Archive: 2020

  • Resilience Culture

    Building a Resilience Culture

    Earlier this year I wrote an article about Resilience at Work. This was several months before the true impact of Covid-19 was felt in the UK. Since then people and organisations have been on a bumpy rollercoaster ride of twists and turns, navigating what is frequently being referred to as a VUCA world – a military acronym standing for volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. As we approach the latter part of 2020, my HR work with local…

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  • Coronavirus Support, Plan for Jobs and Anti-Racism

    Covid-19, right to work checks, flexible working and inclusion

    QUARTERLY HR UPDATE AND EMPLOYMENT NEWS – Oct 2020 What a year! There are more challenges ahead for small businesses, but I hope the following Coronavirus information will give both support and guidance. However, if you only click on one link, please make sure it is on this one: ‘Tackling Racism at Work’. Latest Coronavirus Information for Employers Job Support Scheme JSS (1st November 2020 – 30th April 2021) This govt support package…

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  • Tackling Racism at Work

    Tackling Racism at Work

    You can’t tackle racism with just an Equal Opportunities Policy Many organisations are having to consider their future viability and survival post Covid-19, which isn’t going to be easy. However, there is a real danger that some will continue the traditional trajectory of either ignoring race issues or rationalising that racial problems don’t affect their business. In a rural and very white county like Shropshire (95.4% of residents in the…

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  • HR News: Flexible Furloughing to Anti-racism

    HR News flexible furloughing anti-racism

    There are big challenges for small businesses in the months ahead, as they confront the obstacles of the coronavirus pandemic alongside the uncomfortable realities of systemic racism and the need to implement anti-racism measures.  Important Coronavirus Information for Employers Flexible Furloughing (1st July 2020) Furloughed staff are now permitted to return to work for some of the time, if paid at their normal rate. No new employees or…

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  • Doughnut Shaped Businesses

    Doughnut Shaped Businesses

    Can and should businesses remain the same in the aftermath of Covid-19 lockdown and the recent highlighting of systemic prejudices prevalent in our society and organisations? The challenges of recent months have created great uncertainty and fear over the likely depths of recession as well as how best to respond and tackle uncomfortable truths about racism. Against this rather ominous backdrop, thankfully, there is a growing number of economists…

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  • Mental Health Awareness Week

    mental health awareness week

    Awareness weeks may seem less relevant at the moment, while we battle with the challenges of Covid-19. However, Mental Health Awareness Week, running from 18th – 24th May 2020, may just be the exception! Everyone is facing increased pressures and stresses, along with different degrees of uncertainty and threat. The psychological and social impacts are not only huge now, but will be with us for a long time to come. There has never been a…

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  • Coronavirus Information and Employment Update

    Coronavirus

    I hope the following information will be helpful, for both immediate and longer-term reference. Take care Important Coronavirus Information for Employers The gov.uk guidance pages remain the best source of up-to-date information for employers: General Employer Advice (6th April 2020) Job Retention Scheme (furloughing) (4th April 2020) Kay’s comment: Please note that the link on furloughing was updated on 4th April 2020 and includes important…

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  • 10 Don’ts of Homeworking

    10 Don'ts of Homeworking

    The unprecedented changes being experienced in our communities and workplaces as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic will have profound and far reaching impacts on many aspects of our lives. The global response has been to isolate, reduce interpersonal contact and adopt homeworking methods wherever possible. Businesses are not running as usual, but there are many organisations that are rising to the challenge of remote working – some are scaling…

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  • Resilience at Work

    Resilience at Work

    There’s more to resilience than meets the eye – it’s not simply another word for ‘coping’ and it is a little more complicated than the famous World War II slogan “Keep Calm and Carry On”. Resilience was first studied back in the 1950’s and 60’s and was centred around children that appeared to grow-up relatively unscathed despite coming from severely disadvantaged backgrounds. Early resilience research suggested personality…

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  • Latest HR News January 2020: Parental Bereavement Leave to Veganism

    Latest HR News January 2020 From Parental Bereavement Leave to Veganism

    Latest HR News – January 2020 Changes to National Living Wage, National Minimum Wages and Statutory Rates (April 2020) The national living wage for workers aged 25 and over will be £8.72 p/hr, the NMW for 21-24 year olds will be £8.20; for 18 to 20 year olds £6.45; for 16-17 year olds to £4.55 and the apprenticeship rate £4.15. In comparison, the Living Wage Foundation have set the real living wage at £9.30. Statutory maternity,…

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