A Word of Caution About Scare Tactics in HR Marketing

Returning to the office after a summer holiday always brings a touch of the blues. This week, however, my mood took a different turn when I came across a letter from a supposedly local HR consultancy inviting businesses to a “free” webinar. Their letter painted a terrifying picture of the employment law landscape post-King’s Speech, seemingly designed to scare the pants off business owners and managers.

While it’s true that this year will be notable for a significant number of employment law changes, there’s absolutely no need to panic! Here are some key changes introduced in the recent King’s Speech:

• Making parental leave, sick pay, and protection from unfair dismissal available from day one, subject to special rules for probationary periods.
• Banning zero-hour contracts, ensuring workers have a right to a contract that reflects the hours they regularly work.
• Ending ‘fire and rehire’ and ‘fire and replace’ by reforming the law and replacing the statutory code.
• Removing the lower earnings limit and waiting period for Statutory Sick Pay.
• Making flexible working the default for all workers from day one and requiring employers to accommodate this as far as is reasonable.
• Making it unlawful to dismiss a woman who has had a baby for six months after she returns to work, with certain exceptions.
• Creating the Fair Work Agency to enforce workplace rights.
• Introducing a Fair Pay Agreement in the adult social care sector.
• Repealing the law on minimum service levels in relation to industrial action.
• Simplifying the process of statutory recognition for trade unions.
• Introducing a right for workers and union members to access a union within workplaces.

One thing that got my back up was their assertion that they are local to the area when they are not (no problem if not, but don’t mislead). Their letter serves to create unnecessary fear, suggesting the world of work is about to explode. While change is indeed coming, businesses shouldn’t be driven to panic.

Sadly, this is a common tactic among some HR consultancies. They lure businesses with free webinars and tell them they will be non-compliant and end up in a tribunal, and then push them into long-term contracts offering low-level, formulaic, and uncommercial services. These deals often include aggressive automatic renewal clauses, locking businesses in for another 5 years if not careful! Imagine being stuck with a call-centre style service that’s neither personal nor effective and with no idea (or desire) about achieving your commercial goals.

Conversely, at Bell Taylor, we believe in providing clear, proactive, and practical advice. We have years of proven success in keeping clients out of tribunals through quality advice and commercial decision-making – a quality that is incomparable to many other advisers.

So I guess my message is this: don’t be swayed by mass marketing tactics that promise the world but deliver little. Trust in experienced professionals who understand the intricacies of employment law and how the employment tribunal system works, and who provide personalised, reliable support.

We’re here to help you handle the forthcoming legislative changes (expected this October) seamlessly. If you have concerns about the upcoming changes, feel free to reach out to us on 01743 298000 or richard@belltaylor.com or ben@belltaylor.com. Your business’s success and compliance are our top priorities.
We now await the draft legislation itself!