Business Secretary Vince Cable has launched this week an ambitious sounding wide-ranging employment review to help clarify and potentially strengthen the employment status of up to a million British workers. This follows the recent review and upcoming legislation of zero hours contracts. It is considered that an increasing number of people in the UK are on ‘worker` employment contracts which hav...
Employers should be mindful of the need to conduct right to work checks when acquiring staff through a TUPE transfer. Employers cannot rely on previous checks! Since the May 2014 changes, the UKVI has allowed employers a grace period of 60 days from the date of transfer to carry out the appropriate document checks. Previously, employers were only allowed 28 days, and as such should you fail to co...
A significant feature of the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 (the "Regulations") is that they only apply to agents who sell "goods". Agents who sell services are excluded and do not enjoy any protection....
BIS has published an Employers` Technical Guide to Shared Parental Leave and Pay The technical guide summarises the operation of the shared parental leave and pay scheme, considers a number of frequently asked questions and sets out worked examples. It covers some of the more technical aspects of the scheme that are not dealt with in detail in the main Shared parental leave and pay: employer guide on the GOV.UK site, such as the maternity leave curtailment rules.....
The Court of Appeal has restored an employment judge`s decision that the tribunal did not have jurisdiction to hear claims for unfair dismissal and breach of the right to be accompanied at a disciplinary hearing where the claims were brought by an employee of a British company who had moved to work in Dubai ( Creditsights Ltd v Dhunna [2014]). CSL had an office in London and in New York. About 1...
The BBC reports today that Sir Richard Branson, is offering his personal staff at Virgin as much holiday as they want, whenever they want....
Regulations come into force from 1 October 2014 making it compulsory for employment tribunals to order equal pay audits against non compliant employers in equal pay claims, unless certain exemptions apply. In relation to claims brought from 1 October 2014, in the event that the employer is found to be in breach of the equal pay provisions, the tribunal must then go on to require the employer to...
With effect from 1 October 2014, where an employee is dismissed exclusively (or mainly) because he or she is a member of reserve force, the normal two-year service requirement for bringing an unfair dismissal claim will not apply....
It has been interesting that the trade unions have generally maintained neutrality in the independence debate, leaving the issue to their members individually, although the RMT notably has supported independence. However, as Scots voters go the polls today, whether or not Scotland votes for independence it seems unlikely that current laws on discrimination, working time and TUPE will remain the...
New regulations come into force on 1 October 2014 which will help employers employing military reservists. At the moment, when called up, military reservists are paid directly by the Ministry of Defence. Employers can claim expenses in respect of additional costs incurred whilst replacing the reservist (to a maximum of £110 per day). However, from 1st October, small and medium sized employers wi...
It was recently reported in the Guardian Newspaper that the German employment minister is considering new "anti-stress" legislation, including banning companies from contacting employees out of hours. She is quoted in the German press as saying "There is an undeniable relationship between constant availability and the increase of mental illness. We have commissioned the Federal Institute for Occu...
The new right for employees and qualifying agency workers to unpaid time off to accompany a pregnant woman to ante-natal appointments comes into force on 1 October 2014. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has just published a guide for employers. The new right applies to the pregnant woman`s husband, civil partner or partner (including a same-sex partner), the father or parent of...
The new guidance can be found at http://www.acas.org.uk/dresscode Dress codes can be used by employers for a number of reasons, for example as a way of communicating a corporate image or for health and safety reasons. Some key points: Employers must avoid unlawful discrimination in any dress code policy Employers may have health and safety reasons for having certain standards Dress codes m...
Parties to a construction contract, much like any other contract, may find themselves embroiled in a dispute at some point during the life of the contract. For disputes ‘arising under` a construction contract, adjudication is a compulsory procedure (it cannot be contracted out of), developed in order to provide a speedy (usually adjudicators must render their decision within 28 days of appointment) and cost efficient resolution to a dispute, on an interim basis. The reason that it is ‘interim` is that the decision of the adjudicator is binding on the parties temporarily, or at least unless, or until the underlying dispute is determined through litigation, arbitration or by agreement....
Landlords and tenants will welcome a recent change in HMRC policy on the application of VAT to the surrenders of leases....
A tribunal has held than an employee was not liable for amounts that his employer under-deducted under PAYE because his employer did not take reasonable care to comply with the PAYE rules. It decided that an employee was not liable for his employer`s PAYE under-deduction because, in simply abandoning payroll matters to its payroll agent, his employer did not take reasonable care to comply with t...
The government has launched a consultation on its proposed exclusivity ban in zero hours contracts. It also seeks views on penalties and remedies. The results of the consultation will be used to determine the necessity for and scope of further regulations to deal with avoidance of an exclusivity ban, when it comes into force. The consultation will close on 3 November 2014. The government has als...
The Shared Parental Leave Regulations 2014 come into force on 1 December 2014 and apply in respect of babies expected to be born on or after 5 April 2015. A key issue for employers to consider, particularly those who pay more than the statutory minimum amount of maternity pay, is what rate of shared parental leave to pay?...
Rule changes from 1 April 2014 could have serious effects for commercial property owners....
The Defamation Act 2013 (the "2013 Act") introduced a requirement that a statement must have caused (or be likely to cause) serious harm to the Claimant`s reputation for that statement to be defamatory. In order to show serious harm, a business (defined as a body that trades for profit in the 2013 Act) has to show that it had suffered, or was likely to suffer, significant financial loss as a result of the publication of the defamatory material. The relevant section of the 2013 Act came into force on 1 January 2014 and only applies to allegedly defamatory statements made since that date...