Mid-Year Compliance Check-Up: Is Your Business Audit-Ready for 2025?

By Park City Consulting | Outsourced HR & Health and Safety Specialists

As we reach the halfway point in the year, now is the ideal time to take a step back and assess your organisation’s HR and Health & Safety compliance.

Legal requirements continue to evolve, enforcement bodies like the HSE are sharpening their focus, and businesses are being held to higher standards across both people management and workplace safety.

At Park City Consulting, we work with businesses every day to ensure they’re not just compliant on paper, but genuinely prepared for audits, inspections, and the demands of a changing workplace.

A mid-year compliance check-up is a smart, proactive move to reduce risk, identify gaps, and prepare for what’s ahead.

Why Mid-Year Compliance Matters

Waiting until the end of the year, or worse, until a problem arises, can leave your business exposed. With several new employment law changes already in force and more on the horizon, it’s crucial to ensure your policies, procedures, and practices are aligned with current legislation and HSE expectations.

Think of a mid-year audit as preventative maintenance. It’s your opportunity to get ahead of any issues before they escalate into legal risks, costly tribunal claims, or HSE enforcement action.

HR Compliance: What Should You Review?

For HR teams, compliance isn’t just about having policies in place. It’s about whether those policies are being followed, whether your documentation is up to date, and whether your managers are equipped to apply it consistently and fairly.

Contracts and Documentation

Every employee should have a written contract that reflects the most recent changes to employment law. This includes clauses around flexible working, sick leave, hybrid arrangements, and data protection. We can support you with this by writing your own bespoke contracts and documentation.

Absence and Attendance

Are your sickness absence procedures clear and followed consistently? Are fit notes being handled correctly? With mental health and long-term absence on the rise, your processes need to be robust, and legally defensible. We can support you with this with our absence management support.

Right to Work Checks

With stricter enforcement from the Home Office, right to work checks must be conducted properly, with records stored securely and processes in place for renewals.

Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures

These should align with the ACAS Code of Practice. More importantly, they need to be understood by line managers and applied consistently. Poorly handled grievances are a fast track to tribunal risk.

Health & Safety Compliance: What to Look At

Health and Safety compliance goes beyond the basics of risk assessments and signage. The HSE has made it clear that their focus in 2025 will include mental health, remote working, and stress management, alongside traditional workplace safety.

Policy and Responsibility

Do you have a current Health & Safety Policy that’s been signed by senior leadership? Is it tailored to your organisation and communicated to your team?

Risk Assessments

Your risk assessments should be reviewed regularly and updated to reflect any changes in work activities, premises, staffing, or equipment. That includes Display Screen Equipment (DSE) assessments for home or hybrid workers.

Training Records

Can you evidence that staff have received Health & Safety training appropriate to their role? Are you keeping logs of fire safety training, manual handling, and any specialist instruction?

Reporting Procedures

Make sure you have systems in place for reporting near misses and accidents, and that these meet your obligations under RIDDOR.

New Legislation: Are You Ready?

The landscape of employment law is shifting quickly. Here are some key developments you need to factor into your compliance review:

Day-One Right to Request Flexible Working

This change, now in effect, means employees no longer need to wait 26 weeks before making a flexible working request. Have you updated your flexible working policy? Are managers prepared to handle requests fairly?

New Duty to Prevent Sexual Harassment

Set to come into force in 2024, this new employer duty means you must take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment. Training, reporting channels, and culture will all be under greater scrutiny.

HSE Focus on Work-Related Stress

The HSE has signalled that stress and mental health will be central to their 2025 inspections. Do you have risk assessments in place for psychosocial hazards? Are managers trained to recognise and support mental health issues?

Warning Signs Your Business Isn’t Audit-Ready

• Policies haven’t been reviewed or updated in over 12 months
• You rely on template contracts that don’t reflect your actual working practices
• Training records are incomplete or inconsistent
• Fit note procedures are unclear or inconsistently applied
• You don’t have documented evidence of recent risk assessments or safety briefings

How Park City Consulting Can Help

At Park City Consulting, we take the pressure off busy business owners and managers by delivering practical, hands-on support with HR and Health & Safety compliance.

Our mid-year compliance services include:

• HR and H&S document reviews
• Workplace audits and risk assessments
• Training delivery and compliance tracking
• Absence and capability process support
• Full preparation for inspections, audits, and legal changes

We tailor our advice to your organisation, whether you’re in hospitality, manufacturing, professional services, or the charity sector. Schedule a call with our team to get the ball rolling.

Looking Ahead to HSE 2025

The HSE’s agenda for 2025 includes a stronger focus on mental health, remote work environments, and management accountability. This makes it more important than ever to have your policies in order, your staff trained, and your documentation ready.

A well-timed mid-year check-in allows you to identify where you stand—and take practical steps to close the gaps before they become liabilities.

Ready to Get Started?

If you’re unsure whether your business is fully compliant, we can help you get clarity, and peace of mind. Get in touch with Park City to schedule your mid-year compliance check-up today.

Contact us to learn more about how our outsourced HR and Health & Safety support can protect and strengthen your business.