Flexible Working Requests: What Small Businesses Need to Know
Flexible working requests are becoming increasingly common, and employers need to understand how to manage them fairly and consistently. This article explores what flexible working means in practice, common challenges for SMEs, and the steps employers can take to handle requests effectively.
Hiring with Confidence: How to Get Your Recruitment Decisions Right First Time
Hiring the right employee can make a huge difference to a small business, while getting it wrong can be costly and disruptive. Learn how to prepare for interviews, ask better questions, identify the right fit and avoid common recruitment mistakes.
The October 2026 Employment Rights Act Changes: What Employers Should Be Reviewing Now
Several key provisions of the Employment Rights Act 2025 are expected to take effect in October 2026, bringing important changes for employers. This blog explores the reforms, what they may mean in practice, and the policies, procedures and training employers should be reviewing now to stay prepared. Based on the latest implementation timeline, some changes remain subject to final regulations and parliamentary processes.
Probation periods in practice and what the upcoming changes mean for employers
Probation periods continue to play an important role in managing new appointments.
As the legal framework develops, taking time to ensure they are structured clearly, supported by an effective induction process, and managed consistently in practice will help provide a more stable and confident approach to decision making.
We regularly work with managers to support them in handling probation periods in a clear and consistent way. This often includes helping to structure review processes, guiding conversations where concerns arise, and ensuring that decisions are approached in a way that feels fair and well supported in practice.
Where this is in place, probation tends to feel more straightforward to manage and provides a more reliable basis for deciding how employment should continue.