Welcome to my latest Newsletter

All things People and HR this Winter

December is fast approaching as THE month of sparkly lights and winter cosiness. It’s also a great time of year to look back and celebrate your 2025 successes whilst preparing for the year ahead.

In this newsletter I look at the benefit of undertaking a staff survey, as well as how to prepare for a trouble free Christmas Party.

I love you to email your comments and feedback on topics you'd like me to cover in future newsletters

Statutory Pay Rates and Allowances

National Living (NLW) Wage Rates by hourly rate at 1 April 2025

• For workers aged 21 and above £12.21

• For workers aged 18 to 20 years: £10.00

• For workers aged 16 and 17 who are above school age and workers in an Apprenticeship scheme who are aged under 19, or who are aged 19 whilst they are in the first year of their Apprenticeship: £7.55

The Real Living Wage Campaign sets a living wage rate based on the cost of living. The campaign encourages companies to pay voluntarily, and is subscribed to by over 14,000 UK employers.  The hourly rate is currently £13.45 an hour and £14.80 in London.

Statutory Sick Pay will be paid at the rate of £118.75 a week from the fourth consecutive day of absence where employees meet the qualifying criteria. From April 2026 the allowance will start from day one of absence and there will be no minimum earnings threshold.

Maternity, Paternity, Adoption, Shared Parental leave and Statutory Bereavement leave are paid at the rate of £187.18 per week where employees meet the qualifying criteria.

90% of average earnings is paid for the first 6 weeks of Maternity and Adoption leave.

• Keep in mind that the employer may be liable for anything that goes wrong at their Christmas party, even if it is off the premises and out of work hours, so plan your party carefully in view of this;

• Not everyone enjoys the traditional meal and drinks so ask your team for their preferences and consider offering a choice of activity if you feel it will encourage everyone to get involved in the celebrations;

• Ensure that the party is appropriate for all staff, including the theme, menu and choice of drinks, especially if you employ staff who, due to their culture, religion or heritage, do not celebrate Christmas;

• Don't forget to invite staff who are away from work, eg, due to remote working, maternity, secondment or sick leave as well as temporary and agency staff;

• If it's likely to be late or boozy, make responsible arrangements for people to get home - provide taxi's, a mini bus or assign a willing and responsible person to support staff to get home safely at the end of the night;

• Often when things go wrong it’s due to booze fuelled behaviour and concerns about language, actions and harassment. Take the opportunity a couple of days before to remind staff that they are representing the company and that they should behave appropriately;

• Remember recent legislation places a duty on employers to ensure that staff are not subject to sexual harassment at work, which could extend into parties and events outside of work. See my handy guide and undertake a risk assessment to identify risk areas in order to take preventative action;

• Role model appropriate behaviour and encourage your managers to do the same;

• If you see any concerning behaviour act on it quickly before anything escalates.