Employee Rights in Small Businesses: What to Do When There’s No HR

If you work for a small company, the chances are there's no HR department. There might not even be an HR person and for a lot of people, that's actually part of the appeal. Decisions get made quickly, there's less bureaucracy, pay increases and promotions don't have to go through three layers of sign-off. You're often closer to the people who run the business, and that can make for a really positive working environment.

However, when something goes wrong, that same absence can feel very loud.

Small companies often don't have the processes and structures that larger organisations do. Contracts can be light on detail and there's often no policy document to refer to. When a situation arises, whether that's a disciplinary, a dismissal, a difficult manager, or just something that doesn't feel right, there's often nobody internally to turn to. So people either suffer in silence, take to Google, or assume they just have to put up with it.

The reality is that your rights at work don't change based on the size of the company you work for. A small employer still has legal obligations. Your contract still means something and the fact that there's no HR function doesn't mean you're on your own.

That's where I come in. I work with employees directly, helping them understand where they stand, what their options are, and how to handle their situation with clarity and confidence. Sometimes that's a complex, ongoing piece of work. Sometimes it's a single conversation that takes 30 minutes and completely changes how someone feels about what they're dealing with, like the client below:

“I came to Liv when I had an urgent issue with work. Despite handing in my notice for 3 months, I was trying to be dismissed within 24 hours.

She had great availability for talking to me as my situation was fairly pressing and talked me through my legal rights and the important parts of my contract. 

She was very helpful and approachable and I would highly recommend her for any issues regarding HR. The company I worked for was so small I didn't have an internal HR to go to. In addition, knowing I was going to be starting somewhere new, she provided me with some useful information regarding probation periods. She really went above and beyond.”

If you work for a small company and something at work isn't right, you don't have to figure it out alone, and you can book a session with me here.