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Apprentices are usually employees who have been employed at reduced costs in order that they can be trained in a particular skill. As employees, apprentices will have the usual employment rights and their apprenticeship is usually for a fixed period of time; the period will depend on how long it will take to obtain the skills and qualifications they are training for. Generally apprentice contracts should only be terminated early for serious misconduct but will end automatically on the last date of the fixed term.

If some staff are late for work or fail to attend work because of severe weather, then an employer is under no obligation to pay them, unless there is a specific provision for such absence to be paid in their contract of employment.

If you’ve just set up your own business, you may be tempted to try and look after your own HR, especially if you’re running a small to a medium-sized enterprise with a limited budget. But you could leave yourself open to more significant problems later down the line if you try to cut corners when dealing with such a sensitive area of the business. It’s an easy trap to fall into, as most companies start with a tiny number of employees and no immediate concerns about human resource management.

With more people using social networking sites, well established and clear principles for managing the social media activities of employees are a work in progress, however, companies can still do this by adopting a sensible and practical approach.

In the vast majority of work settings employees find their own level of appropriate behaviour which works for them all. However, if someone in the workplace does not like the behaviour and finds it upsetting employers must take this seriously.

The Harvey Weinstein scandal has once again placed the spotlight on sexual harassment reporting. The #MeToo campaign soon followed, encouraging people to speak out if they’ve ever been sexually harassed or abused.