Christine O'Ready at Cameron HR

Christine O'Ready at Cameron HR Providing Human Resources services with over 25 years experience

01/09/2025

What's in a name❓

EDI is very much under scrutiny and can feel like a battleground at times. I maintain that it comes down to respect, dignity and kindness.

Often it's the small things that make a difference. 🦋

Take our names for example. They’re personal and central to who we are as individuals. When someone keeps getting your name wrong, it can feel frustrating at best - and at worst, dismissive, like you don’t matter enough to even be remembered. 😔

In diverse workplaces, unfamiliar names are natural. Mishearing happens. But asking how to pronounce someone’s name, even more than once, shows that you care. People notice and appreciate the effort.

(By the way..it's Christine O'Ready as in "Ready, steady go!" not "Christine O'Reedy". Then again, not even my husband's own family could agree how to pronounce it!! 🤣)

15/08/2025

So, in a an up-to-date pulse reading of the SME mood around the Employment Rights Bill (ERB), a recent People Management report sets out the following research from the Federation of Small Businesses:

👉 92% of small businesses are worried about the employment law reforms
👉 56% plan to reduce investment or expansion because of the reforms
👉 67% plan to scale back their hiring as a result

Not great numbers but hardly unsurprising. In more positive news, there are reports of the Government considering offering HR support vouchers to SMEs to help them navigate the changes associated with the ERB. Tentatively encouraging news...🙏 Watch this space!

04/07/2025

❓Got a colleague who seems to misunderstand instructions over and over ❓

This is a common issue I encounter with clients. Before you assume they’re careless or incapable — take a moment. This might not be a performance issue (yet). It might be a communication gap.

🛠 Tip for managers: Slow down and double-check the clarity. Ask yourself:

🤔 Did I explain it clearly, or did I rush it?
🌍 Is there a language barrier here?
💬 Is the employee neurodiverse and perhaps needs a different style of communication
❓ Did I check back their understanding or just assume it?
😕 Is this something outside their usual duties but within their capabilities?

💬 Try saying:

“Just to make sure I’ve explained it properly, would you mind talking me through how you’re planning to approach this?” or quite simply "does that all make sense, any questions?"

It shows respect and gives them space to clarify — without confrontation.

✅ Clarity now prevents conflict later
✅ Also, I find it helpful to ask colleagues/clients how they prefer to communicate in general. Some prefer emails so they can re-read, others like to have a chat on the phone to ask questions as they go along.

If you're still having problems after this, have an informal chat first to see if you can get to the bottom of the issue. It could still be something easily remedied.

01/07/2025

So, the government have now set out a roadmap for the Employment Rights Bill. 👀

The good news for employers is that the 'headline grabbers' Fire and Rehire, Third Party harassment protections, Unfair Dismissal from Day 1 and Zero Hours contracts are not happening until Oct 26 at the earliest (2027 for Day 1 dismissal rights and Zero Hours Contracts). 🙂

However, sick pay and removal of the lower earnings limit is planned for April 2026. 🤧 Seems a while away but it's already a tough time for businesses with increased business rates and ERS National Insurance, so time to go back to that budget and ensure your absence management strategy is reviewed.

See comments for the full document (p10-11 for phasing lists).

20/06/2025

Garner vs Thorpe Hall Leisure Ltd

Following of from my last post about a disability discrimination claim being possible where an employer doesn't even know about the disability.....

‘You f*****g made me love you then you cheated on me you c**t’ ....is the language a chef shouted to a cheating former lover within earshot of guests. (I thought that would get your attention).

If that wasn't enough to make you spit out your croutons as a dining guest...

She won £13k for disability discrimination folks.

So, after her outburst, Garner had been (perhaps unsurprisingly) dismissed. The case referenced the fact that she was late for the Disciplinary Hearing, blamed the ex, did not apologise for her conduct and did not show up for the appeal (that she requested). At no point did she disclose any disability.

Now, no judgement from me as this is a human being we're talking about who was clearly going through a crappy time but hear this....

The tribunal ruled the employer should have sought medical advice and made reasonable adjustments before reaching the decision of dismissal, even though findings indicated that it was 80% likely they would have still dismissed Garner anyway. 😕

It turned out that the claimant suffered (undisclosed) anxiety and depression and it fell within the definition of a disability under the Equality Act and much of her behaviour both at the incident and subsequently was attributed to this disability.

The tribunal was effectively stating the employer could have 'reasonably known' something was not right and considered disability as a possible factor. Really?

So many lessons (and questions tbh) from this one, not least, in incidents where something seems off or out of character, do consider disability as a factor because otherwise
...the steaks are just too high. (Groan..)

18/06/2025

On Monday I highlighted disability discrimination which has emerged as one of the top #3 reasons for employment tribunals in the first quarter of 2025. I thought it would be timely to return to this topic. For employment law purposes, someone is classed as 'disabled' both he following should apply:

👉 they have a 'physical or mental impairment'
👉 the impairment 'has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities'

We all hopefully know about reasonable adjustments and duties around this. However, a couple of points employers may not be aware of:

💡 Disability discrimination can occur even if it was IN THE PAST - so for example, not promoting someone now because they had a high absence record a couple of years ago when they were considered 'disabled' for purposes of the Equality Act 2010.

💡An employer can be liable for disability discrimination EVEN IF THEY DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT IT. If they had 'constructive knowledge' (i.e. could reasonably have been expected to have known about it). Later this week, I'll be summarising a case related to exactly this. 🫢 Keep your eyes out for it. 👀

A word on language, please be careful when using the word 'disability' with individuals who may fall within this description for Equality Act purposes, not everyone falling into this definition, considers themselves 'disabled' and therefore the casual labelling can be hurtful to some.

16/06/2025

Hi everyone, so...

🚨 Employment tribunal claims are up. Again.
📊 The latest stats (Jan to Mar 2025) show a 32% rise in open claims year-on-year, now sitting at 45,000.

Most common ❓

1. Unfair dismissal (22%)
2. Breach of contract (14%)
3. Disability discrimination (13%) — up nearly 28% this quarter alone.

As someone with lifelong hearing loss, that last one is especially disappointing. 😞 Are more employers getting it wrong when it comes to disability? Or are more people finally feeling able to challenge poor treatment? Possibly both. Certainly I didn't challenge when it happened to me in the past. I would now though.

Either way, it’s definitely a wake-up call.
✅ Build inclusive practices - often these can benefit us all. (E.g. Supermarket 'Quiet hours' have
proved popular with all shoppers not just those who are neurodiverse)'
✅ Train your managers well.
✅ Take every adjustment request seriously.
✅ Great employers - share your good practice!
✅ Challenge your bias when it comes to candidates declaring a disability upfront and have an honest chat about how you could support them, could be the best hire of your career!

Tribunals are the symptom, not the cause. Let's do better!

13/06/2025

Contract misunderstandings and quirks #3

The contract of employment is generally the HR professionals starting point for most HR issues. This helps us confirm employment status, length of service, employment rights and any specific agreements set out.

In my experience, lots of misunderstandings around contracts arise when the employer has used a generic 'off the shelf' contract which does not serve the needs of your business. More recently, where AI has been used to generate a contract. I checked on Chat GPT recently and it it's info date cut off point was June 2024.

In this case, that would mean employment law such as the Worker Protection (Amendment to Equality Act 2010) 2023 and Neonatal Leave and Pay legislation would not be accurately be taken into consideration in any generated contract 😱

An HR professional or employment lawyer will know what to include and what not to include.

Perhaps you have a delivery element of he business and it's crucial your employee has a clean licence. Without the appropriate contractual wording around this, it can be trickier to dismiss if for example you later discover issues around their driving licence.

You may be a software company with a great new app idea. 💡 Do you have the relevant intellectual property and confidentiality clauses in the contract to protect business ideas from being taken by your employees to a rival? How about non-compete❓

How about that expensive training you paid for and the employee disappeared within 2 months of the training being completed? 🏃‍♀️ Nothing in writing? Investment a waste. 😓💰

Make sure you get your employment contracts drawn up with YOUR business in mind by a qualified HR professional or employment law solicitor. You will still need to get them reviewed every couple of years or so or when there have been changes in legislation. Businesses are sometimes all about getting policies in place and yet don't review their contracts for years leaving them out-of-date.

Go for peace of mind instead of taking the 🤞 approach. It will save you a lot of bother when it matters.

11/06/2025

Contract misunderstandings and quirks #2

So, today, I'm taking a glimpse at unlawful deductions because this is a very common reason for employment tribunal claims:

Employers can legally make a deduction from an employee's pay for all sorts of reasons such as the following (not an exhaustive list):

💰 An agreed salary sacrifice scheme (e.g. Cycle to Work schemes)
💰 Overpayment of salary (as long as not the employee's fault, the employee is notified quickly and ideally a reasonable agreement in place to 'claw back' the overpayment).
💰 Statutory deductions (e.g. tax)
💰 Agreed deductions such as student loans
💰 Court orders

A couple of examples where things can go awry....

🤔 Suspension on full pay then the employee falls sick during suspension. 👀Check the contract. If suspension is on full pay and moving to sick pay would be less, general advice would be to prevent the risk of unlawful deductions not to mention maintaining the 'suspension protections' of the business (unless there are complications around the reasons for sickness/Equality Act).

🤔 Making deductions (such as salary sacrifice, training course fees repayment) which leads to the pay dipping below the National Minimum Wage.

🤝 As always, timely communication and transparency around any deductions will help avoid any misunderstandings or complaints as well as having a clear deductions clause in your contracts.

Additionally, good communication between payroll and HR/line managers will avoid being on the back foot when an employee comes to you with a complaint of wages being short 😬

09/06/2025

Contract misunderstandings and quirks

Hey everyone, Happy Monday. So, the above is my theme this week. Let's start with what do you do when an employee says the following (aside from putting your fingers in your ears and singing "I can't heeeear you!"):

Employee : "I'm not doing that because it's not in my contract!" Hmmm...🤨

The thing is, contracts are just part of the picture, there's also:
👉 Policies and procedures
👉 Implied terms such as mutual trust and confidence
👉 Custom and practice
👉 Job Descriptions

🚫 So, refusing a reasonable management request just because it "isn't in the contract" is not a 'get out of jail free' card and actually can be a disciplinary matter (consider the impact e.g. H&S)
✅ Best practice is to make sure your contract of employment refers to your policies and also allows the employer to reasonably *vary certain aspects where appropriate for the business such as duties, location and hours (while we're at it, keep policies non-contractual and make this clear in contracts and policies to allow flexibility and reduce the risk of breaches of contract)
✅Include wording along the lines of "This job description is not exhaustive and may be amended from time to time to reflect the changing needs of the organisation. Any changes will be discussed with you in advance"

*NB Keep any eye out for changes the Employment Rights Bill brings as varying the terms of a contract where the employee does not agree to them is about to get harder.

Do your contracts and policies allow for flexibility?
Have a good week folks. Unlawful deductions next time..woop woop! 🙌

23/05/2025

Do you shy away from performance management when protected characteristics are involved❓

I often hear from managers who are hesitant to address underperformance because they’re worried about “saying the wrong thing” or being accused of discrimination, particularly when the employee has a protected characteristic (such as a disability, age or race).

But avoiding the issue doesn’t help anyone. It can lead to bigger problems down the line for the team, for the individual, and for you as the manager/business owner.

Here are a few key tips: 👇

✅Be consistent - hold everyone to clear and fair standards and be confident this happens before you have the conversation. Follow your policy if you have one.
✅Focus on behaviour and outcomes – not assumptions, traits or bias.
✅Seek advice early - especially if reasonable adjustments might be relevant. How you communicate may be crucial, especially if the individual is neurodiverse.
✅Record your steps - good notes equals good protection.
✅Above all, be kind, but clear - honesty delivered with respect builds trust.

Performance management done well is not discriminatory - it’s responsible leadership.

21/05/2025

❓ "You can’t dismiss someone in their probation period" True or false❓

Many managers assume that probation = protected.

❌ Not true. You can fairly dismiss someone during probation — but it still needs to be lawful, reasonable, and non-discriminatory.

✅ A quick probation checklist:

🤔 Is the reason fair and non-discriminatory?
✍️ Have you documented any concerns?
💬 Have you had at least one honest conversation before acting. Afterall, how can someone improve if they don't know what's wrong?

🌟 Protect your business and your reputation by handling probations properly🌟

Of course, this is going to change once the Employment Rights Bill goes through and Day One rights for unfair dismissal apply. Keep your eyes peeled for updates 👀

If you have a tricky work conversation you have been putting off, I'd be happy to guide you through it and manage any risks. Drop me a message!

In less than an hour, you'll have made progress on something that's likely been bothering you for weeks - if not months! 😅

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