Sectors
Charities
WorkNest has provided valuable support to UK charities for almost two decades. A trusted partner of ACEVO, NCVO and the Charity Finance Group, we have a special affinity with voluntary and community organisations and are known for our unrivalled sector expertise.
Because of this, we understand the unique world in which charities operate. We understand that you face more day-to-day constraints, more checks and more tightly-controlled compliance requirements than many other businesses. We understand that your employees and volunteers are your greatest asset, and that keeping them happy and productive is key to growing your charity and achieving your objectives.
We also know that, when you’re focused on your mission, managing these areas can be challenging. That’s why we offer a range of services designed to help you get the most from your people, overcome the complexities of employment law, and operate compliantly.
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How we help
Specialist advice and support for charities
Employing an experienced team of HR, Employment Law and Health & Safety specialists, WorkNest enables charities to fulfil governance requirements, develop their people strategy, act as a model of good employee relations, and maintain their reputation as a responsible employer.
Whether you need support with team development and management training, advice on restoring workforce harmony, or help to ensure your premises and practices are safe and compliant, our clients benefit from:
- Highly-experienced, specialist teams who truly understand the third sector
- Specific service offerings and discounts for charities on our HRC services
- Flexible solutions to accommodate the cyclical nature of charity funding
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Employment Law & HR
Our team of highly-experienced Employment Lawyers and HR Consultants work closely with charities and their trustees to ensure that the decisions they make comply with the law, align with best practice and promote stable and productive working relationships across all levels. We can support your charity on an ongoing or project basis, depending on your needs.
High-quality HR Consultancy support
WorkNest HR’s charity specialists have a deep understanding of the third sector human resources agenda as it relates to charities and the wider not-for-profit sector. We appreciate, for example, that you are subject to heightened controls and safe guarding checks, that volunteers come and go, that you need to invest surplus cash in new staff.
Our services are entirely flexible, to suit your needs. This means we don’t have a one-size-fits-all approach but rather provide advice and services that reflect your ethos, your appetite to risk, your priorities and your policies, as well as your size and funding levels. We then work towards ensuring that the HR support we provide you with matches these.
Our team are passionate about helping you take a proactive approach to your particular people management challenges. They can hand hold you, project lead you and guide you step by step though day-to-day issues and strategic organisational development projects, such as:
- Policy, handbook and contract creation;
- Dignity at work training;
- HR and people-related governance;
- Recruitment;
- Performance management;
- Values, culture and engagement strategies;
- Management and leadership training programmes;
- Dispute resolution, including grievance and disciplinary investigations;
- Redundancy, restructuring and TUPE;
- Equality and diversity audits and projects; and
- Wellbeing and mental health initiatives.
By working with you to understand your organisation’s needs, we can devise bespoke support and strategies to help you meet all your administrative, operational and HR requirements. To support your need to closely manage your finances, we offer different options for engaging with us – whether that’s occasional advice or a fully outsourced service – all at a discounted rate for charities.
WorkNest is currently recruiting on behalf of our third sector clients. View vacancies or call our recruitment team on 01403 240205
Expert Employment Law advice
Even the best-run organisations will encounter employee relations issues from time to time. If you don’t have the resources or expertise to manage these situations, they can go unchecked or mistakes may be made, potentially leading to bigger problems.
Fortunately, WorkNest Law’s Employment Law experts are on hand to guide you through workforce matters efficiently and compliantly so that you can minimise disruption, reduce legal risk and move forward positively. Our team are well-versed with common third-sector employment challenges such as:
- Redundancy, restructuring and TUPE;
- Grievance investigation;
- Whistleblowing;
- Volunteers and employment status;
- Contractual issues; and
- Employment Tribunals.
Again, recognising the funding pressures facing charities, our Employment Law advice and support is provided for a fair, fixed fee, enabling you to keep better control of your budget.
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Hands-on Health & Safety support
At WorkNest H&S, we understand the pressure on charities to keep employees, volunteers and members of the public safe. Whether you operate from a shop, a call centre or an office, we assign named professionals to support you as one of your legally-required competent persons.
Having visited your premises to conduct a health and safety audit and produce your policy and handbook, your dedicated consultant will be well placed to help you to take a sensible and proportionate approach to reduce the risks associated with:
- Managing volunteers;
- Events and non-domestic premises;
- Lone workers;
- Slips, trips and falls;
- Manual handling;
- Working at height;
- Fire;
- Stress; and
- Musculoskeletal disorders.
We believe that third sector organisations shouldn’t have to choose between great charity work and safe charity work. With a wealth of experience in the voluntary sector, our consultants offer realistic advice and support to protect your organisation against financial and reputational risk – without compromising your ability to deliver on key objectives or creating a barrier to volunteering activities.
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Discover more about how our services could support your care organisation
24/7 unlimited support from your dedicated advisers
Whichever service you use, our highly qualified advice teams will form the bedrock of your relationship with WorkNest. You get named advisers, ensuring the support and advice you get remains consistent and from people who understand your business.
Employment Law Advice
Fast, pragmatic, commercial. Our Employment Law and HR advice line gives you and your managers access to truly unlimited advice on all of your people-related challenges, from the seemingly straightforward to the most complex.
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Health & Safety Advice
Need a steer on risk assessment, help unpacking legislation, or guidance on your COVID controls? With our unlimited advice line support, you can relieve the pressures of regulatory compliance and dramatically reduce risk.
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Best practice documents, personalised for you
Your Employment Law and Health & Safety advisers will work with you to create compliant, best practice contracts, policies and handbooks that meet the specific needs of your organisation.
Employment Contracts and Handbooks
Whether you have nothing in place or just need an expert review, our Employment Law specialists can carefully craft your employment contracts and employee handbooks to guarantee compliance and provide the flexibility you need as an employer.
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Health & Safety Policies and Handbooks
Whether you’ve got nothing in place or are in need of an expert review, our Health & Safety specialists can provide you with a policy and handbook tailored to your organisation, processes, activities and environment.
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Control your financial risk with our Legal Expenses Insurance
With the amount and cost of claims rising, and new risks emerging, our independent Legal Expenses Insurance gives you piece of mind that if things don’t go as planned, you aren’t hit with unforeseen expenses.
Legal Expenses Insurance for Employment Tribunals
Safeguard your business from the growing threat of Employment Tribunal claims with our independent, FCA-regulated Legal Expenses Insurance (LEI).
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Legal Expenses Insurance for Health & Safety Prosecutions
If you’re concerned about the rising cost of non-compliance and the impact a serious safety incident might have on your bottom line, Legal Expenses Insurance (LEI) can provide added protection for your organisation.
Innovative platforms to help you maximise your investment
Alongside your advice line services, you’ll have access to our software platforms, giving you instant access to hundreds of EL and H&S templates and resources, as well specific tools to manage HR and H&S compliance.
myWorkNest
Your go-to management portal. Provided as part of our core service, myWorkNest gives you access to guidance notes, document templates and EL case history, as well as being your gateway to e-learning, a HR management tool, and SafetyNest
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SafetyNest
Our innovative compliance and risk management software, SafetyNest, will revolutionise your approach to safety management by creating smart “to-do” lists, cutting out the admin and allowing you to monitor your compliance in real time with our risk status indicator.
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Additional, experience HR support, whatever your need
Entirely bespoke, based on sector experience and tailored to your exact needs, our HR Consultancy services range from on-site support with disciplinaries and grievances to restructures and developing your HR strategy.
Delivered by a growing network of experienced and qualified HR Consultants across the UK, these hands-on HR services can be seamlessly integrated with our Employment Law and HR support to provide comprehensive solutions to your workforce challenges and identify opportunities for improvement and growth.
Understand and manage your compliance with audits and specialist risk assessments
Our experienced H&S consultants will complete full audits and well as specialist risk assessments, identifying your areas of concern and providing practical guidance on how to reasonably mitigate risks in the future.
Audit and Inspection
Not confident in your compliance? Want to know that risk is being appropriately managed at every level across your organisation? Then you need a health and safety audit.
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Risk Assessments
If you’re looking for a task-specific risk assessment, our experts can take a systematic look at your premises and practices and work with you to ensure safety and compliance.
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Transform your approach to training
Tired of classroom training, or unable to take time out? Our HR and Health & Safety e-Learning courses for managers and employees are a convenient and powerful alternative, incorporating videos and interactive testing for more flexible learning and development.
HR & Employment Law e-Learning
Meaningful training for managers and employees ensures leaders are well equipped to carry out their role, raises awareness of best-practice around workplace issues, and can be instrumental in preventing HR headaches.
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Health & Safety e-Learning
The business impact of poor health and safety management can be significant: reduced productivity, higher staff turnover, damage to your reputation, and even fines and prosecution. Of course, the primary concern is the welfare of your workforce.
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Experts in the Charity Sector
Experts in Employment Law, HR and Health & Safety
What makes us unique is that we combine the service quality of a law firm with the certainty of fixed-fee services to provide expert, solutions-focused Employment Law, HR and Health & Safety support tailored to your organisation.
Our people are the basis of our service. They are the reason why we have a 95% client satisfaction rate and an annual client retention rate of 97%.
Our sector experts help business leaders like you to:
- Proactively solve problems;
- Ensure regulatory compliance; and
- Achieve commercial objectives.
Who you’ll be working with
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We been using WorkNest (formerly HRSP) since 2007 and have made use of a variety of the services they offer from basic advice to relocation/redundancy consultation, recruitment and training, grievance and disciplinary. The response to all queries is fast, helpful and friendly; their advice is clear and comprehensive; their support invaluable. For organisations too small to field their own HR department, you cannot do better than enlist the services of WorkNest for a competitively priced, highly competent, flexible and friendly service.”
Miranda Litchfield
Director, The Society of the Little Flower
