Russell HR Consulting

The Government has just announced details of how it will remove the default retirement age (DRA) of 65 permitted by the age discrimination legislation. It proposes to begin phasing out the DRA from April 2011. The proposals are subject to a consultation, which will run until 21st October 2010.  Ministers want to know if there is a need for guidance or a formal code of practice to explain workers’ new rights and what impact they may have on benefits.

Rachel Krys, campaign director for the Employers Forum on Age (EFA), said, “This is an incredible leap forward on employment practices and great news for individuals.

Dianah Worman, Diversity Adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, added, “We are greatly encouraged by the new plans laid out to eradicate the DRA. Our research has shown that many employees wish to work past retirement for differing reasons and many employers are already benefiting from allowing such flexibility.”

These comments demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding of commercial reality, which, amongst other things, is that in most cases good employees are kept on if they wish it. Employees who are unsatisfactory or have poor work performance may well be retired. At present an employer can retire an employee without hurting his feelings. Sometimes there are insurance-based benefits, which make the costs of keeping over-65s financially impossible. Unless properly addressed, the removal of the DRA will create yet more problems for employers, already struggling with the many challenges, risks (and enormous costs) of running a business. Yet we’re told industry is supposed to lead the UK out of the recession …

The cynical truth is that scrapping the DRA is less about the removal of discrimination than the Government’s need to keep income tax receipts up and reduce the burden on pension funds. The state pension age is due to rise to 66 in 2016.

While business leaders accept that removing the DRA is valid in principle, they have serious concerns about the adverse effect on business. At present we simply don’t have appropriate mechanisms for dealing with open-ended employment.

I heard John Cridland, Deputy Director-General of the CBI, on the radio and he made some very sensible points. Let’s hope the Government listens. Amongst them he pointed out that removing the DRA will leave businesses with a number of issues, which have not yet been addressed. These proposals could make workforce planning and providing some employment benefits, such as critical illness cover, next to impossible.

Mr Cridland said that there will need to be more than a code of practice to address these practical issues; employers need some certainty and the Government will have to make changes in the law to deal effectively with difficult employment situations.

Russell HR Consulting provides expert knowledge in the practical application of employment law as well as providing employment law training and HR support services. For more information, visit our website at www.russellhrconsulting.co.uk or call a member of the team on 0845 644 8955.

Russell HR Consulting offers HR services to businesses nationwide, including Buckinghamshire (covering Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Milton Keynes, Bedford, Banbury, Northampton, Towcester and surrounding areas), Nottinghamshire (covering Chesterfield, Mansfield, Nottingham, Sheffield, Worksop and surrounding areas) and Hampshire (covering Aldershot, Basingstoke, Reading, Farnborough, Fareham, Portsmouth, Southampton and surrounding areas).

Developments in technology over the past 20 years have propelled global business and commerce into a league that was almost unimaginable to most people in the 1970s and 1980s. In only two decades, we have witnessed a huge number of changes – the move from landlines to mobile phones in telecommunications; a shift from faxes and letters to e-mail; and almost instant access to billions of pages of information via the World Wide Web.

This is all very well for those of us who want constant access to the rest of the world and to be in contact with each other 24/7, but what about those who want to break free from the stresses and strains of their working lives and take a breather? Taking a break does you good, especially after a particularly challenging period beforehand. After the stress of the recent World Cup 2010, Frank Lampard took stunning girlfriend, Christine Bleakley for a short, relaxing break to Sardinia, giving them both time to relax from working, celebrity life. 

But even taking time off for holidays may not give us the rest we need. A new survey of 2,500 management staff carried out by the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) and published in Personnel Today (2010) found that four out of every ten managers returning to work after taking a break feel more stressed than before they had left. The survey also showed that, of those people who continue to do some form of work whilst on annual leave, a staggering 80% regularly respond to work e-mails.

The biggest cause of workers and managers being unable to switch off on leaving their work environment is rapid development in technology, which makes it all too easy for an employee to think, “ooh, I should quickly check my e-mails” or, “I’ll just respond to this phone call.”

It’s essential in the current economic climate, to manage our employees effectively, so that the organisation can perform as well as possible. While we can all agree that it’s important to manage poor performance in the workplace, employers must balance this with their duty to ensure the health of their employees so far as is reasonably practicable. We want employees to be productive and operate at optimum levels; we don’t want them to overwork to the point of illness.

There are a number of things you can do to encourage your employees to take a healthy approach to holidays:
•  Workers are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks paid annual leave (28 days for full time workers), based on a full, five-day week. Remind employees of the number of days they have accrued and the process for booking holiday.
•  Workers have a right to both daily and weekly rest breaks. Make sure that your employees take regular breaks during the working day and step away from their desks for at least 20 minutes (paid or unpaid at your discretion) if their working time exceeds six hours.
•  Try to encourage staff to relax during their holidays. A break is meant to be a break; they use their holiday as time to relax and enjoy personal time.

Hospitals are full of indispensable people … take steps to ensure that your employees come back refreshed and their vigour renewed.

If you have any concerns about holiday entitlements, working hours or would simply like to find out more about the products and services Russell HR Consulting provides expert knowledge in the practical application of employment law as well as providing employment law training and HR support services. For more information, visit our website at www.russellhrconsulting.co.uk or call a member of the team on 0845 644 8955.

Russell HR Consulting offers HR services to businesses nationwide, including Buckinghamshire (covering Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Milton Keynes, Bedford, Banbury, Northampton, Towcester and surrounding areas), Nottinghamshire (covering Chesterfield, Mansfield, Nottingham, Sheffield, Worksop and surrounding areas) and Hampshire (covering Aldershot, Basingstoke, Reading, Farnborough, Fareham, Portsmouth, Southampton and surrounding areas).

By Darry Khajehpour

Fans of The Apprentice will be pleased about the forthcoming new series of the popular competition hosted by Sir Alan Sugar, due to start in the autumn. It coincides with many other apprentices who will start their careers around the same time. With employment laws directing how we deal with any potential dismissals and apprenticeship agreements, which generally commit both parties to at least a two year programme, it will not, however, be so easy for employers to ‘fire’ these individuals as it appears to be for Sir Alan.

Funnily enough, we have had people come to us on occasion and say, “… but if Alan Sugar can fire people just like that, why can’t we?”  Long pause before replying with, “… because the contenders on The Apprentice were never employed in the first place.’

The Apprentice has become a very popular programme with the British public, but it seems this year will be the last time the show is run in its current format. Next year Sir Alan has decided that he will go into partnership with the winning contestant rather than ‘hiring’ him, investing £250,000 in what will be a jointly owned company. I suppose that is one way of avoiding some of the ever more complicated employment law changes that, as employers, we all find ourselves increasingly dealing with on a regular basis. However, for those not in the same position as Sir Alan who need to ‘hire’ and ‘fire’ rather than ‘partner’, you may find yourself in need of assistance.

If you are dealing with misconduct or poor performance from one of your employees, it is imperative to make sure you stick to your procedure, ensuring that you do not leave yourself open to claims of unfair dismissal. In most cases, an employee has to have been with the company in service for 12 months (or more) to gain protection against unfair dismissal – although there are some exceptions.

Dealing with discipline, poor performance and dismissal can be a difficult and costly process and should be dealt with professionally. If you would like further advice, Russell HR Consulting provides expert knowledge in the practical application of employment law as well as providing employment law training and HR support services. For more information, visit our website at www.russellhrconsulting.co.uk or call a member of the team on 0845 644 8955.

Russell HR Consulting offers HR services to businesses nationwide, including Buckinghamshire (covering Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Milton Keynes, Bedford, Banbury, Northampton, Towcester and surrounding areas), Nottinghamshire (covering Chesterfield, Mansfield, Nottingham, Sheffield, Worksop and surrounding areas).

Sometimes when I have a job to do, my brain just wants to procrastinate. When I sat down to start working on various articles, I was side tracked by what’s happening in the wider world.  A casual eye over the news and I have discovered that19 people died as a consequence of the stampede at Love Parade in Germany; the floods in China have caused the deaths of over 700 people; snooker legend Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins dies at 61 and a baby elephant attacks his zookeeper in Ohio (I am intrigued by that last not-very-newsworthy news item …).

It has been a quiet weekend in Stony Stratford (apologies to Garrison Keillor). Apart from a Sunday afternoon bike ride and viewing of the slightly absurd (but very enjoyable) Sherlock this weekend, I have mostly been writing articles to meet demand – the new book (How to Get Top Marks in … Managing Poor Work Performance) comes out at the end of September and I have been asked by a number of editors to submit an article on managing poor performance.

Last week it was incredibly busy. I was out and about chairing grievance meetings, carrying out workplace investigations and delivering an introduction to employment law workshop. There was no time to put fingers to keyboard; it doesn’t take long but it does take quiet and some concentration.

The first time I wrote an article, I was asked to give an overview of the subject and include some case, hints and tips – all in 700 words. If you’re not used to writing, you might think that sounds a lot; 700 words, so what? In reality it’s like getting a quart into a pint pot. These days I quite enjoy it. Writing what you want to say, then re-writing, paring down the content and refining the words is a very good discipline to capture all the information required in such a short space. It stops you rambling. When I did my MA, we had to submit a dissertation of 20,000 words; there was a tolerance gap of 10% each way. Our tutor told the group that most people write far too much then can’t get it back to between 20,000 and 22,000 words. I went in the opposite direction. When the first draft was finished, my tutor was making approving noises but the length of the work came in at about 16,500, so I had to find more words – which then felt a bit like padding.

So look out for the results of my labours and let me know what you think.

For details of the new book and our pre-publication offer, visit The HR Headmistress website at www.thehrheadmistress.co.uk. Russell HR Consulting provides expert knowledge in the practical application of employment law as well as providing employment law training and HR support services. For more information, visit our website at www.russellhrconsulting.co.uk or call a member of the team on 0845 644 8955.

Russell HR Consulting offers HR services to businesses nationwide, including Buckinghamshire (covering Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Milton Keynes, Bedford, Banbury, Northampton, Towcester and surrounding areas), Nottinghamshire (covering Chesterfield, Mansfield, Nottingham, Sheffield, Worksop and surrounding areas) and Hampshire (covering Aldershot, Basingstoke, Reading, Farnborough, Fareham, Portsmouth, Southampton and surrounding areas).

Sometimes I think it would be nice to go back in time. Obscenely large bonuses for bankers, nasty Nick Griffin, over-exposed celebs like Cheryl Cole and boring reality TV – “I’m a C List Celebrity, Please Breathe Some Life Into My Flagging Career” (sic) all a twinkle in somebody’s eye.

Close your eyes and picture this: It is a beautiful day in 1950s Britain. The children are at school learning how to be good, upstanding pillars of community life; the father is out earning a living for his family and the mother is baking bread, taking care of the children and keeping a good home for her husband and offspring.

It was only 50 years ago when the majority of women were expected to stay at home and take care of the house. In fact, it was seen as insulting to the male head of the household if a woman went to work as it would suggest that the husband was not earning enough to be able to financially support his wife and kids.

Nowadays, it is common for both partners or parents to work in order to finance a family lifestyle that is becoming increasingly more expensive as budget controls and an increase on VAT are phased in (even when living frugally). A recent survey of 2,000 women found that over 30% of them earn more than their respective partners, whilst 19% earn the same amount and contribute equally to the household (Personnel Today quoting Grazia, 2010).

Even though we are said to live in a very liberal society (and compared to many other nations, we most certainly do), sex discrimination still occurs on a frequent basis in the workplace. What is important to note is that, in a lot of these cases, discrimination occurs between a woman who has children and a woman who does not. The same survey found that one in seven women agreed with the statement that women were “their harshest critics”.

Former TV presenter, Selina Scott, has recently claimed that ageism and sexism in the BBC are rife. Interestingly she argues that the lack of older female BBC presenters is partly the fault of senior women in the corporation. In 2008, Ms Scott reached an out-of-court settlement for an undisclosed sum with television company, Five.

The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 protects men and women from unlawful discrimination on the grounds of sex. Discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy or maternity leave is also unlawful. Sex discrimination can not only occur between the employer and the employees, but includes discrimination amongst the employees themselves, which can occur throughout the employment lifetime, from advertising of roles and recruitment, to promotion and selection for redundancy.

In addition, the Equal Pay Act 1970 makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate with regards to salary / remuneration between male and female employees, where both employees are in the same or similar roles and where the work is regarded as being of equal value in the organisation (Directgov, 2010). 

It’s a sad state of affairs that 35 years after the UK introduced legislation to tackle unfair discrimination, it’s still rife. In April, the Birmingham employment tribunal found that more than 4,000 female council workers had been less favourably treated than male employees on the same grade. They have won the right to be paid the same as their male colleagues in a case which could lead to payouts worth about £200m.

If you find yourself in such a situation whereby you feel there has been discriminatory acts within your organisation, Russell HR Consulting provides expert knowledge in the practical application of employment law as well as providing employment law training and HR support services. For more information, visit our website at http://www.russellhrconsulting.co.uk/ or call a member of the team on 0845 644 8955.

Russell HR Consulting offers HR services to businesses nationwide, including Buckinghamshire (covering Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Milton Keynes, Bedford, Banbury, Northampton, Towcester and surrounding areas), Nottinghamshire (covering Chesterfield, Mansfield, Nottingham, Sheffield, Worksop and surrounding areas) and Hampshire (covering Aldershot, Basingstoke, Reading, Farnborough, Fareham, Portsmouth, Southampton and surrounding areas).

By Darry Khajehpour and The HR Headmistress

Dealing with an employee with poor performance is not one that many managers relish, but it is an essential management skill.

So what do you do when you have an employee who doesn’t come up to scratch? 

Start by identifying the root of the problem. It’s not always obvious and may need detailed investigation. For example, a manufacturing manager found a series of mistakes in work produced by a woman who assembled small electronic components. It was close work and required meticulous attention to detail. Her knowledge was tested (it was fine) and she was very diligent and careful. The manager was mystified until during the investigation he asked a question which made him realise that she needed spectacles for close work. Once she’d been provided with these, the mistakes stopped.

It is now depressingly common for an employee who has poor performance to become defensive and verbally attack the manager who’s trying to guide them. Earlier this week I chaired a meeting with a woman who admitted that she had some performance problems in the past, but seemed unable to accept her manager’s concerns that she is still below the required standards in a number of ways.

All too frequently employees choose not to take responsibility for themselves, but start hurling accusations of bullying and harassment around. If an employee complains of harassment when you’re trying to manage him, there are a number of tactics to use. Make sure that your dignity at work procedure points out that managers have a right and a duty to manage. If a manager is seeking to help and encourage an employee to do his job in an appropriate fashion, it does not constitute bullying, harassment or victimisation.

Ask why the employee thinks he is being bullied. A useful phrase to bring out is ’Help me understand why you think I’m treating you less favourably than anyone else who performs at this level?’ Then wait politely for the answer. Repeat if necessary. By putting the onus back on the employee you start to call him to account.

It’s worth persevering. Once mastered, dealing with poor performance will lead to improved performance for the whole team, including that of the manager.

We’re running a workshop on managing poor work performance on 3rd November. Also we will soon be publishing our new book, ‘How to Get Top Marks in … Managing Poor Work Performance’. Due to be published in September, ‘Managing Poor Work Performance’ is the first in the new, ‘How to Get Top Marks in …’ series by Kate Russell. The book guides the employer through the legal framework, discusses the correct way to manage poor work performance and offers practical guidance and HR Headmistress tactics to make the process straightforward, effective and painless. For more details on our workshop, call 0845 644 8955 or to find out for about the ‘How to Get Top Marks in …’ series, visit www.thehrheadmistress.co.uk.

Russell HR Consulting offers HR services to businesses nationwide, including Buckinghamshire (covering Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Milton Keynes, Bedford, Banbury, Northampton, Towcester and surrounding areas), Nottinghamshire (covering Chesterfield, Mansfield, Nottingham, Sheffield, Worksop and surrounding areas) and Hampshire (covering Aldershot, Basingstoke, Reading, Farnborough, Fareham, Portsmouth, Southampton and surrounding areas).

Good manners were once highly prized (and I still do value them). Increasingly, it seems that courtesy is out of fashion. Indeed, the world has changed so much that ASBOs are now seen by those for which it is intended to shame as a badge of honour.

What about those in high profile jobs? For example, many people think that Jeremy Paxman is rude to his interviewees, but (I am told) it makes for good television. He can be quite entertaining, although maybe I wouldn’t be so generous if I was the one on the receiving end.  

A recent study by Professor Rhona Flin, from the University of Aberdeen, claims there is a link between making mistakes at work and rudeness, and that even just witnessing rudeness is more likely to cause someone to make mistakes. Writing in the British Medical Journal, Professor Flin said human attention ‘is powerfully driven by emotion’. She described studies in which students who were insulted by a professor on the way to the test performed less well on a series of memory tasks than others who had not been spoken to rudely.

In another study, a student who arrived late was told by the tutor: ‘What is it with you? You arrive late, you are irresponsible; look at you, how do you expect to hold down a job in the real world?’

The comment was made at normal volume, but students who witnessed the exchange performed more poorly on tasks than a control group that had not witnessed rudeness.

The research suggests that civility between workers may have more benefits than just a harmonious atmosphere.

So it may be that keeping a civil tongue in your head can help to improve performance. If you would like advice on managing poor work performance or dealing with a grievance issue at work please contact

Russell HR Consulting offers HR services to businesses nationwide, including Buckinghamshire (covering Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Milton Keynes, Bedford, Banbury, Northampton, Towcester and surrounding areas), Nottinghamshire (covering Chesterfield, Mansfield, Nottingham, Sheffield, Worksop and surrounding areas) and Hampshire (covering Aldershot, Basingstoke, Reading, Farnborough, Fareham, Portsmouth, Southampton and surrounding areas).

These days, you’re just nobody if you’re not fanning your fevered brow and complaining of stress.  Life certainly does pose its challenges, as adrenalin kicks in.  The papers are full of the sad story of the death of 15 year old Scott Turner.  Following a family argument at a wedding, Scott left the hotel.  He was hit by several vehicles when walking along the hard shoulder of the M23 near Crawley, West Sussex, at just before 2am on Sunday morning. 

Far too many people are keen to claim they’re stressed.  Stress is a normal part of being alive (I was once told that the only stress-free state is death).  People respond to a variety of different triggers and different people can tolerate different levels of stress.  I love delivering employment law training -  but for most people that’s a stress trigger right up there with death, divorce and moving house.  You’d think that Louis Oosthuizen, who won the Open at the weekend, would be awash with adrenalin.  But he wasn’t.  He’s trained himself to control his emotional responses and it stood him in good stead.

The stress furore has got to the point where one expert observed that a diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has become fashionable.  Dr James Thompson cites examples of people who have had a minor traffic accident, bullying in the workplace, even in the schoolyard and suggests it’s all part of a growing “victim culture”.

Hear, hear!  I recently chaired a meeting at which a woman told me with absolute sincerity that several years ago she had suffered unlawful discrimination.  She didn’t know what the act of discrimination was or who had done it (somebody had referred to it, but given no details); she hadn’t done any investigation, she really didn’t know what it was about.  It was the most extraordinary thing.  And having done nothing for a number of years, she said that she wanted my client (a body with no direct responsibility for the circumstances in which she found herself) to take action to resolve matters.  I truly felt sorry for her, but I was also considerably exasperated by her approach.  If she wouldn’t take responsibility for herself at the time, what did she realistically expect to happen now?

PTSD can emerge months or even years after a traumatic experience (for example the Kings Cross fire).  Sufferers may find themselves experiencing flashbacks and nightmares, disturbed sleep, aggressive behaviour, an inability to concentrate and a tendency to panic easily.

Employers have a legal duty to care for their employees and ensure they are not made ill by their work, including taking steps to help prevent mental illnesses.  Stress can be cumulative, if one person is off sick with stress it puts more pressure on other employees who have to cover the work, ultimately causing them stress.  Failure to take action could leave you open to a compensation claim from employees who fall ill due to work-related stress. 

If you need any help managing stress in the workplace, give us a call to see how we can help nip any potential problems in the bud. Russell HR Consulting provides expert knowledge in the practical application of employment law as well as providing employment law training and HR support services. For more information, visit our website at http://www.russellhrconsulting.co.uk/ or call a member of the team on 0845 644 8955.

Russell HR Consulting offers HR services to businesses nationwide, including Buckinghamshire (covering Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Milton Keynes, Bedford, Banbury, Northampton, Towcester and surrounding areas), Nottinghamshire (covering Chesterfield, Mansfield, Nottingham, Sheffield, Worksop and surrounding areas) and Hampshire (covering Aldershot, Basingstoke, Reading, Farnborough, Fareham, Portsmouth, Southampton and surrounding areas).

Over the weekend I read a report that indicates there’s been a sharp fall in the number of people setting up their own businesses.  Setting up a business is incredibly exciting, but it’s challenging at the best of times.  Traditionally the received wisdom is that 50% of new businesses fail in the first 12 months, though more recently figures have suggested that the real figure is closer to a 9% failure rate.

The annual survey of 30,000 UK residents, called the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, reports that for the first time since the survey began in 2003, fewer than half the adults surveyed thought that starting a business was a ‘good career option’.  Only 3.8% of the population expects to start a business in the next three years, compared with 5.9% in 2004.  It seems that Duncan Bannatyne, Peter Jones and the other dragons are not currently inspiring people to take the plunge.

The coalition government has said that it sees the private sector as the main area for growth, helping to lead the economy out of recession.  Minister for Small Business Mark Prisk has said, “The Government ……… will meet that challenge by making this decade the most entrepreneurial and dynamic in our history.”

Mr Prisk has promised that the Government would develop a coherent and comprehensive strategy for enterprise.  This would include, challenging aspirations and capability, modernising business support, supporting cash flow and access to finance, reducing burdens and transforming opportunities for individuals and their communities.

While I like the sound of some of these, I remain to be convinced that the key problems will be properly addressed.  Business has been milked like a cash cow by government – and certainly in the short term the financial burdens are likely to get worse, not better.  It’s not only the employment law side of things.  Employment rights have been significantly increased in recent years.  While it’s right that employees are well cared for and not exploited, the cost has been forced upon employers with little regard to commercial feasibility.  Currently the cost of NICs to employers is staggering and many employers are seeking to reduce that burden by outsourcing.  From 2010 employers will have to introduce and pay for pensions (this will be a huge cost to a fragile economy) and the bureaucracy employers have to navigate is quite appalling.  Some of my clients – decent, caring people, who have wanted to be good employers – have had to make a decision to go back to being one-man bands.  Being an employer is a luxury that many simply can’t afford. 

Keep the costs of your business under control by attending our practical employment law training. Our next course, Managing Poor Work Performance is scheduled for 3rd November.  For more information, visit our website at http://www.russellhrconsulting.co.uk/ or call a member of the team on 0845 644 8955.

Russell HR Consulting offers HR services to businesses nationwide, including Buckinghamshire (covering Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Milton Keynes, Bedford, Banbury, Northampton, Towcester and surrounding areas), Nottinghamshire (covering Chesterfield, Mansfield, Nottingham, Sheffield, Worksop and surrounding areas) and Hampshire (covering Aldershot, Basingstoke, Reading, Farnborough, Fareham, Portsmouth, Southampton and surrounding areas).

Bullying is nothing new. There’s no legal definition so forms of words vary, but it means a tendency of individuals or groups to use inappropriate, aggressive or unreasonable language or behaviour against a colleague or subordinate.

With increasingly sophisticated technology, bullies now have additional options. Roughly one-in-seven (or 14%) of young people say that they have been threatened or harassed by mobile phone, either by someone they know or anonymously. The type of bullying can be anything from name calling or text messages threatening violence, through to images or video clips intended to frighten or intimidate. It’s scary and unpleasant stuff.  Since we all have greater technology at our finger tips (unless we have the iPhone 4, whose “death grip” problems are being urgently discussed by Apple today), we need to make sure that our policies for dealing with bullying or other inappropriate behaviour are up-to-date, communicated and actively managed. It’s also helpful to arrange some employment law training, clearly setting out the law and individual responsibilities.

It’s sometimes difficult to know if an action is bullying or simply ill-judged. Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou recently took legal action against Ryanair after Ryanair ran “Pinocchio” adverts in the Daily Telegraph and the Guardian in January and February. The adverts referred to Sir Stelios as “easyJet’s - Mr Late Again” and called on him to “stop hiding the truth” about easyJet’s on-time performance.

The libel suit has now been settled out of court, with Sir Stelios accepting £50,100 in damages, which he will donate to his philanthropic foundation. Ryanair chief, Michael O’Leary, has apologised “unreservedly” to Sir Stelios. Ryanair has said it will not publish the adverts again and ran full page apologies in both newspapers. Sir Stelios dedicated the victory to all those “who have suffered verbal abuse at the hands of O’Leary”.

Michael O’Leary is a challenging individual, as often in the news as out of it and, on this occasion, he has been forced to accept that his behaviour was, at the very least, inappropriate. In the workplace, there may be a number of signals to indicate that something’s not right:

·         Low morale and a lack of motivation can indicate that employees are unhappy.

·         Poor performance is often connected to bullying. Victims may demonstrate either a steady decline or a sudden drop in the quality of their work.

·         Teams with a bullying leader often have high levels of absence or a high turnover of staff. This is because bullying is traumatic and victims can experience high levels of stress.

·         Employees led by an unchallenged bully learn that such behaviour is acceptable in the organisation.

The trick of course, is to protect people before the situation gets this far. If you want to introduce a policy to address the issue of bullying and harassment in the workplace, give us a call. Russell HR Consulting provides expert knowledge in the practical application of employment law as well as providing employment law training and HR support services. For more information, visit our website at http://www.russellhrconsulting.co.uk/ or call a member of the team on 0845 644 8955. 

Russell HR Consulting offers HR services to businesses nationwide, including Buckinghamshire (covering Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Milton Keynes, Bedford, Banbury, Northampton, Towcester and surrounding areas), Nottinghamshire (covering Chesterfield, Mansfield, Nottingham, Sheffield, Worksop and surrounding areas) and Hampshire (covering Aldershot, Basingstoke, Reading, Farnborough, Fareham, Portsmouth, Southampton and surrounding areas).