News: Govt rush to offload public sector jobs leads to hike in tribunal claims

The coalition government’s rush to offload public sector jobs onto the private sector led to a 37% hike in TUPE-related employment tribunal claims last year, according to lawyers. Cases relating to the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 have been the only form of employment dispute to increase significantly over the last two […]

News: Two whistleblowers find themselves vindicated

Two whistleblowers, one employed by the UK’s Care Quality Commission and the other a US former banker at UBS, both found themselves vindicated in their actions this week. Dame Jo Williams, who stepped down as chairman of the health regulator last week, was forced to apologise to a hearing of MPs for making public allegations […]

News: Govt plans to axe employer safety checks garner mixed response

Government plans to exempt hundreds and thousands of businesses from “burdensome” health and safety inspections as part of its pledge to cut business red tape have garnered a mixed response. Under a binding statutory code that is due to be introduced in April 2013, proactive checks will no longer be routinely carried out on premises […]

Ask the Expert: How can we avoid ageism claims over gym membership?

The question The way that our business is currently set up is as an Industrial Provident Society, which means that employees can buy a share in the company and also receive free gym membership for a friend or family member (employees already have membership themselves).   But we are now having to change our legal […]

News: “Real likelihood” of coordinated strikes by year end, warns Unite

The leader of the UK’s biggest union has warned that there is a “real likelihood” of a fresh wave of coordinated public sector strike action before the end of the year. Speaking on the eve of the annual TUC Congress, which opens in Brighton on Sunday, Len McCluskey, Unite’s general secretary, said that the pensions […]

Legal Insight: The HR implications of pensions auto-enrolment

From 1 October this year, pension auto-enrolment will start to affect the UK’s largest businesses. While a lot of these employers will already have got to grips with fundamental issues such as identifying their staging date and considering which pension scheme to use to satisfy the new legislation, there are a number of HR implications […]

Talent Spot: Community blogger, Christina Lattimer

Christina Lattimer, owner of HR and leadership development consultancy People Discovery, has been tackling HR issues for all of her working life, even if she didn’t take up her first official HR position until 10 years ago. “I’ve only been a pure HR specialist since 2002 and was a business manager for lot of years […]

News: European religious discrimination cases could shake up UK employment law

Employers may be obliged to “accommodate expression of religion” by their workers if four Christians win a key test case on religious discrimination heard at the European Court of Human Rights today. Two of the Christians – British Airways check-in clerk Nadia Eweida and NHS hospital nurse Shirley Chaplin – who were refused the legal […]

News: ‘Zero-hours’ NHS contracts branded risky “untested experiment”

An increasing use of ‘zero-hours’ contracts by NHS Trusts trying to make the coalition government’s reforms workable amounts to an “untested experiment” that is putting patient safety at risk, critics have warned. According to the Independent, a number of Trusts including Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals, South Gloucester and University Hospitals Bristol are currently turning to the […]

News: State pension age rises to create “limbo zone” for older workers

Increases in the state pension age will lead to the creation of a new “limbo zone” in which many workers are too young to draw their pension but too old and infirm to work. The TUC issued the warning on releasing an analysis of official labour market data, which revealed that a mere 54% of […]

Blog: Disabled workers – Making reasonable adjustments

Most people will no doubt be familiar with the concept of ‘reasonable adjustments’ to accommodate employee disabilities, facilitate a return to work after sickness absence etc. But often that’s when we get a bit stuck for ideas of how to actually do this in practice – in fact we often rely on the person who requires […]

Ask the Expert: Can employers simply take food allowances away?

The challenge A friend is a residential carer at an organisation that looks after multiple residents with learning difficulties. The job is shift-based and includes sleepovers.   Historically, the company has included a food allowance for resident carers (it covers shopping for sustenance while onsite). Due to the nature of service users, carers prepare food […]

Legal Insight: How to prevent grievances from becoming constructive dismissal claims

In the recent case of Assamoi v Spirit Pub Company (Services) Ltd, it became clear that resolving an employee’s grievance quickly in their favour could prevent a manager’s conduct from escalating into a fundamental breach of contract – and ending up in defeat in a constructive dismissal claim. It also reminded employers that once they […]

EU proposals: Tightening up Ts&Cs for temporarily posted workers

A recent government consultation on the potential impact of a decision by the European Union to enforce its Posting of Workers Directive has just closed, but the responses should help the UK to formulate its negotiating position. So what does it all mean and why is the move significant for employers? A worker is classed […]

News: It’s official – Oracle will discount heavily to win contracts

Earlier this year, Oracle executives were doubtless among those who chortled as the Software-as-a-Service battle plans of Lars Dalgaard, SAP‘s head of cloud and former chief executive of its SuccessFactors acquisition, were laid bare in a leaked internal document. But the boot is now on the other foot as Oracle’s sales strategy for its human […]

News: Employers risk prosecution over lack of disabled evacuation plans

As the UK gears up for the Paralympic Games this week, it emerged that around a third of all employers are breaking the law by failing to prepare adequately for workplace evacuations among disabled workers. According to a survey of 102 HR directors and managers conducted by emergency evacuation chair manufacturer Evac+Chair International, some 35% […]

Legal Insight: How to employ migrant workers legally

Tesco could reportedly be fined up to £200,000 by the UK Border Agency for employing staff illegally. The news came to light following the Agency’s arrest of 20 foreign students at one of Tesco’s warehouses, after they were found to have been working significantly longer hours than their visas permitted.   But a key problem […]

Legal Insight: How to prepare for pensions auto-enrolment

From 1 October this year, large employers will be compelled to start enrolling staff into workplace pension schemes. Although the exact impact is as yet unknown, it is thought that as many as 10 million UK workers who do not already have a pension, are aged 22 or over, are under state pension age and […]

Ask the Expert: What is the right terminology for family-friendly policies?

The question I am redrafting some family-friendly policies and naturally wrote "you" on the presumption that the main reader would be the person who wants to take maternity leave (although a manager might also like to read the document, just to understand their part in the process).   Researching other policies, however, I noticed that […]

News: Charity whistleblower wins “textbook” unfair dismissal claim

The finance director of the now defunct All Wales Ethnic Minority Association has won his claim for unfair dismissal, after raising concerns about financial mismanagement and bullying at the Swansea-based charity. Saquib Zia was accused of gross misconduct and sacked last year, but has now been awarded £4,010 in compensation.   But by February this year, […]