The House of Lords in HM Revenue & Customs v Stringer [2009] held that claims for holiday pay can be a series of deductions. Since the decision, employers have been apprehensive that employees who have been off sick for several years may be able to claim backdated holiday pay for the whole period upon termination. This issue came to light in the recent case of Khan v Martin McColl [2010]....
Under TUPE, any dismissal or change to terms and conditions of employment which is connected with a relevant transfer is unfair or invalid, unless it can be shown that the dismissal or change was for an economic, technical or organisational reason entailing a change in the workforce (an "ETO" reason)....
The case of Enable Care & Support Home Ltd v Pearson [2010] is an example where a tribunal fell into the trap of substituting its own judgment for that of the employer....
Despite only coming into force in April 2010 for employers with over 250 employees, and not yet being applicable to smaller firms, the Coalition Government is considering scrapping the right to request time off for training (which was given by the previous Labour Government)....
We continue to strengthen our Private Client team, with the double appointment of solicitor James Phipps and residential property lawyer Dr. Nataliya Topliss....
We are delighted to announce that we will be co-hosting a breakfast seminar with Hill International, providing an overview of the amendments to the Construction Act....
The last UK government often stated that to enable the transition to a low-carbon economy, the UK needed a trinity of solutions. The trinity consisted of renewables (mostly wind power), nuclear and carbon capture and storage (CCS). There has been a huge amount of money invested into renewables. Although there are significant costs, the returns on investment are commercially attractive....
Official figures have shown that unemployment fell in the three months to May this year, to a total of 2.47 million. However, according to reports from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), a third of employers expect to cut jobs in the next three months. Also, the CIPD report that the size of the cuts being considered has also increased....
Investments in the realm of climate change tend to be focussed mainly on financial returns - not surprising as the very nature of an investment is to make a return. However, there is an increasing need to focus on the social and environmental benefits along with the financial benefits as climate change-related impacts begin to affect all aspects of society....
An often dismissed subject, which also ties into the theme of climate change, is water. Water is essential to every aspect of life, from growing food to industrial production and basic human survival. Yet the dire state and outlook of the world`s current freshwater resources seems to be overlooked in favour of carbon emissions....
As investor awareness of climate change and environmental concerns has risen, there has been a concerted move to more responsible investing principles....
From 1 October 2010 a new streamlined process to allow enforcement of settlements contained in Acas COT3 forms will be introduced....
The coalition government rose from the ashes of the most controversial general election in recent times to deliver a budget with bite. Although we are officially out of the recession, the key elements of the budget which impact on employers seem far from measures to promote growth and reduce unemployment....
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that output VAT must be paid on retail vouchers given to staff under salary sacrifice schemes, which allow employees to elect to take certain benefits in lieu of salary as part of their remuneration package....
Under TUPE, employees` terms are protected when they are transferred to the private sector. In addition, the 2003 voluntary code of practice on workforce matters in local authority service contracts guarantees that anyone recruited to work in the outsourced business will be on "no less favourable terms" than those workers who were previously in the public sector. The same principles apply to most other public sector service contracts as a result of a further code of practice published in 2005....
The Central London Employment Tribunal is trialing a new system whereby an ACAS Conciliator is present at the tribunal office to assist parties in conducting settlement discussions....
On 22 July 2010, the Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) launched a consultation paper, "Skills for Sustainable Growth". The consultation outlines seeks views on proposals for addressing the significant issue of an ever increasing unskilled workforce. Consultation closes on 14 October 2010....
The current default retirement age (DRA) of 65 has been under the spotlight since the introduction of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations back in 2006 and has not been without its critics. Today marks the start of a period of consultation by the Government into its proposals to phase out the DRA, which include plans for a six-month transitional period....
Under TUPE, all collective agreements relating to the transferring employees transfer to the transferee where they are bound by the terms in force at the date of transfer. Any subsequent changes or new collective agreements will not ordinarily bind a transferee if they are not a party to it....
The question of whether it is unlawful age discrimination to cap contractual redundancy payments in order to prevent employees from receiving a windfall (i.e. a redundancy payment together with the ability to draw a pension) was put into the spotlight by the EAT in the recent case of Kraft Foods Ltd v Hastie....