In the last few years, we've seen a shift in the workplace with employees revaluating their values and priorities. This has led to employees demanding more from their employers, looking for new opportunities, and changing professions. With this challenging landscape, how do you keep your incredibly valuable employees? Losing your top employees is likely to have a detrimental impact on your organisation’s growth. So, what can you do to retain your talent? Offering more money may seem the obvious way to prevent resignations. However, in…
According to Mind, 1 in 6 employees are reporting a common mental health problem such as anxiety, depression or stress in a given week, which can have a significant impact on employee wellbeing. Sadly, the number of people reporting mental health problems overall has been going up in recent years. Many reasons may influence this, including personal circumstances such as physical health, experiencing prejudice, and living in poverty, as well as changes that impact society, such as the cost of living crisis. The reasons for…
If you’re making redundancies in your business, you might be wondering what to do about your employees’ final redundancy payments regarding their pension. Do employers have to take pension contributions from redundancy pay? Can employees choose to add more into their pension pot? We go through the process below. Taking pension contributions If you make an employee redundant, do you have to take pension contributions from their redundancy pay? When an employee gets made redundant, they’re usually entitled to a redundancy payment, separate to their…
January 20 2025 is Blue Monday. Coined back in 2005, it's thought to be the most depressing day of the year for many. So, while we make it through one cup of tea at a time, it's also important for businesses to prioritise their employees' wellbeing. We've put together this list of how you can easily support your employees in beating the Monday blues. Here are our eight top suggestions. 1. Initiate kindness When times are tough, it's well reported that small acts of kindness…
Bank holidays have been somewhat chaotic for our calendars in recent years, given the major changes to the monarchy. Luckily, 2024 seems to bring stability and a return to routine. Here are four important things you need to know about bank holidays for 2024. Most of the UK has eight permanent bank holidays each year: New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, May Day, Spring Bank Holiday, Summer Bank Holiday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Traditionally, except for the festive bank holidays, these take place…
The Government set new regulations when it comes to holiday and holiday pay, which came into effect April 2024. Here’s what you need to know. The new Regulations took effect on 1st January 2024. However, they relate to leave years starting on or beyond April 1st 2024. Of course, most employers use a 1st January – 31st December leave year - which may mean some HR head-scratching to decide what to do and from when. If you decide to change your current arrangements, you may…
As in the recent example of TV personality Greg Wallace, ’banter’ at work can cause major issues. Even matters purportedly said or done in years gone by can explode in the present. And emerging issues are not just problematic for the individual, but also potentially for those who employ or engage them. With new legislation to stamp out work related sexual harassment, and the number of claims steadily increasing annually, we consider that favourite, well-worn, employment tribunal excuse “but it was only banter”. What is…
Over the last few years organisations have been heavily influenced by external factors on the way they manage their people. In 2024 these social, political, economic, technological, and legal factors will continue to have an influence. Organisations and its people will be impacted by the upcoming election, inflation, the continued cost of living crisis and international instability, just to name a few,. But a main focus for workplaces is the driving force of employee expectations which seems to have shifted greatly since Covid. As 2024…
Usually there are ten bank holidays (or public holidays) for people living in Northern Ireland per year. Northern Ireland has the most bank holidays in the UK with ten days a year, which is more than Scotland (nine), and England and Wales (eight). Bank holidays in Northern Ireland in 2025 There are ten bank holidays in 2025 for people living in Northern Ireland. These are: [table id=187 /] Bank holidays in Northern Ireland 2024 [table id=151 /] What is the statutory holiday allowance in Northern…
There are nine bank holidays Scotland residents can enjoy each year. If your employees live in Scotland, they'll normally get nine bank holidays a year, whereas England and Wales get eight and Northern Ireland gets ten. Scotland bank holidays 2025 There are nine Scotland bank holidays 2025. These are: [table id=186 /] Bank holidays in Scotland in 2024 The nine bank holidays Scotland observed in 2024 are: [table id=152 /] How does this impact annual leave? As a statutory minimum amount, full-time employee should receive…
