Prospero Human Resource Consultancy, Dorchester (2026)

28/11/2017

The curse of Christmas parties!

It’s that festive time of year again and work Christmas parties will fast be approaching. As many of my colleagues in HR will know, it’s also the time for complaints of harassment or inappropriate behaviour by staff members to increase.
This year of course it’s likely to be high on people’s agendas with the profile of sexual harassment, abuse, inappropriate behaviour or worse within many work situations. So here is a quick guide to things you should think of as an employer to protect not only your employees from the stress of being on the receiving end of any form of unwanted contact or verbal abuse, but also to protect yourself and your company from any claims which may follow – of course not and exhaustive list.
• Firstly, make sure you have appropriate rules and that all staff are aware of them. This should clearly state that any inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated, and it will be treated with the utmost seriousness. It may be a good idea just to remind all staff of your corporate rules and regulations before the parties start. And remember it’s not just inappropriate touching, comments of an abusive or sexual nature may be uncomfortable for people too.
• Ensure that any staff member knows to whom any inappropriate behaviour or comments should be reported and that this person / these people are fully aware of how to handle such complaints and how to escalate them if that is needed (which it probably will be). It may be advantageous to have male and female staff available for people to report to – don’t forget, people may feel more comfortable talking to someone of their own gender and this type of incident can happen to both men and women.
• Don’t try to brush any complaints under the carpet. Of course, they should always be treated seriously and investigated full, but especially now with the high profile of complaints against high profile people, there will be an added need to ensure that your processes are fully effective, up to date and seen to be used when needed. Although rare it is possible for someone not directly involved to bring a complaint against the employer if they fail to act appropriately for a third party as if the offence had been against that individual.
• Although you may have a company organised party, don’t forget that even informal get togethers of staff where a staff member harasses or is abusive to another should still be treated as if it was within the workplace. There was a famous case many years ago where a police force claimed that, as the abuse between two serving members of the force was not at a work organised event, but a casual drink meeting in the pub arranged by the officers themselves, they were not responsible for the staff behaviour. This was not upheld by the tribunal and they ruled that they were liable to act appropriately even if the social event was not arranged by the employer.
• Don’t forget as well that any form of discrimination, which is likely to include bullying, harassment or abuse, gives the staff member full employment rights without having to complete the statutory 2-year period of employment.

Of course, if you would like any help to ensure that you have appropriate procedures in place to protect your staff, your managers and the company a qualified HR professional will be able to assist. Likewise, if you are unfortunate enough to have any complaints made and don’t feel confident enough to deal with the fall out without specialist support, don’t try to wing it without proper advice. I am always available to assist and specialise in employment dispute resolution, aiming to ensure the most positive outcome for the staff involved as well as the company.

28/04/2017

Resolving workplace disputes.
In both my employed and consultancy work, a lot of time is taken up by organisations not dealing appropriately with disputes between employees. One of the things which often concerns me is that a lot of the disputes could have been resolved with a lot less distress for all concerned and a lot less cost in time for the company if the issues had been dealt with properly when they first arose!
I suppose it is human nature to put those difficult conflict issues into the “let’s deal with it tomorrow” box, but this is nearly always doomed to failure. Occasionally one of the parties may decide that enough is enough and they’ll leave – but often the person who decides to leave isn’t going to resolve the issue as there are ongoing issues with the other parties. As a consultant, I often get called in to try to resolve these difficult matters as a last resort – when often the dispute has become too entrenched with all parties for the disagreements to be satisfactorily resolved.
A few years ago, I was dealing with a grievance complaint against a manager – it was a serious complaint and was likely to lead to a gross misconduct charge if it was found proven. Of course, I won’t go into details, but when I had fully investigated I could find no evidence to substantiate the serious claim by the team member, although there were definitely some poor management issues which needed to be addressed. As the investigation was taking place it became apparent that there had been a number of problems with the management style over the years which had never been addressed. The manager had a team of 4 of which the longest serving (and the person who had made the complaint) had been employed for 4 months at the time of the complaint – 6 months by the time of the investigation as there was some prevarication about how to deal with it. I spoke to ex- members of staff some of whom told me they had left because of the poor management practice of their line manager. The matters were brought to the attention of the organisation but nothing had been done about it. As always, hindsight is a great thing, but if the issues had been dealt with the organisation may not have been facing the serious complaints they now were and other potentially good quality staff may have remained with the organisation. A warning sign to me was that of a staff of 4, the longest serving person had been there for 6 months which immediately raises concerns about the management and team ethic being used. In this case the manager, who had been in the position for a number of years, had never been spoken to about concerns over the management style so as far as they were concerned they were doing their job satisfactorily – which made it very difficult when I found as a result of the investigation that there were some fairly serious concerns which needed addressing.
Of course, there are many ways of dealing with disputes between staff, I suppose the traditional way is the grievance and possible disciplinary hearing approach. Most companies will have detailed procedure of the process they will follow to deal with such disputes and if not they will follow the ACAS code as a minimum. However, one of the problems with this way of dealing with disputes is that it is a confrontational approach. Both parties are likely to feel that they are right and the other party wrong.
As we all know, it is rare that any interpersonal issues are so black and white; most of them will have an element of fault and right on both part. Using the traditional approach can make the position worse by entrenching the views of the individuals and forcing them into defending their position as in the example above.
Perhaps a better way to resolve the issue may be for both parties to “win” an element of the complaint and be proven right in what they have said. Under the ACAS guidelines, the recommendation is also to consider a mediation. The aim of mediation in employment issues is for all parties to discuss in a protected environment why they feel aggrieved and for all to gain an understanding of other people’s points of view. It can be a complex process and does take a skilled mediator in most cases to gain a successful outcome. Before starting a mediation process it is important that all parties know how it will be managed by the mediator, what the hoped for outcomes will be and that all parties are agreeable to try to resolve the matter by mediation; if one party is not agreeable to committing to try the mediation process it will fail and could result in a more difficult situation to resolve through the more formal grievance process.
Sometimes of course the outcome will not be successful – at least not initially. I mediated a dispute between two members of staff a few years ago which seemed to have failed completely and looked to be heading to the more divisive disciplinary process. However, after we had completed the process and all seemed lost as far as mediation was concerned, the party who would not accept any fault at all thought about the position and came back to me the next day to say that they had thought about everything that had been said and realised how their actions may have been seen as aggressive or intimidating. As a result, we then were able to agree a way to work together in the future. As I always say to participants in a mediation process, I’m not there to make them best friends but to try to enable them to see other people’s viewpoints and understand how they themselves may come across – from all party’s points of view. We then agree acceptable standards of behaviour between the parties and they try to work together under a new working relationship – which may involve a formal agreement which all parties can sign.
Mediation, as I say, is a skilled process and I know when it started being recommended by ACAS a lot of people who had little training were undertaking mediation. This can make the situation worse. ACAS offer accreditation training for people in Employment Mediation; I was trained under the Law Society and Bar Council regulations and am accredited under their accredited mediator scheme. Although that covers all aspects of mediation and technically I can mediate for any dispute, I solely concentrate on employment mediation.
So really to sum up I would ask employers to consider the following:
• Deal with disputes between employees as quickly and effectively as possible
• Ascertain whether a formal grievance and potential disciplinary process is likely to be the best course of action
• Consider whether the work relationship would benefit – from all parties viewpoints – from a professional mediation intervention
• When looking at using a mediator, ensure that the mediator is appropriately trained to undertake the process as without an experienced and confident mediator the whole position may be made worse
• Please don’t leave it until it is too late to involve appropriate specialists to help resolve disputes between staff – they won’t magically go away and if not dealt with appropriately will magnify into more complex and difficult issues fairly quickly
• And don’t think that other staff members won’t notice if nothing is done – they always do and it does nothing to improve the reputation of management or the company overall if such matters are not dealt with effectively!
If you would like any more information from me on my employment mediation services or advice on any aspect of workplace dispute resolution such as investigation or hearing cases, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

11/04/2017

One of my specialist areas in the field of HR are TUPE transfers, which often frighten people - including many HR professionals. This is a short guide I have drafted covering some of the key points to consider from a people perspective if considering either buying or selling a business which may involve a TUPE transfer. Aimed of course at employers but if you are employed and undergoing a TUPE protected transfer too you may find it helpful. Do feel free to contact me for any further information or advice - always happy to discuss issues and try to help you avoid difficult employment issues by taking a pro-active approach!

TUPE transfers.
Many people are frightened of TUPE – many others don’t know what it is! TUPE stands for Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment and are regulations introduced to protect people who are transferred to another employer as a result of a merger, sale or takeover.
It is quite complex law which does evolve frequently and this is meant to be a quick overview, but there is no need to be frightened of TUPE, like most HR issues providing the rules are followed correctly there should be no problem in transferring people to your employment. I know a few companies who have decided not to buy out others, thus growing their business, because it would involve a TUPE protected transfer.
Having said that, it is important to ensure that you are getting the correct advice on the transfer as the protected terms could have a significant impact on the cost to the new employer and may make the buyout or transfer uneconomic. Employment Law specialist solicitors will be able to support and assist, but can be expensive. An HR specialist with experience in dealing with TUPE transfers may also be able to offer valuable support.
Before deciding whether to proceed or not, due diligence checks need to be made which will involve reviewing all the contractual terms and conditions the transferring staff are currently employed under. These terms, including annual salary, contractual bonus payments, contractual overtime, any pre-agreed pay rises, annual leave allowance, sickness payments etc. will all become the liabilities of the transferee employer. Careful checks need to be made to ensure that the inherited costs will make the transfer unviable. More liabilities could also arise for any pending legal or tribunal action staff may be taking against their current employer as this will transfer to the new employer without sufficient protection and agreement in place. This could end up with significant costs for the new employer if, for example, there is an incomplete discrimination claim being processed. So detailed question must be asked of the transferring employer to ensure that the full picture is reviewed before deciding to proceed with the transfer. Full disclosure also does not have to be given legally until 28 days prior to the actual transfer date, so a lot of pre transfer work could be wasted if at that time the transferring company disclose any significant legal claims outstanding – but it is fairly rare.
Of course, some TUPE transfers are quite straight forward, others may be more complex. In all cases the employees must be consulted with throughout the transfer and employee representatives should be nominated by the staff to discuss on their behalf. If unions are recognised, they should also be involved in the transfer and any “measures” which the transferee company may wish to introduce. “Measures” can be a more complex issue; they are where the new employer wishes to vary the contractual terms of the transferring employer when the employees transfer over. Some measures may be easily resolved – e.g. bring the pay date in line with the new employer’s standard pay day. With agreement, it is also possible to move weekly paid staff on to monthly pay terms although usually a phased approach over 2 – 3 months would be agreed to allow time for the new pay dates to settle in and not cause any financial hardship. More complex measures, such as varying more key contractual terms, are more difficult to introduce and may be unenforceable through the courts. One of the biggest problems with TUPE transfers in my experience is that each new piece of case law seems to contradict a previous decision. Many employers sensibly don’t want to become a test case so they agree not to continue with any changes and decide to protect the terms on transfer completely.
Many people think that TUPE is a time limited protection; it is not. Protection will continue for the remainder of the employees’ term with the new employer and can be transferred on in a further TUPE transfer if the company or part of it is sold on in the future. But given time through natural wastage and promotions where new contractual terms will apply, the numbers of staff on protected terms will natural reduce and may even disappear.
There are of course many other considerations when looking at transfers of businesses, not just those relating to staff and of course this is provided merely as a quick overview to try to dispel some of the TUPE myths and fears. Providing a proper process is followed and people are kept informed of the process and any amendments under consideration in accordance with the regulations, there should be no reason to dismiss a transfer of business because of the TUPE protection of staff. I would also just add that it is not an optional protection – TUPE applies to all transfers where there is the transfer of an economic entity, so any transfer of people from one employer to another will be covered by the protection of the TUPE regulations.
If you are considering any new business initiatives which may involve the use of TUPE regulations and you don’t have an experienced HR specialist or solicitor and would like some further, more detailed advice about your situation, don’t hesitate to contact me – I have dealt with many TUPE transfers from simple transfers of 2 or 3 members of staff to complex public to private sector transfers of around 90 staff.

03/04/2017

Had an intersting workshop last week in Shaftesbury. We learnt a lot about social media and I also facilitated some discussion about dispute resolution, mediation and encouraging employees to work together. If you have workplace disputes or would like to find out more about how best to resolve workplace conflict don't hesitate to get in contact for support and advice.

31/03/2017

Just a reminder to all employers - though I'm sure you're aware - the National Living and National Minimum Wage rates change tomorrow, 1st April 2017. The new rates are:
£7.50 per hour - 25 yrs old and over
£7.05 per hour - 21-24 yrs old
£5.60 per hour - 18-20 yrs old
£4.05 per hour - 16-17 yrs old
£3.50 for apprentices under 19 or 19 or over who are in the first year of apprenticeship.

07/07/2014

With over 25 years experience working in senior HR roles and previously working in Operational Management positions, I aim to provide a high quality, large organisation service to SME's who need that extra skill and expertise for advice and hands on support. With significant experience in organisational development, conflict resolution (I am a trained mediator accredited by the Law Society and Bar Council), transferring staff (significant experience in TUPE transfers), consultation processes, restructuring, as well as the day to day matters such as sickness absence management, recrutiment and selection processes, policy development etc. Competitive rates offered and discounted rates for charities and equestrian organisations available on request. Please contact me with any matters you feel I may be ble to assist with - nothing is too small or insignificant and early intervention may save significant legal costs at a later stage! I look forward to hearing from you.

Prospero Human Resource Consultancy

28/11/2017

28/04/2017

11/04/2017

03/04/2017

31/03/2017

07/07/2014

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