What are the alternatives?

There are many variations on the HR theme for companies without the means to develop a human resources department. With changes to legislation and an increasing number of cases being taken to tribunal, Gill King says companies must sit up and take notice of the options.

Human resources consultants are used to getting phone calls and
emails asking "Can you help?" Some requests for advice are quite
colourful, such as one concerning an employee's sex change.


This was a particularly emotive subject both for the employee involved,
who had made a difficult and far-reaching decision, and for the rest of
the staff, some of whom found it hard to accept. In practical terms,
however, there were only two problems: the company's pension scheme and
use of the toilets.


The