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When Friendly Advice Becomes a Liability

The case of Burgess and another v Lejonvarn [2017] highlights the fact that a duty of care may apply even when providing advice or services for free from one friend to another and where no professional or contractual relationship exists.   Ms Lejonvarn worked as a professional consultant. Her friends, the Burgesses, were seeking to remodel their garden. Ms Lejonvarn began providing design and project management services, however no formal agreements were made and the position was ad ho...

What will be the key changes in Employment Law in 2018?

Employment law – Kay Changes in 2018 April 2018 – Gender Pay Gap: First Reports Private and voluntary sector employers in England, Wales and Scotland with at least 250 employees will be required to publish information about the differences in pay between men and women in their workforce, based on a pay bill ‘snapshot’ date of 5 April 2017, under the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017. The first reports must be published by 4 April 2018. Similar reporting requ...

Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace

Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace Almost every decision we make each day is based on our emotions. Our emotions are all to do with our perception of a certain situation. We have all had different experiences, and we all have different strengths and weaknesses and it’s these that shape how we perceive things. Emotional Intelligence is the ability to understand, express and manage own emotions and the emotions of others. It is also the ability to control emotions and apply them to everyda...

New Year - in September?

New Year, new start… What do you mean New Year, I hear you say.   It’s not January! Whilst many of us use the Christmas break to make plans to make significant changes in our lives via New Year’s resolutions, there is also an argument that the summer break and September is a similarly key time for important decisions – if not more so. Many of us will take time over the summer (school) holidays to have some time away with our family – perhaps more time with each other th...

General Data Protection Regulation Seminar

As of 25 May 2018, employers must be in full compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This legislation is set to have a major impact on businesses and, in particular, the way in which HR handles and processes data. It’s important that we fully understand the changes and how we must prepare for them, since the penalties for noncompliance are potentially very severe – up to 20 million Euros or 4 percent of worldwide turnover. But, good data protection is a question of...

Support for Mental Health

As a kick-off to this year's Mental Health Awareness week, Niki and I were delighted to be invited to attend the Mental Health Support Launch event at the RIBA on Monday evening. A wonderful and most timely initiative by the RIBA and the Architects Benevolent Society to provide support for those in the profession and associated careers in times of stress, anxiety and depression – or indeed any kind of mental health issue. We were also quietly proud that we seemed a little ahead of the curve ...

Save the Date! Thursday 27 April - Emotional Health and Wellbeing in Creative Companies

Following the success of our breakfast seminar towards the end of last year, we will be revisiting this important topic at our lunchtime workshop on Thursday 27 April 2017. It was clear from our last seminar that this is a topic about which companies and individuals feel strongly. Whilst its profile is increasing and there is more open discussion, there remain some taboos and assumptions which are hindering a greater understanding of how we can identify and support those who may need help. We...

A true eye-opener for us

On Tuesday, we were thrilled to have been invited to one of our client's events. Orbis are a charity and they help to restore and save sight in deprived countries. They have the world's only flying eye hospital which they fly to remote areas, perform eye surgery and teach local surgeons as they are doing it, so that the surgeons can perform the same operations on their own thereafter. The work that they do is really quite incredible. We were lucky enough to be invited to see the flying eye ho...

The New Year

2016: What a year we had! – so many notable deaths, Brexit, Donald Trump, beaten by Iceland in the football……. But in amongst it all, there were some positives: Murray winning at Wimbledon and the Olympics, GB coming 2nd in the Olympics medal table, tiger numbers are up, giant pandas are no longer endangered, and 'HR for Creative Companies' was born in February!! So from our perspective here are some highlights of our past year: The Book: HR for Creative Companies After a gestation p...

First of our related Events: Facing up to mental health in the workplace

On Thursday morning last week, Niki and I hosted a breakfast seminar focussing on the subject of mental health in the workplace. We were very pleased that our attendees were from a broad range of companies, mostly from the design and construction sectors, along with representatives from HR and employee wellbeing. Using reference material from the CIPD, HSE and various organisations such as MIND and Access to Work, we began by discussing some of the current statistics regarding the impact of...

Breakfast Seminar - Thursday 17 Nov: Mental Health in the Workplace

Mental Health is becoming increasingly prevalent, as we have all seen by its heightened profile. As part of this trend, we are seeing an increase in workplace stress and related mental health issues. Although much has been done recently to help highlight this matter, many of those suffering still feel unable to be open and honest about their experiences. This seminar will clarify how to create a working environment which does not thrive on stress, how to identify signs of workplace stress, and...

HR Workshop - Performance; Practice, Problems and Prescriptions

Davenport Solicitors and EvolutionHR are joining forces to present you with a knowledge packed morning HR workshop. This is a unique opportunity to learn from Vandana Dass, head of employment law at Davenport Solicitors, Kate Marks and Niki Winsor, HR consultants from EvolutionHR. You will rarely have the chance to gain knowledge from three such experts in one place at one time. The workshop focuses on the specific challenges and needs facing small businesses where every person that you employ ...

How to buy the book:

RIBA publishing: Click here to purchase Amazon: Click here to purchase via Amazon ...

We had lift off!

So pleased to see so many people at the official launch of the book, HR for Creative Companies, this week. Thank you to everyone who attended. It was great to hear the President of the RIBA, Jane Duncan's, clearly articulated plea to support equality, diversity and inclusion within the architecture profession. Something which we as HR professionals can fully encourage and endorse. Jane's presence helped to support our book and highlight its importance in the development of the architectur...

Training session - HR For Directors of SMEs

Vandana Dass of Davenport Solicitors and Kate Marks of EvolutionHR have come together to provide a series of seminars for SMEs, to help enhance your internal HR and employment law skills. Our focus is on a combination of sound employment law and practical HR advice. Employment Law: The HR Essentials Are you an SME Director? Do you find HR and employment law complex and a burden? Do you lack time? Do employee issues "bog" you down? If the answer is yes to any of the abov...

How to deal with Sickness in the Workplace

Join us for a complimentary informative seminar on the tricky issue of what to do when an employee falls ill. We clarify your responsibilities, what approaches you can take and the policies and procedures that you should have in place. We will be discussing: Serious illness – what are your responsibilities if an employee falls seriously ill? Malingering – what to do if you suspect your employee is not ill? Medical reports – in what circumstances can you request them and what is their...

A pleasurable tool

When I was asked to write this book, we agreed that HR had moved beyond the old negative clichés and it was broadly recognised that HR is a true support and valuable asset for companies in the increasingly competitive marketplace. The trick with this book was to show how creative companies – who need space to be creative – can be properly supported by and have their work enhanced by HR – who are notoriously focussed on policies, procedures, legal compliance and documentation. I set out ...

Right to Work in the UK: Essential to get it right!

Employers must ensure that everyone they employ has the right to work in the UK and keep a record of these checks, regardless of an employee's nationality. If the checks are not carried out or are carried out incorrectly, and it transpires that an employee does not have the right to work, the employer could be fined up to £20,000 per illegal worker by UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI). So what checks must we carry out and how do we do it? The checks must be carried out BEFORE the employee ...

Multiple disciplinary allegations: how do you deal with them?

Dealing with several disciplinary matters at the same time can often be complex. The case involving Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust v Mundangepfupfu demonstrates the importance of accurately describing any allegation, and dealing with multiple allegations correctly. The Tribunal Mundangepfupfu, a nurse who had worked for the Trust for ten years, was dismissed for gross misconduct. The disciplinary process addressed three allegations: an 'assault', a safeguarding issue involving a patient, ...

A New Living Wage!

The introduction of a living wage on 1 April seems to be exercising the minds of the media almost to the point of hysteria. Apparently, jobs are going to be slashed, people's livelihoods endangered, companies going into liquidation, and shortly the end of the world may be announced too. I don't doubt that there will be effects – companies may think harder about hiring, some rationalisation of roles may occur, efficiency will be addressed… not to mention that it will be "HR's big opportunit...

Finally, it's happened......

With due reference to Ce Ce Peniston, I'm delighted to announce that it's finally happened. My book, HR for Creative Companies, has been published today by RIBA Publications and is available to purchase. I mentioned that it was a labour of love in a past blog – and it's been more than a year in its creation. So this is a very proud day. I'm incredibly grateful to all at RIBA publications for helping to make it happen, and all my friends and colleagues who have put up with the pleas fo...

Be Prepared! Essential HR and Legal Updates for 2016.

Join us for a complimentary informative seminar on the key employment law changes and implementations expected to take place this year. We will clarify the changes and their timings, as well as helping you to ensure your HR policies and processes comply. We will be discussing: Paid travel time to work – How does this apply and to whom does it apply. Overtime and holiday pay – A notoriously confusing but current topic. How it works and how you can comply. Clawback of training course fe...

Tolstoy, eat your heart out!

Has anyone else been watching the new BBC Sunday evening dramatisation of War and Peace? The second episode was aired on Sunday the 10th of January. There was a lot of build up to it over the festive season and one of the issues that was written about was the apparent fact that none of the actors had read the book before they worked on the series. A few have now done so, most still haven't. The question, "Has anyone actually read War and Peace?" became a talking point in various publications....

Great Start to 2016! Look out for 18 January!

New Year is typically more about making resolutions and plans for the year ahead. But sometimes, it seems, January can be about achieving those goals. A few years ago at a networking event, I was asked various questions about myself to form an introduction before I gave a talk. In answer to "What is your most important unfulfilled ambition?", I responded "To be published". Well, it looks very much as if that ambition is about to be fulfilled. The proposed publication date for 'HR for Cre...

More Charitable Christmas Greetings!

Hello again, To continue the story of why we chose the charities to support this Christmas..... We have both worked for most of our careers in property related companies and, still, those connected to the built environment make up a large proportion of our client list. Shelter is about helping the homeless - those who do not have a property or a home or a building. A tenuous link perhaps, but enough for us to support this wonderful charity who are particularly needed at this time of year a...