Everybody is different, and everyone works in different ways, so there are bound to be clashes once in a while in a work environment. What really matters is how you deal with such situations. Ignoring issues and leaving them unresolved can end up leading to even bigger workplace conflicts, so although you may sometimes need to have tough conversations, they often lead to positive outcomes. If handled correctly, difficult conversations can lead to a healthier, more open workplace culture, ultimately helping everyone feel comfortable with raising issues.

By following our tips, a difficult conversation can go better than you expect!

Don’t delay

Preparation is important but don’t delay the meeting. Avoiding difficult conversations only builds anxiety and can often make the issue feel bigger or worse than it is.

Stick to the facts

Focus on finding a solution together rather than assigning blame. Keep the conversation constructive and forward-thinking.

Be assertive, but not aggressive

Communicate clearly and confidently without resorting to accusations or raised voices. You should always respect the other person’s perspective, even if you disagree.

Take someone in with you

In certain situations, particularly if they are sensitive, having a neutral colleague present can help everyone reach a mutual understanding.

Be objective

These difficult conversations can stir up a lot of emotions, from frustration and anger to anxiety and sadness. It’s important to remain objective and calm.  Remember that the goal is to find a solution, not to ‘win’ an argument.

Choose the right time and location

Choose a private location where you can talk to someone without getting interrupted or distracted.

If you think you could learn more about having difficult conversations, why not come along to our workshop in Glasgow on Thursday 5^th November or Wednesday 11^th November in Montrose.  Book here  Event Bookings | 121HR Solutions – Glasgow  or contact events@121hrsolutions.co.uk for further information.

• Posted on October 31st, 2024

According to a recent survey, 63% of employees have said they don’t want a festive celebration. This is a rise of 7% from last year. It seems that the personal cost of office Christmas parties is one factor putting people off – having to spend money on an outfit and taxi home was cited as one of the reasons for not wishing to share the festive spirit with co-workers. 

The other main reason provided was that staff prefer to spend their free time with their own family and friends and not their co-workers.  Having to make small talk and “celebrate” with colleagues is not something every employee looks forward to!

Despite the decline in popularity of work Christmas parties, many employers continue to provide them, taking advantage of the £150 tax free HMRC allowance per head on a celebration.  

However, employers have to think about more than where to host the party – the fall out from such events can be far-reaching; from some employees feeling left out and exposed because they don’t drink alcohol to the worrying consideration of behaviour when the wine is flowing. 

121 HR Solutions advises employers to issue a polite reminder to staff in advance of a Christmas party, ensuring they know that the party is still a “work” setting and that normal behavioural standards are expected. If you need advice on behaviour outside of the office, contact us at enquiries@121hrsoutions.co.uk.

• Posted on October 30th, 2024

A woman has been awarded £28,706.76 by an employment tribunal after she was dismissed for getting pregnant while on maternity leave. 

The employee was an office administration assistant. She only worked for the company a short time before leaving to have her first baby. Towards the end of her statutory maternity leave she attended a return-to-work meeting with the company’s managing director. The basis on which the employee was to return, in terms of hours, was discussed and agreed at the meeting. Just before the end of the meeting, the employee disclosed that she was pregnant again.

Following the meeting and right up to the point of her maternity leave ending, she did not receive confirmation from the company regarding her return to work.  On prompting the company for confirmation of her amended hours she received notification that her employment would be terminated because her role was becoming redundant, supposedly due to financial difficulties in the company and new software being installed which would remove the need for her administrative job. She was not consulted on the redundancy and was simply told that her role was redundant. She found this difficult to comprehend because the MD had told her at her return-to-work meeting that the company was doing well and had been awarded a new contract. 

The employment tribunal found that the principal reason for dismissal was the pregnancy and ruled that the company had failed to provide credible evidence to support their claims that the dismissal was due to redundancy. 

Of the total sum awarded, £15,000 was compensation for injury to feelings.  In its ruling, the tribunal drew attention to the lack of evidence to support the claim of financial difficulties or the new software. Furthermore, the company had “rebranded itself, recruited personnel and invested in vehicles”.  In making their decision, the tribunal said they “took account of the complete lack of any coherent evidence-based alternative explanation from the respondent.” 

This case is a reminder of the additional protection afforded to pregnant employees.  There is no qualifying service for discrimination cases and employers should always seek advice when considering redundancy when the employee is pregnant or on maternity leave.  Contact 121 HR Solutions on 0800 9995 121 for assistance.  

• Posted on October 29th, 2024

An employee who raised more than 40 complaints of victimisation and harassment related to sex at the employment tribunal has been unsuccessful. The claimant was made redundant following a restructure and after a lengthy process of consultation and interviews for alternative roles.  

The redundancy occurred after it was determined that employees of the IT support company required to be living no more than 2 hours’ away from Heathrow as they provided remote IT support to the airport and needed to be able to travel to the site in the event of an outage or a requirement for onsite support.  The employee told her employer that she had permanently relocated to Yorkshire during COVID when the team had been working remotely and that she was not able to fulfil this requirement. 

During the consultation process the employee applied for an alternative role as a people operations adviser and claimed that she had been victimised and unfairly dismissed when she was rejected from the position. However, the tribunal found that she was not offered the role as she had indicated during the interview that she could only attend the London office twice a month, whereas the job description required two days a week onsite.

Following confirmation of her redundancy, the employee claimed that she was harassed by the respondent when she was not sent a leaving card before she left. The Respondent demonstrated that two other male colleagues had also been made redundant and did not receive any card.

A further harassment claim related to a text received during her employment when the claimant had texted her line manager from her personal mobile phone to tell him she had suffered a miscarriage. The Manager responded with “I was so sorry to hear your sad news. I pray, as a family, you all have the strength to get through these challenging days. If there is anything I can do to help, I am just a message or call away. Hope to see you soon, take good care.”

The tribunal’s findings were that this was an “entirely appropriate and compassionate” message in the circumstances and suggested that this was an example of the claimant misconstruing many events during her employment.

The judge found that there had been animosity between the claimant and others and that this had led her to complain to the tribunal but found no evidence of sexual harassment and found that the process of dismissal on the grounds of redundancy was entirely fair. 

When determining whether the dismissal was unfair, the judge concluded that the employer had implemented a “very structured process” for employees at risk to apply for suitable alternative positions and that it had been applied consistently.

It seems that this was a complex case and that the unfair dismissal was just one of many complaints raised by the claimant but having a well-managed redundancy procedures in place and undertaking objective and consistent consultation resulted in a finding that the process was fair.  Should you be facing a restructure and wish to discuss the process, contact us at enquiries@121hrsolutions.co.uk

• Posted on October 28th, 2024

An employee whose firm insisted she undergo a medical assessment before she returned to work after being absent for over a year with breast cancer, has been awarded £14,858 for disability discrimination.

After undergoing chemotherapy and surgery for breast cancer the employee was required to undertake a medical assessment before being permitted return to work. The employee had signalled her desire to return to work and had asked her employer for a meeting to discuss it, but no response was received.  When she pressed the employer, they stated that they needed medical evidence to demonstrate that she was fit to return which had the effect of making her feel that they did not want her to return. She emailed the employer confirming her ability to return to work and stating that she felt the company had created obstacles. She proposed a phased return, working three days a week initially. After more delays, the employee resigned, citing claims of constructive dismissal and disability discrimination.

The judge at the employment tribunal ruled that the requirement for a medical assessment constituted disability discrimination. A medical assessment was not legally required before the claimant could return to work.

Whilst employers are required to consider reasonable adjustments to support an employee’s return to work in such circumstances, this was a heavy-handed approach, leading the employee to feel that her return to work was being blocked. Should you require advice in managing a long term absentee’s return to work, contact 121 HR Solutions on 0800 9995 121 for assistance.

• Posted on October 27th, 2024

On 10th October 2024, the Government presented to Parliament the “biggest upgrade to rights at work for a generation” in the form of the Employment Rights Bill. 121 HR Solutions will endeavour to summarise the provisions over the coming days.  The Government will consult on the reforms during 2025 and expect the provisions to take effect during 2026.

The Trade Union Act 2016 currently requires at least 50% of trade union members to support a vote for industrial action ballot for it to be valid. Similarly, it requires that at least 40% of all union members entitled to vote do so in the ballot for industrial action.  The Employment Rights Bill will amend the turnout and support thresholds. This will mean that the law will revert to requiring a simple majority of those voting for a ballot conducted by a trade union for industrial action to be successful, with no requirements for any level of turnout. The law will also revert to requiring a trade union to ask its members on the ballot paper which type of industrial action they want to take part in, expressed in terms of whether it is strike action or action short of a strike.

The Bill will also reduce the amount of notice a trade union must give the employer of industrial action after it has secured a ballot mandate and before any such action is taken, from 14 to 7 days.

Workers will be provided with protection against detriment for taking part in official and protected industrial action. Employees will be protected against dismissal for taking part in industrial action for the length of the strike action by removing the current protected period.

Follow our LinkedIn page each day for further updates on the Employment Rights Bill over the coming days or contact enquiries@121hrsolutions.co.uk for further information.

• Posted on October 24th, 2024

Employers will be aware that unless an employee has acquired 2 years’ service, the employee cannot make a claim for unfair dismissal. Sometimes, employers make the decision to dismiss the employee shortly before they acquire two years’ service. If so, employers should remember that if statutory notice is not given the law allows the employee to add the statutory notice (or the portion not given) to their service, which may mean the employee acquires 2 years’ service.

Although the statutory notice period is a week (7 days) employers must ensure that dismissal is communicated to the employee in good time, and at least 9 days before the anniversary date. Although the employee must be given 7 days’ notice, remember the employee will acquire 2 years’ service 1 day before the anniversary date – not on the actual anniversary date. Also, notice does not commence until the day after it is given, so the day notice is given does not count. Hence 9 clear days are required.

For example, an employee who started employment on the 20th November 2022 would acquire 2 years’ service on 19th November 2024. If the employer dismissed the employee on 12th November 2024 the employee would be entitled to add the week’s statutory notice to his service; the termination date (for calculating continuous service) would be 19th November 2024; the employee would acquire 2 years’ service and could make a claim for unfair dismissal. If the employer did not follow a proper dismissal procedure before the dismissal, the employee would almost certainly win their case. Taking this example, dismissal should be communicated (at the very latest) on 11th November 2024. If notice is communicated on 11th November 2024 it would take effect the following day, the 12th November, and the 7 days’ notice would end on 18th November 2024. The employee would not acquire 2 years’ service.

So, where an employer is considering dismissing an employee who is close to acquiring 2 years’ service, the first thing that should be done is to check the start date and keep the risks outlined above in mind. If you require further information on this subject, contact us on 0800 9995 121.

• Posted on October 24th, 2024

On 10th October 2024, the Government presented to Parliament the “biggest upgrade to rights at work for a generation” in the form of the Employment Rights Bill. 121 HR Solutions will endeavour to summarise the provisions over the coming days.  The Government will consult on the reforms during 2025 and expect the provisions to take effect during 2026.

The Bill creates a new requirement that an employer must provide an employee with a written statement of his or her right to join a trade union. This statement must be given at the same time as the employer provides the contract of employment. The penalties for failure to comply with this new requirement will align with those that apply to a failure to provide an employment contract.

The Bill also provides for ‘access agreements’ to be entered into between listed trade unions and employers that allow officials from those trade unions to access the workplace for the purposes of meeting, representing, recruiting or organising workers, or facilitating collective bargaining. In addition, the Bill includes provision for trade union representatives to have sufficient access to facilities and gives time off rights to union equality representatives.

The Government believes that the current statutory trade union recognition process makes it too difficult for unions to gain recognition and the Bill will simplify this process by removing the requirement at the application stage for a union to demonstrate that there is likely to be majority support for trade union recognition, removing the 40% support threshold at the recognition ballot stage, and consulting on reducing the 10% application threshold for the CAC to accept a trade union recognition case.

Follow our LinkedIn page each day for further updates on the Employment Rights Bill over the coming days or contact enquiries@121hrsolutions.co.uk for further information.

• Posted on October 23rd, 2024

The Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) governs the laws on health and safety management in the workplace. Every business should have a policy for managing health and safety and should detail who has specific responsibilities, the general health and safety policy and what practical arrangements are in place, showing how policy aims will be achieved. Employers must undertake ‘suitable and sufficient’ risk assessment and for businesses with more than five employees, risk assessments must be written down and should record the type of hazard, how that hazard may harm people and what is already being done to control this hazard.

Despite taking all reasonable measures to ensure a safe working environment, there will always be a risk of an accident in the workplace. If an employee is injured at work, there are a number of things an employer should do:

• Report all accidents. Businesses with more than 10 employees must keep an accident book, in which all accidents, no matter how minor, should be recorded. More severe injuries such as serious burns, occupational diseases, gas incidents and death must be reported in a report under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) within 15 days of the accident.
• Notify the employer’s insurance company. It is important to notify the insurance company as soon as an accident occurs. This is so a claims investigator can be appointed to investigate the accident immediately in case it turns out to be much more serious than anticipated and a claim is made against the business.
• Improve health & safety. Revisiting risk assessments will allow employers to prevent similar accidents.

Should you require a Health and Safety audit, please contact us on enquiries@121hrsolutions.co.uk  for more information.

• Posted on October 23rd, 2024

On 10th October 2024, the Government presented to Parliament the “biggest upgrade to rights at work for a generation” in the form of the Employment Rights Bill. 121 HR Solutions will endeavour to summarise the provisions over the coming days.  The Government will consult on the reforms during 2025 and expect the provisions to take effect during 2026.

The Bill amends the current thresholds for when there is a need to collectively consult. Currently, an employer needs to collectively consult where it is proposing to dismiss as redundant 20 or more employees at one establishment within a period of 90 days or less. The reference to ‘one establishment’ is being removed so that the thresholds will apply across the whole of the business.

The Government has also confirmed that it remains ‘committed to consult on lifting the cap of the protective award if an employer is found to not have properly followed the collective redundancy process’.

Follow our LinkedIn pages each day for further updates on the Employment Rights Bill over the coming days or contact enquiries@121hrsolutions.co.uk for further information.

• Posted on October 22nd, 2024