Cavell

28/09/2026

Your employees' use of AI at work might be causing you more exposure than you think.

What if they upload sensitive client data to ChatGPT?

What if an AI tool gives them false information and your employee uses that with a customer?

What if your employee uses their personal AI account for work activities and then they leave their job? What happens?

These are the kinds of things you need to be thinking about as an employer and making sure your AI policy covers.

We've put together a quick checklist to help you to assess where your gaps are.

How do you score?

23/09/2026

It's National Inclusion Week (14-20 September), so let's look at what inclusion actually means...

It's not just about having a diverse workforce.

It's about creating an environment where everyone has equal opportunities to contribute, develop and succeed, regardless of their background, characteristics or circumstances.

When employees feel included, they're more engaged, more productive and more likely to stay with your business. That means better performance, lower staff turnover and reduced recruitment costs.

An inclusive culture can also help to reduce the risk of workplace conflict, discrimination complaints and costly employment disputes.

Put simply, inclusion helps to create happier teams, stronger businesses and fewer HR headaches.

The graphic below covers 5 reasons why you should be creating an inclusive workplace.

If you need help with anything like this, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

21/09/2026

A formal grievance is one of those things most business owners don't think about until it lands on their desk.

And, when it does, how you respond matters just as much as what's being raised.

Get it wrong and you're looking at escalation, damaged trust and potential tribunal claims. From October 2026, employees will have 6 months to bring a claim, so the window to get caught out is getting wider.

The process itself isn't complicated. But skipping steps or handling it informally when it should be formal is where most employers come unstuck.

This carousel walks you through what to do from the moment a grievance is raised.

16/09/2026

Do you know the current pay rates you're legally required to meet?

Every year the statutory rates shift.

And every year we see businesses still paying last year's figures without realising.

It's an easy mistake, but HMRC won't care that it was accidental.

Save the below infographic so you know what you should be paying and when to stay legally compliant.

If you need a confidential chat about anything, please get in touch.

14/09/2026

October 2026 is bringing a wave of employment law changes.

And, unless you've updated your contracts recently, there's a decent chance that they're not in line with the new rules.

Here are 6 reasons why your contracts need updating now/before October. 👇

09/09/2026

Dreading a disciplinary conversation you know is coming?

Most business owners put it off because they're not sure if they'll handle it right.

(And that's a fair concern, because getting the process wrong can cost you at tribunal.)

The ACAS Code of Practice sets out what a fair disciplinary process looks like.

And, if you unreasonably fail to follow it, any tribunal award can be increased by up to 25%.

The good news is that the process is straightforward when you know the steps.

Save this as a reference for the next time you need it. 👇

02/09/2026

From October 2026, two separate legal duties around harassment are changing.

The standard for preventing sexual harassment rises to ALL reasonable steps (from what was previously just 'reasonable steps').

And employers will become directly liable for harassment by third parties, like customers, clients and contractors.

If you can't show that you took all reasonable steps to prevent harassment, under either duty, you're exposed.

We've put the key requirements into a 6-step checklist so you can see exactly where you stand. 👇

If you can't tick off all 6, get in touch before October. We carry out harassment prevention reviews and can tell you exactly what needs fixing.

20/07/2026

CV fraud is on the rise. And a lot of care providers have no idea it's happening to them.

More people are fabricating care experience, qualifications and even DBS records because:
UK unemployment keeps climbing.

More candidates are chasing fewer care roles.

The pressure to get hired - even without the right background - has become intense.

Some are stretching the truth about their training or previous roles. A few are inventing it entirely with care experience that never happened, certificates that don't exist, references from settings that were never real.

In health and social care, that's not just a bad hire. It's a vulnerable person left in the hands of someone who was never qualified to support them.

Here's what's worth checking before you make your next hire. 👇

15/07/2026

Health and social care has been identified as a sector highly susceptible to further Fair Work Agency attention and it's easy to see why.

Volunteers. Casual and bank staff. Part-time workers with irregular hours. Locums and freelance support workers.

All of it is completely normal in how care is delivered and all of it sits squarely in the risk profile the FWA is watching most closely.

Here's the part that matters right now, this month: the unfair dismissal qualifying period drops from 2 years to 6 months in January 2027. Anyone you employ from 1 July 2026 onward will have full unfair dismissal rights by the time that change takes effect.

Which means the six months starting now is what decides whether you're protected in January not the six months after.

Three things I'd tell every health and social care employer to do from today:

✅ Set clear, written objectives at the start of every probation and know exactly what "successful" looks like.
✅ Hold real 1-2-1s that cover those objectives, not just a welfare check-in.
✅ Formal review points at month 3 and month 6, before the probation ends, not after.

I went into this in more depth, plus the April changes still catching people out (sexual harassment liability now extends to patients, service users and volunteers, not just staff) and what's likely coming in October on The DDA Podcast with Ailsa Colquhoun.

We've also put together a free Unfair Dismissal compliance pack that includes a checklist, Fair Work Agency operator brief, probationary period templates, and two short training videos.

🎧 Listen: https://buff.ly/1SIICWr
📋 Free pack: link in comments

The DDA Podcast · Episode

15/07/2026

Still handling all your employees' summer holiday requests in a spreadsheet?

Skip the headache and use HR software instead.

Software doesn't need to be complicated. And it makes requests easy to manage: no need for you to chase, cross-reference or guess.

Employees request leave themselves, you approve it in one place and the team calendar does the rest.

Have a look at the difference between running holiday season with software versus without it.