continuing to evolve, the margin for getting things wrong is getting smaller.

It’s why more businesses are starting to look at HR slightly differently, not just as something to deal with when issues arise, but as something that can be approached more proactively.

💡 Sometimes, the most useful question isn’t “do we have an HR budget?” It’s “where is HR already costing us, and how could we handle it better?”

08/05/2026

🗞️ A fifth of workers are not taking their full holiday entitlement.

Recent research from Timetastic found that around 1 in 5 UK employees aren’t using all of their annual leave, often due to work pressures. Over a quarter finished last year with more than 15 days unused.

Mid-level managers and supervisors were the most likely to skip holidays, with many saying they feel unable to step away. Nearly 1 in 10 admitted they feel guilty for taking leave they’ve already earned.

For small businesses, this is worth paying attention to.

👉 When people don’t take proper breaks, it rarely leads to better performance. Instead, it increases the risk of burnout, mistakes, and eventually, people leaving altogether.

💡 If your team is carrying large holiday balances or quietly working through their leave, it’s usually a sign that something isn’t quite right.

Sometimes, a simple sense check on where everyone’s leave stands can highlight issues early, before they turn into bigger problems.

🗞️ HR IN THE NEWS A former Chief HR Officer at the Co-op has been awarded over £100,000 following a long-running employm...
30/04/2026

🗞️ HR IN THE NEWS
A former Chief HR Officer at the Co-op has been awarded over £100,000 following a long-running employment tribunal case involving s*x discrimination and unfair dismissal.
The tribunal awarded Samantha Walker a total of £101,373, including £76,270 for s*x discrimination and £22,169 for unfair dismissal.

The case centred on concerns around pay equality and performance assessment. The tribunal found inconsistencies in how performance was evaluated compared to male peers, including a lack of robust appraisal processes.

💡 Whilst the legal journey spanned several years and appeals, the outcome reinforces a familiar message for employers:
→ Performance reviews must be fair, consistent, and evidence-based
→ Pay decisions should be transparent and justifiable
→ Poorly documented or subjective processes can quickly lead to legal risk

In today’s climate, where tribunal cases can take years, clear documentation and consistent application of processes isn’t just best practice, it’s essential. Get in touch if you need support, link in bio 🔗

HRInTheNews HRConsultant

30/04/2026

🗞️ HR IN THE NEWS

A former Chief HR Officer at the Co-op has been awarded over £100,000 following a long-running employment tribunal case involving s*x discrimination and unfair dismissal.

The tribunal awarded Samantha Walker a total of £101,373, including £76,270 for s*x discrimination and £22,169 for unfair dismissal.

The case centred on concerns around pay equality and performance assessment. The tribunal found inconsistencies in how performance was evaluated compared to male peers, including a lack of robust appraisal processes.


💡 Whilst the legal journey spanned several years and appeals, the outcome reinforces a familiar message for employers:

→ Performance reviews must be fair, consistent, and evidence-based
→ Pay decisions should be transparent and justifiable
→ Poorly documented or subjective processes can quickly lead to legal risk

In today’s climate, where tribunal cases can take years, clear documentation and consistent application of processes isn’t just best practice, it’s essential. Get in touch if you need support: https://woodcotehr.co.uk/contact/

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