In addition to the new 5p charge for plastic bags, the Queen`s Speech published on 4 June 2012 identified the following proposals:- In response to 3,000 highly-paid NHS executives taking redundancy payments only to get new NHS jobs afterwards, measures will limit excessive redundancy payments across the public sector. Legislation will impose higher penalties on employers who fail to pay their...
Do these sound familiar… "A can of baked beans landed on my toe" "My dog had a big fright and I don`t want to leave him" "My trousers split on the way into work" "My fish is sick" "I slipped on a coin" "I`ve had a hair dye disaster" These are just some of the 25 silly excuses recently published by Activ Absence Control as having been used by staff to miss to work. Whilst these do provid...
If a manager conducts further investigations and interviews after a disciplinary meeting, but doesn`t then revert to the employee before deciding to dismiss, that may make the dismissal unfair (Yeung v Capstone Care Ltd [2013] UKEAT/0161/13). In Yeung v Capstone Care, the claimant had worked as a carer at a home for vulnerable adults. Her colleagues alleged that she had verbally and physically a...
Thank you to all the teams for participating in our charity quiz night, hosted in Cardiff on Thursday 12th June....
These new Regulations will complete the implementation of the Consumer Rights Directive in a drive to harmonise consumer rights across the EU and, as they come into force on 13 June, will apply to most consumer contacts entered into on and after this date...
Thank you to those who attended our charity drinks and art exhibition in Reading on Thursday 5th June....
ACAS has published new Guidance on the handling of TUPE transfers and a helpful flowchart summarising the process. The 72 page Guidance document contains useful information on issues such as: When does TUPE apply; Employee liability information and due diligence; The impact of TUPE on terms and conditions of employment; and Information and consultation Included at the end of the Guidan...
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) was asked to provide expert advice to the Court of Appeal in the case of Dr Hainsworth v Ministry of Defence (MoD). Dr Hainsworth worked for the MoD and was stationed in Germany. Her daughter suffers from Down`s Syndrome and, as her special educational needs could not be met in Germany, she requested a transfer to the UK. The request was refused...
The Children and Families Act 2014, which received Royal Assent on 13 March 2014, will introduce a number of changes to employment legislation, including to those parts which relate to the right to request flexible working. (For information about other changes introduced by the Act, see shared parental leave and pay link and time off for antenatal appointments link)....
A two-week government crackdown aimed at workplaces that could be employing illegal workers has been exposed by campaigners. The Financial Times reported this week that the raids targeting businesses including care homes, hotels and restaurants, building companies, recruitment agencies and other small businesses began on Monday. Efforts by the Home Office to keep the raids named Operation Cen...
The question of whether publicly-owned land can be registered as a town or village green has been clarified by the recent Supreme Court decision in R (Barkas) v North Yorkshire County Council which has stated that the previous decision in R( Beresford) v City Of Sunderland [2003) should no longer be followed....
Thank you to everyone who completed the last Buddy Quiz, posted throughout May. We have posted the answers to the questions below so you can check how you did. 1. Employers can only refuse to agree to ACAS early conciliation where it is reasonable to do so. True False 2. Employees cannot commence ACAS early conciliation until the employer`s internal disciplinary and grievances procedur...
Clarkslegal has been successfully appointed to the inaugural legal panel of the University of South Wales, the sixth largest university in the UK...
Companies with football fans among their workforce could see some disruption within their business during June and July. What can employers do to minimise this potential disruption whilst keeping employees engaged? 1. Offer flexibility Allowing employees to watch matches during working hours will be very important to some employees and so could be a huge morale boost. This flexibility cou...
If you have ever read a Tribunal judgment and been confused over how it reached its decision, it may not be your fault. One of the few grounds of appeal open to a party in the Employment Tribunal system is if the Tribunal fails to give adequate reasons for its decision. As the Court of Appeal has explained: "...although a Tribunal decision is not required to be an elaborate formalistic product o...
It`s a well known principle that in order to claim constructive dismissal an employee should not delay when resigning in response to a fundamental breach of his/ her contract. Therefore, it was no surprise that the EAT held in the case of Cockram v Air Products plc that an employee who resigned but then proceeded to work a seven month notice period (his contractual notice period was three month...
All employers need to carry out right to work checksAs an employer, you have a duty to prevent illegal working in the UK by carrying out checks to ensure that your employees have the right to work here. The illegal working provisions of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 mean that an employer may be issued with a penalty of up to £20,000 per illegal worker (from 16 May 2014) where t...
The business case for engaging employees is well established. There is a huge body of evidence confirming that engagement drives many important areas such as income growth, productivity, innovation, employee retention and wellbeing.This paper is taken from a workshop first presented on 15th May 2014 by Michael Sippitt of Clarkslegal LLP, Samantha Gee of Innecto and James Poole and Scott Addison o...
The rule of thumb in English litigation is that the loser pays the winner`s costs. There are three occasions where the Court might depart from this presumption...
A number of construction contracts contain what are known as "conclusive evidence" clauses...