HR guides and how-tos
Plain-English answers to the people-ops questions UK employers actually search for - organised by topic, written by the team behind CoDash, and updated as the law changes. No sign-up, no fluff.
Time off & leave
Booking, refusing and calculating holiday - and the appointment edge cases.
UK statutory annual leave explained
The 5.6 weeks (28 days) minimum, how bank holidays fit in, pro-rata for part-timers, carry-over rules and how holiday pay works.
Read the guide → Time offCan my employer refuse my holiday request?
Yes, with counter-notice - but not so much that you lose your statutory minimum. The notice rules, worked examples and fair-booking tips.
Read the guide → Time offDo bank holidays count towards annual leave?
The two contract wordings and what each means, the part-timer Monday problem, and working on a bank holiday.
Read the guide → Time offCarrying over annual leave
Use it or lose it is the default - but four exceptions override it, and one of them is entirely the employer's own doing.
Read the guide → Time offRolled-up holiday pay explained
The 12.07% uplift: who it's lawful for, the two rules that make it compliant, and why it was banned for eighteen years.
Read the guide → Time offTime off for medical appointments
No general legal right to paid appointment time - so what should your policy say? The statutory exceptions and four fair approaches.
Read the guide →Sickness & absence
Day-one SSP, self-certification, fit notes and absence patterns.
SSP changes April 2026: day-one sick pay
What changed on 6 April 2026 - SSP from day one, no earnings threshold, the lower-of £123.25 or 80% rate - and what small employers should do.
Read the guide → AbsenceHow long can you self-certify sick?
Seven calendar days, fit note from day 8. How the days are counted, SC2 forms, and what employers can and can't demand.
Read the guide → AbsenceFit notes: the employer's guide
What the two boxes mean, who can issue one, and what happens when you can't accommodate what it suggests.
Read the guide → AbsenceSickness absence trigger points
The thresholds UK employers use, what must never count towards them, and the conversation that should follow.
Read the guide → AbsenceDoes holiday accrue on sick leave?
Yes - it accrues throughout, carries forward up to 18 months, and can be taken during the absence to top up low sick pay.
Read the guide → AbsenceBradford Factor exclusions
Pregnancy-related sickness must never count; disability-related often shouldn't. What to exclude and how to write it into policy.
Read the guide → AbsenceReturning after mental-health absence
Gentle contact, the return conversation, a phased weeks 1-4 plan and the adjustments that actually help.
Read the guide → AbsenceBradford Factor rules and edge cases
Rolling or fixed? Do weekends count? Half days and part-timers - the mechanics nobody writes down.
Read the guide → ReferenceUK sickness absence statistics
Two official figures more than double apart, both correct. Which to quote, and which to benchmark against.
Read the guide → AbsenceThe Bradford Factor explained
What the score is, the S²×D formula, a full worked example, when to use it, and the fairness caveats every employer should know.
Read the guide →Overtime & TOIL
What the law actually requires - and how to run time off in lieu properly.
TOIL vs overtime pay: which is better?
Neither is required by law - the contract decides. Cost, cashflow, burnout and admin compared, with a worked example.
Read the guide → OvertimeCan my employer refuse TOIL?
The timing, yes; an accrued balance your contract promises, riskier. The two refusal cases and what to do about each.
Read the guide → OvertimeIs overtime pay legally required?
No UK law guarantees overtime pay. The two real floors - National Minimum Wage and the 48-hour cap - and when unpaid overtime turns unlawful.
Read the guide →Rotas & working time
Shift notice, rest rules and the reforms on the way.
Guaranteed hours: the zero-hours reform
Zero-hours contracts are not being banned - what the duty to offer guaranteed hours really does, and what is still awaiting regulations.
Read the guide → RotasRota changes: how much notice is required?
No statutory minimum exists today - the contract governs. The rest rules that still constrain any rota, and the reforms to watch.
Read the guide → RotasShift allowance: is there a legal minimum?
No law requires one - so what do employers actually pay, and what happens when a premium meets holiday pay?
Read the guide → RotasHow many hours' rest between shifts?
Eleven hours between shifts, 24 in the week, 20 minutes inside a long day - the rules that make half of hospitality's rotas unlawful.
Read the guide → RotasCan my employer change my shifts?
No law sets rota notice in the UK - so the answer lives in your contract, in custom and practice, and in the rest rules.
Read the guide → Rotas & working timeThe 48-hour week and the opt-out
An average over 17 weeks, not a weekly cap - and the opt-out disapplies that average and nothing else. Rest breaks, night limits and holiday all stand.
Read the guide →Employment law 2026-27
The Employment Rights Act changes, translated for small employers.
The 6-month unfair dismissal rule (2027)
Day-one rights were scrapped - here's the real rule from 1 January 2027, the dismissal-date transition, and what to tighten up now.
Read the guide → Law changeProbation periods under the 2027 rules
Yes, you can still dismiss during probation - but from 2027 the process has to stand up. A fair, documented probation rhythm.
Read the guide → Law changePaternity leave: the day-one right
From April 2026 the leave is day-one but the pay still needs 26 weeks - the nuance that catches payroll out, explained.
Read the guide → Law changeUnpaid parental leave: employer guide
18 weeks per child, 4 weeks a year, day-one from April 2026 - and the difference between postponing and refusing.
Read the guide → Family leaveShared parental leave: a worked example
What happens when one of your fifteen staff asks - the arithmetic, the notice, and the one thing you can decline.
Read the guide → Law changeBereaved partner's paternity leave
The new right where a mother or primary adopter dies - what's in force from 2026 and how to handle it with care.
Read the guide → Employment lawWritten statement of particulars
A day-one right covering workers too. What must sit in the single document, what may follow within two months, and the two items added in 2020 that older templates miss.
Read the guide → ComplianceThe duty to prevent sexual harassment
A proactive duty since October 2024. What counts as a reasonable step, third-party risk, and the 25% compensation uplift for breaching it.
Read the guide → ComplianceSubject access requests
One month to respond - but not always from the day it arrived. The deadline, the extension that must be claimed in time, and the nine things you must provide.
Read the guide → Employment lawWhat a tribunal costs an employer
Two awards, a 25% Acas uplift, and the costs no judgment mentions - plus the cap that disappears on 1 January 2027.
Read the guide →Pay & rates
The statutory numbers and the reclaim rules that soften them.
Statutory rates 2026/27: the full table
Every rate on one page - SSP, family pay, minimum wage, employer NI, redundancy caps and key dates, each verified against gov.uk.
Read the guide → PayEx-gratia payments and the £30,000 rule
The exemption everyone knows, and the three details that catch employers out - including Class 1A at 15%, not 13.8%.
Read the guide → TerminationGarden leave vs PILON
One keeps them employed and away from a competitor; the other gets them off the payroll today.
Read the guide → Time offMaternity leave: the employer's guide
52 weeks from day one, a separate test for whether any of it is paid, and the 28-day duty most employers miss.
Read the guide → PayReclaiming statutory maternity pay
Small employers get 109% back from HMRC - more than they paid. The £45,000 test, the EPS mechanics and a full worked example.
Read the guide →Occupational health
Getting medical advice properly - and knowing what it can and cannot tell you.
When should you refer to occupational health?
The real triggers, when a referral is the wrong move, and why OH advice never decides the matter for you.
Read the guide → OHWhat can an employer ask occupational health?
Function versus diagnosis, where the confidentiality line sits, and good versus poor referral questions.
Read the guide → OHCan an employee refuse a referral?
Yes - and consent can be withdrawn at any stage. What happens next, and the reasonable-adjustment complication.
Read the guide → AbsenceSickness absence review meetings
Supportive, not disciplinary - how it differs from a return-to-work chat and a capability hearing.
Read the guide →Flexible working
A day-one right with a two-month clock and only eight ways to say no.
The 8 reasons to refuse flexible working
The only statutory grounds - and why naming one isn't enough without showing it applies to this request.
Read the guide → Flexible workingThe two-month decision deadline
The clock starts the day the request arrives. What has to happen inside it, and what missing it costs.
Read the guide →Managing people
The management habits that keep small teams working well.
The HR board report: what to include
The five numbers a board actually uses, the risk section most packs miss, and the data an HR director should refuse to include.
Read the guide → ManagementCapability vs conduct dismissal
Can't versus won't - both can be fair reasons, but each demands a different process, and mislabelling loses tribunals.
Read the guide → ManagementDisciplinary procedure for a small business
The Acas Code as a numbered walk-through for a team with no HR department - letters included.
Read the guide → ManagementGross misconduct examples
There is no legal list - your policy defines it. What counts, and why summary dismissal still needs a full procedure.
Read the guide → PerformanceCompetency framework template
Five to seven competencies, three levels, and the wording test that decides whether managers ever use it.
Read the guide → PerformanceTraining needs analysis
Organisation, role and individual - where the evidence already is, how to prioritise, and how to tell whether it worked.
Read the guide → ManagementHow to run effective 1:1 meetings
The right cadence, a simple repeatable agenda, questions worth asking, and how to follow through so nothing drops between sessions.
Read the guide → ComplianceThe redundancy process step by step
A defensible pool, objective criteria, real consultation - and the 20+ threshold that changes which rules apply.
Read the guide → ComplianceRight to work checks
Before day one, dated, kept for employment plus two years - the seven steps between you and a £60,000 penalty.
Read the guide → ComplianceDBS checks: the employer's guide
Four levels, strict eligibility, certificates that never expire - and the renewal cycle that's entirely yours to run.
Read the guide → ComplianceBasic vs standard vs enhanced DBS
It's not a menu: the role determines the level, and ordering the highest one "to be thorough" isn't an option.
Read the guide → ComplianceHow long does a DBS check take?
No official timescale exists - what actually moves the needle, and the £16 service that makes repeat checks instant.
Read the guide → OnboardingNew starter onboarding checklist (UK)
A stepwise checklist for UK employers: what to do before day one, in week one, across the first month, and through probation.
Read the guide → Managing peopleHandling a grievance
Complaint, meeting, outcome, appeal - plus the statutory right to be accompanied and the 25% tribunal adjustment for unreasonably skipping part of it.
Read the guide → Managing peopleFair recruitment: the legal bits
The s.60 ban on health questions before an offer, right to work checks and why share codes fail for British citizens, and how long to keep records.
Read the guide →Choosing software
What HR software costs, and whether you need it yet.
How much does HR software cost?
The per-person rate is what vendors advertise; seat minimums, setup fees and tier creep decide your actual budget.
Read the guide → ComparisonHR software vs spreadsheets
Where spreadsheets still work, where they break, and the signs you've outgrown them.
Read the guide →Engagement & voice
Measuring how people feel - and protecting them while you do.
eNPS: measuring employee engagement
What the employee Net Promoter Score measures, how to calculate it on the 0-10 scale, typical benchmarks, and how often to run it.
Read the guide → PrivacyAnonymous feedback & k-anonymity
What k-anonymity is, why a minimum group size matters, and how to run anonymous employee feedback so people can be honest and safe.
Read the guide →Benefits & pensions
Auto-enrolment duties, what contributions really cost, and how to describe a package to staff.
Automatic enrolment: the employer's guide
The duties in the order you meet them - who to enrol at £10,000, the 6-week deadline, the opt-out window, three-yearly re-enrolment and the records.
Read the guide → Benefits & pensionsPension contribution calculator
Contributions on qualifying earnings, total or basic pay, which auto-enrolment category a worker falls into, and what salary sacrifice saves in NI.
Open the calculator → Benefits & pensionsBenefits policy template
Eleven clauses: pension, salary sacrifice, leave, sick pay, family leave, what happens to benefits during leave, and how a benefit can be changed.
Download the policy →Expenses & travel
Mileage, meals and the paperwork that keeps both tax-free.
Per diem and subsistence rates
The £5, £10 and £25 benchmark scale rates, the £10 late supplement that never stacks, and the receipt condition most employers miss.
Read the guide → Expenses & travelMileage claim calculator
AMAP at 55p and 25p, including the claim that crosses 10,000 miles mid-year, passenger payments, and whether you owe tax or are owed relief.
Open the calculator → Expenses & travelExpenses policy template
Thirteen clauses covering mileage, subsistence, company cards, receipts, deadlines and approval limits - with the HMRC conditions written in.
Download the policy →Templates & calculators
Ready-to-use documents and free interactive tools that pair with the guides.
HR templates
Copy-and-adapt documents: a complete TOIL policy and return-to-work interview questions, with honest guidance on tailoring them.
Browse templates → CalculatorsFree HR calculators
Overtime pay at any contract rate, day-one SSP costs under the 2026 rules, and pro-rata holiday for part-timers and starters.
Open the calculators →Also here: All free resources · 30 templates · 24 calculators · 12 comparisons
Put the guides into practice
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