Ask the expert: Notice period holiday
The experts, Neil Gill and Esther Smith advise on whether it can be made compulsory to take remaining holiday when serving notice. The question: Notice period holiday Can employers include a clause in their employment contracts which states that any outstanding holiday entitlement must be used up during notice periods? For example, if an […]
Equality Act: It’s recruitment, but not as we know it…?
We consider what changes will need to be made to recruitment in reality in the light of the equality act. Fergal Dowling, Partner in the Employment team at law firm Irwin Mitchell warns recruiting is tough enough as it is but now there are more things to look out for than ever before. The advice […]
Equality Act: What wasn’t enforced
There has been a lot of talk about what changes the Equality Act will bring to HR and recruitment professionals. However, there were a few items the coalition government held back on – and it is these more controversial elements that perhaps say more about the Act than what was enforced this time. One of […]
Equality Act: pre-employment health questions – what difference will it make?
The changes in the law concerning pre-employment healthcare questions have proved some of the most divisive out of all of the Equality Act adjustments. The moves outlaw medical examinations and healthcare questions prior to employment, and the changes are also designed to strengthen protection of disabled workers and applicants. The new provision prohibits employers asking […]
Equality Act comes into force: overview
The new Equality Act came into force on 1 October. As well as ‘harmonising’ much of the discrimination law into one single act, there are other changes HR need to be aware of. Worryingly, research from Eversheds reveals 75% of HR professionals surveyed fear that the Equality Act 2010 will lead to an increase in […]
National minimum wage rises as Ed Miliband commits to ‘living wage’
Ed Miliband has alarmed business groups by committing to the introduction of a “living wage”, after government figures indicated that changes to the existing national minimum wage would already cost organisations £48 million. As of today, Friday 1 October, the minimum wage will apply to low-paid workers aged 21 rather than over 22 for the […]
HR confused over agency worker regulations
Only 19% of HR professionals have a clear understanding of the forthcoming Agency Worker Regulations, while a worrying four out of five have no idea what the consequences of non-compliance would be. According to a survey of 100 HR decision-makers in UK companies who regularly use temporary staff, three out of five did not even […]
Social media useful but still a security risk
While employers acknowledge that Web 2.0 technology can boost staff productivity, enhance marketing strategies and generate new revenue streams, seven out of 10 suffered average losses of $2 million due to related security incidents last year. As a result, 81% are restricting the use of at least one tool, whether that be social media, micro-blogging, […]
Tackling inequality may require quotas
The European Commission has hinted that it may introduce quotas to boost the number of women at board level at the same time as a report indicated that the employment gap for ethnic minorities is only set to widen. The Commission has just unveiled a new five year strategy in a bid to tackle gender […]
DRA should be kept to protect SMEs
Not only will coalition government proposals to abolish the Default Retirement Age have a negative impact on small businesses’ employment practices, but pension auto-enrolment will also add significantly to their costs. A new paper by the Institute of Directors argues that the government should scrap plans to abolish the DRA and instead raise it progressively […]
Ask the expert: Sickness and holiday pay
The experts, Adam Partington and Esther Smith advise on working out holiday leave for a sick employee. The question: Sickness and holiday pay Situation: Employee off on sick leave for 7.5 months. Received Full pay for 6 months, half pay for the remaining 1.5 months. Company policy) Returned to work on a fit note […]
EU maternity laws ‘unaffordable’ for UK businesses
European Union plans to extend maternity leave are “completely unaffordable” for already overburdened companies, a business group has warned. Under proposals to amend the Pregnant Workers Directive that are scheduled to be voted on next month, maternity leave would be extended from a formerly suggested 14 weeks to 20 weeks on full pay. Female workers […]
Ask the expert: Grievance response time
This week the experts, Martin Brewer and Esther Smith consider what an employer needs to do to respond to a grievance raised by an employee – and in what timeframe? The question: Grievance response time – how long do we have? If you raise a grievance with your employer, how long do they have to […]
UK unprepared to deal with ageing workforce
The failure of senior executives to recognise the widespread implications of an ageing workforce mean that UK organisations are “woefully underprepared” to deal with the impact on their business. Despite the impending abolition of the Default Retirement Age (DRA) and the fact that a third of UK workers will be aged over 50 by 2020, […]
Ask the expert: Pregnant again while on maternity leave?
The experts, Adam Partington and Esther Smith advise on how to handle successive pregnancies which seemingly overlap… The question: Pregnant again while on maternity leave? If an employee becomes pregnant again while on maternity leave, does she have to be put back on full pay during her pregnancy (her job is one that cannot […]
Employment law takeaways for September
Employment law takeaways: our bitesize legal updates for busy HR professionals, provided by Ann Bevitt of Morrison and Foerster. This month, equality, incapability and disability discrimination. 1. Community Dental Centres Ltd v Sultan-Darmon – Unfettered right of substitution fatal to worker status2. Aylott v Stockton on Tees borough Council – Identifying the proper comparator in […]
Ask the expert: Is this redundancy fair?
This week the experts, Martin Brewer and Esther Smith, advise on whether this redundancy selection is fair. The question: Is this redundancy fair? The shop floor team consists of five employees working 42 hours per week (full time), three employees working 35 hours per week (part time) and six employees working a variety of […]
Half of employers fear ‘old won’t go’
Only just over a half of employers expect to scrap default retirement ages completely when the practice is abolished in October next year amid fears that staff will refuse to go even if they are no longer up to the job. Research undertaken among 115 customers by law firm Shoosmiths indicated that only 20% of […]
How to avoid the Employment Tribunal
Statistics released recently by the Tribunal Service show that the total number of claims lodged with an Employment Tribunal in 2009-10 was 236,100 compared to 151,000 for 2008-09. This amounts to an increase in the number of claims made to an Employment Tribunal by over 56%. In this article Guy Hollebon, Head of Employment Law […]
‘Equal pay’ firms target ‘unenforceable’ pay secrecy clauses
Private sector employers should brace themselves for a wave of mass discrimination lawsuits following the abolition of a pay secrecy clause in the Equality Act. According to law firm Pannone, when the Act comes into force in October, pay secrecy clauses will become unenforceable and organisations will be unable to prevent staff from disclosing salary […]