How to nip unfair dismissal claims in the bud
Each year in the UK, there are approximately 50,000 unfair dismissal cases – the equivalent of just under 1,000 per week – that end up being taken to an employment tribunal. That’s a headline measure of just how big an issue this is for the UK economy. Unfair dismissal has been the largest single matter […]
Cost a factor in disability discrimination claims, landmark ruling reveals
Employers can take cost issues into consideration when working out what constitutes a ‘reasonable adjustment’ for disabled employees, an employment appeals tribunal has clarified for the first time. The ruling was made in the case of Jane Cordell against the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and is the first time that cost has been put at […]
Legal Insight: How to tackle a Tevez
These days, it seems that footballer Carlos Tevez is never far from the latest controversy. During a recent Champion’s League match against Bayern Munich, the Manchester City player apparently refused to come on as a substitute, ignoring his manager’s request to do so (although he put it down to a misunderstanding). While his antics […]
O2 pilots shift-switching initiative for frazzled working parents
O2 has started piloting a scheme to enable parents working at three of its stores to swap shifts among themselves in order to better meet their childcare needs. The so-called ‘Working Families’ Contract’ enables groups of between two and four working mums and dads to decide between themselves how to cover their shifts over the […]
Ask the Expert: Is nicking something from the fridge corporate theft?
The question This is a bit of an odd situation that I’ve not come across before. Employees have been commenting for a while that food has been going missing from the fridge in the staff room. In fact, one member of staff stuck a note on a tub of salad saying ‘if you like […]
Tory Conference: Fujitsu strike called off at eleventh hour
This week’s Tory party conference proceeded untroubled by pickets from unhappy Fujitsu employees amid union promises that further action would also be suspended for the time being. Workers at public sector ICT supplier Fujitsu in Manchester had voted to go on strike and to demonstrate during a presentation at the party conference by the supplier’s […]
Tory Conference: Employers invited to voice employment law concerns
The coalition Government has invited businesses to voice their concerns about existing employment law in the latest phase of efforts to slash red tape, which it claims is stifling private sector job creation. For the next three weeks, the Red Tape Challenge, Whitehall’s crowdsourcing project, will focus on the rules governing employee rights. The campaign […]
Legal Insight: M&A rule changes – an HRD guide to getting it right
New merger and acquisition rules introduced on 19 September mean that companies involved in such activity will have to bring HR into the picture at a much earlier stage of the due diligence process than was previously the case. The changes were introduced by the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers, an independent body that is […]
Case Study: NHS Trust saves £500,000 by managing nurses more efficiently
Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust claims to have saved £0.5m in a year by introducing software to record employees’ working hours, administer their shifts and manage their expenses claims. Managers at the Essex-based Trust, which employs 1,800 clinical staff – 1,500 of whom are nurses – are now using e-rostering, time and […]
Ask the Expert: Is it OK for staff to smoke e-cigs in the workplace?
The Question ‘E-cigs’ are electronic cigarettes. Basically, they look like cigarettes but work by heating a solution that contains nicotine. This produces an odourless vapour that is inhaled. The user inhales this and gets their nicotine hit. When they exhale, you see a ‘vapour’, which looks like smoke. In fact, the units look just […]
Diverse thinking
How many ethnic minorities are represented within your organisation? Do you know that? If you do, do you know what the breakdown is in terms of representation and at what levels of the organisation? How about the breakdown in terms of sexual orientation? Or faith-based segmentation? Let’s ask a different question: does all this matter? […]
Agency Workers Regulations: Is your HR house in order?
The Agency Workers Regulations kicked in on Saturday 1 October, giving temporary agency workers the same basic working and employment rights as full time staff after 12 weeks in a role. This applies to pay, working hours, overtime, holidays, rest periods, access to vacancies and to other facilities. With the UK reliant on large […]
Women, depression and the workplace
This article forms part of our series on women in the workplace. Take a look at the full content series for more information, including insight into impostor syndrome, sick leave and much more. According to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), depression currently affects 1 in 6 people in the UK at […]
Temporary workers still registering in recruitment plans
One in five employers plan to increase their use of temporary staff between now and the end of the year despite the impending introduction of the Agency Workers Regulations, according to a new report from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation. The Confederation said a survey of 600 firms also showed that just under two thirds planned […]
Ask the Expert: Are staff due a holiday after sickness and maternity leave?
Question I’m looking for some guidance on accrual of holidays when an employee has been on long-term sick leave, then returns to go on maternity leave. Is she entitled to accrue almost two years’ holiday? Legal Advice Esther Smith, a partner at Thomas Eggar The short answer to this question is […]
Legal Insight: Tackling gender pay gap reporting
The recent settlement of the long running saga of Gibson and Others v Sheffield City Council, otherwise known as the ‘dinner ladies’ case, highlights the limitations of the UK’s equal pay legislation. After 40 years of being in force, we are still seeing test cases, where legal issues relating to whether workers are entitled to […]
Blog: Restrictive covenants – fair and enforceable or a waste of time?
Restrictive covenants are a big deal in the City, but are they worth the paper they are written on? Over the summer the High Court was kept busy by a case involving a bunch of investment advisors. Employees at a firm called Edward Jones declined to stay at the business when the firm was taken […]
How to avert a ‘micro maternity’ trend
Current employment legislation enables women to take up to year off after they have had a baby. But a recent Daily Mail report suggested that there was a growing number of women taking so-called ‘micro maternity’ leave and returning to the office just a few months after the child was born. The trend is apparently […]
Sheffield Council settles equal pay claim out-of-court
Just as an equal pay claim made by hundreds of women at Sheffield Council has been settled out of court, Birmingham Council employees have started a one-day strike over new employment contracts. Some 900 female Sheffield City Council staff, who include dinner ladies and care workers, were due to have their case heard at the […]
BT pays this year’s biggest sexual harrassment award to telesales worker
A BT telesales worker who was sexually harassed by a “dangerous” boss has been granted the highest employment tribunal award of the last 12 months at £290,000. Up to 10 women have already sued the telecoms provider for sexual harassment allegedly suffered at the hands of different men while working for its ‘Customer Street’ telesales […]