Workplace wrangles: Staying on the right side of your HR department
Send us your queries on how best to manage the complex relationship you have with your employer or employee
Work Q&A
Your work questions answered: Can bonuses be deducted pro-rata during a maternity leave?
A series where we ask experts in all aspects of workplace engagement to give us their views and solutions on issues driving conflict or upset for employees
Can my employer baldly state that its policy is different from whatever the employee handbook says?
On two occasions, my employer has said that policy on a particular issue is not as was given in the handbook
Your work questions answered: My hours have been cut but someone new has been hired. Can my employer do this?
Are employers allowed to hire a new full-time worker after cutting hours for other employees?
Your work questions answered: ‘My work is all-consuming. I am finding myself reaching burnout. What can I do?’
A series where we ask experts in all aspects of workplace engagement to give us their views and solutions on issues driving conflict or upset for employees
My role has returned to hybrid working: is it discriminatory if some colleagues get more flexibility?
What is the advice regarding requests for bespoke work-from-home arrangements?
Are you entitled to go on maternity leave a second time straight after your first ends?
Some employers may not be ‘best pleased’ about a second maternity leave being taken so soon after the first
Remote working: ‘Surely the company won’t force my team back into the office if they suspect we might all quit?’
We ask experts in all aspects of workplace engagement for their views and solutions on issues resulting in conflict or stress for employees
Your work questions answered: Is ill-health retirement or income protection with pension the right route for me?
A series where we ask experts in all aspects of workplace engagement to give us their views and solutions on issues driving conflict or upset for employees
Your work questions answered: ‘I’m getting bombarded with out-of-hours requests. Can I expect retribution if I quietly quit?’
A series where we ask experts in all aspects of workplace engagement to give us their views and solutions on issues driving conflict or upset for employees
Your work questions answered: If offered another job during maternity leave, what are my rights for taking the rest of it?
A series where we ask experts in all aspects of workplace engagement to give us their views and solutions on issues driving conflict or upset for employees
Your work questions answered: As CEO, will the hangover be even worse for me if something goes wrong on an office night out?
A series where we ask experts in all aspects of workplace engagement to give us their views and solutions on issues driving conflict or upset for employees
Your work questions answered: On meds for life, I must work from home. I feel stuck - and it’s getting me down
A series where we ask experts in all aspects of workplace engagement to give us their views and solutions on issues driving conflict or upset for employees
Do you have work-related queries? From tricky bosses to hybrid working, ask the experts
Experts in HR, employment law, career progression and personal finance will offer a view on your work queries
My company is clamping down on working from home. Can I reject this change?
A series where we ask experts in all aspects of workplace engagement to give us their views and solutions on issues driving conflict or upset for employees
Your work questions answered: ‘I have ADHD and so work from home a lot. When I go to the office, nobody speaks to me’
A series where we ask experts in all aspects of workplace engagement to give us their views and solutions on issues driving conflict or upset for employees
Your work questions answered: I was humiliated and verbally abused by my manager, what rights do I have?
A series where we ask experts in all aspects of workplace engagement to give us their views and solutions on issues driving conflict or upset for employees
Your work questions answered: My employee has changed hours without permission, what can I do?
A series where we ask experts in all aspects of workplace engagement to give us their views and solutions on issues driving conflict or upset for employees
Your work questions answered: Can bars and restaurants still offer ‘unpaid trial’ shifts?
Damien McCarthy of HR Buddy described this scenario as ‘disappointing and shocking’ and said it appears a small number of employers still believe unpaid trials are allowed
Your work questions answered: Is an employer liable for a sports injury if they sponsor an employee team’s kit?
A business’s office manager got advice that because the company had sponsored its employees’ sports gear for a separate rugby league, it is liable for any expenses incurred by a worker injured playing the sport. Could this be true?
Your work questions answered: I was obligated to become a sole trader in a long-term job - what recourse is there for me?
A series where we ask experts in all aspects of workplace engagement to give us their views and solutions on issues driving conflict or upset for employees
Your work questions answered: Does a special arrangement for a colleague’s maternity leave set a legal precedent for me?
Employers offering top-up maternity payments normally require employees sign an agreement to return to work for a specified period
Your work questions answered: ‘Did HR mistreat me or am I being overly sensitive?’
This ‘strikes me as being very disorganised, and not a very good example’ of workplace communications, says one HR trainer
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