Q One of my employees, a young man in his twenties who has worked for me for three years, has asked me if he can take lengthy leave from work as he has decided to apply to appear in the next series of Big Brother on Channel 4.

I am happy to let him have the time out of his holiday allowance, plus a bit of unpaid leave if he gets on to the show, but I'm not sure what to do if he does well in the house. Should I hold his job open for him or replace him now in case he decides on a career in showbusiness?

A Firstly I must say you are probably worrying about nothing. They get hundreds of thousands of applicants for the ten or so places on Big Brother so his chances of getting on are very slim. If he does make it you then have to decide if your company can spare him long-term. How essential is he to the smooth running of the business? Another way you could look at it is the free publicity you will receive if he gets on to Big Brother. If you keep his job open, this will be positive publicity. If you choose to replace him this could turn out to be very negative publicity.

Q I have a number of employees who spend time out of the office on appointments. When they are out, they use their own mobile phones and want to claim back the cost of the calls they make. I'm not sure how easy this will be and if I buy company mobile phones for them to use instead I am worried they are easily abused. What would you suggest?

A Letting them use their own mobile phones and producing their itemised bills with the calls they are claiming highlighted is definitely the best option.

Q I run a small independent retail business, which has been in operation for more than ten years. In the past six months, a national retailer offering the same service as my business has opened a store about 500 yards down the road. I am prepared to go head to head with them to offer the best service and competitive prices, but do you think councils should take the location of locally-owned businesses into consideration when welcoming national companies to their towns.

A I would say fair competition should be encouraged. If you can offer a competitive value-for-money service then take on the big boys. Good luck.

Q I have had an influx of work to my business at the moment, which will mean employing more staff. I am unsure of the future in my industry and whether this work will continue so I am thinking of taking people on short-term contracts. Do you think this will attract applicants or will they not apply because it does not offer great security?

A You should think hard about how you will advertise the positions. If the wording is positive and states that these short-term contracts may lead to full-time positions you will probably get lots of applicants. As I don't know the kind of business you are in, I am not sure if you could perhaps look at people who are coming back into the workplace. Or perhaps university students looking for summer placements. You could perhaps go to employment agencies who offer people on short-term contracts and they are responsible for finding you suitable candidates.

Published: 23/04/2003