June reflections: heatwaves, HR horizons… and another pastel in Portugal

June came in hot - literally. Across the UK, temperatures soared into the mid-30s, wildflowers dried out, and every meeting ended with someone saying, “it’s too warm to think.” I was lucky. I spent the first week back in Portugal, chasing sun on purpose this time, not by accident.

It was a simple trip - sea air, late starts, and a fresh Pastel de nata each morning. That little custard tart has become a ritual now. There’s something comforting about finding a favourite in a different place and giving yourself permission to return to it. No novelty needed. Just a reminder that pleasure can be simple and repeatable.

Back in the UK, the headlines told a more complicated story.

A quick tour of UK headlines: June 2025

It’s been a month of slow but significant movement. Nothing dramatic, but if you read between the lines, the direction of travel is clear.

The country’s second heatwave of the year brought more than discomfort - it raised serious questions about infrastructure, public health, and the impact of climate on work. Schools closed early. Transport buckled. For HR teams, it was another nudge toward building genuine weather resilience into policies, not just tolerating disruption when it comes.

Political tensions rose too. The government floated a plan for a national digital ID system, which stirred up public anxiety around privacy and data control. Meanwhile, Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered the long-awaited Spending Review. It was calm on the surface, but the language of “hard decisions” and “tight fiscal discipline” signalled more strain ahead - particularly for public services already stretched thin.

In Angela Rayner’s office, civil servants staged a low-key rebellion - refusing to go beyond contracted hours after being ordered back into the office full time. It’s the latest clash in a growing divide between senior leadership rhetoric and staff expectations around flexible work. The message was simple: mandate too hard, and people will push back.

Then came Glastonbury. What should’ve been a cultural highlight became a political flashpoint, with artists using the stage to air pro-Palestinian chants - prompting police involvement and a wider debate about platform responsibility. It was a reminder, yet again, that workplaces and public forums alike are navigating a more polarised, more expressive era. There’s no such thing as “just entertainment” anymore.

Employment law: change picking up pace

In legal terms, June marked a turning point. We saw real movement - not just talk.

Whistleblowing protections were extended to include reports of trade-sanctions breaches, a sign of growing emphasis on ethical oversight in areas previously left to regulators. It won’t change day-to-day practice for most employers, but it’s a useful indicator of where accountability is heading.

There’s also been increasing attention on external HR advisers. Courts are now more willing to hold third-party consultants personally liable for poor advice - especially where TUPE, dismissal, or discrimination issues are involved. That shifts the burden. Outsourcing doesn’t outsource risk anymore.

And then there’s the slow, deliberate march of the Employment Rights Bill. More clauses are being finalised - around guaranteed hours, minimum compensation for shift cancellations, and restrictions on exploitative contracts. On paper, this looks like a levelling-up of basic protections. In reality, it means more administration, more policy rewrites, and more risk if things slip through the cracks.

For HR, it’s another layer of oversight to carry - often without any additional support.

The real weight: can HR keep holding it all?

That’s the thought I’ve come back to this month, over and over. Can HR keep holding everything we’re asked to carry?

Not emotionally. Structurally.

Because June showed it again: HR is being pulled wider and deeper than ever before. We're now expected to have opinions on data governance, lead on climate adaptation, manage legal complexity, coach line managers, hold employee voice, and somehow stay ahead of culture and case law at the same time.

The heatwave forced reviews of shift patterns and estate safety. Legal reform nudged policy updates, training, and new documentation. Industrial unrest reminded us that flexibility isn't a perk - it's an expectation. And the media cycle keeps pressing issues - whether DEI, surveillance, mental health, or activism - into every corner of the workplace.

It’s not that HR can’t adapt. It’s that we’re adapting constantly, without pause.

That’s not strategy. That’s survival.

So the question becomes: what do we need to let go of? Where do we stop pretending that we can do it all? What work no longer fits the shape of the function as it is now? Not everything can be optimised. Some of it needs to be dropped.

And that’s a leadership issue. HR doesn’t just need permission to do less. It needs backing to define what matters—and the power to say no when the list gets too long.

A week in Portugal—and a moment of calm

My return to Portugal couldn’t have been better timed.

There’s something reassuring about going back somewhere familiar. No need to plan. No pressure to do anything extraordinary. Just space.

I had another Pastel de nata. Actually, I had a few. The sun was intense, but the pace was slow. Each day reset my head just enough to step back from the noise. No grand revelations - just a quiet rebalancing. A reminder that rest doesn’t need a narrative. It just needs space.

And if HR is going to stay human -stay useful - it needs more of that too.

Final thoughts

June was a month of tension: between heat and productivity, law and capacity, ambition and resource. The headlines weren’t explosive, but they added up. More change. More accountability. More visibility. Less slack.

In that context, maybe the job isn’t to keep up with everything. Maybe it’s to move more deliberately. To choose what matters. To carve out space, even when the list keeps growing.

I came back from Portugal more sure of one thing: calm is not a luxury. It’s part of the job. Especially in HR.

Let’s carry that into July - with a bit more clarity, a bit more focus, and maybe, if you’re lucky, a Pastel de nata of your own.