Frequently Asked Questions

What does Indigo HR do?

Indigo HR provides Human Resources support to businesses both locally in the south of England and nationally, helping employers manage their employees effectively.

What makes Indigo HR different?

We provide pragmatic practical HR support which is focused on the needs of your business. We pride ourselves in working alongside organisations to understand their needs ensuring our HR solutions enhance and not hinder your business.

What is the CIPD?

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is the professional body for those involved in the management and development of people.

How does Indigo HR work?

Indigo HR works with a network of Associates carefully chosen in order to promote the philosophy of the company. The philosophy being to provide practical HR advice and skills to be able to support businesses achieve their goals. The network of Associates ensures that Indigo HR as a small consultancy can provide the depth, cover, reliability and range of support provided by the big consultancies while giving the service and flexibility of a smaller company tailored to the business needs.

What are the benefits of using Indigo HR?

• On tap support

Advice and support available via telephone or emai

• Pragmatic business focussed approach

Indigo provides pragmatic practical HR support which is focused on the needs of your business. We pride ourselves in working alongside organisations to understand their needs ensuring our HR solutions enhance and not hinder your business

• Competitive pricing

Flexible pricing policy to suit your needs

• Small consultancy, big service

Indigo HR works with a network of Associates carefully chosen in order to promote the philosophy of the company. The philosophy being to provide practical HR advice and skills to be able to support businesses achieve their goals. The network of Associates ensures that Indigo HR as a small consultancy can provide the depth, cover, reliability and range of support provided by the big consultancies while giving the service and flexibility of a smaller company tailored to the business needs

What sort of companies use Indigo HR?

Indigo’s clients range from a small company with 3 employees in the UK to a global business with over 35000 employees. All sizes of organisation require HR support. We provide the services of a ‘virtual HR department’ for SMEs which are not large enough to either have any HR support or HR support with limited experience. In addition, we provide HR on a project basis to larger organisations whose HR department needs additional specialist support or an extra member of their HR team on a temporary basis.

Who are Indigo’s Associates?

Indigo HR has a close network of Associates to provide the depth of service rarely found in small consultancies. They are:

Sue Ferguson FCIPD
Julie Marsden MCIPD
Laura Davis MCIPD, NLP Prac
Nicki Kempston MCIPD
Carol Cromer MCIPD
Rebecca Woolmington MCIPD
Andrea McNeil FCIPD

Do I have to provide employees with a written contract of employment or will a handshake be ok?

As soon as you take on an employee to work for you, you should draw up a contract of employment which sets out the relationship between you and your employee. There are penalties if you don’t.

By law you must provide an employee with specific employment terms, (known as a "statement of terms") within 2 months of the employee's start date. However, a statement of terms is the bare minimum required by law. A comprehensive contract of employment allows you to specify an employee's duties and responsibilities which will protect both you and the employee.

Does a part-time worker, who normally works from Monday to Wednesday, have a right to be paid for public holidays which fall on Thursday and Friday?

A part-time worker would only be able to claim payment for any public holidays if full-time workers at the same workplace are given paid leave for public holidays in addition to their statutory entitlement to 4 weeks paid annual leave.

Under the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations, part-time workers must not be treated less favourably than full-time workers in respect of their terms and conditions of employment. Where full-time workers are entitled to paid public holidays in addition to their statutory 4 weeks paid holiday, part-time employees whose normal days of work do not fall on days when most paid bank holidays occur could be at a disadvantage. In these circumstances, it is best practice to give part-time employees a pro rata entitlement to paid public holidays, according to the number of hours they work.

What happens to employees’ terms and conditions while they are on maternity leave?

During both the Ordinary Maternity Leave period and the Additional Maternity Leave period all terms and conditions of employment remain the same, except those relating to remuneration. Therefore both statutory and contractual holiday continues to accrue and an employee will be entitled to keep (in most circumstances) their company car, mobile phone, private medical insurance etc.

Those terms relating to remuneration will be affected by how much maternity pay is paid. Statutory Maternity pay is the minimum amount of remuneration an employee can receive during their maternity leave. Some companies decide to pay more than this

One of my employees wants to return to work after maternity leave on a part time basis. Do I have to allow that?

Not necessarily. The law gives eligible employees, both mothers and fathers, the right to request a flexible working pattern and places a duty on you to consider such requests seriously. It does not provide employees with an automatic right to work flexibly.

You are able to refuse a request if you can show that one of the following grounds applies:

• inability to rearrange work among existing staff
• burden of additional costs
• detrimental effect on the ability to meet customer demand
• inability to recruit additional staff
• detrimental impact on quality or performance
• insufficiency of work when the employee proposes to work
• planned structural changes.

The grounds for refusal potentially give you some scope to properly refuse an application for flexible working. Be careful though as refusing a request for flexible working may give rise to a sex discrimination claim if it is not handled carefully. There is also a legal procedure which you should adhere to if you wish to remain compliant with the law.

What entitlement to paternity leave do employees have?

Employees have the right to two weeks' paid paternity leave which is in additional to their annual leave. They have to take this either as one full week or two full weeks, not odd days. You don’t have to pay them full pay, but you must pay them statutory paternity pay. If your employee is adopting a child then the female partner may be entitled to paternity leave!

I have an employee who keeps taking days off sick. Can I contact their GP direct to request a medical report?

You can get a GP’s report but not without getting the employee's written consent first. Once this has been obtained you can write to the doctor but you must give the employee the opportunity of seeing the Dr’s report before it is sent to the Company.

How can Indigo HR help with my recruitment?

Indigo HR can help in a variety of ways from managing the whole recruitment campaign from writing job descriptions to interviewing and offering a job, to just providing consultancy about questions to ask at interview.

How do I find out what I can, and can’t, ask at interview?

Indigo HR consultants can support you and help you navigate through the minefield of questions you can and can’t legally ask at interview.

What are psychometric assessments?

Psychometric tests are designed to help employers gauge whether a candidate's skills and behavioural style make them suitable for a specific role. The tests, which can reveal a great deal of precise information about a job applicant, will either measure aptitude or personality.

Finding the right person for the right job via the most direct route is what every employer wants. Increasingly, psychometric testing is instrumental in helping organisations achieve this.

Two-thirds of medium to large organisations use such testing alongside traditional methods such as interviewing, references and assessment centres. Moreover, it is estimated that nearly half of UK managers applying for a job sit some form of online test.

What type of assessments does Indigo HR use?

We are qualified in SHL psychometric assessments, MBTI, Belbin and other psychometric assessments. Do call for tailored advice.

How do I check whether a prospective employee has the right to work in the UK?

It is a criminal offence to employ someone who does not have permission to work in the UK. To establish a defence, you must check and make a copy of certain original documents in respect of every new employee, before they begin their employment.

Be careful to avoid racial discrimination when checking new employees’ documentation. Checking the documents of only those who look or sound foreign is likely to constitute unlawful discrimination. The best way to avoid this is to treat all prospective employees in the same way and only ask for a document or documents from the person who is to be offered the position.

What does ‘Reward’ mean in HR?

Reward refers to a company’s compensation & benefits package, which should be designed to attract, motivate and retain employees so that they contribute to your business goals.

Many people think that money i.e. salary is the only thing they need to think about when it comes to rewarding their employees. This is just the tip of the iceberg. When thinking about reward for employees it is important to review:

• Salary
• Prospects/promotion possibilities
• Pension
• Non financial recognition
• Benefits e.g. company car or car allowance, private medical insurance, holidays, sickness benefits,
• Commission or bonuses
• Voluntary benefits
• Flexible benefits

Do I have to provide a stakeholder pension?

You are required to designate a stakeholder pension scheme and make it available to eligible employees unless:-

• you have fewer than 5 employees;
• you have an occupational pension scheme which is available to all employees during their first year of employment ;
• you offer a personal pension scheme to all employees, to which you, as the employer, contribute at least 3% of the employee’s basic pay. The scheme must have no penalties for early release.

The rules in relation to stakeholder pensions are complex and you should take expert advice before setting up a scheme.

What is job evaluation?

Job Evaluation is a method of comparing different jobs to provide a basis for a grading and pay structure. The aim is to evaluate the job, not the jobholder, although it is recognised that to some extent any assessment of a job's total demands relative to another will always be subjective. Moreover, job evaluation is in large part a social mechanism to establish agreed differentials within organisations.

See our useful downloads for more information

What training and development does Indigo HR provide?

Indigo HR provides a wide range of training and coaching for clients. For further information please contact us.

0845 0039456 or 07949 552403