EU ‘snooping’ ruling: is it even morally ok to snoop on staff?

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) recently ruled that an employer was within its rights to read the Yahoo Messenger chats of one of its employees, as the employee had broken company rules. It’s been legal for quite some time now for employers to read their employees communications – within reason. UK law says […]

EU ‘snooping’ ruling: your questions answered

A new European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling allows employers to read workers' private messages sent via chat and email software during working hours. But what are the real implications for UK employers? Here are five questions answered by an employment lawyer to help bring you up to speed. Jamie Lawrence, Editor, HRZone: Does this […]

Legal advice: fighting at the Christmas party

Layla Bunni is a senior associate, specialising in employment law at Starr & Partners LLP. She advises on a wide range of both contentious and non-contentious employment issues. Her legal advice column continues: this month an office Christmas party has turned into a brawl. What action should be taken? It’s that time of year again, and […]

Can an employee’s contract of employment be changed once signed?

It is not unusual for a change to employees’ terms and conditions to present itself in an employment relationship. These changes can arise due to a number of reasons, for example, an employer may wish to reorganise their business structure or workforce so that it is more economically efficient. When an employer finds themselves in […]

Can an employer dismiss an employee who is off sick?

Despite the fact that having an employee who is on long-term sickness leave can be challenging on business resources, there are certain protocols every employer should follow when deciding whether an employee should be dismissed. It is best practice for an employer to stay in contact with an employee who is off work on long […]

What are the requirements to qualify for shared parental leave?

Adding a new dimension of flexibility to the work environment, shared parental leave (SPL) was introduced to allow parents to share their parental responsibilities in a way convenient for them during the first year of their child’s life. A mother can share her leave with one of the following: the baby’s father, her husband, her civil partner […]

Defining the role of a ‘worker’ in an Uber world

There is often a fine dividing line in determining whether, on the one hand, an individual is an employee or worker; or whether they are a genuine self-employed contractor on the other. Emerging trends in the workplace – particularly that of “agile working” – are making this determination increasingly more complex and have somewhat muddied […]

Easton vs B&Q – what does duty of care now mean for employers?

In recent times there has been an increase in reports of individuals suffering from stress at work, stress related absences/conditions and termination of employment on the ground of these factors. In assessing why there has been increase in the above number of incidents, it may largely be due to the stigma associated with psychiatric and […]

How the Equality Act helps create diverse workplaces

This Sunday is Disability Awareness Day. It is also 20 years since the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) introduced the statutory obligation for employers to make reasonable adjustments in respect of disabled employees, now enshrined in the Equality Act 2010 (EqA).  This remains a central plank of an employer’s strategy to attract and retain disabled employees. […]

Analysing short-term Tory employment law plans

What does the short-term hold for UK employment law under a majority Conservative government? A central theme of the Conservative manifesto was that of economic improvement. In headline campaigning terms, “The Great Recession has given way to a Great Revival”: it spells out certain developments but much remains to be seen as to the effect […]

Social media defamation: the digital revenge of the ex-employee

In 2013, disgruntled HMV workers famously took to Twitter via HMV’s own twitter account. The tweets included “Just overheard our Marketing Director (he’s staying, folks) ask ‘How do I shut down Twitter?” In July 2014, the BBC’s former political correspondent, Laura Kuenssberg, caused controversy when she reflected her change of employment by amending her Twitter […]

What employment law policies are you really voting for?

With the main parties having  published their manifestos for the general election 2015 (don’t forget to vote on May 7th!), what is the future looking like for employment law? Conservatives They have indicated their support for real terms increases in the National Minimum Wage, rising from its current level of £6.50 per hour to reach […]

The real cost of a bad hiring decision

When it comes to hiring time, more and more organisations are bolstering their recruitment processes with a thorough programme of interviews, relevant workplace tests and internal vetting procedures in an effort to secure the right candidate. Now that we’re coming out of recession it seems there’s even more fierce competition amongst applicants and the selection […]

2014 employment law review

There have been a number of key developments in employment law in 2014, many of which have had a wide-ranging impact for employers. Holiday Pay The most notable, and widely publicised, of these developments was the series of significant decisions in relation to holiday pay, building on the Court of Justice of the European Union's […]

Overtime to count when calculating holiday pay

People working overtime could be able to claim for additional holiday pay, following a ground-breaking Employment Appeal Tribunal. Only basic pay currently counts when calculating holiday pay. Workers will be able to make backdated claims, but only for a limited period. According to Vanessa James, Head of Employment at SA Law, employees could potentially claim […]

Britain does not have an over-regulated employment environment

The European Union has played a substantial role in shaping rights at work in the UK over the last thirty years. For Eurosceptics, this is a prime example of the EU over-stepping the mark and undermining national sovereignty. With our future within the European Union looking more uncertain than ever, it is an important time […]

When did bribery stop being an HR issue?

When did HR absolve themselves of responsibility for people issues? Prior to the commencement of the Bribery Act in 2010, when I was being instructed on an investigation into employee misbehaviour, such instructions would usually come via the HR team. But since the Bribery Act, everything seems to have changed. Now I'm sure that HR […]

‘Dinosaur’ employers reluctant to hire working mums

Nearly 40% of managers avoid employing working mothers for fear they won’t perform as well as their male colleagues, new research has found. A survey of 500 managers by law firm Slater & Gordon has revealed that nearly half of bosses would resist recruiting a mother for a senior role, with 38% hesitant about hiring […]

Employment tribunal fees a ‘victory’ for rogue employers

The introduction of employment tribunal fees has been a “huge victory” for bad employers, resulting in a significant drop in the number of claims, the Trades Union Congress has said. A TUC report to mark the first anniversary of the new charges has revealed that, since July 2013, there has been a 79% fall in […]

Flexible working changes – a smorgasbord of opinions on right to request

From today, 20 million people (according to BIS) now have the right to request flexible working from their employer. BIS have said that over half of businesses who allow flexible working see improved relationships, 40% report productivity boost and 38% see drop in staff absence. The salient points: The change affects those who have over […]