Entries by LesleyAnn

HR Cases In the Headlines

In the news this month there have been three significant cases arising out of the employment relationship, which have caught my eye. The first case in particular is a shining example of why we have employment law. The second case speaks to why we need safeguards in place to protect the rights of employees, to […]

The Dismissal

Serious Misconduct – Managing It Well “You’re fired!” It’s the classic catchphrase of Donald Trump that turned abrupt dismissals into popular reality TV, but can an employer in 2018 really say this?

Don’t Forget! New Minimum Wage Rates Apply From 1 April 2018

Minimum wage rates increased from Sunday 1 April, and as an employer you must make sure that your team are being paid at least the minimum wage. The new rates are: Adult — $16.50 per hour Starting-out — $13.20 per hour Training — $13.20 per hour Note: The starting-out and training minimum wages are set […]

HR is Anything but Vanilla!

At People in Mind, we love what we do. As a profession, HR is anything but vanilla; there’s no such thing as an “average” week. This month, we thought we’d take a wee departure from our usual style and tell you a little about what we actually do here.

Bereavement Leave – What Is It?

A client rang me recently with an interesting question. Could their employee take bereavement leave for their dog? The employee was genuinely grief-stricken and incapable of working. Was there anything the employer could do?

Trial Periods – Manage Them Well

On 25 January 2018, the Labour Government signalled changes to the law governing trial periods. The changes are yet to pass into law. In the meantime it is business as usual, so I want to run through how you can use the trial period for new employees, under the current legislation.

Planning for the Festive Season!

In HR we encourage forward planning and documenting the agreed plans. Some might say I am slightly obsessive about this. But, quite simply, planning and documentation is good! With Christmas rolling around, the plan we should all be working on right now is our Leave Management Plan.

Hiring a young person? Great! But help them succeed not fail!

While away on holiday I was sitting in a café one day and noticed something which has stuck with me. A very young person was delivering meals to a table. The scenario stuck in my mind as he just didn’t appear to fit that particular role. I don’t mean from a team fit perspective, but […]