I was on the receiving end of this yesterday and apparently am not alone so for all you employers out there....

There is a national HR advice firm which wants to sell you their indemnity insurance hidden behind HR 'support' and to tie you in to a minimum 3 year contract (they shall remain nameless)  They called me yesterday assuming I was an idiot (bless!) and proceeded to tell me that a tribunal case I am defending for a client should not have got this far (you don't say!) and that they were INSTRUCTED by the tribunal office to provide HR advice and mediation services to employers.  They compared their part in the process to the Citizens Advice Bureau and ACAS.  Both excellent and FREE organisations.

I flag this because if I didn't know what I do (as a female HR professional I know everything, naturally) I could have easily been misled into thinking I needed to meet with this company.  Needless to say this kitty-cat played with the mouse long enough to understand their tactics and then reported them to the Employment Tribunal Office - who are already aware of their methods are are dealing with it.

Please be aware that the Tribunal Office DOES NOT work with private organisations - if you have any concerns please contact me or your exisiting HR provider / expert / guru fore a chat before agreeing to anything.

Thank you for the Heads Up Jo

Colleague Jo is right I'm afraid,  this tactic is raising it's head again,   I'm aware of one company who trawl the tribunal listing to call unsuspecting respondants, to sign them up for (what is in effect) an insurance package for some years.    so,   4N chums,  if you are on the thick end of an IT1,   ask your chums on the 4N forum,     colleagues like Jo, above,    Deborah Driscol,    young Sam Swinstead,    not so young Kieron Hill,  () or myself,     will all do our best to keep you out of difficulty in the first place.    ................sorry if I've not mentioned everyone,    other HR consultants are available !