[Page revised 15/04/24]
Citizens Advice
Provides both information and advice on employment related matters which is free to use. You can view the information on their website. Just check that you are viewing the pages which apply to your country within the United Kingdom.
Advice and/or help to complete forms can also be gained by telephone or via their on-line services. The national adviceline number is 0800 1448848. At the time of writing this note, Citizens advice does not charge for its advice services; it is a registered charity in the UK.
There are other ways to contact the service e.g by e-mail or telephoning your local Citizens Advice office. In some areas, you may be able to visit the office but you will need to check the opening hours. The phone numbers can usually be found in telephone directories. Since Covid 19, face to face appointments are not available at all local Citizens Advice offices. By telephoning the local office, staff will be able to tell you if they are able to offer a face to face appointments. If not, other means of discussing your questions will be available. Please note that not all offices have an experienced adviser on employment related issues but they will probably be able to help you to find one.
ACAS – Advisory and Conciliation Service – a Government Organisation
ACAS – provides a lot of free information on its website and will give general advice but it will not give an opinion on what you should do nor provide legal advice. The ACAS Helpline is 0300 123 1100.
ACAS will help you to try to resolve a dispute with your employer by a free early conciliation process. An ACAS officer will speak to you and then to your employer to see if the matter can be resolved without having to go to an Employment Tribunal. In a similar way, ACAS will try to help an employer if he/she has a dispute with an employee. This is known as the Early Conciliation Service which is a free service.
Please note that the use of the Early Conciliation Process is an essential step if you need to make a claim to an Employment Tribunal. ACAS will provide you with a certificate which you will need to make an application to an Employment Tribunal.
TIP – It is a free service so do not be tricked into paying for such a service. Be careful as there are are scam websites on the internet that look like the official ACAS site.
HR Management Dimensions
Key HR Facts is supported completely by HR Management Dimensions which was founded by Jim Harrington in 2008. The Key HR Facts web site is free to use and displays information about employment law rights in easy to follow notes under relevant subject headings.
HR Management Dimensions also provides practical and focused advice on people management and organisational issues. Such advice bears in mind the current and future context of your organisation – an important consideration when giving advice.
You can view Jim’s experience via this Linkedin page.
You can read more about HR Management Dimensions on its website.
If you would like to discuss your query and the help we can give, contact us, in the first instance, via the chat facility that will appear on the right hand side of this page towards the bottom (that helps to avoid spam e-mails). We shall then contact you by phone or e-mail.
Articles by HR Management Dimensions
We publish articles on a a range of hr management subjects. Those aim to be practical and on issues that are often overlooked or made out to be more complex than they are really. You can access our blog here.
The titles of some articles that have been well received are given below:
- Resist or Settle a Tribunal Claim? Shock outcomes for employers ** Recommended reading
- Exposure v Experience – the better way to identify capable, adaptable staff ** Recommended reading
- Sports Direct – the Dilemma of Organisational Flexibility
- HR Management – Adding or Subtracting Value?
- Are We Switching Off Creativity and Satisfaction at Work
- Executive and Board Pay – Is There an Appropriate Level?