PROTECT: HR Foundations, Compliance and Fractional CPO
Keeping your business compliant, your people protected, and your HR Infrastructure built for your own journey.
Documented. Protected. Ready to scale. Every PROTECT engagement is built around what your business genuinely needs: not a copy-paste from a template library. Written by us. Compliant with current UK law, including Employment Rights Bill changes.
Not sure where to start? A free HR audit gives you a clear, prioritised picture of your compliance exposure and what to fix first.
Employment Rights Bill: compliance pressure is building now
The Employment Rights Bill introduces significant changes for UK employers: expanded day-one rights, reformed zero-hours protections, and tighter dismissal requirements. Many SMEs are not ready. Every PROTECT Foundations engagement and above includes an Employment Rights Bill compliance check as standard.
PROTECT packages
From a fast one-off essentials fix to fully managed ongoing compliance. Each engagement is scoped to the size and shape of your organisation. Talk to us about which one fits and we will shape the detail.
PROTECT Foundations
Starting point · documentation and ongoing check-inYour contracts are probably out of date. Your policies may not reflect current employment law. When something goes wrong with an employee, you are figuring it out as you go. PROTECT Foundations fixes that. We build the documentation and compliance your business needs and stay on hand when people issues come up, so you are never making it up under pressure.
- Full audit of existing contracts, policies, and HR documentation
- Employment contracts drafted or updated to current legal standards
- Handbook covering disciplinaries, grievances, absence, performance, and conduct
- Statutory policies aligned to UK employment law including the Employment Rights Act
- Monthly HR check-in: live ER issues, compliance updates, people questions
- Up to 2 escalation calls per month for urgent or time-sensitive situations
PROTECT Partner
Most popular · ongoing HR generalist supportFor teams that need a proper HR function on an ongoing basis. Not just documents and compliance but hands-on support across everything people-related: ER cases, org design, skills mapping, restructures, and the strategic infrastructure to support a business that is growing or changing shape.
- Everything in PROTECT Foundations
- Fortnightly HR session: ER cases, people decisions, priorities and planning
- Up to 4 escalation calls per month for complex or urgent situations
- End-to-end ER case management: disciplinaries, grievances, performance, redundancy, and TUPE
- Organisational design, workforce planning, and restructuring support
- Skills mapping and capability gap analysis across the workforce
- HRIS selection and implementation guidance
- Onboarding and offboarding processes designed and embedded
- People data and monthly HR reporting
PROTECT CPO
Executive · fractional CPOFor teams that need someone operating at CPO or HRD level without the full-time cost. We sit at your leadership table, own the people agenda, hold the compliance and ER risk, and build the people strategy your business needs to scale. This is not a support service. It is executive-level people leadership.
- Everything in PROTECT Partner
- Weekly fractional CPO session plus leadership team and board attendance
- People strategy aligned to your 12 to 36 month business plan
- Skills mapping, succession planning, and talent pipeline development
- Reward and compensation strategy including grading and pay structures
- DEI strategy and implementation
- Culture and values design and embedding
- Employment tribunal risk management and legal liaison
- Investor and board-level people reporting
- Change management and transformation programmes
- Transition planning when you are ready to hire in-house
Start with
a free HR audit
One conversation with us. You will leave with a clear, prioritised view of your compliance exposure, what is missing, and which PROTECT package is the right starting point.
Book a Call
“Not HR from a textbook. People results from operators who have done the real work.”
Lucy & Tom, The People System
Summary
- What this is
- PROTECT is The People System's HR foundations and compliance pillar. Three packages (Foundations, Partner, CPO) covering contracts, handbooks, policy stack, ER case management, organisational design and fractional CPO leadership.
- Who it is for
- UK SMEs employing 10 to 250 people whose contracts, handbooks and policies are out of date, growing teams without a senior HR lead, and businesses preparing for Employment Rights Bill commencement.
- What problem it solves
- Out-of-date documentation, undocumented disciplinary and grievance handling, exposure to unfair dismissal and discrimination claims, and missing policy work ahead of the Employment Rights Bill phased commencement in 2026 and 2027.
- What happens next
- Book a call. We can run a free 15-minute risk view on your current contracts and handbook before you commit.