Employees

Your employees can your biggest asset. They can also be your biggest challenge. We explain how to recruitment and manage staff successfully.

Creating a positive working environment with happy, motivated staff is not easy. Personalities can clash so people management skills are essential.

Clear recruitment policies and contracts and disciplinary and grievance procedures are a legal requirement. Learn of how you can comply with the law.

Advertising for, shortlisting and selecting the right recruit is not always easy. Our overview explains how to get your recruitment processes right.

Employees are protected by a wide range of employment rights. This overview will help you understand the key regulations and avoid expensive mistakes.

This checklist will help you to set up, organise, motivate and support successful teams within your business.

Good communication is key if you want to help your staff feel fulfilled and do the best job possible. Read our list of points to consider.

Not sure how to support your employees' development with regular performance reviews? Our checklist tells you how to carry out an appraisal.

It's not possible to do everything yourself - and it isn't good for employee satisfaction either. Here's how to delegate tasks successfully.

Our step-by-step guide to drawing up an employment contract, from thinking up the basic terms to include to agreeing and signing with your employee.

Workplace policies can save you a lot of time and effort and can help avoid misunderstandings or more serious employee disputes.

Not sure how to go about holding a fair and lawful disciplinary hearing when an employee has breached workplace rules? Follow our step-by-step guide.

Badly planned and run meetings can be a real waste of company time. Read our tips on using your valuable meeting time efficiently.

Recruiting new staff will usually mean interviewing applicants. This checklist covers the basics of holding interviews.

For small firms, the loss of a key staff member can be devastating - so what can you do to keep employees happy and loyal?

Read our tips on keeping your staff trained so they can carry out their jobs effectively and with a minimum of stress.

Read our checklist on creating a workplace email policy, establishing security procedures and letting your employees know what's expected of them.

Our step-by step guide to inducting new employees into your business, providing everything they need and helping them feel settled.

A job description will help you write your job advert, provides pointers when interviewing and makes it clear to candidates what you are looking for.

Staff being away with illness can cost your company dearly in missed working time. Here are our tips for minimising absences.

Almost all workers are entitled to certain statutory and minimum pay rates. Check what rates of pay your employees are entitled to.

Regulations covering wages and statutory pay apply to almost every business. Our guide to minimum and living wage, pay for new parents and sick pay.

It's vitally important to make sure you hire the right person with the right skills to fill company needs. Read how to recruit successfully.

How to recruit effectively - our guide to understanding what you need, attracting candidates and assessing their skills, experience and attitude.

Our overview of maternity, paternity, adoption and parental rights, including leave surrounding a birth or adoption, pay and time off for child care.

It is important to manage sickness absence to prevent employees swinging the lead. Use this sample self-certification form to record sick leave.

Every employee is entitled to a written Statement of Employment Particulars after one month outlining the terms of employment. Download a range of full and part-time contracts, self employed and contractor and sub contractor statements of employment.

You need to have clear rules outlining what will happen if employees commit an offence in the workplace. Our checklist tells you what to include.

If your employees want to file a grievance, there should be a fair and clear way to do this. Read our tips on setting up a grievance procedure.

If you take on employees, you will need to set up a payroll system to make sure you're fulfilling your legal obligations. Here's where to start.

Businesses lose a lot of money through employee sickness. Read our guide to your obligations to ill employees and how to manage unauthorised absence.

Many small business owners are doing their own recruitment to save money. But wait! Could you be about to recruit the wrong person?

Almost all employees with at least 26 weeks’ service have the right to ask for flexible working. Advice on how to consider flexible working requests.

Top 20 employment facts you need to know to make sure your policies and procedures comply with the law.

Using a consultant can be a great way to get a project rolling or to bring in expert help. We explain how to get the best from your consultant.

Setting clear objectives and supporting learning in the workplace is a valuable investment. Here are our hints on planning for staff development.

Visit the Acas website to view their A-Z of advice on key employment issues - from managing absence to rights of working parents.

Office dress codes have relaxed. Have we all become scruffier at work and does it really matter anyway? We ask three experts for their opinions.

Few of us like to be called 'bossy', a term that is usually applied negatively to women. But why can being a bossy boss be bad for your business?

Louise Perry talks to Glenn Elliott of Reward Gateway about ways that small businesses can reward staff and motivate staff to keep them happy

You’ve started your business and things are going well. Eventually, the time will come when you'll need to take on staff. So, how do you make sure you take on the right people at the right time?

CVs play a key role in the recruitment process, by helping employers to assess someone's experience, key achievements and knowledge. Stacey Mead, HR Director at The HR Dept, explains what you should look out for.

When egos clash in the workplace, owners and managers cannot afford to do nothing, because the business is likely to be the ultimate loser.

Personality clashes create a bad atmosphere at work and often impact on motivation and productivity. Mediation techniques can help resolve conflict.

Hiring an apprentice can be good for your business. This guide explains how to hire an apprentice and outlines the responsibilities for employers.

Employers occasionally need to have difficult conversations with employees, perhaps about performance or personal issues. It pays to prepare.

The success and rapid growth of Perkbox in recent years has been phenomenal. But what role have its employees played, and what guiding principles has the business used when recruiting?

Solicitor Helen Kay answers key legal questions about sacking staff including notice periods and how to use ACAS guidance to help you.

Employing a relative is quite different to recruiting someone else. There are some important tax and legal considerations which we explore here:

The idea of a staff dress code might seem old-fashioned, but it's important to meet your customers' expectations whilst respecting employees' rights.

It is all too easy for staff grievances to escalate. Find out what process and procedures you should follow to address any staff grievances correctly.

Getting the right person is not easy. No one likes being interviewed and sometimes it can go very wrong. Here are some tales from the interview room.

Successful SMEs are only as good as their people. But finding great staff is not always easy. We explain what you should look for.

In this video employers discuss the benefits of hiring an apprentice.

They say that people don't leave the job, they leave the boss, which is true in many cases. So what do employers do to become known as a bad boss?

UK businesses have to comply with auto-enrolment workplace pension laws. This step-by-step guide explains exactly what to do and when.

You must check that every employee has the right to work in the UK. Penalties are up to £20,000 for each illegal worker and up to five years in prison.

Before an employee appraisal, find out what they think of their own performance, with this free downloadable employee self-assessment form template.

All employees with 26 weeks' service are entitled to request flexible working. But will it be small-business owners who are left carrying the cost?

You must pay your workers in accordance with the law and with their contracts of employment. This Acas guidance can help you get it right.

Find out how easy it is to hire an apprentice in this video with National Apprenticeship Service Director, Sue Husband.

Despite 300,000 people graduating each year, historically relatively few end up one of the nation's 4.8m small firms. But things are changing.

Motivating staff is essential to the success of any small firm. But how do you motivate staff when money is tight and is money the biggest motivator?

Many small businesses do not have an in-house HR expert, but that's no reason to ignore the steps that will help you recruit a star performer.

Download customisable job offer letter templates, which you can tailor to your needs when recruiting a new member of staff.

Before taking on employees, you will need to gather certain personal information. This template will help you collect the correct information.

Employment contracts are vital in setting out the terms and conditions of your relationship with your employee. Read our Q&A covering the basics.

All employees are entitled to a written statement of employment setting out the main terms and conditions. Read these FAQs covering the essentials.

Taking on your first employee? Find out how to approach the recruitment process to ensure you recruit the right person and comply with the law.

When you take on a new member of staff, there are seven key tasks you need to carry out to ensure you comply with the law. Find out what they are here:

Need to give your employees a performance review? Download staff appraisal and performance management templates.

When you employ staff, you will need to supply them with an employment contract. Download sample proforma employment contracts.

Need to carry out staff appraisals? Access employment templates including customisable staff appraisal forms.

You must provide written terms and conditions of employment within two months of an employee starting work. This Acas Tool will help you get it right.

Working parents are entitled to time off to care for their children. This Acas guide for employers explains the rules.

Find out the limits on the number of hours employees can work per week and the minimum amount of paid holiday and rest breaks they are entitled to.

Advertise a vacancy on the GOV.UK website. Advertise jobs and search for jobseekers whose CVs match your needs. You will need to open an account.