HR for Charities: Why the Sector Needs a Different Kind of Support
There's a persistent myth in the charity sector that employment law is somehow more forgiving for not-for-profit organisations. It isn't.
A charity's obligations as an employer are identical to those of a commercial business. Employment Tribunal claims don't distinguish between a listed company and a hospice. Redundancy procedures don't have a charitable exemption. The Employment Rights Act 2026 applies with exactly the same force whether you're a tech scale-up or a community foundation.
What's different for charities isn't the law. It's the context.
The specific pressures charities face
Charity workforces are often layered — a mix of paid staff, sessional workers, volunteers, contractors, and secondees from statutory bodies. Getting the employment status of each group wrong creates legal exposure that many trustees don't realise exists until something surfaces.
Funding cycles create workforce instability. Fixed-term contracts, redundancy risks tied to grant cycles, and the constant pressure of doing more with less mean HR issues arise more frequently and with less organisational capacity to deal with them.
Governance adds complexity. Trustees have legal responsibilities as employers even when they're not operationally involved. A well-meaning but HR-unsophisticated board can create significant risk — particularly around CEO performance management, which often falls outside normal management structures.
Values tension is real. Charities attract people who care deeply, which is their greatest strength. It also means performance conversations, capability processes, and redundancy decisions can feel particularly fraught — and can be mishandled because of it.
What charities actually need from HR support
Practical advice, not generic policy templates. A charity dealing with a complex case involving a long-serving member of staff who is also a community figure doesn't need a boilerplate disciplinary procedure. They need someone who understands the organisation's context, its values, and the reputational dimension of how the situation is handled.
Strategic support around workforce planning. Grant-funded organisations can't always plan far ahead, but they can build more resilience into how they structure and manage their teams.
Cost-effective access. Many charities can't justify a full-time HR function. Fractional HR — a retained arrangement with a senior HR professional — gives access to the expertise of a Head of People without the cost of employing one. For VAT-exempt charities, there's an additional financial advantage in working with a non-VAT-registered provider: King HR Advisory doesn't charge VAT, meaning the quoted price is the price you pay.
The Employment Rights Act 2026 and charities
The ERA 2026 changes are particularly significant for charities with high proportions of part-time, sessional, or lower-paid staff. Day-one SSP, day-one family leave rights, and stronger collective redundancy protections all have direct implications for how charities manage their workforce.
If you're a charity that hasn't reviewed your contracts and policies against the April 2026 changes, that review is overdue.