In my previous life as an HR consultant, when managers had to deal with conduct issues, this question cropped up time and time again. Don’t get me wrong – hospital HR policies are incredibly detailed and are often used as a ‘how-to guide’ when it comes to following the disciplinary process. The unions wouldn’t have

Many managers view the return-to-work interview as a five-minute chat to tick a box and say they’ve “supported” their staff member. But these meetings can be so much more than that. When should I have the meeting? As soon as possible after the employee has returned to work. Obviously some staff are part-time, you might

Quite a few forum posts have appeared recently questioning what to do if you overpay a member of staff. Can I recover the money? Is there a time limit on reclaiming it? What do I do if the employee doesn’t give it back? Let’s shed some light on this topic. Hopefully we’ve all got a

A recent poll on the forum showed just 24% of practice managers were friends with staff members on social media. Social media has its positive and negative sides. It can be a great way to keep in touch with people and share multimedia, it can be brilliant for promoting your business or brand, and it

The forum has been awash recently with threads concerning the management of staff in their probationary period. Why do we have probationary periods? Because with employment you don’t really get to try before you buy! This is the best option you have in that respect. Many people are fantastic at interviews but when they start

In 2011 the compulsory retirement age of 65 was abolished in the UK, following the implementation of the Equality Act 2010. Age is listed as one of the ‘protected characteristics’ and it was deemed to be discriminatory to force a person to retire purely because they’d reached the age of 65. Nowadays employees can continue

There have been a number of threads on the forum recently about PM salaries, terms and conditions, benefits and entitlements. Some of us have been astonished at how little some of our compatriots are being paid, or what pitiful T&Cs some partners are offering. So, I’ve created a little guide on how to negotiate; think