Upskilling Managers
Most managers aren’t Employment Law and HR experts, and even the best-run organisations will inevitably encounter employee issues from time to time.
As well as taking time away from value-driving activities, dealing with people problems requires a firm grasp of HR best practice and a working understand of complex Employment Law. If you’re not fully confident, leaning on trusted professionals can make all the difference.
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How we help
More confident, competent management teams
Whether you’re keen to upskill in essential HR topics and legal compliance or looking for ongoing support in the form of a responsive helpline, we offer a range of solutions designed to help managers carry out their role confidently and effectively.
- Unlimited day-to-day support from your own team of legally-qualified Employment Law specialists
- Access expert-created templates and refer back to advice at any time through MyEW
- Save time with bespoke document drafting, including your contracts, handbooks and policies
- Develop confidence and awareness in essential people management topics with training from seasoned HR professionals
- Relieve pressure with on-site HR Consultancy support, including mediation, investigation and more
Related Information
Maximise productivity, minimise legal risk
From time-consuming employee grievances to complex redundancy exercises, unless you know the correct process to follow and the potential legal pitfalls, it can be all too easy to enflame a situation or, worse, leave yourself exposed to Employment Tribunal claims.
Whatever level of support you require, from step-by-step guidance to shadowing one of our HR Consultants, we’ll work with you to relieve unnecessary admin burden, improve internal competence, and equip managers with the tools they need to become self-sufficient.
"It's the immediate availability of qualified, professional support and the confidence that Ellis Whittam gives that we value most."
Ricker Restaurant Holdings
Popular FAQs
Your queries about upskilling managers and questions about our service, answered by our Employment Law and HR specialists.
What types of management training do you offer?
We offer a range of interactive and engaging HR training courses designed and delivered by professionally-qualified, highly-experienced HR practitioners. Popular courses include Manager Essentials, Discipline & Grievance, and Equality & Diversity, all of which are delivered exclusively to you on site or at a venue of your choice.
Are the courses delivered online?
We offer both in-person HR training courses, delivered by our HR specialists at your premises or offsite at a venue of your choice, and a catalogue of interactive e-Learning courses which can be completed at your own pace, in your own time. We may also be able to adapt our normal classroom-based courses to deliver them to you online in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
What e-Learning courses are available?
Our ever-growing library of e-Learning courses currently covers over 100 topics, including HR courses such as Equality & Diversity, Sexual Harassment and Social Media Use; soft skills courses such as Communication, Leadership and Change Management; and compliance courses such GDPR, Anti-Money Laundering and the Bribery Act. We also offer an extensive range of Health & Safety courses, including Accident Reporting, Risk Assessment and First Aid. Download the full course catalogue
I need a course that covers HR essentials. What would you recommend?
Utilising breakout rooms, chat windows and polls, our interactive Manager Essentials training course provides a general overview of key people management issues, including Employment Law issues, that may arise in the life of an employment relationship and explains how to deal with them.
Will you support managers, or just HR teams and business owners?
Typically, for smaller employers, we support managers, directors and owners, essentially becoming a high-quality outsourced HR function. For large employers, we provide specialist support to their in-house HR Team
Can you help managers to produce documents?
Yes. We can support you with a full spectrum of documentation, from first written warnings to new contractual clauses, to a policy you might not have in your handbook, plus more complex legal documents like settlement agreements and redundancy outcome letters.
Can you provide MR reports for managers?
Yes. For those with larger case volumes, we can produce monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual MR reports to show you the sorts of matters that you’re requiring support with most often and total usage/activities by site, department or manager. This will enable you to identify trends and problem hotspots and take the necessary action.
What if we need support on site?
If you require more hands-on support, we offer a range of proactive and reactive HR Consultancy services, including assigning HR specialists to conduct investigations, mediation and consultation meetings, to help you manage these processes with minimal management pressure.
Explore other HR advice and support
Absenteeism
Whether you’re bogged down in these low-level issues or facing a particularly tricky situation, our experts can help you deal with bogus absences, long-standing conditions that may be disability-related, and everything in between.
How long is long-term sickness absence?
There is no hard and fast rule about this. Each case will turn on its facts considering, in particular the nature of the employee’s condition, whether it amounts to a disability and how long it is likely to last for. Medical evidence will always be key in answering these questions and when considering how to deal with people off on long-term sick.
Can you help with medical capability?
Yes. Our Welfare and Medical Capability support gives you hands-on assistance from a dedicated HR specialist, who will help you to manage medical capability as quickly and painlessly as possible. This includes conducting welfare meetings, medical capability hearings and appeals, and return-to-work interviews with the employee on your behalf.
Grievance
Managing an employee grievance can be an incredibly time-consuming task. Ensure compliance and and prevent unnecessary strain on management time with our pragmatic Employment Law and HR support.
What should I do if an employee raises a grievance against me?
Refer to your Employee Handbook to determine the process you should use. If there is no handbook or procedure, then you should refer to the Acas Code of Practice. If the grievance is against you personally, you should refer it to a colleague to independently investigate.
Can you help with conducting investigations, hearings and appeals?
Yes. If you’re not comfortable conducting investigations, hearings and appeals yourself, or are simply strapped for time, our seasoned HR specialists can offer on-site support to take the pressure off.
Disciplinary
Whether you feel completely out of your depth or just want the reassurance of a second opinion, seeking expert support can help you to investigate the problem, determine the severity of the offence, follow the correct process, and reach a fair outcome decision after careful consideration of the facts.
What are the steps in the disciplinary process?
Generally speaking, it is investigation, meeting, outcome, appeal. How long each step takes, and the exact process involved, will often depend on the seriousness or complexity of the allegations.
Can you offer on-site support with investigations and hearings?
Yes. If you’re not confident tackling the situation alone, we can provide on-site HR Consultancy support with disciplinary investigations, hearings and appeals. We can conduct the meetings for you or, if you prefer, attend them with you to offer professional, experienced support. We can also provide similar assistance with employee grievances.
Redundancy
From step-by-step Employment Law advice to bespoke HR Consultancy support tailored to the needs of your business, our highly-qualified experts can help you to make necessary business decisions confidently and compliantly. No guesswork, no unnecessary pressure on those involved.
When does the redundancy notice period start?
The redundancy notice period will start once the employee is served with a notice of redundancy and given a finishing date. Employees who have been employed for at least one month but less than two years are entitled to a minimum of one week’s notice. Those with between two and 12 years’ service are entitled to one week’s notice for each year they have been employed, although some employees may have more generous notice requirements contained in their contract.
Can you provide support for redundancy consultation meetings?
Yes, if you’re not confident in chairing these meetings yourself or simply don’t have the time, our experienced HR Consultants can conduct your consultation meetings for you for extra peace of mind.
Performance Management
Performance management can be a large undertaking for time-poor managers. With our fixed-fee Employment Law and HR support, you can offload this burden with help from highly-qualified professionals.
How can I use benchmarks in managing performance?
Benchmarks are often used to compare the performance of one employee against another. In practice this can sometimes be difficult, especially if the quality or quantity of work produced is difficult to measure. However, it is important to try and treat all employees equally, so a performance management process should only be used against someone who is demonstrably underperforming. Often that can only be done by comparing them to their colleagues in similar roles.
Where can I go for help with performance management?
Our Employment Law and HR specialists can offer expert performance management support, from helping you to conduct an effective and compliant process through to bespoke documentation, including invite letters, outcome letters and PIPs.
95% Client satisfaction rate - 97% Client retention rate
Experts in Employment Law & HR
Why choose us?
At Ellis Whittam, we’re known for our bespoke service and the quality of our support. Not only is our expertise unmatched, but we take the time to know you so that we can function as a true extension of your team.
- Your own small team of dedicated experts
- Commercial, pragmatic advice tailored to you
- Bespoke contracts, policies and handbooks
- Trusted by over 35,000 organisations
- Recognised as a leading firm by the Legal 500
Who you'll be working with
James Tamm
Director of Legal Services
Kim Clarke
Head of Team
Toyah Marshall
Principal Employment Law Adviser
Colleague Spotlight
Adele Blinkhorn
HR Consultancy Manager
Client Stories
The Works
“I’ve taken Ellis Whittam into every organisation that I’ve worked with. I’ve introduced them to many teams and many colleagues and referred them with absolute pleasure because I genuinely trust in the service that we get.”
Debbie Jamieson, People Director
Client Stories
Culina Group
“We get a great deal of comfort and satisfaction knowing that we have support as and when we need it, in a decisive and responsive way.”
Richard Berry, Group HR Director
Client Stories
Bluestone National Park Resort
“What we recognised in Ellis Whittam is the background that they have. They are able to supply knowledge and experience in a number of disciplines, which enables us to develop our business in a way that’s safe, to do it on time and with a quality to it.”
Debbie Rainbow, Director of Human Resources and Health & Safety
Client Stories
BeaverFit
“As the company started to get larger, we knew we had to protect our employees and our contractors both onsite and in the offices. Ellis Whittam is exactly what we needed to move the company forward.”
Joanne Beaver, Operations Director
Client Stories
Choice Care
“We have found Ellis Whittam to be responsive and aligned with our business in terms of our processes and expectations. Their pragmatic approach has proven to be a great fit – nobody wants to be fighting their adviser on basic employment decisions.”
Jonathan Green, COO
Client Stories
Catalyst Choices
“Ellis Whittam supports our 280 staff members with Employment Law and Health & Safety and has provided quality management training too.”
Lisa Best, Head of Service Delivery
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