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Susi O'Brien HR

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Susi O'Brien HR

I'm an independent HR and employment law specialist consultant. I'm based in Edinburgh, but most of my work is done remotely with businesses across the UK.

I support organisations in making confident, ethical, yet business-savvy decisions on HR matters within the UK. I set up my independent HR consultancy in April 2022 following many years of senior management experience within the third sector. I enjoy getting my head around tricky problems involving discrimination, data protection, TUPE, or similar.

27/01/2026

HR top tip! What if a leaver prefers to stay with you after all?

Did you know that if someone changes their mind after resigning, it's normally at the employer's discretion whether to accept that retraction (i.e. let them stay on)? There's usually no automatic right to keep your old job after handing in notice.

The exception to this is if the resignation was made suddenly in the heat of the moment - such as a dramatic announcement of "I QUIT!!!" during or just after a big argument. In these cases, the employer should allow a short cooling off period of roughly 1-2 working days for the unhappy employee to reflect and reconsider. If the employee does change their mind during that cooling off period, then they can keep their job, though a wise manager will ensure they follow up on whatever underlying issues remain!

As a HR consultant, I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Follow this page if you want to see future tips.

20/01/2026

HR Top Tip! Why do I need to consult with staff if wanting to change their contract terms?

Why indeed! Well here goes…

A contract is a legally-binding document between parties. It can’t be changed without the agreement of both those parties. Therefore if one of your staff comes over to you and says “Here, boss, from next week me and the team have decided that we’re entitled to three months’ full sick pay a year” when the contract only allows for two months, then you could justifiably tell them “Errr… no. That’s not happening!!!” By the same rules, you can’t announce to your staff that you’re reducing things like their contracted hours, holiday entitlement, or salary without agreement.

If the change is a positive one and you’re increasing the pay or benefits that people get, it’s unlikely anyone is going to object. Just tell them what’s happening and answer questions as needed. However, if the change proposed isn’t 100% positive, you can’t assume that staff will agree to it. Formal consultation will be needed.

I’ve supported many employers to run successful consultation processes to update contract terms. If your business is planning changes and would like to discuss these, do get in touch.

As a HR consultant, I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Follow this page if you want to see future tips.

13/01/2026

HR Top Tip! Think positively about neurodivergence

Neurodivergence is an umbrella term. It includes a wide range of conditions including autism, dyspraxia, ADHD, and dyslexia. Whilst some of these conditions have been under-recognised in the past, we know that there have been neurodivergent people throughout history. In today’s society, it’s estimated that between 15-20% of the population are neurodivergent.

That’s a lot of people! So we should expect that as awareness of conditions grows over time, employers will continue to adjust for this. It makes commercial, as well as legal sense to support our teams to feel comfortable in the workplace. Neurodivergent employees often offer essential business perspectives, diligent work, and solid team support.

There’s no need for any of us to be afraid of neurodiversity. It’s always been out there. We are just starting to see it clearer now.

As a HR consultant I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Follow this page if you want to see future tips.

06/01/2026

HR top tip! Stay alert to upcoming employment law changes

The Employment Rights Act 2025 finally received royal assent last month, which means that 2026 (and 2027) will be a time of employment law changes. The first significant ones will happen this coming April when SSP rules change so that it accrues from an employee’s first day of sickness, rather than day 4 at present.

Other changes in April include statutory paternity leave becoming a day 1 right for employees, and maximum compensation amounts for failure to comply with statutory redundancy procedures in situations where 20 or more employees face dismissal within a 90-day period will be doubled.

There’s lots and lots more yet to come – some of it very impactful on employers and other changes less so. I’ll be keeping my clients up to date. If you’d like to be added to my email list, message me here on LinkedIn.

As a HR consultant I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Follow this page if you want to see future tips.

23/12/2025

HR Top Tip! Switching off when on holiday

It’s almost Christmas, which means that for the majority of UK LinkedIn-ers, it’s almost time for a break.

If you’re taking time off over the Christmas period, enjoy it and do try to switch away from work worries. As a home worker I’ll be packing my office equipment up and moving it out of sight for the period when I’m on holiday. (If a real urgent client need came up, I can always dig my laptop out temporarily, but hopefully not!)

If you’re not taking time off over Christmas, I hope you’re still able to grab some rest and enjoyment – and happy holidays at other times of year!

As a HR consultant, I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Follow this page if you want to see future tips.

16/12/2025

HR Top tip! Managing tricky employee issues in December

Every year without fail I’ll have at least one client (usually more than one) who's experiencing a tricky employee issue in the run up to Christmas. It might be a looming redundancy need for the new year, a potential disciplinary issue just come to light, or an escalating performance concern. The question I’m often asked is... should we do anything about this before January?

Nobody wants to be Scrooge – most managers are keen to relax and have a bit of fun this time of year. Be mindful that giving an employee bad news just before Christmas may hit them harder emotionally than it would at other times of year.

But maybe this isn’t an issue which can be put on ice? Maybe there are urgent reasons why action (or at least, feedback and communication) is needed now.

With difficult stuff like this there really are no standard answers. It depends on the individual situation. I’m always willing to chat options through with my clients and discuss the risks (legal, financial, customer-related, team-related, or whatever) which they should consider before deciding on next steps. That’s the kind of nuanced but pragmatic support you get from an independent HR Consultant.

As a HR consultant, I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Follow this page if you want to see future tips.

09/12/2025

HR Top Tip! Should you allow staff to carry forward unused annual leave?

Plenty of employers have holiday years which run Jan-Dec so this might be a good time to think about the topic of carrying over unused annual leave from one year to the next.

You probably already have clear terms on this matter within your contract and/or HR policies. If you’re unsure, dig them out and check. The legal rules are as follows:

📆 Employers are required to have a set annual leave year listed in your contracts. This is usually either Jan-Dec or Apr-Mar, but sometimes might be based on an individual’s start date.

📆 Unless it says otherwise in their contract, employees have no general right to carry forward annual leave from one year to the next. HOWEVER, if they’ve been prevented from taking their full entitlement by maternity/other family leave, or long-term sickness then the situation is different. Seek advice if you’re unsure.

📆 The minimum statutory annual leave entitlement in the UK is 5.6 weeks, including bank holidays. Strictly speaking, up to 1.6 weeks of this can be carried forward lawfully if the employer agrees. However, in practice, usually the maximum that employers allow is 1 week.

If you don’t allow annual leave carry forward, AND there are no maternity/sickness/etc factors in play, AND the individual has had full opportunity to take leave throughout the year if they wished, then you can potentially apply a ‘use it or lose it’ policy towards year end – even if this takes the employee below their statutory 5.6 weeks.

However, best practice is to keep an eye on individuals’ annual leave usage throughout the year and remind them if they don’t seem to be taking enough. If sufficient notice is given, then you can even allocate annual leave to be taken at convenient times for the business. Get in touch if you’d like to discuss how to do this.

As a HR consultant I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Follow this page if you want to see future tips.

02/12/2025

HR top tip! Enjoying fun (and inclusive) Christmas celebrations

It’s December and Christmas is getting nearer woohoo! Here are some quick points from me on running happy workplace Christmas celebrations.

Christmas is a great time for telling your team members how you value them. If possible, take some time to think of personal, uplifting feedback you can give people to say, ‘thank you’ and ‘well done’.

Team nights out are usually fab, but as an employer, you must take some responsibility for what may or may not happen at them. So, remind staff beforehand of the importance of respectful, considerate behaviour no matter how inebriated/festive the environment!

Be mindful that not everyone celebrates Christmas or finds it a positive event. Don’t assume that everyone will want to join in with parties or Secret Santa games. Let individuals make up their own minds. And if some do opt out, remind them that their contribution to the team is just as valued as everyone else. Maybe they have suggestions for celebrations you could try at other times of year?

As a HR consultant I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Follow this page if you want to see future tips.

25/11/2025

HR Top Tip! Managers, EARN the right to give negative feedback.

I know fine well that I’ve put on some weight over the last few years, but I wouldn’t respond well if a slight acquaintance told me as such without invitation! 😱

As humans, we’re hardwired to struggle with negative feedback, especially from those who we don’t fully know or trust. The fact that someone is a manager may give them an organisational right to provide negative feedback but doesn’t mean that employees will – from an emotional perspective – accept that this is ok. Managers, just like everyone else, should seek to earn the right to give negative feedback.

This right can be earned in various ways – but it all comes down to the strength of relationship created. Holding regular 1:1s, good team meetings, listening to staff, providing support, showing patience, and very importantly - giving regular praise when due (not just when you’re using it to sandwich something negative), are all pretty essential if you want later negative feedback to be effective. This is hard on newer managers, so it’s necessary to build up trusting relationships as quickly as possible.

One other tip is to turn giving feedback into a two-way highway. By this I mean you directly encourage the employee to give you negative feedback as well as the other way around. By demonstrating you are willing to listen and adapt to their feedback, you earn the right to give yours in return.

As a HR consultant, I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Follow this page if you want to see future tips.

18/11/2025

HR Top tip! Keep employee data up to date

It’s a pretty obvious one eh? Keeping data accurate is one of employers’ key duties under the GDPR.

In practice though, small businesses without expensive IT systems will often have employee data (such as addresses, contracted hours, holidays taken, etc) listed in a variety of locations on their server. It’s easy to forget to update a particular spreadsheet when changes happen, to copy and paste detail from an employee’s old contract whilst forgetting their address has changed since then, etc.

This is just a reminder that these errors can cost time – and sometimes money – to fix in future.

For the business owner, good data systems and/or meticulous data habits are worth their weight in gold. BreatheHR is an example of this, and as a BreatheHR partner myself, I’m happy to chat about it.

As a HR consultant, I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Follow this page if you want to see future tips.

11/11/2025

HR Top Tip! Should you recruit via application form or CV?

Simple answer here – it’s up to you 😊.

Application forms are a great way to get clear, consistent information from which you can compare different candidates. Questions on the form can be tailored to elicit the exact experience, qualifications, etc wanted.

But all too often application forms are old and unwieldy. They ask pointless questions. (Who wants to know about your GCSE results from 22 years ago?!?) Many candidates avoid them, preferring to submit a quick CV which reflects their personal communication style.

Buuut… is submitting a CV *too* easy? Often it encourages candidates to apply for multiple roles without careful thought about job details and requirements, which in turn creates extra work for employers. Generally, folk who take the time to complete an application form properly are likely to be your strongest candidates anyway.

What I’m trying to say is that in my opinion, there’s no right or wrong decision on the question. Roughly speaking:

👍 If you want to promote the largest number of applications and/or get a sense of applicant written presentation – go for CVs.

👍 If you’re willing to get fewer job applicants in the hope that they’re better and easier to compare – go with an application form.

As a HR consultant I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Follow this page if you want to see future tips.

04/11/2025

HR top tip! Carry out stress risk assessments.

If responding to an employee's concern that they're suffering from work-related stress, I recommend carrying out an individual stress risk assessment. This enables you to look at the triggers for stress in a thorough, systematic way. It also encourages reflective problem-solving on the employee's part.

An individual stress risk assessment process often looks like this:

✅ The employee lists each individual trigger for their stress at work (which may be a short or long list) and makes suggestions about how each one could be resolved.

✅ The manager takes on board the employee's feedback and responds to their suggestions - possibly adding in the manager's own as well.

✅ Employer and employee agree a stress reduction action plan which includes set timescales and review points.

For example - Joe is absent with work-related stress. In his individual stress risk assessment, he lists three main factors contributing to this. They are excessive working hours, feedback from his manager about poor performance, and upcoming changes to team structure which he's nervous about. He suggests that in future he only works his contracted hours, his manager stops hassling him, and the team stays in its current form.

Joe's manager considers this and agrees that Joe has previously been working very long hours which should stop. But he also thinks there are some specific areas where Joe's performance is below that of his colleagues, and there are good (separate) reasons why the team restructure should take place.

Joe and his manager meet to discuss things in an honest but respectful way. They agree that Joe will receive further training and coaching on some job tasks to help him complete them faster with fewer errors. Joe will finish work at his contracted time each day and will keep his manager informed if this leads to any problems with workload. Joe's manager persuades him about the reasons for team restructuring, but plans to tweak those plans a little after hearing Joe's valid concerns. A face-to-face review to discuss progress with all these issues is planned for the following month. In the meantime, Joe feels like he's been listened to. He is fit and ready to return to work.

As a HR consultant I support my clients to find the best people management solutions for their businesses. Follow me if you want to see future tips.

Address

Edinburgh

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5:30pm
Tuesday	9am - 2:45pm
Wednesday	9am - 5:30pm
Friday	9am - 5:30pm

Website

https://www.obrienhr.co.uk/, https://www.linkedin.com/company/susi-obrien-hr-consultancy/

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