People Matter - June 2026

🎶 “30 years days of hurt” 🎶

As you’ll have seen, with England’s first kick off at 9pm UK time, and Scotland’s even worse at 2am, you’ll need to get a handle on footy fans’ attendance and capability to work, or else face 30 days of hurt whilst the World Cup is on. 

It may not just be home nation fans you have within your workforce – it is the biggest World Cup ever, with 48 countries participating. The risks are bleary-eyed employees showing up fatigued and ineffective or not showing up at all. 

By being proactive you can have it under control. Neither of the above scenarios are acceptable and your policies should already cover this. Remind your team of your standards prior to any trouble.

Annual leave is a good solution to a football fan who wants to immerse themselves in their team’s games: no need for them to set the alarm, or grind through the next day.

If it works for your business, you could also consider flexitime as an option; allowing staff to start a bit later in the day after a big match, so long as they make up the time.

While you need to maintain discipline, the World Cup is an excellent time to have some company fun and bring the team together too. From staples like a sweepstake to arranging a social event around a big game – especially if it is on a weekend!

If you do have staff letting the side down and you want to reach straight for a red card, pause. Call us first to ensure you follow the correct procedure. We can even help you manage the process if you need support.

A clear path to success?

In the battle for hiring the best staff, many things can stand you out from the crowd: high salaries, excellent employee benefits, flexible working options, interesting work…

And the list goes on. One thing not cited above is pay transparency. However, this has been revealed in a recent survey as high up the priority list of employees in 2026.

In fact, 72% of UK employees stated in a survey that pay transparency was important or very important to them, when deciding to join or stay at an organisation.

Pay transparency doesn’t end with recruitment. Having pay scales for different roles so employees know how to progress is important. Those scales, of course, have to make sure that you offer equal pay for work of equal value. 

We can help by doing a job evaluation exercise across your company.

The Equality Act 2010 is the main piece of legislation which governs equal pay, making it clear that men and women are entitled to equal pay for equal work.

Since then, gender pay gap rules require larger firms to publish gender pay gap data.

And now, incoming rules (part of the Employment Rights Act) will require employers to develop and publish “Equality Action Plans” which explain how they will close any gender pay gap as well as offer menopause support. These, though, are only mandatory for companies with 250+ employees.

Pay equality issues are not confined to gender, with Bills relating to race and disability working through parliament. And even though we in the UK are no longer directly affected by EU directives, there is related EU legislation too, about to be enforced across EU states.

It all paints a picture of increasing scrutiny from both employees and legislators on pay transparency. 

Do you have an issue with equal pay? Or would you like to ensure you are following best practices? We can help you review your current arrangements and instil equal pay and pay transparency in your business: giving the desired clarity to regulators and talent.

Celebrating you!

The United Nations has got a day for your business: MSME Day on 27th June. That’s Micro-, Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises Day.

Globally, according to the UN, businesses like yours account for 90% of companies, 60-70% of employment and 50% of GDP. And, more locally in the UK, we know that they are the engine room of our economy.

You’re so important but we know that many SMEs are facing very difficult conditions out there at the moment, from rocketing energy bills to trade tariffs; and in the UK in particular, increasing red tape.

Solid HR practices are a bread-and-butter activity you can engage with to give you consistency through retention, productivity through performance management, whilst avoiding pitfalls. With local offices across the country, we are here to help you through the tough times and the good. If you need extra help with HR, let us suggest an appropriate solution for you.

HR + H&S = success

HR and health and safety share more than similar initials. They are also compliance functions within business that, when properly engaged with, can add real value and productivity to a company.

You are reading this within an HR newsletter, so hopefully you get the value of good HR. 

But a recent survey found that over half of workers (56%) said that they felt health and safety in their organisation was a box ticking exercise rather than a meaningful priority. More worryingly, one in six workers (and one in three 18–24-year-olds!) had signed an NDA after a workplace accident.

Just as good HR can save you from tribunal risk, enhance performance and improve workplace culture; so too can good H&S reduce absence due to sickness or injury, keep people safe, and lower the risk of costly and distracting prosecution.

Alongside The HR Dept we have The H&S Dept which provides a similar no-nonsense approach for SMEs keen to follow the rules as pragmatically as possible. To find out more, get in touch.

It’s simply not cricket…

Is it really remote “working”? 

Remote working can be wonderful for employees for managing work/life balance. And it may offer some overhead savings to employers if, for example, you can downsize your office space.

The big criticism, though, is the potential for distraction. Remote working should not be a solution to childminding! How tempting is it to extend those lunch hours because no one is watching? And what if they miss an important phone call while they nip to the post office?

A lot of it comes down to trust and the workplace culture you have nurtured. 

So how would you feel if you saw an employee taking up Surrey County Cricket Club on their “Work from the Oval” offer during a county cricket match? They get a desk, Wi-Fi and a distraction – a live sports match!

Managing to remain productive is the key “Test” for remote workers. Is this beyond the boundary?

Dog Day Afternoon in Italy

Pets are part of the family, right? So what happens when one is so ill that an employee requests to stay home to care for it? 

Right now, how you handle it will be down to your discretion. But in Italy, a court has been weighing up animal neglect versus employment responsibilities, and sided with employees taking paid time off to care for a sick pet. It dates all the way back to a case in 2017 when an employee missed shifts to nurse her dog.

It is case law for now, but the Italian Parliament is considering legislation. Barking mad or purrfectly reasonable? What do you think?