How many weekly hours to contract your employees for
You’re used to working all day, every day in the pursuit of business success, but when you take on employees, their contracts must state what their working days and hours are. So, how do you...
Employment & HR
All UKBF Articles
Employment & HR
Workforce Planning in 2026: Hiring, Retention and Managing Rising Costs
For many UK small business owners, staffing remains one of the most challenging and emotionally charged parts of running a business. As we move into 2026, questions surrounding hiring, retention...
Ozzy
Employment & HR
Employment & HR
How to hire new members of staff in a tight labour market
Does your business have a great career opportunity but is struggling to find staff? Learn how to tweak your strategy and hire in a tight labour market. Taking on new employees is a headache for...
Dan Hobson
Employment & HR
Self-employed notice period: how does it work?
Self-employed workers and contractors have no legal right to a notice period. But there are always exceptions to the rule – so how does it work? A notice period is there to protect full-time...
ChrisGoodfellow
Employment & HR
Low pay: UKBF members discuss minimum wage and state benefits
A recent thread about low pay sparked a lively and insightful discussion among UKBF members. In this article, we share some of the highlights from the conversation. In the UK, almost 2.5 million...
Dan Hobson
Employment & HR
3 reasons to hire an apprentice as a small business owner
It’s National Apprentice Week (6-12th February), an annual, week-long celebration of apprenticeships across England. What better time to look at the benefits of hiring an apprentice as a small...
ChrisGoodfellow
Employment & HR
Where can you find freelancers for your small business?
Looking for dedicated expertise or an extra pair of hands, without the expensive and drawn-out hiring process? That’s where freelancers come into play. Working with freelancers is a brilliant...
Ozzy
Employment & HR
How to talk to staff about pay cuts or reductions in hours
Talking to staff about cutting their pay or working hours can be tough at the best of times. But with these HR-informed strategies, you can help to avoid conflict and stay within the law. As the...
Dan Hobson
Employment & HR
Payroll explained: How to create a payslip for your business
Employers must give all their employees and workers payslips by law. Payslips are given on or before the day that someone gets paid. Payslips can be given as a paper document, sent as an email...
Dan Hobson
Employment & HR
How to onboard your employees – and make sure they stay
Onboarding new staff onto your team is a crucial part of the hiring process. Fail to offer the right support in those first few months and you risk having to go through the recruitment process...
Kat Haylock
Employment & HR
How employers can develop and nurture an inclusive wellbeing culture for their employees
There’s no doubt that COVID-19 changed the world of work in the UK like never before. Millions of people were forced overnight to work remotely from their own homes, and employers and employees...
JuliaClementsRoche
Employment & HR
Flexible working isn’t the future – talent is demanding it now
Surveys have found that flexible working leads to a more loyal and productive workforce. With staff increasingly demanding a better work-life balance, many employers are making flexibility a...
ChrisGoodfellow
Employment & HR
Overcoming business burnout after a tough year
It seems like business owners had one word on the brain at the end of 2021: burnout. Searches for "signs of burnout" increased by 221% in the last three months of the year, while mentions of...
ChrisGoodfellow
Employment & HR
Mental health support for SME owners
'Being your own boss' is a reason many business owners give when explaining why they decided to become an entrepreneur. But, as the saying goes, ‘with great power comes great responsibility.'...
ChrisGoodfellow
Employment & HR
Will coronavirus mean more businesses take up a four-day week?
For many, the biggest impact COVID-19 will have on their lives will be through their work. Aside from the millions already placed on furlough, by March 2020 one in eleven people employed in the UK...
UKBF Editor
Employment & HR
Managing employees in the coronavirus crisis
There's little else to think about but Coronavirus this week as the nation enters an extended period of lockdown. For business owners - not to mention their employees - this is a volatile and...
UKBF Editor
Employment & HR
How to stop your team from New Year job hunting
Retaining staff in the New Year is enough to keep you up at night. The thought of your hardest-working employees sending CVs out to competitors strikes fear into your heart, doesn't it...
UKBF Editor
Employment & HR
Managing staff sickness during flu season
It's the time of year when everyone seems to be coming down with something. Whether it's the common cold or full-blown influenza, the spread of illness during the winter months can seem...
UKBF Editor
Employment & HR
How to get over your flexible working fears
What's the first thing you think of when you hear the words 'flexi-time'? Does your blood run cold? Are you suddenly imagining phones ringing in an empty office at 4pm on a Friday? Perhaps it's...
UKBF Editor
Employment & HR
Workplace pensions: rethinks, warnings and dilemmas
A poll about workplace pensions with a hint of Shakespeare's Hamlet about it was recently started on the Forums: to pension or not to pension, that was the question. Workplace pensions...
UKBF Editor