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Contracts on start day: but what damage does it cause?
Written by John Berry on 28th September 2017. Revised 4th November 2020.
5 min read
There’s a situation that’s quite unsatisfactory and easily rectified to benefit all parties. It’s that often documents comprising the contract of employment are ‘issued’ by the employer to the employee once the new hire has actually started in the job. It’s lawful but unfair and risky. It also misses a huge opportunity to get relationships off to a flying start. Here’s why.
Statement of employment particulars to be issued on or before the first day of work
Written by Sue Berry on 29th April 2020. Revised 4th November 2020.
3 min read
From 6th April 2020, written statements (employment particulars) will now have to be provided for all ‘workers’ – not just employees - on or before their first day of work. This means that zero hours contract workers must also likewise be provided with a statement of particulars. This is a change from previous requirements for contracts not later than eight weeks in from start.
Has your psychological contract taken a nose-dive?
Written by John Berry on 31st May 2020. Revised 4th November 2020.
2 min read
The psychological contract defines how the employee feels about their employer. How an employee feels dictates their commitment. Commitment makes motivation and engagement possible. Commitment makes management possible. Has your employee psychological contracts taken a nose-dive recently?
Is £20k difference discrimination or just reasonable?
Written by John Berry on 9th January 2019. Revised 4th November 2020.
10 min read
The crux of an article in The Guardian is that the woman author, a journalist, has found out that a man who reports to her and whose work she manages, is paid £20k a year more than her. She feels that she has been treated unfairly and that she should have held out for more when she negotiated her salary. And she describes how her emotional response has transitioned through the five stages of grief. Here we discuss the issues and ask, "Is £20k difference discrimination or just reasonable?"
In search of an optimum reporting structure
Written by John Berry on 28th February 2019. Revised 4th November 2020.
4 min read
There’s no rule about how many people one manager should have reporting to them. For effective leadership the leader must build the dyadic relationship with every follower. If the manager has too many direct reports his or her leadership will weaken while too reports with too much time on each few stifles. So what's the ideal reporting structure?
When it comes to loss-making and redundancies, managers have choice
Written by John Berry on 29th June 2020. Revised 4th November 2020.
6 min read
First Brexit uncertainty, then pandemic. And next, Brexit for real. All in all, pressures on the economy right now are universally downwards. The result, we hear, is that unemployment will rise. But why must that be so? Is it inevitable? And how should managers change to better manage their firms through short periods of unsettled trading? Here we set out the arguments.
