Legal advice for HR personnel helps business understand their legal obligations to manage their workforce effectively. Expert solicitors can guide businesses on recruitment policy, employee relations, and compliance with employment laws.
This is a complete guide for businesses seeking HR advice and support. The content will cover the key areas of HR management, including employment law compliance, employee relations, and workplace policies.
We’ve written this for:
Small and medium-sized businesses seeking HR support
HR professionals looking for expert advice on complex issues
Employers wanting to ensure compliance with employment law
Business owners and managers involved in workforce management
After reading, businesses should understand the benefits of professional HR advice and appreciate the value of seeking legal assistance from employment experts to effectively manage their workforce and ensure compliance with employment laws.
Key areas of HR advice
For HR leaders your role centres around understanding and complying with employment laws to ensure the business you represent stays on the right side of the law and employees’ rights are respected.
Some of the areas HR advisors can guide on include:
HR advice can help your business navigate these complex areas of employment law when you need to create new policies, are involved in an employee dispute, or are trying to interpret what new legislative changes will mean for your business.
Professional HR advice is instrumental in effectively handling employee relations, including grievances, and disciplinary procedures, and promoting a positive workplace culture. Whether you are considering your work from home policy and need to create a hybrid working model, require advice on how to carry out a redundancy process fairly, or are looking to handle TUPE transfers, our expert employment law solicitors can help.
HR teams are responsible for developing and implementing workplace policies. These include health and safety, equality and diversity, and data protection policies to ensure legal compliance and best practices. An HR advisor can help with creating effective and forward-looking policies that keep in mind employer risks and promote employee rights.
Striking a delicate balance in HR policymaking is central to building a motivated workforce, a healthy work environment and an attractive place to work – which helps bring in new talent to your organisation.
HR support for business growth
When your business is scaling rapidly it’s hard to find the time to carry out all the functions you’re responsible for effectively and efficiently. New talent needs to be hired to ensure that ‘big new project’ meets the expectations of the senior leadership team, employee performance needs to be measured and training and development plans put in place to ensure continuous growth.
HR experts can help with a recruitment drive to ensure you bring in the right talent for the needs of a business.
After securing the right talent, an onboarding process needs to be developed. This ensures new employees integrate smoothly into the company. This is especially important in remote teams.
By developing a smooth onboarding process, new employees can quickly find their feet and understand the policies and procedures of the company, meet their team, and get up to speed with the systems and processes their team uses.
When the new team is in place and oriented, they will get to work. As an HR leader, you need to be confident that you have set up effective, transparent and motivating performance management systems to track performance.
With expert advice, HR departments can set clear performance expectations, outline a system to conduct appraisals, and manage underperformance.
Then to complete the circle, investing in employee training and development ensures employees continually upskill and have the opportunity to grow their skillset to benefit your organisation.
Expert HR advice can help identify training needs and implement effective development programs to ensure your business has the talent it needs to achieve its aims.
Legal process for HR compliance
Our HR lawyers can support your internal corporate legal team, or work as your SME outsourced legal team, when you don’t have the need for a full-time legal team to ensure your business remains compliant with the various complexities of employment law.
Reviewing contracts and policies
There are many steps involved in reviewing and updating employment contracts, workplace policies, and employee handbooks to ensure they meet legal requirements and support business goals.
Contract management is a dynamic process. It should shift and evolve with your business goals, market forces and internal changes. So, good contract management revolves around a regular review process to reassess procedures, ensuring contracts are in line with your goals.
HR experts can identify where contract clauses need reviewing to match current realities and draft updated contracts that meet current needs.
Internal policies such as employee health and wellbeing shift as the way we work changes. With more households having two working parents than ever and single-parentage rising, employers need to consider flexible working practices and reflect these in consistent internal policies. HR experts can help shape internal policies to create a motivated and effective working culture.
Managing disciplinary and grievance procedures
Employers should have an internal process for handling disciplinary and grievance procedures in compliance with employment law.
A disciplinary procedure is a formal way that an employer can deal with an employee’s misconduct or poor performance.
Before beginning a formal process, an employer should see whether the problem can be resolved informally, as this can be the quickest and easiest solution.
To resolve the issue informally, the employer should:
Privately talk with the employee
Listen to their point of view
Agree improvements to be made
Set up a training or development plan
Capability issues can be resolved by offering support, training and encouragement to improve.
In terms of a formal procedure, employers should give employees enough time to prepare for a formal hearing. The employer should also follow a fair procedure throughout.
The next step is for the employer to carry out an investigation to collect information about an employee’s misconduct or poor performance.
At the hearing, both sides make their cases. The employer will explain the issue and outline its evidence, making sure someone takes notes.
Employees need to be given the chance to:
The final step is the employer's decision. Employers should inform employees of their decision as soon as possible.
The possible outcomes are:
Here is an example of a formal disciplinary procedure from Acas:
Step 1: Understanding the options
Step 2: Raising a grievance
Step 3: Responding to a grievance
Step 4: The grievance meeting
Step 5: Deciding the outcome
Step 6: After the grievance
Handling redundancies and restructuring
When it comes to managing redundancies and business restructures there are legal processes businesses need to follow.
Firstly, businesses need to check whether redundancies are needed.
Businesses can only consider redundancies when part or all of the business is:
Businesses have to consider why redundancies are necessary. If they will fix the issues they are trying to solve, and whether there are any alternatives to redundancy. A fair redundancy process must be followed, including the need to consult staff.
Without a meaningful consultation process before making redundancies, employees could claim to an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal.
In a consultation, an employer should talk and listen to their employee. Collective consultation processes include employee representatives.
Here’s what a fair redundancy process looks like according to Acas:
Step 1: Check redundancy is needed
Step 2: Follow the right process
Step 3: Tell employees
Step 4: Hold consultations
Step 5: Select employees
Step 6: Work out redundancy pay
Step 7: Give notice
Step 8: Offer alternative employment
Step 9: Offer an appeals process
Step 10: Support your staff
Risks and considerations
Failing to comply with employment laws can lead to potential legal claims from disgruntled employees, fines from regulators, and damage to your business's reputation.
We can help you handle grievances in the right way to minimise any impact on motivation. Our HR expert will also ensure your policies are compliant with relevant laws to prevent a range of negative consequences.
Poor HR management has serious consequences for a business. It can destroy employee morale and staff retention, leading to increased hiring costs and talent churn. With professional HR advice, we can provide practical guidance on how to develop and maintain a positive workplace environment by building a culture which benefits every employee.
Costs and fees involved
Hiring HR consultancy services can include fees for reviewing contracts, developing policies, and providing ongoing HR support.
You may also be presented with potential legal costs when addressing complex HR issues, such as employment disputes or tribunal representation.
Why choose Lawhive for HR advice for businesses?
Here are some common reasons our clients choose us:
Legal expertise - Lawhive solicitors have extensive experience in providing HR advice to businesses of all sizes, helping them manage their workforce effectively and comply with employment laws
Combination of technology and legal expertise - Lawhive uses technology to deliver efficient and cost-effective HR solutions, ensuring businesses receive high-quality advice and support
Client-centric approach - we’re committed to understanding client needs and providing tailored HR advice and solutions to support business growth and legal compliance
Employment law HR support
Professional HR advice is essential to help manage a workforce effectively through employee relations support, ensure compliance with employment laws, and deal with crises.
HR compliance services and advice shouldn’t only be used to fight fires. It can be instrumental in developing a positive workplace culture that sets your business apart and makes a difference in people’s lives.
Whether you need help reviewing your policies and procedures, want advice on staff disputes, or are attempting to redefine the workplace practices and culture of your business, we can help. Get a free legal assessment today.