Ongoing HR Support for Hospitality Ireland
Ongoing HR Support & Visits for Irish Hospitality
Your dedicated HR partner — on call when you need advice and on-site when you need support, without the cost of a full-time HR manager.
Expert HR Support Without a Full-Time Hire
Most hospitality businesses are too small to justify a full-time HR manager, but too busy to manage employment issues without expert support. The result is that important decisions get made reactively — on advice from a friend, a quick Google search, or an instinct that turns out to be wrong.
Employment law in Ireland moves quickly. Sick pay entitlements changed. Auto-enrolment is coming. The rules around band of hours contracts shifted. Keeping on top of all of it while running a busy hospitality operation is genuinely difficult — and the cost of getting it wrong is significant.
Beacon's retainer service gives you a named HR consultant available by phone and email when issues arise, combined with regular on-site visits to keep your contracts, policies, and records current. You get the knowledge of a senior HR professional without the salary, the benefits, or the office space.
Every client on retainer works directly with our senior consultants — not a call centre, not a junior advisor, not an automated helpline.
At a Glance
What You Get
Ongoing advice + regular on-site visits
BEST FOR
Restaurants, hotels & growing hospitality groups
Typical Timeframe
Rolling monthly or quarterly retainer
How We Work
Regular visits + phone & email support
What Happens Without Consistent HR Support
Reactive HR management in hospitality creates a pattern most operators recognise: problems that could have been prevented, decisions that could have been better, and costs that keep recurring.
Reactive Employment Decisions
Most employment issues that end up at the WRC were preventable. Without access to expert HR advice, operators make reactive decisions under pressure — and the procedural errors stack up.
No Consistent Contract Maintenance
Employment law changes. Contracts and policies written two years ago may not reflect current entitlements. Without regular review, the gap between what your documents say and what the law requires grows wider.
Absent HR Records
Proper HR records — disciplinary files, training logs, absence records, review notes — need to be maintained consistently. Without a structured system, they simply do not get done.
Management Without Support
Hospitality managers are promoted for operational ability, not HR training. Without a HR partner to advise them, they are making employment decisions in an area where they have not been properly equipped.
No Early Intervention on Issues
Small people problems become big problems when they are not addressed early. A retainer gives you access to advice at the moment an issue arises — before it escalates into a formal process.
Compliance Drift
Between audits, compliance standards drift. A retainer ensures that your contracts, policies and records stay current — not just when there is a crisis, but as a matter of ongoing discipline.
What's Included in Your Retainer
A structured ongoing HR service that keeps your business compliant, your team managed effectively, and your employment decisions defensible.
Monthly or Quarterly Site Visits
Regular scheduled visits to your premises — frequency agreed at the start of the retainer — to review HR records, support management, and address any current issues.
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Phone & Email HR Advice
Direct access to your named Beacon consultant by phone and email for day-to-day HR questions — contract queries, disciplinary advice, absence management, and anything in between.
Contract & Policy Updates
Regular review and update of your employment contracts and HR policies to reflect changes in Irish employment law — so your documents stay current without you having to track legislation yourself.
Disciplinary & Grievance Support
Advice and support on any disciplinary or grievance case that arises during the retainer period — from initial complaint through to outcome and, where needed, WRC response.
HR Records Maintenance Review
Periodic review of your employment records — working time logs, disciplinary files, training records and absence logs — to ensure they are being maintained to the required standard.
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Compliance Monitoring
Ongoing monitoring of changes to Irish employment law that affect your business, with proactive recommendations on updates you need to make before they become a compliance issue.
Who a Retainer Is Right For
An HR retainer works best for hospitality businesses that need regular support but cannot justify a full-time hire. These are the operators who benefit most.
From First Call to Fully Compliant
Four steps from uncertainty to fully audit-ready.
Free Discovery Call
A conversation to understand your business, your current HR setup, and the level of support that would be most useful on an ongoing basis.
Retainer Setup
We complete an initial review of your contracts, policies, and records, establish your retainer scope, and agree a schedule for regular on-site visits.
Ongoing On-Site Visits
Regular visits to your premises — monthly or quarterly depending on your retainer — to review records, support your management team, and address any current issues.
Phone & Email Support
Named consultant support available by phone and email for day-to-day HR questions, disciplinary and grievance advice, and any employment issues that arise between visits.
Why Businesses Choose Beacon
Got Questions?
We’ve Got Answers.
A Beacon HR retainer includes scheduled on-site visits at an agreed frequency (monthly or quarterly), direct phone and email access to your named consultant for day-to-day HR questions, regular review and updating of your employment contracts and policies, support on any disciplinary or grievance cases that arise, and ongoing compliance monitoring to keep your business current with changes in Irish employment law.
Visit frequency is agreed at the start of the retainer based on the size and complexity of your business. For most hospitality operators, quarterly visits with phone and email support between visits is the right level. Larger or more complex operations — multi-site groups, hotels with large teams — typically require monthly visits. We agree a structure that makes sense for your business from the outset.
Yes. Phone and email access to your named consultant is included in the retainer — not just on scheduled visit days. If a disciplinary issue arises on a Monday morning, you can call us. If you have a question about a new starter's contract at short notice, you can email us. The retainer is designed to give you access to expert advice when you actually need it, not just on a predetermined schedule.
An HR retainer works best for hospitality businesses with between 10 and 100 staff — large enough that people management is complex and time-consuming, but not large enough to justify a full-time in-house HR function. It also suits multi-site operators who want consistent HR standards across all venues, and growing businesses that are moving from an owner-managed to a managed model.
Retainer terms are agreed at the outset and typically run on a rolling monthly or quarterly basis. Notice periods and any flexibility around pausing are set out clearly in the retainer agreement. We are a practical business and we work with clients around genuine operational changes — speak to us if your circumstances change.
Want a Dedicated HR Partner for Your Business?
Book a free call. We'll walk you through what a retainer would look like for your business — no charge, no obligation.
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