I went to a free seminar the other day presented by Avensure (www.avensure.com). They offer courses on all the stuff we don’t want to know about on Health & Safey, Employment Law etc., and employer/employee disputes. The seminar really did make me think twice about whether we should take on any employed staff should we grow big enough. They normally charge companies for the services by way of an insurance premium, but were happy to talk to me as a representative of Leicester Hackspace for free - “doing their bit for the community”. They had a look at our Safeguarding Policy, and Complaints Procedure, and were able to offer a few comments. The consultant I spoke to is peterhipkiss@avensure.com. I said I would mention them on UK Hackspaces. He would be happy for anyone to get in touch - mention my name if you actually want any business with them, and we might get a referral fee!
Tony
co-director Leicester Hackspace Ltd
Thanks for the info Tony. Hmm, if only I could work out why this company would want to scare you with the big-bad-bogger-man of Health & Safety and Employment law? I don’t see what they would stand to gain from that?
In all seriousness, I do think that pay-as-you-go or subscription HR services are a good idea and there are very many on the market, including from the likes of Natwest Bank who provide it at a fee for business customers. But please, a lot of shit is talked to scare people with health and safety and employment law. It’s a very easy thing to scare people with because you can always go one higher and tell people about injury claims and scary stuff like that. It should not put you off employing people (not that I’m suggesting one should do that in a hackspace) because people need jobs.
Dominic Morrow
UK Hackspace Foundation and Nottingham Hackspace (Founder Member)