Recently, I visited a restaurant with two bathroom doors: one read ‘Urinals and lockable cubicles’, while the other simply read ‘Lockable cubicles’. Practical, clear and a neat reminder that how we design and signpost facilities carries legal as well as social weight. But is it legally compliant? Probably not. What do the signs really mean?…
[ READ MORE ] from When the toilet sign tells a bigger story
Artificial intelligence (AI) is now embedded in hiring and people management. But when algorithms go wrong, the legal and reputational fallout lands squarely on leaders. Scenario You deploy an AI CV screener to cut costs in early-stage hiring. The tool consistently downranks CVs with gaps longer than six months, catching many applicants who took time…
Scenario Your employee is on long-term sick leave with cancer. While they are away, the business shifts. Another colleague has been confirmed in a role that overlaps with theirs. HR must decide how much to share and how to phrase it. Too much candour risks distress. Too little candour risks litigation. So, what is the…
[ READ MORE ] from £1.2m lesson: why soft-pedalling role changes during sick leave backfires
Travel between home and the first job of the day does not count as minimum-wage work but travel between jobs might. Scenario You manage staff who travel to multiple sites. Care workers travelling between patients’ homes, cleaners covering multiple office blocks or security guards posted at different venues. Do you need to pay them for…
[ READ MORE ] from Does the National Minimum Wage apply to travel?
From 1st September 2025, the new failure to prevent fraud (FTPF) offence takes effect. It marks a shift: fraud prevention is no longer just about protecting your business from being a victim. It is about preventing fraud committed for your benefit. Under section 199 of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, a large…
[ READ MORE ] from Failure to prevent fraud: what do leaders need to know?
When the Coldplay ‘kiss-cam’ lingered on two senior executives from a US start-up, the crowd cheered. The internet did what it always does: it dug, shared and speculated. Within hours, their private relationship was public property. The question was not whether they broke the law, but whether they broke trust. With staff, shareholders or their…
[ READ MORE ] from Private lives, public risks: what can employers learn from Coldplay kiss-cam?
If your organisation manages competitive events or provides single-sex facilities, how can you balance inclusion with fairness, without falling foul of discrimination law? This dilemma is no longer theoretical. In Haynes v Thomson and others [2025] EWCC 50, the County Court dismissed a transgender woman’s claim of direct gender reassignment discrimination after she was excluded…
[ READ MORE ] from When is exclusion not unlawful discrimination?
The government has launched WorkWell, a pilot in 15 regions designed to move fit notes beyond ‘not fit for work’. With 93% of last year’s 11 million fit notes saying exactly that, the scheme aims to turn General Practice (GP) surgeries into hubs for return-to-work support rather than off-ramps to long-term absence. What is different?…
Proposed restrictions on non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in the Employment Rights Bill could change how UK employers handle discrimination and harassment claims. Here is what Human Resources (HR) needs to know. What is happening? A government-backed amendment to the Employment Rights Bill would make certain confidentiality clauses void. Specifically, those that attempt to prevent workers from…
[ READ MORE ] from Is this the end of confidential settlements for harassment?
You have rolled out a new productivity tool to your customer service teams. It logs keystrokes, flags long idle times, and uses webcam verification to confirm who is at the desk. It is billed as ‘smart management’. Then someone notices a pattern. The system alerts seem to cluster around a small group of employees, many…
[ READ MORE ] from Surveillance at work: who is watching and who is watched more?
How should you handle redeployment in a redundancy? You are managing a redundancy process. One employee, well-liked, long-serving, clearly capable, is at risk. There are other vacancies around the business, but you tell him to check the internal jobs board and wish him luck. He is not offered help, no one tells the hiring managers…
How should you manage self-employed contractors without drifting into worker status? If you hire casual staff – drivers, delivery couriers, hospitality workers – you might be relying on a substitution clause in their contracts to argue they are not workers. They can send someone else, the clause says. So, they are not personally obliged. So…
[ READ MORE ] from If no one has ever used a substitute, do you really have a substitution clause?
