Ethical Audit: Guide for Businesses in the UK
An ethical audit is a process where a company’s operations and practices are assessed to ensure alignment with ethical standards. It typically focuses on areas such as employment rights, environmental sustainability, corporate governance and supply chain accountability. For UK employers, ethical audits offer a proactive way to demonstrate commitment to ethical practices, gain stakeholder trust […]
How to Give Constructive Feedback at Work
Feedback is critical to individual growth, both professional and personal. But people take and give feedback in different ways. Not everyone is comfortable having potentially difficult conversations, and some may find it challenging to give others suggestions for improvement in a way that can be clearly understood while not being condescending or destroying confidence. But […]
Do Employers Have to Give a Job Reference?
Employers in the UK are not legally required to provide a reference for current or former employees unless there is a contractual obligation to do so. However, references are often requested by prospective employers as part of the recruitment process to confirm a candidate’s employment history, skills and suitability for a role. When an employer […]
Building a No Blame Culture in the Workplace
It is easy to apportion blame when failures happen in a business organisation, but creating an environment where everyone shares accountability and no one individual is singled out to blame can be beneficial in nurturing a highly collaborative, effective and dynamic workforce. Put simply, a no blame culture accepts that mistakes do happen within the […]
Common Types of Corporate Culture: Which Are You?
Corporate culture refers to the values, beliefs and standards that are shared across an organisation. It can be described as the ‘how and why’ things get done. There are many different types of corporate culture, but what is clear is that in high performing organisations, culture brings a positive impact. Increased productivity, engagement, and staff […]
Do Employees Have The Right To Disconnect?
The right to disconnect has become a much-debated employment issue in recent years. With remote working a pervasive practice since the pandemic, boundaries have increasingly blurred between work and home life for more workers than ever, resulting in growing cases of stress and burnout. This has raised questions over whether workers should be given a […]
Peer to Peer Recognition: Boost Workplace Engagement
Employee recognition programmes have evolved dramatically in recent years, as organisations seek to leverage the benefits of acknowledging and rewarding staff for their efforts and contribution. In most cases, however, the basis of these programmes is ‘top-down’ feedback from leadership and management, while lacking input from peers. Yet including insight from fellow team members within […]
Working Weekends Law in the UK
It is not uncommon for employers to ask employees to work weekends, including Sundays, especially in the retail and hospitality industries. However, there are certain rules and restrictions that must be taken into account, including those on Sunday working and the ‘working time’ rules. UK law does not prevent employers from requiring employees to work […]
Can Employers Refuse Parental Leave?
As an employer you are legally bound to consider any request for parental leave made by an eligible employee, and undoubtedly will want to encourage a healthy work/life balance. Equally, however, you will need to ensure that any such request would not be disruptive to your operations or other personnel. In the UK, eligible employees […]
Staggered Hours: Guide for UK Employers
Staggered hours allow employees to start and finish work at different times while maintaining their contracted hours. As a flexible working arrangement, it can help businesses extend operational coverage, ease congestion in the workplace, and support staff with personal commitments. Employers may introduce staggered hours across the workforce or consider them on an individual basis […]