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Achieving Harmony: The Art of Work-Life Balance in Modern SMEs In an era where the line between professional commitments and personal life is increasingly blurred, mastering the art of work-life balance has never been more vital. For SMEs across the UK, understanding...
The Future of Recruitment: Integrating Technology and Human Insight Technology and Human Insight Are Shaping The Future of Recruitment Recruitment is a vital function for any organisation that wants to attract and retain the best talent in the market. Recruitment...
How An HR Consultancy Keeps You Compliant In the UK, modern laws, regulations and standards are designed to protect employees from unfair treatment by ensuring balanced and equitable workplace practices. For SMEs, understanding these laws and implementing policies and...
Navigating HR Challenges: 5 Ways HR Consultancies Aid SMEs In the fast-paced and ever-changing landscape of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), achieving success is a journey full of unique challenges. From talent acquisition and compliance to employee...
Remote Work Revolution: A Complete Guide for SMEs Over the last few years, the landscape of business has shifted towards remote work becoming less of a novelty and more of a reality. Across the United Kingdom, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are adapting to...
Leading Through Crisis: Lessons from OpenAI's Employee Uprising Introduction In the ever-evolving landscape of business, understanding the dynamics of company culture, employee engagement, and loyalty is pivotal, especially for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises...
Breastfeeding in the Workplace: Supporting Working Mothers Breastfeeding is a natural and essential part of motherhood, providing numerous health benefits for both the baby and the mother. However, for many working mothers, the decision to breastfeed can be...
Father’s Day this year is celebrated on Sunday 18th June. Father’s Day was inspired by the success and presence of Mother’s Day which began back in the early 20th Century. It is a day to honor fatherhood and parental bonds along with the influence of fathers in...
In this month's Horizon, we are going to discuss three new employment bills, new guidance from ACAS relating to mental health, and the government proposals for changes to holiday calculations. On the 24th of May 23, we saw three new employment bills go through their...
International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia (known as IDAHOSBIT) is observed on 17th May. This day aims to raise awareness of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transexual (LGBT) rights and to help to raise awareness of their rights at work nationwide and...
The Government has launched a new consultation on IR35. They are looking to introduce a statutory measure which could impact tax settlements with HMRC where liabilities arise under the off-payroll working (IR35) rules. The consultation will be of interest to any...
Stress awareness month has been held in April since 1992 raising awareness of what causes and what cures there are for our increasing modern day stress epidemic Stress is something that everyone feels at times, especially when dealing with change or life challenges...
This month we have seen the usual increases to statutory payments for April, along with Jeremy Hunt – Chancellor - announcing his Spring budget. Further details are outlined below. The Bank of England has also increased its interest rates again in the aim to control...
This year Mother’s Day or “Mothering Sunday” as it was traditionally called, falls on Sunday19th March 2023. The date changes every year, as this day is related to Easter, therefore it always falls on the fourth Sunday during the period of Lent. Mother’s Day is for...
The UK government has made a commitment to ‘building back greener’ to transition to net zero emissions by 2050 with COP26 making decarbonisation a business imperative. What is Green HR Green HR is when HR focuses on expanding its roles and initiatives to support a...
February has come and gone in the blink of an eye - what a busy month it was! Lots happened in the world of HR, from nationwide strikes to testing shorter working weeks, we take a look at all things HR and what’s on the horizon for March. Strikes Update On the 24th...
Opening our doors in 2017 we have been on a mission to make HR simple, refreshing, incisive, timely and professional for our clients, partners and friends. Working with over 110 SMEs, across 48 sectors, delivering consultancy and advice daily to around 5,000 employees...
ARE THE SCHOOL STRIKES HAVING AN AFFECT ON YOUR EMPLOYEES' ABILITY TO WORK? Teachers within the National Education Union (NEU) are being encouraged to take industrial strike action across England and Wales on selected dates in February and March 2023. Schools have...
The World Cup 2022 will take over the nation as teams get underway in the competition. The Competition kicks off on the 20th of November 2022 and continues up to the final on the 18th of December. It is being held in Qatar and kick-off times for these games will vary...
What is diabetes? Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease, which over time can lead to serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys and nerves. Diabetes is characterised by elevated blood glucose levels. There are 2 main types of diabetes: Type 1...
What are Employee Benefits? Employee benefits are part of a compensation package for employees, they are usually taxed however they do not form part of a basic salary. They can help to attract the right people into a business. Employers are legally required to provide...
World diabetes day falls on the 14th of November every year. It was first created in 1991 by the International Diabetes Foundation. The theme for World Diabetes Day 2022 is ‘Education to protect tomorrow’, encouraging people to paint their nails blue for the day to...
What is National Inclusion Week? National Inclusion Week (NIW) is a week that is dedicated to celebrating inclusion in the workplace and taking action to create inclusive workplaces. This week was founded by Inclusive Employers and 2022 is now the 10th year this has...
‘Make Mental Health for all a global priority’ The World Health Organisation (The WHO) recognise World Mental Health Day every year on the 10th October. The first World Mental Health day was back in 1992. World Mental Health Day is a chance for people to talk and...
What are investigations and when are they needed? All Employers have situations where an employee misbehaves or becomes comfortable and complacent in their employment or the role that they do. On these occasions, things may occur that require addressing via the...
What is Human Resources (HR) The Human Resources (HR) function contributes hugely to a Company, it plays an important role to assist with Employee Satisfaction, Performance Management and Productivity and assists to maintain Company morale and culture. The main role...
Employees spend a lot of time in the workplace and therefore ultimately need to be happy at work. When happier at work it is said, employees tend to be happier in the other aspects of their lives too. Therefore, the last week of September has been declared the...
On 8th September 2022, Queen Elizabeth II, the longest living and reigning British monarch passed away at the age of 96. Following Her Majesty’s death, the Country entered into a period of national mourning that will last for 10 days. This has seen events cancelled...
When recruiting a new employee to join a team, it is not just the salary the employee will be earning that will be the cost to the Company, there are many other costs associated with employee recruitment. The cost of replacing employees for smaller businesses can have...
![Supreme Court’s Judgment in the case of Harpur Trust v Brazel [2022]](https://www.cloverhr.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/NEW-BLOG-IMAGES-33-400x250.png)
Background: Mrs Brazel, a music teacher employed by the Trust on a permanent contract. Working variable hours each week, in term time only. Hours of work would fluctuate, based on demand for lessons from students. She was both a part-time and part-year worker with...
Are your employees expected to attend too many meetings in their day to day job? Could this be demotivating your employees? Are we really addicted to meetings and is it a form of control? In a recent survey done with a pool of managers, they felt that 83% of the...
This month we are supporting #worldbreastfeedingweek2022 Did you know employers are required to provide suitable rest facilities for breastfeeding mothers. If an employer refuses to accommodate a breastfeeding employee, the employer may be considered guilty of sex...
Employees spend a lot of time at work and with their colleagues in the workplace. This can lead to personal or intimate relationships forming. Personal relationships that develop in the workplace can cause disruption to businesses, especially if the relationship...
Answering the Interview Question - How Did You Handle a Difficult Situation at Work? Answering interview questions where you are required to talk about a difficult situation can be daunting. However, it’s important that you talk honestly about your experience and use...
Many employers are looking to offer jobs to Ukrainian refugees. If you as an employer would like to do the same, but are not sure if you can or how to go about it the vital information that you need is outlined below. The Government has set up several schemes to help...
How to Answer the Interview Question: What does good customer service mean to you? Customer service is the experience and support you offer customers before, during and after they purchase a product or service from you. Giving excellent customer service is so...
A job description describes the general tasks, duties and responsibilities of a position. It lists the vital functions of a job and the experience, knowledge, qualifications and skills required for the role. Job descriptions allow employees to understand what is...
12th April 2022 The National Equal Pay Day is a day to encourage people to fight for employment equality no matter what their gender or the colour of their skin is. This year it falls on Tuesday 12th April 2022. The date of National Equal Pay day changes year on year...
Competency Interview Questions for Civil Service Behaviours As part of their success profiles, the Civil Service has developed a set of defined behaviours that are associated with job success. Knowing and understanding what these nine civil service behaviours are, and...
The International Transgender Day of Visibility is a national event that happens on 31st March annually. This day is to raise awareness of discrimination that is faced by the transgender and gender non-conforming community and to also celebrate the achievements across...
Problem Solving Skills: How to demonstrate them at the interview Problem-solving is the process followed in order to identify a problem and its source, and then find a solution to it. The ability to problem-solve is really important to an employer as problems crop up...
According to the CIPD Labour Market Outlook, Winter 2021-2022, employers are set to award pay increases of 3%, this is the highest that has been reported since 2012-2013 winter. However, the cost of living is increasing daily, due to all the increases taking place,...
For almost two years now, we have seen many restrictions placed on our everyday life. Overnight employers and employees needed to quickly adapt to new ways of working and many businesses were forced to close under Government rules. At the start of the pandemic, there...
International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated annually on 8th March 2022. This is a global day to celebrate the social, cultural, economic and political achievements of women, to raise awareness of bias and discrimination that can occur and for everyone to take action...
Competency-based questions are asked during an interview to find out how you can demonstrate a specific skill required for the role in which you are applying. They are amongst some of the most common types of questions asked, and therefore it’s really important to...
There are times when an employee has resigned from their position, or the employee has been dismissed by the company and the company does not require the employee to work their notice as per their contract of employment. When this happens, there are two options that...
Employee Retention – How do Flexible Benefits help? A business’s ability to retain employees, and prevent or reduce the number of employees who choose to leave the business, is known as Employee retention. Being able to increase, or having high employee retention has...
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee – What it means for employers and employees 2022 is a special year for Her Majesty the Queen, as the country look to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee. The official date of the jubilee is Sunday 6th February 2022, but the celebration for this...
Preparing for the most common competency-based interview questions Competency-based questions are asked during an interview to find out how you have demonstrated a specific skill required for the role in which you are applying. You will need to draw on your own...
Common Values-based interview questions and how to answer them The values of an individual can be really personal and will largely be based on experiences and influences that have occurred during their lifetime, and the principles in which they have lived by. Although...
Common Behavioural Interview Questions and How to Answer Them Many interviews will now include a mixture of questions relating to both the task or technical aspects of a role as well as the behavioural aspects. Much of the time, you will be able to pick up what...
STAR Method – How to Answer Interview Questions the Right Way STAR is a method that is commonly used by candidates to help them to prepare for an interview. This method can be used to help layout and answer interview questions that require examples in a clear,...
In 2022 there are several Employment Law Changes that will take place. It is crucial all employers are aware of these. The changes include: Social Care Levy This is a new tax which is to provide funding for social care in the future. From April 2022 there is to be a...
When preparing for an interview, it's always worth assuming that you will be asked a question that centres around what you could bring to the role. The aim of this question is usually to gain an understanding of whether or not you have some of the key essential skills...
How Employers Can Support Employees with Cancer World Cancer Day is celebrated on 4th February every year around the world. The purpose of this day is to help prevent deaths from Cancer, the purpose of the day is to be able to unite people and countries affected by...
During the recruitment process, companies must ensure that they abide by The Equality Act 2010, to ensure that they do not discriminate against any applicants. Discrimination is the unfair treatment of an individual due to a protected characteristic. There are three...
The new year can mean a new start for many – whether that be new year resolutions, a new hobby, perhaps a new house or a new job! For some, it can be an exciting time, and for others, it’s a time where they need extra support to look to the year ahead. Following an...
4 day working weeks – Are they as effective as people say In recent times, there have been many factors contributing to the conversation of the 4-day working week coming to the UK. There is becoming a wider acceptance that frequent, long hour days doesn’t necessarily...
Maternity Discrimination This is one all Employers should be wary of! When an employee is pregnant there are numerous rules and regulations to follow. If someone is seen to be treated unfairly because they are pregnant, breastfeeding or have recently given birth, they...
The Importance of the Candidate Experience When an organisation embarks on a recruitment programme, they are often looking for more than one outcome. The most obvious, and pressing, is to fill a specific vacancy, which has been identified either as a result of...
Protected Conversations Since July 2013, employers have legally been able to have an off the record discussion with an employee to discuss the idea of terminating their contract of employment. These are able to be done as a protected conversation. A protection...
Why this is a common question. This is a common interview question as the interviewer needs to ascertain why out of all the other candidates you should be offered the role and why you will be an asset to the organisation. This is one of many questions the interviewer...
The Cambridge Dictionary defines a line manager as:- the person who is directly responsible for managing the work of someone else in a company or business, and who is one level above that person. Simple…sounds easy enough doesn’t it? What are the Responsibilities of a...
As an employer, you have a legal responsibility to ensure you are providing a safe and healthy workplace for your employees and any visitors, which could include customers and suppliers, and that you provide the correct training, health and safety equipment and...
What is EAP? An EAP is a workplace wellness programme. The goal of an EAP is to provide employees with the tools and resources that they need to improve their mental health and help balance their work/life. According to the CIPD: “Mental health-related absence is the...
On average the regular employee spends a third of each day in their workplace, and therefore it stands to reason that the condition of the physical working environment in which employees spend so much time are highly impactful on their job satisfaction, motivation,...
An email switch off policy encourages all employees to log out of their work email accounts and intranets outside of their regular working hours. With many employees continuing to work from home or in hybrid working arrangements, the benefits of an employee’s right to...
Employee absence is a significant cost for many businesses, yet research suggests that only a minority of employers monitor that cost. Apart from annual holiday entitlement, an employee may need time off for the following reasons: Short term or long term sickness,...
Strategies to Reduce Employee Absenteeism in the Workplace Absenteeism causes a financial burden to any business, as well as discontent amongst staff who are left to pick up the workload of an absent colleague. But there are things to be done to reduce absenteeism in...
Sometimes it can all seem a bit of a minefield for employers when it comes to statutory rights to time off for parents. With a variety of “options” and certain rules regarding notice to be given; it is always wise to sense check the latest government regulations....
What is HR software? HR software is a ‘human resource management system’ and essentially is a tool to make managing people easier. We are going to explore how it does this and what benefits it gives your business. Some big benefits: Time-Saving You have a...
How to Answer, ‘Why are you Applying for this Position?’ In almost every interview you experience, you can expect to be asked the common interview questions, ‘why do you want this job?’ Interviewers want to try to ascertain your knowledge, passion and enthusiasm for...
Religion and Belief discrimination is illegal in the UK. Religion is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2021. Employees in the workplace can belong to various religions and have various beliefs. Employers have a duty to support employees regardless of...
This is a common interview question that many candidates will not understand the deeper meaning of, they may think this is a quick easy question I can answer by responding with ‘I have the skills in this area/field of work’ or ‘this is a position I am interested in...
What is Racism Race discrimination is when someone is unfairly disadvantaged for reasons related to their race, which as defined by the Equality Act 2021 includes, colour, nationality and ethnic or national origin. Race discrimination has been illegal in the UK since...
As a leader, your most important role is to provide clear direction to your employees. A leader must ensure that their team members understand what their individual goal and the team goal is and how to work towards achieving them. To develop yourself to become a...
Job interviews can be nerve-racking, so it is important to prepare for them thoroughly – not just in terms of researching the company, but ensure you look at the job description in relation to what the company does, and think about how the duties may relate to the...
Developing in-house talent is critical to an organisation’s future, with businesses often finding it difficult to fill key roles with external candidates, recognising in-house potential and nurturing it, massively supports organisations in having the most effective...
What is an HR investigation and when is it needed? Sometimes employees in the workplace can make accusations against fellow colleagues or an employee’s conduct may be deemed inappropriate by managers; in these instances, as part of the process to resolve conduct...
“Tell me about your weaknesses” is the dreaded interview question that candidates hate or fear to be asked, but interviewers love to ask! It’s a popular question with all companies looking to recruit these days. The question is aimed at finding out how candidates can...
Having a diverse workplace is more than just good HR and the following of legal legislation, it looks at the value of each employee as an individual and ensuring that your organisation boasts an environment and culture where all employees feel included, able to...
World Suicide Prevention Day - 10th September World Suicide Prevention Day is observed on the 10th of September, it started in 2003 and is held annually on the same day every year. This day is recognised for businesses, government agencies, the media and others to be...
Getting candidates for a job opening may seem like an easy task, good hours, good salary, advertisement is promoted well and there you have it, however, those with the most skills within the talent pool know their worth and take a lot more than just good salary to...
Feeling confident, and doing well in an interview starts with preparation…and a great interview outfit that you feel comfortable in. When you receive that exciting invite, take note of the detail, paying particular attention to anything you need to do ready for the...
What is the HR department for? The Human Resources department deals with your most important resource: your people. This encompasses all your employees and potentially any workers, contractors or volunteers. With such a wide scope it helps to narrow this down and look...
Feeling confident and doing well in an interview starts with preparation and a great interview outfit you feel comfortable in. Unfortunately, with the variety of dress codes, you may not know where to start. Read our guide to learn about the ideal interview outfits...
Some teams work amazingly together and other teams fall apart at the first hurdle. Teamwork is essential for smaller companies to perform their strategic tasks in order for them to be successful, having good teamwork allows companies to use a wider range of...
Stress is commonly understood to be a result of an individual experience of excessive pressure, with ‘stressors’ being the term used to describe an event, action or other element that directly triggers or contributes to such an experience. It is vital to note that...
Dressing to make a great impression at an interview is essential, as we tend to hold onto our first impressions of people, which can be hard to change later. What you wear to an interview can demonstrate to interviewers how you may present yourself and the company. ...
Boris Johnson has announced from Monday 19th July 2021 England will be moving to the fourth and final stage of the roadmap on lifting lockdown restrictions that we have be adhering to over the last 16 months. The Government have said that the pandemic is not over and...
An eating disorder is a condition that affects the way people eat or perceive food. Eating Disorders can be complex and can affect people in different ways. An eating disorder is a serious mental illness which can affect people psychological, socially and physically....
What is an informal interview? An informal interview usually takes place in a more relaxed or casual setting – such as over coffee or lunch. They have less structure than a formal interview would and often, are more focused on getting to know you as a person, whether...
Significant strides have been taken over the past decade or two to support Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and plus (LGBTQ+) employees and create diverse and inclusive workplaces. These strides have allowed organisations to identify talent and increase...
Get ready to rock that interview outfit and make a great first impression! Why is wearing the right interview outfit so important? Think about the culture of the company you’re visiting, when choosing what to wear. Getting a feel for the business, can really help you...
Amid a global pandemic, we have seen change after change to the way we live and work, we find ourselves in a constant state of flux within “the new normal” looking to an uncertain future. However, COVID-19 has shown us the importance of flexibility, reactivity and...
Unfortunately, one in four pregnancies ends in miscarriage. A miscarriage can affect a woman and her partner in different ways, and both will need support and help from their employers if they suffer a miscarriage. However early a miscarriage takes place it is a loss...
It is vital candidates know and understand how to flourish and succeed during an interview and understand the important role body language can play in obtaining a new role. Researchers have established a rule that spoken communication is only 7% of what people take...
Euro 2020 has taken over the nation as teams are underway in the long-awaited competition. Due to the pandemic this competition was cancelled last year but has been allowed, with restrictions, to go ahead this summer. The group stages have already been played and we...
The menopause is a natural occurrence for women which happens usually in a woman’s late forties or early fifties, however for some it can occur earlier or later. The first stage is what is known as the perimenopause which sometimes can be mistaken for early...
Face to Face interviews Vs Telephone Interviews Telephone interviews over the years have become more popular with employers recruiting. Many recruiters conduct their initial screening process and first interviews via a telephone call which can save employers time and...
