I had book club last night (I use the term loosely, because discussing books isn’t a big part of it), and my friend, Chloe, told me about an issue she was having at work. She’s pretty senior in her company, and manages quite a big team. But, as I found out, the perks of her well-paying job don’t necessarily outweigh the problems!

I’m sure you agree your year will be better if you can minimise disputes with your employees. One way of doing this is to make sure you have an effective grievance procedure in place. Your grievance procedure must provide a formal structure through which an employee or group of employees can raise any complaint or let you know if they are dissatisfied with anything.

Have you ever wondered if you can pay your employee less if she’s doing less work? For example, your pregnant employee may not be able to perform her usual duties...can you pay her a portion of her full salary until she’s back “in the swing of things”?

This is your last Labour Bulletin for the year. Your labour team will be dispersing to different parts of the country (and world) to take well deserved breaks. I hope you’ll be doing the same. If you’re planning to work through the festive season (and not because you have no choice but because you want to), pay attention to the following five indicators. Natasha Ely recently posted them on Careers24.com as the litmus test for overworked employees. If you or your employees tick yes next to any of them, you’re in greater need of a holiday than any of us!

2009 is very quickly coming to an end and with it the dreaded end-of-year slump. Everyone is just waiting for a quieter December and a bit of a break. It’s been a long, tough year for many companies, and needless to say nerves are frayed. Even the most good-natured employees seem to be more snappy than usual…and the modern trend towards open-plan offices doesn’t help!

First off, we had enormous success with our Labour Workshop last week. Janine Nieuwoudt, one of our HR experts, joined us on the second day and chatted about creative ways to reward and motivate your employees.