Legal Insight: Have you renewed your foreign worker sponsorship licence?

A major retailer was fined £115,000 earlier this month for employing foreign students who were breaking the conditions of their visas. At the present time, it is unclear whether the supermarket chain’s sponsorship licence is likely to be revoked or suspended too, however.   You may also remember the press coverage at the end of […]

Blog: The HR Headmistress – Adrian Smith and the social media issue

The number of problems that arise from the use of social media has, in recent years, increased dramatically. Facebook now has over 1 billion users, more than 500 million people are said to be tweeting and over 100 million professionals are connecting with each other on LinkedIn.   Every day more and more users of […]

Blog: Five ways to ‘master the moment’

In an instant, you can change your mind. You change the impression you had of someone, or you decide something is not a good idea after all. Politics is full of these moments. General David Patraeus had to resign after being caught in an extra-marital affair. In a moment, questions arose about his military judgment. If […]

News: 2013/14 to see surge in executive pay battles, warns report

Shareholder opposition to executive pay proposals is expected to hit a peak during 2013 and 2014 as a growing number of long-term incentive plans come up for renewal. According to a report by KPMG, the so-called 2012 “shareholder spring” was, in fact “something of an illusion”, even though 10 “serious” revolts over the renumeration packages […]

Blog: Why a JJB Sports’ director lost his unfair dismissal claim

The case A Manchester employment tribunal’s decision to reject a claim of unfair dismissal in a case involving a former company secretary at JJB Sports Plc has been upheld.   Jonathan Ashby maintained that he’d been made redundant without warning or consultation.   But an appeal tribunal sitting in London at the end of last […]

News: Greencore workers win temporary pay cut claim

More than 400 workers at a Hull factory are expected to receive up to £1.2 million after their employer refused to revert back to premium pay rates and enhanced holiday pay following a temporary suspension. According to Unite, the staff at Greencore had agreed to the temporary suspension from June 2010 to October 2011 “in […]

Blog: Employed or self-employed? How to get it right legally

HR professionals at the BBC have had a busy few weeks. The director general, George Entwistle, resigned and was controversially paid a year’s salary (twice his notice period, apparently).   The director of news and her deputy were asked to “step aside” pending the outcome of an internal review into the handling of the Jimmy […]

Legal Insight: The implications of sacking a BNP member

In the summer of 2006, the Court of Appeal confirmed that Serco had acted lawfully in dismissing one of its mini-bus drivers, Arthur Redfearn, following his election onto the local council on behalf of the British National Party. But Redfearn subsequently took his case to the European Court of Human Rights.   He argued that […]

News: Christian demoted for gay marriage opposition wins breach of contract case

A Christian man who was demoted at work for posting his opposition to gay church weddings on Facebook has won a breach of contract lawsuit against his employer. Adrian Smith found himself in trouble with the Trafford Housing Trust after linking an article on the BBC News website entitled ‘Gay church marriages get go ahead’ […]

News: Sainsbury’s to pay £10,000 for wrongfully dismissing coffee drinker

Sainsbury's will have to pay out around £10,000 in lost earnings and severance pay to a worker whom it sacked after leaving the store for just two minutes to find money for a coffee. According to the Daily Mail, Steven Tyler, who had worked as a baker at the supermarket for 11 years before being […]

News: Employers unaware of fitness-to-drive responsibilities

A worrying number of employers are unaware that they have a shared responsibility to ensure that employees are fit to drive if doing so in the course of their work. According to a survey conducted among more than 200 employers by Specsavers Corporate Eyecare, however, 57% believe that responsibility for ensuring that their eyesight is […]

Ask the Expert: What holiday pay are staff entitled to if off sick?

The question I was looking through our sickness policy the other day and saw it stated that "when sickness absence is over four weeks, holiday pay will cease to accrue".   Further along, it also said that "if you fall sick during a time that has been booked for holiday, you will not be able […]

News: Mixed response to EC’s watering down of gender quota proposals

The European Commission’s decision to significantly water down plans for legally-binding quotas in order to boost the number of women on company boards has met with a mixed response. The original aim had been to impose strict 40% quotas on both executive and non-executive board positions within public companies.   Under the new proposals, however, […]

News: Flexible parental leave branded an “administrative nightmare”

Government plans to introduce flexible parental leave have been variously described as “disappointing” and an “administrative nightmare” for employers. The legislation, which is due to come into force in England, Scotland and Wales in 2015, will enable parents to share up to a year’s leave in order to look after their new-born children.   New […]

Relationship building – The power of feedback

Everyone has issues with people at work that make them angry, dissatisfied, annoyed or distracted such as a boss that doesn’t provide clear expectations or appreciation. Work can be a nightmare when relationships are in trouble.   Equally, there are pleasant teams where people are kind, respectful and cheerfully collude with ideas that are ultimately […]

News: Impact of flexible working extension will be “limited”, says lawyer

Government plans to extend flexible working rights to all employees in a bid to stop women being “locked out of the workplace” and boost GDP may have a “more limited” impact than expected, a lawyer has warned. The government estimates that the forthcoming changes will bring a net benefit of £222.5 million to employers as […]

Blog: Dealing with tax and the contractor issue

The BBC have recently announced their intention to review the type of contract they provide to their staff following a tax review.  Issuing the correct type of contract is important to avoid the heartache of tax implications for both employer and employee if it’s wrong.   The BBC currently have lots of staff who are […]

News: CIPD 2012 – Four ways to ensure positive industrial relations

Even with just a threat of industrial action, the stakes are high because people are forced to take sides, which is damaging for employee engagement and the credibility of the organisation and its managers. This was just one of the insights provided by Darren Hockaday, HR director for London Overground, at the Chartered Institute of […]

Redundancies and how to reduce the risk of insider fraud

Last week, UBS announced plans to cut 10,000 jobs. This week, companies as diverse as Ericsson, ING and steel group, Kloeckner, have also announced big job losses.   But managing large-scale redundancies clearly presents a number of challenges for HR, not least the increased likelihood of staff fraud taking place. In fact, the latest figures […]

Ask the Expert: Am I employed as a temp or a perm?

The question I started work for a company in January 2011 on a contract basis, working three days per week. The contract ran out at the end of March 2012. I was then verbally offered the job on a permanent basis and I accepted. Although I asked several times, the situation was never confirmed in […]