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Merry Christmas

⛄️ Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year 2025! 🎄

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Thank You

 

As 2024 draws to a close, we would like to take a moment to thank all our valued clients, partners, and connections for their continued support and trust in Consensus HR.

This year has been an exciting journey of growth and collaboration, and we couldn’t have done it without you! Whether you’ve been with us for years or are just discovering how we can support your business, we look forward to continuing our partnership in 2025.

At Consensus HR, we’re passionate about helping businesses of all sizes prevent people problems and build strong, successful teams. From HR compliance to team wellbeing, we’re here to guide you every step of the way.

🌐 Explore how we can help you in the New Year: www.consensushr.com

Christmas & New Year Closing Details:
Our office will be closed from Monday, 23rd December 2024 and will reopen on Thursday, 2nd January 2025. During this time, we will be monitoring emails for any urgent queries.

Wishing you all a joyful Christmas, a restful holiday season, and a prosperous New Year filled with success and happiness!

Best wishes,
Matthew Chilcott & The Team
Consensus HR

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Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year 2025 | Consensus HR

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Health & Safety

Elf and Safety festive fun | Consensus HR, Herts, Beds,

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Elf and Safety festive fun | Consensus HR, Herts
Elf and Safety festive fun | Consensus HR, Herts

 

Are you planning a visit to the workplace from the man in red this year?

What’s a bit of festive fun without careful consideration, planning, risk assessment and documentation? Here are just a few items to remember:

You will, of course, need to decorate your workplace appropriately for Santa’s visit. Please ensure that any overhead decorations are erected by a qualified person with ‘Working at Height’ training and certification. An HSE-approved stepladder must be used and all fairy lights PAT-tested by an electrician.

If your premises have a chimney and fireplace, they present the ideal point of entry for your guest. Therefore, it is essential that a full Fire Risk Assessment is carried out to ensure that he will not meet with undue injury on his descent. 

 

Assuming Santa’s safe arrival, and before he proceeds through your office with his large sack of presents, do remember to risk-assess the situation by interviewing Santa on the extent of his manual handling training. If none has been undertaken, you may want him to sign a document, waiving you of all responsibility should he injure his back while lifting on your premises.

Undoubtedly, your team will have set aside mince pies and countless Quality Streets for Santa to indulge in during his brief visit. But it must be borne in mind that such sweet treats can pose a choking hazard.  Therefore, please ensure a trained first aider is always available.

Finally…

We hope you have enjoyed this post, all in fun, of course! 

All of us at Consensus HR wish you a wonderful Christmas, and all the very best for 2024.

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We hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2024 but should you need any HR help, do not hesitate to contact us.
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Christmas

Fabulously Festive Horror Stories | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds

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Fabulously Festive Horror Stories and a Little Elf & Safety

 

The Christmas season is upon us! Here’s some celebratory cheer, with thanks to many Twitter confessions from office Christmas partygoers around the UK. Enjoy these examples of when sensible HR guidance has made way for festive workplace shenanigans …

Professional Relationships

Professional relationships in the workplace that embody trust, respect, self-awareness, inclusion and open communication should be encouraged and facilitated wherever possible.

Confession of a Festive Party-Goer #1:

“I told pretty much the entire team that I hated them.”

Trust and Communication

Mutual trust and exceptional communication in the workplace is achievable through creating strong company values, setting clear boundaries and expectations, and encouraging effective internal communication. 

Confession of a Festive Party-Goer #2:

“My colleagues tricked me into thinking it was a fancy dress party. I showed up to a black tie event dressed as a Christmas pudding.”

Fabulously Festive Horror Stories and a Little Elf & Safety
Fabulously Festive Horror Stories and a Little Elf & Safety

Team Building

Great relationships between managers and employees are just one of the keys to building and maintaining an efficient, productive and happy workplace.

Confession of a Festive Party-Goer #3:

“The queues were too long for the toilet so I went outside to wee behind a wall. Bumped into my boss doing the exact same thing.”

Training and Development

It is vital to build a skills-based approach to talent development, for unlocking employee potential and creating a more inclusive workplace.   

Confession of a Festive Party-Goer #4:

“Tried to be really cool and do that ‘pulling the tablecloth from beneath the glasses’ trick. Completely failed, smashed everything. Red wine went everywhere.”

Fabulously Festive Horror Stories and a Little Elf & Safety
Remote working

Privacy

An employee has a right to a private life, and therefore should be able to enjoy a “reasonable expectation of privacy”.  Likewise, employees should be encouraged to leave their private selves at home, and to only bring their professional selves to the workplace. 

Confession of a Festive Party-Goer #5:

“Proposed to my girlfriend in front of everyone. She said no.”

 

Social Media Policy

It is essential to have a solid social media policy, informing all employees of expectations and codes of conduct when it comes to posting online.

Confession of a Festive Party-Goer #6:

“I woke up to like a million messages and missed calls. Turns out I’d put inappropriate pictures of people (really drunk and wearing hardly anything) all over Facebook.”

Fabulously Festive Horror Stories and a Little Elf & Safety
Health & Safety

Health & Safety

For any workplace party, it is advisable to appoint an appropriate person to monitor health and safety, identify dangerous situations, and assess and report potential risk. They also need to check any control measures put in place periodically.

Confession of a Festive Party-Goer #7:

“I jumped up onto my friend’s back but we fell over and she broke her arm.”

Don’t worry, everything will turn out just fine this year.  Probably.

Merry Christmas 2023 to all our readers! The team at Consensus HR hopes you all have a fantastic festive period and a Happy New Year 2024.

 

 

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We hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2024 but should you need any HR help, do not hesitate to contact us.
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Christmas

Festive HR Issues | Guidance from Consensus HR, Herts, Beds

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Festive HR Issues | Guidance from Consensus HR, Herts, Beds

Christmas is just around the corner! This means many organisations will be planning their annual Christmas party. Alongside unpacking the tinsel and choosing (or avoiding) a turkey menu, businesses must also prepare for the chance of employee misconduct.

‘Christmas parties may seem like the ideal opportunity for organisations to allow their staff to let their hair down and dance the night away with their colleagues,’ says Matthew Chilcott of Consensus HR. ‘However, alcohol consumption within a relaxed social atmosphere can foster situations that may not occur in the office.

‘Employers should note that events are more than social gatherings. While they are intended to be informal and fun occasions they are also official, company-organised events. Therefore, the party is an extension of the working environment.’

Legally, employers have a duty to protect their employees’ health, safety and welfare. Organisations can be liable for actions committed by employees in the course of their employment, unless they can demonstrate that ‘reasonable steps’ were taken to prevent these actions. This includes forms of misconduct at company-organised events … such as a Christmas party. Therefore, the organisation may be responsible for its employees’ actions if they behave inappropriately. Some examples of what might constitute gross misconduct at a work Christmas party include physical violence, bullying, obscene behaviour and harassment.

Festive HR Issues | Guidance from Consensus HR, Herts, Beds
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Organisations can also be liable for misconduct that takes place within after-party drinks. Although the company may not officially organise these, liability can still arise if it can be established that an employee’s conduct was sufficiently connected to their work position.

In the Court of Appeal case of Bellman v Northampton Recruitment, an employer was held vicariously liable when the managing director seriously assaulted an employee at a gathering after the Christmas party. Even though the impromptu drinks were not part of the company event, this ruling was decided upon. The Court of Appeal found that the manager acted within his management capacity.

Whilst organisations want staff to have fun at a party, provisions should be in place to ensure behaviour doesn’t get out of hand. To this end, it is highly advisable to implement a policy which addresses office parties and other work-related social events. This should outline that staff have a duty to behave responsibly at all times. In addition, individuals should be reminded that the organisation’s rules on acceptable behaviour apply at the event and that incidents of misconduct will be treated seriously.

If inappropriate action is reported, swift action should be taken to deal with it in line with company policy.

Festive HR Issues | Guidance from Consensus HR, Herts, Beds

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To check that your organisation provides adequate duty of care to its employees, have an informal chat with the Consensus HR team. Our expert guidance can help reassure you that you’ve taken steps to ensure everyone can enjoy the festive season safely,
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Christmas

Remote working is blamed for pub woes 

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Remote working is blamed for pub woes 

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott, Owner of Consensus HR comments: Remote working is blamed for pub woes – “Well, this is our first blog that mentions ‘Christmas’, but I am sure there will be many more before Christmas 2022 arrives!  Following the last few years and the Pandemic you could say I suppose that this will be the first real Christmas since pre pandemic when families and teams will be able to celebrate as they use to do post Pandemic.  However, if these statistics from this survey are to be true, companies may be seeing that their teams are not interested in the old festivities due to working from home.

Christmas & the New Year are times to celebrate and an ideal opportunity for the team to enjoy themselves and celebrate and decorate the office whilst having a team event, but what do you have planned for this year, and nobody wishes to be ruin Christmas or the New Year?

Please ensure as we comment every year that whatever you have planned that your team are fully aware of any company / HR policies so that no forms of unwanted misconduct occur and end up ruining the party for any member of the team.  We recommend that businesses have a Policy on behaviour at work related events such as Christmas, so that everyone knows what to expect and can enjoy themselves fully without any repercussions.”

 

PRESS ARTICLE – Remote working is blamed for pub woes –

The number of office Christmas parties booked this year is a fifth lower than pre-pandemic levels, pubs have reported. The rising number of staff working from home and cost pressures are blamed for the fall in demand. In a normal year, British pubs take in around £2.3bn in December – about one-tenth of their annual income and their most profitable month by far – according to the British Beer and Pubs Association. However, a survey of 5,000 watering holes last week found that festive bookings are down by 20% compared to what was normal before the pandemic. Meanwhile, December bookings for the wider hospitality sector are only slightly below 2019 levels, according to separate analysis by UKHospitality. The industry group’s chief executive Kate Nicholls said: “We are cautiously optimistic. Bookings are coming in, but they tend to come in a little later these days than they did before the pandemic.”

The Daily Telegraph.

The Human Times

 

Remote working is blamed for pub woes 

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With Christmas arriving next month and this probably the first ‘normal’ one since the Pandemic. Is colleagues working from home affecting yours and attendance?
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