Every person associated with a firm should be under some contract or other. Employees will have employment contracts. Sub-contractors will have sub-contract contracts. And self-employed must be under contract too. Even those working through agencies must have a relationship with the principal. Here's why and how.

Sometimes situations occur in the workplace where, despite using management effort to attempt to resolve issues, the organisation decides that ending the employment is the best way forward. Settlement agreements, previously referred to as compromise agreements, are used in this situation.

Entrepreneurs and leaders must become managers and embrace management when they want to achieve something - when, metaphorically, they want to build ‘great big ships’. They must work with their people and help them excel, not demand performance and dismiss when that does not follow, or the relationship otherwise sours. Here's why - but take care, some managers may find that the truth in this offends.

So what happens when someone jumps ship to a competitor and has a restrictive covenant in their contract of employment? Restrictive covenants bind employee to neither solicit, compete, deal nor poach. Restrictive covenants are difficult to enforce, involving complex discussions and communications. Read here how to proceed.

Management has the right to manage. But it has to behave reasonably and have good reason for its actions. This paper addresses the general question often asked: can management implement routine screening, testing or other surveillance of employees, their goods, information and health? It goes on to show how management should go about its introduction in cases where screening or surveillance is appropriate.

The press is full of stories about flexible working. Normally, flexible working is considered as moving to part-time hours, working from home or perhaps converting to job share. But there is one tool that gets overlooked. It’s one that can really benefit both employee and employer – the introduction of annualised hours. Annualised hours contracts have been around for a long time. This blog gives the pros and cons.