Our Senior HR Advisor, Gary Foster, has worked in HR for 20 years. During this time, he has received many queries and for this blog, has outlined the most popular queries he receives. Find out the answers to questions you may have about HR and Employment Law in the FAQ’s below.

HR Advisor’s top 5 frequently asked questions:

Life in HR compromises a different scenario each day and the ability to be flexible and adapt to any given situation is crucial. NORi HR and Employment Law are an outsourced HR and Employment Law consultancy that deal with businesses across all sectors. Whilst we deal with a range of industries and different people, the type of questions we get in HR remains constant and has done for some time.

Here are Gary’s most common HR and Employment Law FAQ’s:

Question: How many days do I have to give an Employee to appeal a Grievance/Disciplinary?

Answer: The answer will usually be in your Employee Handbook and or Disciplinary/Grievance Policy. It will usually be 5 or 7 days with some businesses/industries allowing more.

Question: How much notice do I have to give for a Disciplinary Hearing?

Answer: There is no specific number of days/hours imposed by law but usually 48 hours is common practice and appears to be acceptable to Industrial Tribunals. The notice needed may also vary per business so it is always worth checking your Disciplinary policy to see if you require more.

Question: Do Employees dismissed with under 2 years of service have any rights?

Answer: Many people think that employees with under two years of service do not have any rights. This is wrong. Whilst these employees have fewer rights and are not eligible to claim unfair dismissal, there are other eligible claims. If an employee is dismissed with under two years of service, they may claim wrongful dismissal, discrimination or have eligibility to take other legal recourse. It is always important to take advice beforehand to manage risk.

Question: We have a pregnant employee; can we make her redundant?

Answer: You can always make an employee redundant if there is a lack of work, site closure, or business closure. These reasons are all sufficient, however, you cannot do this legally by virtue of the employee being pregnant. If any redundancy found to be connected to pregnancy is likely to result in substantial awards being made against an Employer at Industrial Tribunal.

Question: How many holidays do I have to give an employee? And what do I do about Bank Holidays?

Answer: Employers need to give a statutory minimum of 28 days paid leave a year to anyone considered to be an employee (pro-rata for part-time employees). Most employers give 20 days and use the usual Bank holidays as the added 8 paid annual leave days usually because they are closed anyway.

The Frequently Asked Questions above are a good example of common queries that our clients have. If you are unsure about any of the FAQ’s listed above, HR Issues or any Employment Law legislation, you may need professional advice. We offer a range of support packages at NORi HR and Employment Law to help businesses with their HR operations. Find out more about our services here.