We have put Ben Holt, Managing Director of Loch HR and Loch Training and Wellbeing in the spotlight so you can find out more about him and how Ben and his team can help you.   1. What was your professional journey like before joining Loch? After getting a Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management, I began my HR career as an HR Assistant for a security and personal protection company. From there I’ve worked in the NHS, Crown Service and Local Government before moving to Unltd: The Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs as their Talent and People Performance Lead. After that I mo ..read more

In recent years, the workplace has become increasingly diverse in many areas, including health. As a result, it’s more important than ever before that employers understand their legal obligations and considerations when it comes to accommodating and supporting their staff in the workplace. Here we consider some of the more common disabilities that employers could encounter:   Diabetes Diabetes is a chronic medical condition that affects how the body processes glucose, leading to elevated blood sugar levels. Diabetes can onset at any stage during a person’s life with symptoms including fe ..read more

In what appears to be a growing trend, employees in the US have been recording themselves being laid-off over video calls. These videos are then posted on social media platforms, drawing attention to the poor treatment of staff and the badly handled situations in large and well-known organisations.   An American Web Company One of the latest companies featured in these viral videos was Cloudflare, an American web company, who were planning to dismiss multiple staff members. Having heard about what would happen in advance, Brittany Pietsch, who had worked for the company for only four mon ..read more

Internships and work placements offer valuable opportunities for individuals to gain experience and for businesses to meet short-term demands. However, developments in the law around their status means it’s important to understand the distinctions between interns and work experience. Here we shed light on these differences and provide practical steps for employers to engage interns provide work experience placements. Interns vs. Work Experience Interns are individuals, typically students or recent graduates, who gain practical knowledge and develop skills relevant to their chosen field. Inter ..read more

As employers face an increasingly challenging recruitment market, many employers in the UK are considering recruiting migrant workers. This can be a great solution where the employer is struggling to recruit someone with the right skills by widening the search pool and recognising valuable skilled workers from overseas. However, before pressing ahead with this, employers need to ensure they are aware of what that will entail and ensure the right visas are in place. What Visa options are there? There are two main worker Visa routes to work in the UK: the Skilled Worker Route and the Global Mob ..read more

As employers face an increasingly challenging recruitment market, many employers in the UK are considering recruiting migrant workers. This can be a great solution where the employer is struggling to recruit someone with the right skills by widening the search pool and recognising valuable skilled workers from overseas. However, before pressing ahead with this, employers need to ensure they are aware of what that will entail and ensure the right visas are in place. What Visa options are there? There are two main worker Visa routes to work in the UK: the Skilled Worker Route and the Global Mob ..read more

Quiet Quitting Part 2: How to Recognise and Manage it   In Part Two of our series on ‘quiet quitting’, we explore how employers can recognise when someone has become disengaged in their job role and how to manage the situation. If you would like to understand more about the background of quiet quitting and why it happens, you can read part one here. Quiet quitting is a phrase used to describe an employee rolling back their participation in work, inputting only the effort required to meet their job description and work their contracted hours in order to keep their job. While employers shou ..read more

Malicious Intent Lodging a workplace grievance is usually a stressful process. Most employees will think long and hard before taking formal action, only lodging a grievance once they feel they’ve tried all other options available to them without success. In an increasing number of cases though, an employee may not be acting out of genuine concern. Rather, they will lodge a grievance maliciously, with the intention of making the subject’s life a misery, creating disorder and disharmony in their workplace or in response to a challenge they face e.g. a disciplinary or performance management proc ..read more

The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2023 comes into force on 6 April 2023, signifying the regular annual increase in tribunal limits. The key changes are outlined below:   Award Old Figures New Limits Maximum compensatory award in relation to a claim for unfair dismissal £93,878 £105,707 The limit on a week’s pay for basic award and redundancy payments £571 £643 Automatically unfair dismissal basic award minimum £6,959 £7,836 For employees, if your employment terminates on or after 6 April 2023, your entitlements will increase if you pursue a claim for unfair ..read more

Four Day Week Trial produces Positive Results…But What Next? How does the notion of working fewer days a week for the same annual salary sound? Too good to be true? Well, it could be a reality for many employees in the near future if the results of the first four day working week UK trial are to be believed. Organised by 4 Day Week Global, an international foundation which funds research into the future of work and workplace wellbeing, the trial took place between June and December 2022 and involved organisations across the UK, including both non-profits and private enterprises. It was monito ..read more