エピソード
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You've got a vacancy.
You've written the job ad. The same job ad you wrote in 2019, with two new bullet points bolted on the front and one removed from the bottom.
Five years' experience required. Degree preferred. Industry knowledge essential. Familiarity with the system is desirable.
You stick it on Indeed. You wait.
47 applications. Five tick the boxes. You interview three. You hire one.
Six months later, she's gone.
Because the job wasn't actually what the ad said it was. It needed someone who could pick things up quickly, hold three priorities at once, talk to a difficult client without going to pieces, and use a system she'd never used before but could learn.
None of that was in the ad. None of it was on her CV.
All of it was something the second-best candidate, the one with no degree and a slightly weird career history, could absolutely do.
You didn't interview her. She didn't tick the boxes.
This is the gap. The thing the CV told you, five years, degree, industry- was the thing that mattered least. The thing it didn't tell you, adaptability, calm under fire, willingness to learn, was the thing that mattered most.
This week is Learning at Work Week. So we're going to do the learning episode, which means we're talking skills-based hiring. Not because it's trendy. Because in 2026, in a small business with no recruitment team and no L&D budget, it might actually be the only sensible way you get and keep the people you need.
In this episode:
What skills-based hiring really is, and what it isn't (it doesn't mean ignoring CVs)The numbers behind your reality: 81 per cent of UK employers now say it's "important", 30 per cent reduction in time-to-hire, 20 per cent better retention at 12 months, and 73 per cent of SME owners who "don't know how to do it"The five-step skills method defines the actual job, three must-haves max, writes the ad in skills, sets a 15-minute task, and keeps mapping after they're hiredWhy your existing team are quietly looking, and why "no visible path forward" beats pay as a reason people leave small businessesFour myths that keep owners stuck, including "I can't afford to develop my people" (you can't afford to) and the classic "if I train them, they'll leave" (if you don't, they'll stay, and be exactly as undeveloped as the day you hired them)Seven actions for Learning at Work Week, including one piece of homework that takes one job ad and one open documentIf you're about to hire, struggling to keep good people, watching someone bright stagnate because there's no path forward, or quietly about to recycle the same job ad you wrote in 2019 — this episode is for you.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Blog: skills-based hiring for SMEs
Learning at Work Week 2026
CIPD on skills-based hiring
Free HR Health Check — short, jargon-free, tells you what needs attention
Book a discovery call
Join the newsletter — plain-English HR updates, no waffle
If you're not 100% sure how your HR is really holding up, take our free HR Health Check. It's short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what's working — and what needs a bit of love.
And if you do it before 30th June 2026, you'll get a bonus 7 Pillar Strategy-on-a-Page, tailored to help you manage HR brilliantly for the year ahead.
That's it for today, but if you fancy a bit of friendly HR advice in your inbox (with zero waffle), come and join our newsletter.
We send out bite-sized tips, plain-English updates, and handy things you'll actually use — no spam, no fluff.
You can sign up here.
If you're not sure how your HR is really holding up, take the free HR Health Check. It's short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what's working — and what could do with a bit of love.
Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe so you never miss one, and leave a review if you've got thirty seconds. It honestly does help more small business owners find the show — and it's the cheapest good deed you'll do all week.
Got a question or need actual HR support? Find Kate at kateunderwoodhr.co.uk, email [email protected].uk, or follow along on social.
Until next time — keep buzzing, and take care of your people.
If you’re not 100% sure how your HR is really holding up, take our free HR Health Check. It’s short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what’s working — and what needs a bit of love.
And if you do it before 1st April 2026, you’ll get a bonus 7 Pillar Strategy-on-a-Page, tailored to help you manage HR brilliantly for the year ahead. That’s it for today, but if you fancy a bit of friendly HR advice in your inbox (with zero waffle), come and join our newsletter.
We send out bite-sized tips, plain-English updates, and handy things you’ll actually use — no spam, no fluff.
You can sign up hereIf you're not sure how your HR is really holding up, take the free HR Health Check. It's short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what's working and what could do with a bit of love.
Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe so you never miss one, and leave a review if you've got thirty seconds. It honestly does help more small business owners find the show, and it's the cheapest good deed you'll do all week.
Got a question or need actual HR support? Find Kate at kateunderwoodhr.co.uk, email [email protected].uk, or follow along on social.
Until next time, keep buzzing, and take care of your people.
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You've been noticing. For about three weeks now.
She's quieter than usual. Missing a couple of mornings. Apologising for things she hasn't done wrong. Saying "I'm fine" before anyone's actually asked.
You've thought about saying something. You've thought about it twice this week. You've talked yourself out of it twice.
You don't want to overstep. You don't want to say the wrong thing. You don't want to make it weird.
You also, and this is the bit no one likes to admit, don't really know what you'd do if she actually opened up.
What if she cries? What if she tells you something you can't fix? What if she says she's been struggling for months?
So you say nothing. You smile as you leave. You say "have a good evening." You go home.
She stays at her desk.
This is where awareness weeks fall over. We get really good at telling people they should ask. We don't tell anyone what to do next.
The 2026 Mental Health Awareness Week theme is Action. So this episode is about what you actually do. The conversation itself. The bit through it. The bit after. The bit awareness weeks usually skip past.
The blog post on this, linked below, covers what to say. This episode flips it: what to do.
In this episode:
Why action gets dropped (three predictable reasons, all fixable, including the "the conversation is the destination" trap that catches almost every manager)The numbers that should stop you in the room: 964,000 UK workers suffering work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2024/25, up nearly 200,000 in a single year. 22.1 million working days lost. Mental ill health now accounts for 52% of all work-related illness. And the gap that matters most for small businesses, 71% of owners had a team member affected last year, but only 24% felt they'd handled it wellThe four-step manager playbook, first conversation, discovery, agreement, review, that works in any small business, with no EAP, no budget, no wellbeing strategyWhat "reasonable adjustments" actually look like when you don't have a policy library: flexible hours, quiet space, phased return, time off for a GP appointment, a workload conversation with their actual workload in front of youThe CIPD finding that quietly answers the whole episode is that only 29% of organisations train their line managers in mental health. Where they do, 73% of those managers feel confident having sensitive conversations. Training works. Most businesses just haven't done it.The legal context that just shifted, SSP from day one since 6 April 2026, no more waiting days, no lower earnings limit. Short, repeated mental health absences used to fall through the SSP gap. They don't anymore. The cost of not having the conversation early just got higher.Four myths, including "I'll make it worse if I bring it up" (the data flatly disagrees) and "if I help one person, everyone will want it" (treating everyone identically isn't fairness, it's laziness with a costume on)Seven actions for this week, starting with one person you've been quietly worried about. Not the easy one. The one you've been putting off.If you've got someone you've been quietly worried about, and you keep meaning to have the chat, this one's for you. Especially if the reason you keep putting it off is that you don't really know what comes after.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Blog: what to say (companion to this episode)
Mental Health Awareness Week 2026
HSE — work-related stress statistics
Mind — supporting staff at work
ACAS — Managing stress at work
Free HR Health Check — short, jargon-free, tells you what needs attention
Book a discovery call
Join the newsletter — plain-English HR updates, no waffle
If you’re not 100% sure how your HR is really holding up, take our free HR Health Check. It’s short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what’s working — and what needs a bit of love.
And if you do it before 1st April 2026, you’ll get a bonus 7 Pillar Strategy-on-a-Page, tailored to help you manage HR brilliantly for the year ahead. That’s it for today, but if you fancy a bit of friendly HR advice in your inbox (with zero waffle), come and join our newsletter.
We send out bite-sized tips, plain-English updates, and handy things you’ll actually use — no spam, no fluff.
You can sign up hereIf you're not sure how your HR is really holding up, take the free HR Health Check. It's short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what's working and what could do with a bit of love.
Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe so you never miss one, and leave a review if you've got thirty seconds. It honestly does help more small business owners find the show, and it's the cheapest good deed you'll do all week.
Got a question or need actual HR support? Find Kate at kateunderwoodhr.co.uk, email [email protected].uk, or follow along on social.
Until next time, keep buzzing, and take care of your people.
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エピソードを見逃しましたか？
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A polite knock at the door.
A woman with ID. From the Fair Work Agency.
She'd like to see your records, pay slips, hours worked, holiday taken, contracts, and right to work checks. For everyone you employ. And everyone you've employed in the last six years.
She doesn't need a complaint to be there. She just is.
The Fair Work Agency launched on 7 April 2026. It can recover six years of arrears with penalties up to 200 per cent. Most small business owners haven't fully clocked yet what this means.
This episode is the wake-up call, and the calm action plan.
In this episode:
What the Fair Work Agency actually is, and what powers it has under the Employment Rights Act 2025The five places small businesses most often trip up (it's not where you think)A four-week plan to get tidy without panicking, pay, holiday, contracts, and right to workFour myths that keep owners exposed, including "they only go after big employers"Seven actions to take this week, none of which require new softwareIf you employ anyone in the UK, this applies to you. There's no minimum business size. There's no quiet exemption.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Fair Work Agency overview — full blog post with the legal details
GOV.UK — National Minimum Wage rates
GOV.UK — Right to Work checks
Employment Rights Act Advice
Free HR Health Check — short, jargon-free, tells you what needs attention
Join the newsletter — plain-English HR updates, no waffle
If you’re not 100% sure how your HR is really holding up, take our free HR Health Check. It’s short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what’s working — and what needs a bit of love.
And if you do it before 1st April 2026, you’ll get a bonus 7 Pillar Strategy-on-a-Page, tailored to help you manage HR brilliantly for the year ahead. That’s it for today, but if you fancy a bit of friendly HR advice in your inbox (with zero waffle), come and join our newsletter.
We send out bite-sized tips, plain-English updates, and handy things you’ll actually use — no spam, no fluff.
You can sign up hereIf you're not sure how your HR is really holding up, take the free HR Health Check. It's short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what's working and what could do with a bit of love.
Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe so you never miss one, and leave a review if you've got thirty seconds. It honestly does help more small business owners find the show, and it's the cheapest good deed you'll do all week.
Got a question or need actual HR support? Find Kate at kateunderwoodhr.co.uk, email [email protected].uk, or follow along on social.
Until next time, keep buzzing, and take care of your people.
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You've been at your desk for seven minutes.
You haven't sipped anything yet. Your laptop is still loading. Your inbox is already winning.
A payroll question. A WhatsApp sick day with no reason. A "can we have a quick chat?", and we all know what that means. A new starter arrives in five days, and her contract hasn't been sent.
Then the phone rings. It's the employee from last week. The one who's been struggling. And she's crying.
You did not start this business to be an HR director. But here you are.
This is HR in a small business. There is no HR department. The HR department is you.
Today is International HR Day. And before we even start, here's the thing: yes, it counts when you do it. Even when nobody calls you HR. Even when you've never done a CIPD course. Even when you're just trying to keep the wheels on.
In this episode:
Why the human side of HR keeps becoming the invisible work in small businesses, and why it stays that wayThe numbers behind your reality: 4.1 million UK micro-businesses, the Fair Work Agency, the Employment Rights Act 2025, and what's already landed on owners in 2026The "HR Hour" method, sixty minutes a week, three steps, the only thing you need to start this weekFour myths that keep small business owners stuck, including "I'm too small to need HR" and "I'll sort HR when I've got more time"Seven actions for International HR Day week, including one that just asks you to acknowledge what you've already done this yearIf you're the founder doing payroll between school runs, the office manager who became HR by accident in 2019, or the HR-of-one who has no peer in the business and feels lonely about it sometimes, this episode is for you.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Free HR Health Check — short, jargon-free, tells you what needs attention
Employment Rights Act Advice
Book a discovery call
Join the newsletter — plain-English HR updates, no waffle
If you’re not 100% sure how your HR is really holding up, take our free HR Health Check. It’s short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what’s working — and what needs a bit of love.
And if you do it before 1st April 2026, you’ll get a bonus 7 Pillar Strategy-on-a-Page, tailored to help you manage HR brilliantly for the year ahead. That’s it for today, but if you fancy a bit of friendly HR advice in your inbox (with zero waffle), come and join our newsletter.
We send out bite-sized tips, plain-English updates, and handy things you’ll actually use — no spam, no fluff.
You can sign up hereIf you're not sure how your HR is really holding up, take the free HR Health Check. It's short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what's working and what could do with a bit of love.
Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe so you never miss one, and leave a review if you've got thirty seconds. It honestly does help more small business owners find the show, and it's the cheapest good deed you'll do all week.
Got a question or need actual HR support? Find Kate at kateunderwoodhr.co.uk, email [email protected].uk, or follow along on social.
Until next time, keep buzzing, and take care of your people.
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There's a box in the walkway. It's been there for three weeks. Your team member nearly trips over it. They say nothing because the last time someone mentioned something, the list went into a drawer.
In the break room, someone's been hunched over since January with back pain they haven't told anyone about. Because it feels like making a fuss. Because no one has ever asked.
Your manager knows about the box. Has a vague memory of someone mentioning a bad back. But neither has blown up yet, so they're waiting.
That's how health and safety fails in small businesses. Not with a dramatic incident. Quietly. In near-misses, no one writes down. In aches, people shrug off. In conversations that never start.
Today is World Day for Safety and Health at Work. The 2026 theme is prevention, and prevention isn't a poster on the wall. It's the conversation your manager is avoiding.
In this episode:
Why the physical side of health and safety usually gets done, and why the human side keeps getting missed in small businessesWhat the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 actually covers (welfare, stress, mental health — not just slips and trips)The numbers, 776,000 work-related stress, depression and anxiety cases last year, and what they mean for SMEsThe three conversations every manager should be having and isn't: "What almost went wrong?" "How's your body holding up?" "Are you actually okay?"Four myths, including "we've got the policy so we're covered" and "my team would tell me if something was wrong"Seven actions for this week — including the one that's a legal requirement if you have five or more staffIf you've got a team of any size, an unread health and safety policy, and a quiet feeling that "no one's mentioned anything, so we must be fine" — this one's for you.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Blog: Health and Safety — the policy and legal side
HSE Management Standards for work-related stress
HSE work-related ill health statistics
Free HR Health Check — short, jargo
If you’re not 100% sure how your HR is really holding up, take our free HR Health Check. It’s short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what’s working — and what needs a bit of love.
And if you do it before 1st April 2026, you’ll get a bonus 7 Pillar Strategy-on-a-Page, tailored to help you manage HR brilliantly for the year ahead. That’s it for today, but if you fancy a bit of friendly HR advice in your inbox (with zero waffle), come and join our newsletter.
We send out bite-sized tips, plain-English updates, and handy things you’ll actually use — no spam, no fluff.
You can sign up hereIf you're not sure how your HR is really holding up, take the free HR Health Check. It's short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what's working and what could do with a bit of love.
Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe so you never miss one, and leave a review if you've got thirty seconds. It honestly does help more small business owners find the show, and it's the cheapest good deed you'll do all week.
Got a question or need actual HR support? Find Kate at kateunderwoodhr.co.uk, email [email protected].uk, or follow along on social.
Until next time, keep buzzing, and take care of your people.
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The minimum wage went up to £12.71 in April 2026. Your newest team member got a pay rise. Great.
But what happened to the person who's been with you for four years?
When the floor rises, and nothing else moves, experienced staff notice. They don't always say anything. They start looking.
That's wage compression. It's one of the most common retention problems I see after every minimum wage increase, and it's quietly costing small businesses some of their best people.
In this episode:
What wage compression is, and why it happens to good employers (not just bad ones)The real cost, to morale, to retention, and to your recruitment budgetA five-step pay structure review you can do this week, no spreadsheet wizardry neededFour myths preventing owners from taking actionEight actions to take this week, in orderIf you've got a team of any size with at least one person on or near minimum wage, this one's for you.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Free HR Health Check — short, jargon-free, tells you what needs attention
Blog: Statutory Pay Rates 2026/27 Cheat Sheet
Employment Rights Act Advice
Join the newsletter — plain-English HR updates, no waffle
If you’re not 100% sure how your HR is really holding up, take our free HR Health Check. It’s short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what’s working — and what needs a bit of love.
And if you do it before 1st April 2026, you’ll get a bonus 7 Pillar Strategy-on-a-Page, tailored to help you manage HR brilliantly for the year ahead. That’s it for today, but if you fancy a bit of friendly HR advice in your inbox (with zero waffle), come and join our newsletter.
We send out bite-sized tips, plain-English updates, and handy things you’ll actually use — no spam, no fluff.
You can sign up hereIf you're not sure how your HR is really holding up, take the free HR Health Check. It's short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what's working and what could do with a bit of love.
Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe so you never miss one, and leave a review if you've got thirty seconds. It honestly does help more small business owners find the show, and it's the cheapest good deed you'll do all week.
Got a question or need actual HR support? Find Kate at kateunderwoodhr.co.uk, email [email protected].uk, or follow along on social.
Until next time, keep buzzing, and take care of your people.
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In this episode of Buzzing About HR, I am doing the debrief that a lot of small business owners needed last week but did not have time to sit down for.
The sixth of April 2026 was the biggest single day in UK employment law in a generation. Five things changed at once. Day-one Statutory Sick Pay. Day-one paternity and parental leave. The Fair Work Agency went live. The redundancy protective award doubled. The National Living Wage rose to £12.71. All of it, on the same day.
This episode is the calm, practical walkthrough of what each change actually means for your business, not the legal version, the real-life version.
I cover what the removal of SSP waiting days means for your absence process. I explain the day-one paternity and parental leave change and the two things to update before your next hire. I break down the Fair Work Agency and what it signals about enforcement. I go through the doubled redundancy protective award and why you need proper advice before starting any redundancy process. And I cover the National Living Wage rise and the checks to run this week.
Then I give you five specific actions to complete before the end of April, in order, with clear reasons why each one matters.
HR HealthCheck
Not sure how your HR is really holding up after 6 April? Take our free HR Health Check; it is short, jargon-free, and tells you clearly what is working and what needs attention.
For plain-English HR updates in your inbox with no waffle, join our newsletter. Bite-sized tips, employment law updates, and things you will actually use.
Newsletter
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Blog: SSP Now Starts on Day One — Should You Change Your Sick Pay?
Blog: Statutory Pay Rates 2026/27 Cheat Sheet
Employment Rights Act Advice
Thank you for tuning in to Buzzing About HR with Kate Underwood!
If you enjoyed today's episode, do not forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review. Your feedback helps us grow
If you’re not 100% sure how your HR is really holding up, take our free HR Health Check. It’s short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what’s working — and what needs a bit of love.
And if you do it before 1st April 2026, you’ll get a bonus 7 Pillar Strategy-on-a-Page, tailored to help you manage HR brilliantly for the year ahead. That’s it for today, but if you fancy a bit of friendly HR advice in your inbox (with zero waffle), come and join our newsletter.
We send out bite-sized tips, plain-English updates, and handy things you’ll actually use — no spam, no fluff.
You can sign up hereIf you're not sure how your HR is really holding up, take the free HR Health Check. It's short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what's working and what could do with a bit of love.
Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe so you never miss one, and leave a review if you've got thirty seconds. It honestly does help more small business owners find the show, and it's the cheapest good deed you'll do all week.
Got a question or need actual HR support? Find Kate at kateunderwoodhr.co.uk, email [email protected].uk, or follow along on social.
Until next time, keep buzzing, and take care of your people.
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In this episode of Buzzing About HR, I am talking about day one rights and why they change the rhythm of employment for small businesses.
Because day one is no longer just about laptops, logins, uniforms, and trying to remember where that one cable has gone. It is also the point where new starters can ask better questions, challenge unclear processes, and spot very quickly when your paperwork says one thing and your business does another.
This episode is about getting ahead of that before it turns into a week one wobble.
I break down the places day one rights catch SMEs out most often. Contracts that do not match reality. Onboarding conversations that accidentally create promises. Managers answering questions on vibes instead of process. And new starters being left to guess what the rules are until something goes wrong.
We talk about the practical fixes that make the biggest difference. A simple contract versus reality audit. Clear onboarding language that stays warm without overpromising. The magic of “trial and review” instead of casual yeses. And the three manager scripts that stop people improvising themselves into a problem.
I also look at the questions new starters are most likely to ask early on. Can I change my hours? How does holiday approval work? What happens if I am sick? How do I raise a concern? What support do I get in probation? If you cannot answer those clearly on day one, that is where your risk starts to build.
This is not about becoming corporate. It is about becoming clearer.
Because day one rights do not mean you have to say yes to everything. They mean you need to show you are reasonable, consistent, and clear from the start.
You will come away with simple actions you can do this week. Audit your onboarding language. Check where your contracts and reality do not match. Train managers on three key scripts. And create a one-page day one FAQ so your new starters are not left guessing.
If you want a calmer, clearer start for new hires and fewer week one surprises, this episode is for you.
Subscribe, share it with another business owner who needs a sanity check, and leave a review if it helps you tighten things up before your next new starter walks through the door.
If you’re not 100% sure how your HR is really holding up, take our free HR Health Check. It’s short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what’s working — and what needs a bit of love.
And if you do it before 1st April 2026, you’ll get a bonus 7 Pillar Strategy-on-a-Page, tailored to help you manage HR brilliantly for the year ahead. That’s it for today, but if you fancy a bit of friendly HR advice in your inbox (with zero waffle), come and join our newsletter.
We send out bite-sized tips, plain-English updates, and handy things you’ll actually use — no spam, no fluff.
You can sign up hereIf you're not sure how your HR is really holding up, take the free HR Health Check. It's short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what's working and what could do with a bit of love.
Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe so you never miss one, and leave a review if you've got thirty seconds. It honestly does help more small business owners find the show, and it's the cheapest good deed you'll do all week.
Got a question or need actual HR support? Find Kate at kateunderwoodhr.co.uk, email [email protected].uk, or follow along on social.
Until next time, keep buzzing, and take care of your people.
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In this episode of Buzzing About HR, we are talking about sickness absence. Not the tidy policy version where everyone follows the rules and no one texts at 6:58am saying they are not coming in. The real small business version. The one where something feels a bit off, but you are not quite sure what you are allowed to say.
Because let’s be honest. Most absence issues in SMEs are not about one serious long-term illness. They are about patterns. The Friday specialist. The day-after-payday disappearance. The “fine all week, sick on the shift with that manager” situation. The holiday flu expert. The Instagram contradiction.
And that is where people get stuck.
You do not want to be unfair. You do not want to say the wrong thing. You do not want to upset someone or wander into discrimination territory. So what do most managers do? Nothing. They wait. They hope it stops. They quietly get more annoyed. And the rest of the team starts wondering why the rules seem optional.
This episode is about handling that properly.
I talk through how to address sickness patterns without accusing someone of faking illness. We focus on attendance and impact, not motive. I cover the simple process that keeps this fair and calm. Notice the pattern. Write it down. Hold a return to work chat every time. Stay curious. Be consistent.
We also talk about why this matters even more with the direction of travel in employment law. Earlier rights, more challenge, and less room for managers to improvise badly under pressure.
And yes, we cover the legal side too. How sickness absence can overlap with disability, pregnancy, mental health, and other protected issues, and why your protection is not suspicion. It is a clear process, reasonable questions, and proper records.
You will also come away with practical small business fixes. Better absence reporting rules. Simple trigger points. Follow-up calls that are supportive, not intrusive. One recording system. And manager scripts that stop these conversations feeling awkward or accusatory.
If you are tired of guessing, muttering into your tea, and hoping patterns sort themselves out, this episode is for you.
Subscribe, share it with a manager who needs a reset, and leave a review if it helps you handle sickness abs
If you’re not 100% sure how your HR is really holding up, take our free HR Health Check. It’s short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what’s working — and what needs a bit of love.
And if you do it before 1st April 2026, you’ll get a bonus 7 Pillar Strategy-on-a-Page, tailored to help you manage HR brilliantly for the year ahead. That’s it for today, but if you fancy a bit of friendly HR advice in your inbox (with zero waffle), come and join our newsletter.
We send out bite-sized tips, plain-English updates, and handy things you’ll actually use — no spam, no fluff.
You can sign up hereIf you're not sure how your HR is really holding up, take the free HR Health Check. It's short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what's working and what could do with a bit of love.
Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe so you never miss one, and leave a review if you've got thirty seconds. It honestly does help more small business owners find the show, and it's the cheapest good deed you'll do all week.
Got a question or need actual HR support? Find Kate at kateunderwoodhr.co.uk, email [email protected].uk, or follow along on social.
Until next time, keep buzzing, and take care of your people.
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In this episode of Buzzing About HR, I am talking about one of the quietest risks sitting inside small businesses right now. Not hackers. Not competitors. Not some dramatic cyber attack.
Someone on a deadline, with good intentions, pasting confidential information into AI because they want an email to sound better, a proposal to feel slicker, or a tricky message to be “tidied up”.
And that is where the trouble starts.
Because most people do not see AI as risky. They see it as a clever version of Google, spellcheck, or an extra pair of hands. What they forget is that the moment they paste something into a tool, they may have moved it outside their systems and outside your control.
This episode is about how to stop that from becoming a mess.
I walk through the real-world copy-and-paste disasters I am seeing in small businesses. Customer emails full of personal data. HR case notes. Pricing and margins. Contract wording. Investigation timelines. All being dropped into AI tools like it is no big deal.
Then I strip it right back to what SMEs actually need. Not a 40-page tech policy. Just a few clear rules, a short list of approved tools, and a calm response plan for when someone gets it wrong.
We talk about the three non-negotiables that prevent most of the chaos. If it is confidential, do not paste it. If it identifies a person, do not paste it. If it affects money or legal risk, do not paste it.
I also cover what to do when someone already has. How to respond without shaming them, how to get the facts, how to contain the issue, and how to fix the root cause so it does not happen again.
This is not about banning AI or pretending your team is not using it. It is about using it safely, with boundaries that make sense in a real business.
If you want a simple, sensible way to put AI guardrails in place before someone accidentally hands over something they should not, this episode is for you.
Subscribe, share it with a business owner who needs it, and leave a review so more small businesses can get ahead of this before it gets expensive.
If you’re not 100% sure how your HR is really holding up, take our free HR Health Check. It’s short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what’s working — and what needs a bit of love.
And if you do it before 1st April 2026, you’ll get a bonus 7 Pillar Strategy-on-a-Page, tailored to help you manage HR brilliantly for the year ahead. That’s it for today, but if you fancy a bit of friendly HR advice in your inbox (with zero waffle), come and join our newsletter.
We send out bite-sized tips, plain-English updates, and handy things you’ll actually use — no spam, no fluff.
You can sign up hereIf you're not sure how your HR is really holding up, take the free HR Health Check. It's short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what's working and what could do with a bit of love.
Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe so you never miss one, and leave a review if you've got thirty seconds. It honestly does help more small business owners find the show, and it's the cheapest good deed you'll do all week.
Got a question or need actual HR support? Find Kate at kateunderwoodhr.co.uk, email [email protected].uk, or follow along on social.
Until next time, keep buzzing, and take care of your people.
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If someone says “Can I have a quick word?” and your stomach drops, last week was about grievances. This week is what comes next.
Investigations.
And this is where most small businesses wobble a bit.
Not because you’re doing anything wrong.
Because you’re trying to figure it out on the spot, while everyone else is already feeling stressed.
In this episode of Buzzing About HR, I walk you through how to run a workplace investigation properly. No drama. No overcomplicating it. And definitely no “corridor justice.”
At its core, an investigation is simple. It’s a fact-finding exercise.
Not a disciplinary. Not a verdict.
You are gathering information so you can make a fair decision later.
We go step by step through what that actually looks like in real life.
How to pause and steady things first if emotions are high
How to write a clear scope so it doesn’t spiral into “and another thing…”
How to focus on the right evidence without dragging half the team into it
And how to keep a simple log so you are not relying on memory later
We also talk about the bit people find hardest. The conversations.
You will get simple ways to open meetings so people feel calmer, and questions that get to the facts without putting words in someone’s mouth. Because “everyone knows” is not evidence. It’s gossip in a nice outfit.
Then we bring it back to what really protects you.
Not a perfect process.
Just a fair one.
Clear steps.
Consistent approach.
Short, factual notes.
And giving people a proper chance to respond.
If you run a small business or manage people, this is one of those moments where a bit of structure makes everything feel more manageable.
Press play, take what you need, and next time something lands on your desk, you will know exactly where to start.
If you’re not 100% sure how your HR is really holding up, take our free HR Health Check. It’s short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what’s working — and what needs a bit of love.
And if you do it before 1st April 2026, you’ll get a bonus 7 Pillar Strategy-on-a-Page, tailored to help you manage HR brilliantly for the year ahead. That’s it for today, but if you fancy a bit of friendly HR advice in your inbox (with zero waffle), come and join our newsletter.
We send out bite-sized tips, plain-English updates, and handy things you’ll actually use — no spam, no fluff.
You can sign up here Making AI Work for Small Business
Secure AI for SMEs: streamline processes, cut costs, train teams to work smarter.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.If you're not sure how your HR is really holding up, take the free HR Health Check. It's short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what's working and what could do with a bit of love.
Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe so you never miss one, and leave a review if you've got thirty seconds. It honestly does help more small business owners find the show, and it's the cheapest good deed you'll do all week.
Got a question or need actual HR support? Find Kate at kateunderwoodhr.co.uk, email [email protected].uk, or follow along on social.
Until next time, keep buzzing, and take care of your people.
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If someone in your business says, “Can I speak to you privately?”, most leaders feel a small jolt of panic. Are they resigning, raising a grievance, or about to report something serious?
In this episode of Buzzing About HR, Kate breaks down whistleblowing in small businesses and how to handle it calmly, legally, and fairly. From the UK legal definition of whistleblowing to the simple scripts managers can use in the moment, this is a practical guide to turning a difficult conversation into a protective step for both the employee and the business.
We explain what qualifies as whistleblowing under UK law, why the “public interest” test matters, and how whistleblowing protection works for employees. Many small business leaders assume whistleblowing only applies to large organisations or major scandals. In reality, concerns about health and safety, financial wrongdoing, harassment, discrimination, or regulatory breaches can all fall under whistleblowing legislation.
We also explore the biggest mistakes employers make when someone raises a concern. Defensive reactions, informal “investigations,” workplace gossip, or subtle retaliation can quickly turn a genuine concern into a serious employment law risk.
You will hear simple manager scripts, the key questions that surface facts without blame, and how to create a calm, structured response when someone speaks up. We also touch on the changing Employment Rights Act landscape, including stronger expectations around harassment prevention and workplace accountability.
For SMEs where everyone knows everyone, confidentiality can feel difficult. That is why we talk about practical safeguards such as offering more than one reporting route, allowing concerns to be raised externally, documenting concerns properly, and having a predictable investigation process.
If you want to strengthen your whistleblowing process, you can also explore SafeVoice, our confidential whistleblowing support service designed for small businesses.
Speaking up should feel safe, not risky. A clear whistleblowing process protects employees, protects your culture, and protects your business.
Press play to learn how to h
If you’re not 100% sure how your HR is really holding up, take our free HR Health Check. It’s short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what’s working — and what needs a bit of love.
And if you do it before 1st April 2026, you’ll get a bonus 7 Pillar Strategy-on-a-Page, tailored to help you manage HR brilliantly for the year ahead. That’s it for today, but if you fancy a bit of friendly HR advice in your inbox (with zero waffle), come and join our newsletter.
We send out bite-sized tips, plain-English updates, and handy things you’ll actually use — no spam, no fluff.
You can sign up hereIf you're not sure how your HR is really holding up, take the free HR Health Check. It's short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what's working and what could do with a bit of love.
Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe so you never miss one, and leave a review if you've got thirty seconds. It honestly does help more small business owners find the show, and it's the cheapest good deed you'll do all week.
Got a question or need actual HR support? Find Kate at kateunderwoodhr.co.uk, email [email protected].uk, or follow along on social.
Until next time, keep buzzing, and take care of your people.
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If your phone’s been pinging all morning, you’ve nodded through a meeting while quietly panicking, and you’ve already said “I’ll deal with that later” twice… you’re in the right place.
It’s World Hearing Day, so we’re talking about the skill that prevents most HR mini dramas from turning into a full series: proper listening. Not the “uh huh” while you type kind. The kind where you hear what’s said, what’s not said, and what’s really going on underneath.
In this episode of Buzzing About HR, Kate runs through three mini dramas every small business will recognise, the Employment Rights Act 2025 angle, and the simple fixes that stop things escalating.
Mini drama one: “I thought you said I could.”
Flexible working, hours changes, pay promises, and working from home. Agreed casually, remembered differently. Fix: treat changes to hours, days or location as a proper flexible working request. Use a form, confirm the decision in writing, and keep an audit trail.
Mini drama two: “He got the holiday, I didn’t.”
Most of these aren’t discrimination. They’re messy processes. Fix: one tracker, quick decisions, a clear fairness method, and a reasonable no that stays about cover, not character.
Mini drama three: WhatsApp turns into a headline.
A post or comment spills into work, and suddenly the team feels tense. Fix: keep work chats work-focused, set respectful boundaries, and use your dignity at work approach if someone feels targeted or unsafe.
The thread across all three is the same: clear decisions, consistent processes, short notes, calm conversations. That’s what protects you, especially as expectations around reasonableness and consistency tighten under the Employment Rights Act 2025.
Want support and the templates to make this easy? That’s
If you’re not 100% sure how your HR is really holding up, take our free HR Health Check. It’s short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what’s working — and what needs a bit of love.
And if you do it before 1st April 2026, you’ll get a bonus 7 Pillar Strategy-on-a-Page, tailored to help you manage HR brilliantly for the year ahead. That’s it for today, but if you fancy a bit of friendly HR advice in your inbox (with zero waffle), come and join our newsletter.
We send out bite-sized tips, plain-English updates, and handy things you’ll actually use — no spam, no fluff.
You can sign up here Making AI Work for Small Business
Secure AI for SMEs: streamline processes, cut costs, train teams to work smarter.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.If you're not sure how your HR is really holding up, take the free HR Health Check. It's short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what's working and what could do with a bit of love.
Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe so you never miss one, and leave a review if you've got thirty seconds. It honestly does help more small business owners find the show, and it's the cheapest good deed you'll do all week.
Got a question or need actual HR support? Find Kate at kateunderwoodhr.co.uk, email [email protected].uk, or follow along on social.
Until next time, keep buzzing, and take care of your people.
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If you have heard the words “Employment Rights Act 2025” and thought, “I’ll deal with that later,” you are not alone. Deadlines that sit a little further away feel manageable. Plenty of time. Nothing urgent. Until it is suddenly urgent and you are trying to untangle years of informal habits in the middle of an emotional people issue.
In this episode of Buzzing About HR, Kate breaks down what the Employment Rights Act 2025 really means for small businesses and why the biggest risk is not the legislation itself. It is what happens in the meantime. The corridor, yes. The kitchen table promise. The “go on then” message has no detail and no review date. The inconsistent manager decision made on a busy day does not match last week’s answer.
Those small moments turn into patterns. Patterns turn into expectations. Expectations turn into disputes.
We talk about how risk really builds in small teams. Informal promises. Inconsistency. Silence. Silence is where minor performance issues grow roots, behaviour gets excused instead of addressed, and resentment quietly brews until it lands as a grievance or a resignation.
The thread running through this episode is reasonableness. Not saying yes to everything. Not hiding behind “that’s just how we do it.” Reasonableness means decisions that fit your business, are applied consistently, and are explained clearly. You will hear what a reasonable no sounds like, why blanket refusals are risky, and the one consistency check that exposes hidden problems fast. If two people in the same role ask for the same thing, do they get the same answer, and can you explain why?
You will leave with a phased approach that does not take over your life. Habits first. Alignment next. Refinement later. Clear decisions in sentences. Yes decisions confirmed with review dates. Notes that protect you without becoming novels. Managers trained to respond, not react.
If you’re not 100% sure how your HR is really holding up, take our free HR Health Check. It’s short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what’s working — and what needs a bit of love.
And if you do it before 1st April 2026, you’ll get a bonus 7 Pillar Strategy-on-a-Page, tailored to help you manage HR brilliantly for the year ahead. That’s it for today, but if you fancy a bit of friendly HR advice in your inbox (with zero waffle), come and join our newsletter.
We send out bite-sized tips, plain-English updates, and handy things you’ll actually use — no spam, no fluff.
You can sign up here Making AI Work for Small Business
Secure AI for SMEs: streamline processes, cut costs, train teams to work smarter.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.If you're not sure how your HR is really holding up, take the free HR Health Check. It's short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what's working and what could do with a bit of love.
Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe so you never miss one, and leave a review if you've got thirty seconds. It honestly does help more small business owners find the show, and it's the cheapest good deed you'll do all week.
Got a question or need actual HR support? Find Kate at kateunderwoodhr.co.uk, email [email protected].uk, or follow along on social.
Until next time, keep buzzing, and take care of your people.
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Sick pay changes are coming fast, and messy sickness processes will feel every bump. In this episode of Buzzing About HR, we unpack what day one SSP, the removal of the lower earnings limit, and the new rate calculation could mean for small businesses, especially if you rely on part-timers, casual hours, or weekend shifts. Then we turn policy into practice with a simple framework managers can use at 7:58 a.m. when the first text arrives.
We walk through the Four Cs: Clear, Consistent, Calm, Captured. You will hear how one reporting route, a firm cut-off time, and a few short, respectful questions stop absence from turning into WhatsApp drama. We cover the minimum information to collect without prying, how to set expectations while someone is off, and why a five-minute return to work chat after every absence is one of the most effective tools in attendance management.
We also talk about fit notes. When they are needed, sensible deadlines, what to record and where, and how to avoid risky over-sharing of health details. This matters because health information is sensitive data, and it is easy to store more than you need.
To keep culture steady, we share manager scripts you can lift and use. Warm openers that show care, and fair trigger conversations that address patterns without being harsh. Part-timers matter here, too. With more people qualifying for SSP, their admin needs the same consistency as full-timers, or resentment creeps in fast.
Want the full training session and toolkit for managers? This topic is covered inside Coffee, Cake and Compliance, click to find out more
If this episode helps, share it with a manager who handles sickness calls, and leave a quick review so more small businesses can find practical HR support that actually works.
If you’re not 100% sure how your HR is really holding up, take our free HR Health Check. It’s short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what’s working — and what needs a bit of love.
And if you do it before 1st April 2026, you’ll get a bonus 7 Pillar Strategy-on-a-Page, tailored to help you manage HR brilliantly for the year ahead. That’s it for today, but if you fancy a bit of friendly HR advice in your inbox (with zero waffle), come and join our newsletter.
We send out bite-sized tips, plain-English updates, and handy things you’ll actually use — no spam, no fluff.
You can sign up hereIf you're not sure how your HR is really holding up, take the free HR Health Check. It's short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what's working and what could do with a bit of love.
Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe so you never miss one, and leave a review if you've got thirty seconds. It honestly does help more small business owners find the show, and it's the cheapest good deed you'll do all week.
Got a question or need actual HR support? Find Kate at kateunderwoodhr.co.uk, email [email protected].uk, or follow along on social.
Until next time, keep buzzing, and take care of your people.
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Ever find yourself stuck in the middle?
One side asking, “Why isn’t this sorted yet?”
The other asking, “Why are you doing this to us?”
That awkward, lonely space is middle management. And for a lot of people, it feels like being squeezed from both ends with very little room to breathe. This episode is about why that role so often feels impossible, and how to make it workable without burning people out.
We start by naming the real reasons middle managers struggle. Accountability without authority. Promotions based on being good at the job, not good with people. And the quiet emotional load of being the first person everyone comes to with complaints, tears, frustration, and the occasional snap. None of that is in the job description, but it shows up every day.
From there, we look at the friction points that stall progress. Mixed messages from senior leaders. Managers being undermined in front of their teams. The two-job trap, where someone is expected to lead people and still be the top doer. That combination drains confidence fast and turns small issues into constant firefighting.
Then we get practical. I share simple system tweaks that make a big difference. Clear standards written in plain language. Decision rights that explain who decides what. Light-touch documentation that protects the manager as much as the business. Nothing heavy. Just enough structure to stop everything feeling personal.
You will also hear starter scripts managers can actually use. For performance conversations. Attendance issues. Behaviour that needs addressing early. We talk about how public backing and private coaching protect a manager’s credibility, why consistency matters more than perfection, and how removing just one admin blocker can give managers hours back each week.
This episode is not about telling people to be more resilient. It is about building resilience properly. Through clarity. Authority. Skills. Backing. And time. I also share a quick audit for owners and senior leaders to check whether their setup is helping or quietly hindering their managers, plus a one-thing challenge to make next week easier than last week.
If you are a manager who wants confidence rather than constant self-doubt, or a leader who is ready to stop firefighting and start
If you’re not 100% sure how your HR is really holding up, take our free HR Health Check. It’s short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what’s working — and what needs a bit of love.
And if you do it before 1st April 2026, you’ll get a bonus 7 Pillar Strategy-on-a-Page, tailored to help you manage HR brilliantly for the year ahead. That’s it for today, but if you fancy a bit of friendly HR advice in your inbox (with zero waffle), come and join our newsletter.
We send out bite-sized tips, plain-English updates, and handy things you’ll actually use — no spam, no fluff.
You can sign up hereIf you're not sure how your HR is really holding up, take the free HR Health Check. It's short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what's working and what could do with a bit of love.
Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe so you never miss one, and leave a review if you've got thirty seconds. It honestly does help more small business owners find the show, and it's the cheapest good deed you'll do all week.
Got a question or need actual HR support? Find Kate at kateunderwoodhr.co.uk, email [email protected].uk, or follow along on social.
Until next time, keep buzzing, and take care of your people.
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Hiring quickly can feel like survival mode. You need someone in the seat, yesterday. But the real risk often shows up weeks later, when projects slow down, standards wobble, and your best people quietly start carrying the extra weight.
In this episode of Buzzing About HR, we go behind the scenes of a probation process that actually works for small teams. One that protects momentum, reinforces culture, and gives every new hire a fair chance to succeed without turning managers into micromanagers.
We start by naming the hidden cost of a bad hire. Not just salary or training time, but the drain on focus and morale when leaders spend their days correcting work, firefighting mistakes, and smoothing things over. That is usually when resentment creeps in and standards start slipping.
From there, we walk through a simple framework you can realistically run in a small business. Clear contracts that explain probation and when benefits kick in. A first week that sets expectations properly. And targets that turn your values into visible behaviour. Things like response times, quality standards, and basic data hygiene that are easy to track and hard to argue with.
Consistency is the engine of it all. Short weekly check-ins and a proper midpoint review replace last-minute shocks with steady course correction. We talk about how to document in plain English, focusing on what someone is doing rather than how it feels, and how to make your notes sound supportive rather than like a case file.
We also cover the harder decisions. When to extend probation and when not to. How to end employment cleanly if it is not working out. And why getting final pay and holiday right matters more than people realise when it comes to avoiding messy disputes.
Along the way, we tackle the questions managers always ask. What to do if someone discloses a disability. How to support managers who hate giving feedback. How to handle team complaints during probation. And the classic dilemma of someone who is genuinely lovely, but not quite hitting the mark.
Probation is not a waiting room. It is part of good hiring, and a test of your process as much as the person. If you want fewer misfires, stronger onboarding, and a team that performs without constant rescue missions, this episode is
If you’re not 100% sure how your HR is really holding up, take our free HR Health Check. It’s short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what’s working — and what needs a bit of love.
And if you do it before 1st April 2026, you’ll get a bonus 7 Pillar Strategy-on-a-Page, tailored to help you manage HR brilliantly for the year ahead. That’s it for today, but if you fancy a bit of friendly HR advice in your inbox (with zero waffle), come and join our newsletter.
We send out bite-sized tips, plain-English updates, and handy things you’ll actually use — no spam, no fluff.
You can sign up hereIf you're not sure how your HR is really holding up, take the free HR Health Check. It's short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what's working and what could do with a bit of love.
Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe so you never miss one, and leave a review if you've got thirty seconds. It honestly does help more small business owners find the show, and it's the cheapest good deed you'll do all week.
Got a question or need actual HR support? Find Kate at kateunderwoodhr.co.uk, email [email protected].uk, or follow along on social.
Until next time, keep buzzing, and take care of your people.
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In this episode of Buzzing About HR, we are talking about that mid-winter morale dip. Not a full-blown disaster. Just that flat feeling where everyone is still showing up, but the spark has gone a bit quiet.
This episode is about how to shift that without extra budget, forced fun, or another all-hands meeting that everyone politely hates.
Because when a team is tired, stretched, or quietly fed up, what usually makes the biggest difference is not a grand gesture. It is a small, specific appreciation that actually lands.
I talk through what really works in small teams, where culture spreads quickly for better or worse. It comes down to a very simple habit. Name a specific action, link it to a real impact, and say you want more of it. That is it. No speech. No drama. Just a bit of proper noticing.
I also share a five-minute recognition routine for busy managers. One clear message each day. A short weekly team shout-out with two genuine wins. And a monthly impact note that does not feel like corporate fluff.
We also talk about recognition as trust, not just praise. Giving someone meaningful work. Asking for their judgment. Letting them lead something that matters. That kind of recognition often does far more than a generic “well done”.
And because not everyone likes being clapped for in public, we tackle the awkward bit too. How to ask people how they actually like to be recognised, and why that matters more than assuming everyone wants the same thing.
I also cover the mistakes that quietly kill this stuff. Only praising the loudest person. Waiting for big wins. Using recognition to dodge harder conversations. Or turning it into a once-a-year box tick that no one really believes.
If morale feels a bit flat and you want something simple, human, and doable, this episode is for you.
Subscribe, share it with a manager who needs the nudge, and leave a review so more teams can find practical tools that actually make work feel better.
If you’re not 100% sure how your HR is really holding up, take our free HR Health Check. It’s short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what’s working — and what needs a bit of love.
And if you do it before 1st April 2026, you’ll get a bonus 7 Pillar Strategy-on-a-Page, tailored to help you manage HR brilliantly for the year ahead. That’s it for today, but if you fancy a bit of friendly HR advice in your inbox (with zero waffle), come and join our newsletter.
We send out bite-sized tips, plain-English updates, and handy things you’ll actually use — no spam, no fluff.
You can sign up hereIf you're not sure how your HR is really holding up, take the free HR Health Check. It's short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what's working and what could do with a bit of love.
Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe so you never miss one, and leave a review if you've got thirty seconds. It honestly does help more small business owners find the show, and it's the cheapest good deed you'll do all week.
Got a question or need actual HR support? Find Kate at kateunderwoodhr.co.uk, email [email protected].uk, or follow along on social.
Until next time, keep buzzing, and take care of your people.
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In this episode of Buzzing About HR, we start with something small that quietly disappeared, and took a lot with it. The paper round. Not as a misty-eyed trip down memory lane, but as a reminder of how many young people used to learn the basics of work before they ever stepped into adult jobs that now expect confidence, judgment, and common sense from day one.
We talk through a real moment on a manufacturing floor where a young apprentice made a poor judgment call just as a VIP tour walked past. It could have ended in blame or punishment. Instead, it forced us to stop and ask a better question. Had we actually taught what “professional” looks like, or had we just assumed they would know?
That one moment changed how we approached induction. We got much clearer about boundaries, humour at work, how to speak up, how to treat colleagues and leaders, and where the lines really sit. The result was growth, confidence, and someone who stayed and learned, rather than someone who left feeling ashamed or confused. It was a good reminder that when the gap is knowledge rather than intent, guidance works far better than discipline.
From there, we zoom out and look at what early work looks like now. Retail Saturdays are rarer. Hospitality roles are harder to come by. Paper rounds have all but gone. In their place are online selling, tutoring, creative gigs, app work, and side hustles. Some of these are brilliant. Many are unstructured, unsupervised, and offer very little feedback, which means young people miss out on learning how work actually works.
We also talk through the practical bits for UK employers. What you can and cannot ask under-18s to do. Working hours. Permits. Pay. And the standards that should never drop, no matter how young someone is. Safety. Respect. Clarity. And paying people properly.
If you hire young people, this is about building a pipeline and doing something genuinely positive for your community. If you are a parent or teacher, it gives you language to push for roles that teach responsibility without overwhelming teenagers. And if you are a young worker, there are practical tips for finding structure, building confidence, and understanding how effort links to reward at work.
If you’re not 100% sure how your HR is really holding up, take our free HR Health Check. It’s short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what’s working — and what needs a bit of love.
And if you do it before 1st April 2026, you’ll get a bonus 7 Pillar Strategy-on-a-Page, tailored to help you manage HR brilliantly for the year ahead. That’s it for today, but if you fancy a bit of friendly HR advice in your inbox (with zero waffle), come and join our newsletter.
We send out bite-sized tips, plain-English updates, and handy things you’ll actually use — no spam, no fluff.
You can sign up hereIf you're not sure how your HR is really holding up, take the free HR Health Check. It's short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what's working and what could do with a bit of love.
Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe so you never miss one, and leave a review if you've got thirty seconds. It honestly does help more small business owners find the show, and it's the cheapest good deed you'll do all week.
Got a question or need actual HR support? Find Kate at kateunderwoodhr.co.uk, email [email protected].uk, or follow along on social.
Until next time, keep buzzing, and take care of your people.
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Deadlines that sit a couple of years away can feel comforting. Plenty of time. Nothing urgent. Until the small, everyday habits quietly harden into rules you never meant to create.
In this episode of Buzzing About HR, we look at the UK Employment Rights Act and why the real risk for small businesses is not the legislation itself, but what happens in the meantime. The vague conversations. The informal promises. The inconsistent decisions that feel harmless now but come back to bite later.
Kate talks through how ERB risk really builds in day-to-day working life. The kitchen table agreement turns into a formal dispute. The “we’ve always done it this way” approach collapses the first time it is challenged. And how to prepare sensibly, without panic, policy overload, or spending your weekends rewriting documents you do not yet need.
A big theme running through the Employment Rights Bill is reasonableness. Not being nice. Not saying yes to everything. But making decisions that fit your business, applying them consistently, and being able to explain them calmly and clearly. You will hear practical examples of what a reasonable no sounds like, why blanket refusals on flexible working are risky, and why copying big-company HR approaches often backfires in small teams.
Kate also shares a quick consistency sense check that reveals hidden risk in minutes. If two people in the same role ask for the same thing, do they get the same answer, and can you explain why? If not, that is where problems start long before the law ever changes.
To keep this manageable, the episode sets out a phased approach to ERB readiness that works for small businesses. Right now, the focus is on habits rather than paperwork. Clear language. Agreed working patterns. Managers who feel confident in having proper conversations instead of avoiding them. Later comes alignment, making sure contracts match reality and decisions are recorded properly. By the time the bigger changes land, you should be refining, not firefighting.
And this is where many businesses struggle. Not with policies, but with managers freezing in the moment when someone asks for flexibility, raises a concern, or pushes back on a decision.
If that sounds familiar, Cake, Coffee and Compliance is designed for exact
If you’re not 100% sure how your HR is really holding up, take our free HR Health Check. It’s short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what’s working — and what needs a bit of love.
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You can sign up hereIf you're not sure how your HR is really holding up, take the free HR Health Check. It's short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what's working and what could do with a bit of love.
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Until next time, keep buzzing, and take care of your people.
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