One of my staff is now over 70 and her eye sight is beginning to deteriorate so the quality of her work is not as good as it used to be. Can I suggest she retires? Age discrimination is illegal and no employee can be made to retire any more, unless there is a “genuine […]
Tag: hr advice
Preventing People Problems: “Do I need a dress code?”
Q: Our receptionist says she is broke and can’t afford to have her hair done, but her grey roots look awful and she doesn’t project our company image at all! What can I do? We don’t have a dress code as we have never had a problem before. A: Well other than put a bag […]
Preventing People Problems: Are we still in the Middle Ages?
Q: We are only a small firm and we need an office administrator. I am not being funny but I really can’t take on a woman who is going to get pregnant and be off on maternity leave. How can I do this legally? A: You’re right, you’re not funny. This is plain prejudice and […]
Preventing people problems – “Social Media in the Workplace”
Question My staff seem to spend a lot of my time checking their own social media accounts. How do I stop this waste of work time? Answer Figures suggest that 6% of British Workers spend over an hour a day on social networking sites whilst they are at work and this could potentially cost UK […]
Preventing people problems – “Loo Breaks”
Question: Can I deduct time from my staff for the time they spend taking loo breaks? Answer: A factory did this recently and it resulted in a tribunal claim for unlawful deduction from wages and sex discrimination from a pregnant worker who may need to use the loo more often than other colleagues. Naturally every […]
Preventing people problems – “Depending on your staff”.
Q: As a result of a teacher’s strike next month some of my staff are expecting not to come to work on that day because schools are closed and they have to look after their children? Do I have to pay them? A: No, you don’t. I would tell them they have plenty of time […]
Preventing People Problems – Staff Holidays
Q. One of my team has booked a week away in Spain before asking for the time off work and one of their colleagues is already on holiday that week and so I don’t want to give her the time off but she says she is going to go anyway because she has paid for […]