The reality is that internal HR's role makes true friendship with employees complicated, if not impossible. HR professionals must balance company priorities, legal compliance, policy enforcement and confidentiality - all obligations that can conflict with employee advocacy. Delivering tough news on discipline or terminations strains any personal rapport. And maintaining distance is needed to objectively handle issues like harassment complaints. Most importantly however, internal HR will always protect the company and its interests above and beyond anything else.

So while internal HR may express friendly concern, their duties preclude forming closer bonds or serving as a genuine, trustworthy confidant.

If you are being made redundant in the UK, your employer must follow fair and legal procedures. There are consultation periods they must adhere to - for 20 to 99 employees this is 30 days minimum. During this time, they should discuss options like alternative employment. Your employer should select fairly for redundancies, without ​​​​discrimination​​​​.

You are entitled to statutory redundancy pay based on your age, service and pay. You may also get notice pay, unpaid holiday pay and contractual severance. Your employer must follow fair procedures - if not, contact ​ACAS​ first for free conciliation to potentially reach a settlement agreement for unfair redundancy disputes. If unresolved, you can then proceed to an employment tribunal claim within 3 months minus 1 day.

If you experience harassment, bullying or discrimination at work, you should keep records and report it to your employer following their grievance procedures. Your complaint should include specifics like dates, witnesses, supporting documents, and the requested resolution.

Your employer must investigate claims of unlawful discrimination based on protected characteristics like age, race, gender, disability, religion, etc. They should update you on expected timelines and cannot retaliate against you for reporting. If not resolved internally, you can get assistance from the Equality Advisory Support Service or file a claim with an employment tribunal within 3 months minus 1 day. Claims should be submitted to the ACAS first for early conciliation to try settling disputes confidentially before tribunal proceedings.

In most cases, your employer needs your consent to change your contract terms. They should consult with you on proposed changes and gain your clear acceptance. However, an employer can make limited unilateral changes if they have sufficiently reserved the right in your contract. But substantial changes like pay cuts without agreement could potentially be legally challenged. Significant changes may require your employer to terminate your current contract and offer re-employment on new terms. Refusing the new contract could result in dismissal with notice.

If you have concerns about contract changes that were implemented without your agreement, seek legal advice on whether the modifications are reasonable and permissible without consent. You may be able to negotiate, file a grievance, or claim breach of contract if the changes are substantial and were done unfairly without consultation.

Any UK employee with at least 26 weeks of continuous service can formally request flexible working arrangements. This includes options like part-time hours, compressed hours, remote work or adjusted schedules. Requests should be submitted in writing, specifying the details of your desired work pattern as well as when you would like it to begin.

Your employer must assess your request in a reasonable manner, considering factors like operational needs and costs. They should be particularly accommodating regarding requests related to caregiving responsibilities or disabilities protected by the Equality Act. Denials must include a specific business reason. You have the right to appeal a flexible working request denial through the company's formal grievance process. Discrimination claims may also be filed if the refusal seems unlawfully based on protected characteristics related to care duties relating to children and disabled individuals..

UK employment law enshrines an employee’s rights to the full wages outlined in their contract for the work they have completed, itemised properly with pay slips. Any unlawful deduction attempts enabling employers to withhold contractually guaranteed bonuses, benefits or regular wages can be legally contested. If your contract of employment does not contain a clause like the one below, chances are you employer might be making unlawful deductions from your pay: 

The Employer reserves the right to require the Employee to repay either by deduction from salary (which, for these purposes, includes accrued holiday and expenses) or by any other method acceptable to the Employer, any of the following:

1. any losses suffered by the Employer in relation to its property, monies, clients, customers, visitors or other employees, caused through the Employee’s deliberate negligence, recklessness, dishonesty or breach of the Employer's policies and procedures;
2. any excess in any insurance claim made against the Employer in respect of a motor accident for which the Employee are responsible or deemed to be responsible either wholly or in part;
3. any damages, expenses or any other monies paid or payable by the Employer to any third party for any act of omission for which the Employer may be deemed vicariously liable on the Employee’s behalf;
4. overpayment for any remuneration, expenses, benefits or any other payments made to the Employee in error, howsoever that error is caused;
5. a day's pay for every day of unauthorised absence;
6. salary paid in advance should the Employee fail to give proper notice to terminate this Appointment. (if this Clause applies, the Employee’s last day at work will be taken as the last day the payment became due), and
7. any other monies owed to the Employer by the Employee, including, but not limited to outstanding loans or advances, accreditations and qualifications or excess holiday off taken and the value of any outstanding equipment or miscellaneous items that the Employee has not returned prior to the Termination Date. 
8. the Employer shall not make deductions without notifying the Employee in writing as to the amounts deducted and reasons for deduction.




As these deductions may be made in breach of contract, you may make a claim to an employment tribunal for unlawful eductions from your pay without the need of a two year service qualifying period. You should raise a complaint internally with your employer initially and if the matter remains unsatisfactorily addressed or unresolved, you can then contact ACAS and notify them that you intend to make a claim to ET for unlawful deductions from pay. 75% of claims tend to get settled without a need to get to a full Employment Tribunal hearing.

Bullying can be defined as a sustained form of psychological abuse; Bullying is offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour, an abuse or misuse of power that is meant to undermine, humiliate or injure the person on the receiving end and often resulting in a significant loss of confidence. 

Examples of bullying actions/ behaviours:

• Personal insults by word or behaviour; Unwanted horseplay or practical joking; Spreading malicious rumours or gossip
• Demeaning comments and unwelcome remarks about a person’s dress, appearance or age
• Making belittling remarks;  Ridiculing or demeaning someone 
• Embarrassing an employee in public
• Ostracisation or victimisation; isolation or ‘freezing-out’
• Unfair treatment
• Coercion, Shouting at employee
• Copying emails that are critical about someone to others who do not need to know
• Undermining an employee’s integrity
• Overbearing supervision or other misuse of power or position
• Withholding information deliberately
• Giving employees unachievable tasks & setting impossible deadlines; being over demanding or unreasonable or ’setting an employee up to fail’
• Making threats or comments about job security without foundation
• Giving an employee meaningless tasks or unpleasant jobs
• Regularly, deliberately undermining a competent employee by overloading and constant criticism and undervaluing an employee’s contribution –- not giving credit where it is due
• Preventing employees progressing by intentionally blocking promotion or training opportunities

This list is not intended to be exhaustive 

Bullying and harassment are not necessarily taking place face to face. They may also occur in written communications, email, phone, and automatic supervision methods such as computer recording of downtime from work or the number of calls handled if these are not applied to all workers.

Bullying and harassment make someone feel anxious and humiliated. Feelings of anger and frustration at being unable to cope may be triggered. Some people may attempt to retaliate in some way. Others may become frightened and demotivated. Stress, loss of self-confidence and self-esteem caused by harassment or bullying can lead to job insecurity, illness, absence from work and even resignation. Almost always job performance is affected and relations in the workplace suffer.

Harassment is unwanted conduct relating to a protected characteristic which violates a person’s dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. Harassment is unlawful in respect of most of the protected characteristics. 

The 9 protected characteristics, as defined by The Equality Act 2010, are:

1. Age, 
2. Disability, 
3. Gender reassignment, 
4. Marriage and civil partnership,
5. Pregnancy and maternity, 
6. Race (which includes colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins), 
7. Sex,
8. Sexual orientation, 
9. Religion or belief.

Conduct may be harassment whether or not the person behaving in that way intends to offend. Something intended as a 'joke' may offend another person. Different people find different things acceptable. Everyone has the right to decide what behaviour is acceptable to them and to have their feelings respected by others. 

Behaviour that any reasonable person realises would be likely to offend, will be harassment without the recipient having to make it clear in advance that behaviour of that type is not acceptable to them, e.g. sexual touching. A single incident can be harassment if it is sufficiently serious.

It may not be so clear in advance that some other forms of behaviour would be unwelcome to, or could offend, a particular person, e.g. certain 'banter', flirting or asking someone for a private drink after work. In these cases, first-time conduct, which unintentionally causes offence, will not necessarily be deemed as harassment but it will become harassment if the conduct continues after the recipient has made it clear, by words or conduct, that such behaviour is unacceptable to them.

Harassment can be (but is not limited to):

1. Unwanted conduct, verbal or otherwise, which affects the dignity of people at work, including bullying or intimidating behaviour
2. Creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive working environment for others
3. Sexual, racial, physical, verbal, ageist, sexual orientation, disability or religious banter
4. Sarcastic or offensive personal remarks about colleagues.

Sexual Harassment is unwanted conduct of a sexual nature which has the purpose or effect of violating a person's dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that person. Examples of sexual harassment include:

• sexual comments or jokes
• displaying sexually graphic pictures, posters or photos
• suggestive looks, staring or leering
• propositions and sexual advances
• making promises in return for sexual favours
• sexual gestures
• intrusive questions about a person’s private or sex life or a person discussing their own sex life
• sexual posts or contact on social media
• spreading sexual rumours about a person
• sending sexually explicit emails or text messages, and
• unwelcome touching, hugging, massaging or kissing.