HR guides and articles, page 2

The rules on watching staff are moving

The government wants views on how monitoring technology at work should be regulated. Here is what it actually proposes, and what a sensible employer does before the window closes.

The business case for meaning, not just money

New global workforce research puts a number on something HR teams have suspected for a while: a business's social impact is now part of why people join, and why they stay.

What a 9.4 day sickness absence rate actually means for a small employer

UK sickness absence has just hit its highest level in over a decade. Here is what is actually driving it, and what a sensible employer does differently, rather than simply harder.

The AI policy you already need

Across the UK, 61% of organisations now allow staff to use generative AI for work tasks, but only 31% have put together a formal policy on it in the past year (CIPD, Labour Market Outlook, autumn 2025). That gap is the real risk. It is not that AI is being used. It is that it is being used without anyone having said what is and is not allowed.

AI at work: Why we're writing about AI, and what's coming over the next few weeks

A short series on AI at work: what UK law already covers, where AI genuinely helps, and where it does not. Adoption has moved faster than the thinking around it.

The manager's guide to redundancy

Redundancy is a genuine reason for dismissal only when its tests are met. Fair selection, individual and collective consultation, the protective award, and how redundancy pay and notice work.

The manager's guide to disciplinary and grievance handling

The ACAS Code sets the minimum fair process for discipline and grievances. The steps to follow, the right to be accompanied, appeals, and the tribunal uplift for getting it wrong.

The manager's guide to probation periods

Probation periods are set by contract, not by law. Setting objectives, running reviews, notice, extensions, and ending employment fairly before the 2027 unfair dismissal changes land.

The manager's guide to long-term sickness absence

A long absence means a person to support, sick pay to get right and a return to plan. What the law asks of you, what changed in 2026, and the practical steps to take at each stage.