Buzzing About HR
đď¸ Buzzing About HR
Straight-talking HR for real businesses.
By Kate Underwood HR & Training, this podcast makes people management make sense.
Hosted by award-winning HR expert Kate Underwood, each episode cuts through the jargon to share practical tips, real business stories, and smart ways to handle the people stuff that keeps you up at night.
From tricky conversations to team motivation and staying on the right side of employment law, Kate gives you what you actually need â no fluff, just advice you can use today.
If you run a small business, lead a team, or simply want to make your workplace a little less stressful and a lot more human, this is your weekly caffeine hit of HR wisdom â powered by cake, coffee, and the wisdom of Hazel, our resident Wellbeing Officer.
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Buzzing About HR
Start 2026 Strong By Fixing Five Simple HR Jobs Today
In this episode of Buzzing About HR, we drop into that familiar end of year moment. It is the 23rd of December. The calendar has slid onto the floor, budget papers are wedged under a mug, and the to do list looks like it is multiplying when you are not looking. If December chaos has a habit of following you into January, this episode is designed to stop that happening.
This is a calm, practical reset to help you step into 2026 feeling organised rather than already behind. Over a brisk, biscuit fuelled hour, I share the wins that really mattered in 2025 and the people practices that kept small teams functioning when everything else felt busy. Things like tighter onboarding, fair pay decisions, and training that actually leaves a trail of proof instead of just good intentions.
We also tackle the Employment Rights Bill in human language. What is already live. What is coming next. And what that actually means for your business day to day. I translate the law into practical actions you can take now, including clearer offer letters, simple day one information, manager scripts that explain tricky topics without causing a revolt, and short, sensible training with tiny quizzes so reasonable steps mean something in real life.
If January usually starts with firefighting, I give you five very specific moves to steady things fast. Blocking short diary slots to tidy your handbook, sweep payroll, and brief managers. Building a one page people list that shows rates, start dates and probation milestones. Creating an onboarding starter pack that makes new hires feel welcome and useful on day one. And picking the role with the highest churn so you can redesign its first 90 days properly.
We also run through the questions that tend to come up at this time of year. What to update now versus later. How to prove training without making it a drama. What really applies to tiny teams. Why apprenticeships still make sense. And how to explain frozen tax thresholds using net pay examples that people actually understand.
Looking ahead, I also flag what data is worth capturing for predictable hours, probation outcomes and future changes, so you are not scrambling later. This episode is about simple preparation that saves you time, stress and avoidable mistakes.
If you want help choosing tools that give you time back, you can book a discovery call via the show notes. And if you prefer to quietly prepare in the background, join the newsletter and I will nudge you when key dates land.
Subscribe, share this with another owner who needs a calmer January, and tell me which of the five moves you are going to do first.
Thank you for tuning in to Buzzing About HR with Kate Underwood!
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Have questions or need HR advice? Reach out to Kate Underwood HR & Training at www.kateunderwoodhr.co.uk, email us on buzz@kateunderwoodhr.co.uk or follow us on social media for more tips, resources, and updates.
Until next time, keep buzzing and take care of your people!
Picture this. It's Tuesday, the 23rd of December. Hazel has headbutted the wall calendar and 2025 is face down on the floor. There are budget papers under my mug, a fresh brand guide under Hazel's paw, and my to-do list looks like it's breeding. Here's the question. What if you let December's problems roll straight into January? Or we draw a line, make a plan, and start 2026 on the front foot. Kettle on, cakeout. End of year wrap, here we go. Welcome. Hello, I'm Kate, and this is Buzzing About HR. UK only. Plain English, no fluff. Today is a special. Launch year highlights, new website and branding, the employment rights bill, and the things that actually helped small businesses survive 2025. Hazel is supervising and accepts payment in biscuits. She is not taking questions about biscuit tax. Part one Setting the Scene If 2025 had a theme, it was this do the basics brilliantly. Costs were up. Time was tight. Rules kept shifting. And still, you hired, trained, paid people, and kept customers happy. That matters. We forget to say it, so here it is. Well done. Also, a little milestone of our own. We turned ten in June. Ten years of helping small businesses stay out of tribunals and in good nick. We celebrated with Cake. Hazel handled quality control. Part two. You told me the picture this openings made HR feel human, not heavy. I'll take that. We covered payfairness, onboarding, inclusion, men's health, holiday burnout, vaccines, and the spiky corners of employment law. The website went live in November. Faster, clearer, easier to book a call, guides, articles and the newsletter in one place, no treasure hunt. The rebrand landed, cleaner look. Same attitude, fewer buzzwords. More do this next. Hazel approves the colour palette. It complements her collar. Part three. The Employment Rights Bill. What matters in human words? On Tuesday, the sixteenth of december 2025, the Employment Rights Bill passed Parliament. It received royal assent on Thursday the 18th of December 2025. The changes arrive in stages during 2026 and 2027. What this means for you right now. Things already in place from 2024 and 2025. Flexible working requests from day one. Extended redundancy protection around pregnancy and family leave. The TIPS rules. From 2026 and 2027. Sick pay from day one. Day one rights for some family leave. Shifts towards predictable and guaranteed hours. A statutory fire and rehire code, wider consultation on redundancies, unfair dismissal protection after six months, and removal of the compensation cap. Translation. Offer letters that make sense. Day one info that stops the FAF. Onboarding checklists that take 20 minutes to set up and then save hours. We tightened pay decisions. Short Y notes behind every rise. Light pay bans so supervisors don't end up on the same as new starters. Straight manager scripts for net pay chats while thresholds stayed frozen. We made training stick. 10-minute micro sessions on dignity at work and preventing harassment. A tiny quiz at the end so you can prove understanding. Reasonable steps need proof, not posters. Toolbox talks with sign-offs. Managers briefed in plain English, not policy bingo. And yes, we ate cake on the milestones. Non negotiable. By the 12th of January, it is taller and scarier. Fix book three half hour slots now. Handbook tidy, payroll sweep, manager briefing. Block them like client work. The quiet payroll drift. Someone is still on last spring's rate. Fix run one report. Before you log off for Christmas. Cross check rates. Allowances. Holiday ACRUL. One clean sweep. Beat seven sorry emails. The policy swamp. There are six versions of sickness policy in circulation. Fix. Pick one. Date it. Put it in a single live folder. Tell people where it lives. Archive the rest. It is legal and cleansing. The training equals poster myth. You printed a poster. No one read it. Fix ten minute briefing with a two question quiz. Names and dates saved. That is how you show reasonable steps. The vanishing onboarding. Two real tasks on day one, buddy booked, fifteen minute check-ins. Simple and kind. Part six. Fact check. Pause. Let's make sure you're not quoting ghosts at the Christmas party. Flexible working requests from day one. In force since April 2024. Extended redundancy protection around pregnancy and family leave. In force since April 2024. Carers leave in force since April 2024. Duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. In force since october 2024. TIPS rules in force since october 2024. Neonatal care leave due April 2025. Employment Rights Bill passed 16 december 2025. Royal Assent eighteenth december twenty twenty five. Main changes phased in 2026 to 2027. Part seven. End of year checkpoints. Light, doble, not scary. One folder to rule them all. Put current policies and templates in a single live folder. Date them. If it is not in live, it is not live. People list one page. Names, roles, rates, start dates, probation date, last pay change, 20 minutes with a brew. Training proof that actually proves something. Pick two topics, preventing harassment and basic safety. Schedule a 10-minute refresher with a tiny quiz in January. That is it. You can do it this week. Payroll sanity sweep. Check anyone on allowances, anyone close to legal minimums, anyone whose hours pattern changed. Fix it now while your head is still in 2025. Part 8. Listener. Q and A. Quick, plain answers. Q1. Do I need to rewrite the whole handbook for the employment rights bill right now? A. No. Tidy the 2024 and 2025 items first. Then pencil dates for 2026 changes. We will update you as the start dates drop. Q2. Is a short e-learning with a quiz enough for reasonable steps on harassment. A. It is a very good start. Add a clear policy, visible reporting routes, and regular refreshers. Keep the records. Q3. We are tiny. Do the same rules apply? A. Yes. Some reporting thresholds hit big employers, but the core rights and duties apply to everyone. Question four. How do I explain frozen tax thresholds to staff without starting a riot? A. Use net pay examples in plain English. Your salary went up by X, the thresholds did not move, so more of it is taxed. Clarity calms. What should I do if a new starter is wobbling in week two? A. Ask what one thing would help most. Set a seven-day plan with daily check-ins and a specific skill to practice. Q6. Are apprentices still worth it? A. Yes. Training for under 25 apprentices in small businesses is now fully funded. You still pay wages, give them a mentor and a simple path or you waste the chance. Q7. How much cake is too much cake? A. Trick question. Not in December. Part 9. Your do next list, January proof. Book 3. January slots now. Handbook tidy, payroll sweep, manager briefing. Prep 2. 10 minute trainings with tiny quizzes. Preventing harassment and basic safety. Build the onboarding starter pack. Welcome email. Buddy note. Two day one tasks. Make the one page people list. Pick one role with the highest churn and fix its first 90 days. If this sounds like a lot, it is not. It is five clear moves. There is affordable tech that handles the dull bits, checklists, e-signatures, training trackers, so you are not living in spreadsheets. If you want help choosing something that actually pays you back in time, book a discovery call. We will steer you to the right fit, not the shiniest logo. Part 10. What to change in your absence notes and payroll. Predictable and guaranteed hours. The data you should start capturing now. Six-month unfair dismissal. How to tighten probation so you are fair and protected. Fire and rehire code. How to plan change without playing with matches. Plus practical series on manager conversations, pay fairness without drama, and an onboarding refresh you can build in a morning. That is us for today. If you are wrapping up for the year two, take the win. You have earned it. Next week we are running a roundup of our favourite moments from 2025. The bits that actually helped small businesses keep calm and carry on. Hazel and I are taking a well-earned breather while that plays out. Want a head start for January. Hit the link in the show notes and book a discovery call. We will turn the should do list into a simple plan that actually happens. Prefer to lurk for now. Pop your name on the newsletter and I will nudge you when key dates land. I am Kate. This is Buzzing About HR. Kettle On. Standards Up. See you in 2026.
