SERVICES / EMPLOYEE RELATIONS SUPPORT
Whatever has happened, there is a right next step.
What If HR gives growing UK businesses proper HR support without an in-house team. One named consultant who gets to know your business and stays in your corner.
Employee relations support for a live staff issue: disciplinary, grievance and more.
Need someone today? Call 07557 982407, Monday to Friday 9 to 5, or email hello@whatifhr.co.uk. We reply the same working day.
START HERE
Before you do anything else
The costly mistakes usually happen in the first 48 hours, before anyone has checked the process. Four things to avoid until you have.
Read before it escalates: what Acas early conciliation means for a small business and which rights the person has, by status.
✕ Do not invite anyone to a formal meeting before you know the correct process.
✕ Do not send a letter you have drafted yourself without checking the wording.
✕ Do not sort it with a "quick chat" before you understand the risk. Informal resolution can be right, but chosen deliberately.
✕ Do not assume that because the situation feels obvious, the process is straightforward.
WHAT YOU GET
Everything you need to handle it properly
One fixed fee of £750 + VAT, one named consultant, agreed before we start.
1. Triage call
Sixty minutes to establish the facts and the correct process.
4. Risk flags
What to watch, what not to say, and where the exposure sits.
2. Written process guide
Exactly what to do next, step by step.
5. Document review
Up to five, including the contract and relevant policies.
3. Letter templates
Written for your situation, ready to send.
6. One meeting attended
By video, with written notes. A site visit for an additional fee.
Plus follow-up questions by email for ten working days. Heavier document review or a second meeting is charged at £125 + VAT per hour, agreed with you first.
★★★★★
Rated 5.0 from 30 Google reviews
"What If HR provided us with excellent support on a sensitive employee relations matter, handled with care, professionalism and complete discretion. The advice was practical, clear and easy to act on."
Google review, What If HR client
"We contacted Elena during an urgent internal workplace conflict. She responded quickly, explained our options in plain English and helped us resolve the issue informally."
Google review, What If HR client
IF ITS BIGGER THAN ONE MEETING
Complex cases and mediation
One fixed fee of £750 + VAT, one named consultant, agreed before we start.
Complex cases, £895 + VAT per day
Complex investigations, collective grievances, processes running over several weeks, and settlement conversations alongside a solicitor. Scoped and agreed before anything starts.
Mediation, quoted separately
Where two people still have to work together, mediation often resolves things faster than a formal process. We work with a qualified independent mediator. It is voluntary and confidential, and not the right route where allegations need investigating.
What we do not do. We do not prepare or run employment tribunal claims, and we do not give legal representation. If a claim is lodged, or a settlement agreement needs drafting, we introduce you to an employment solicitor who does.
WHAT IT COSTS ELSEWHERE
Compared with calling a solicitor
Employment solicitor, hourly
typically £200 to £400
Solicitor-handled case, no tribunal
typically £4,500 to £8,000
What If HR, the full package above
from £750
Around two to three hours of solicitor time, for a scoped piece of work rather than a running clock.
WHO IS IT FOR
Business owners and managers handling something live
You have no in-house HR
Somewhere between your first employee and around fifty, with nobody whose job this is.
Something is happening now
A disciplinary, a grievance, absence or performance, and you need to get the process right.
You want it handled properly
Fair to the person involved, and documented well enough to stand up later.
Common questions
ONCE THIS IS RESOLVED
What usually happens next
MOST COMMON NEXT STEP
HR Health Check
Whether this was a one-off or a wider gap. £395 + VAT, credited against your next step.
A client story
How a Surrey day care business moved from HR firefighting to embedded support.
ONGOING SUPPORT
Retained HR Partner
A named partner on hand month to month, once your foundations are sorted.