Recruiting for judges as employment claims double
Since the Supreme Court ruled that tribunal fees were unlawful in Summer 2017, the subsequent abolishment resulted in a steep hike of employment claims. In fact, claims are at a record high since 2013. Steep hike in employment claims In the first quarter following the abolition the number of employment claim cases doubled, and in […]
IR35: private sector and Brexit
IR35 introduced to stop abuse The IR35 rules first came into force with the Finance Act 2000 with the aim of preventing contractors from avoiding paying their dues by drawing a tax-free salary from a company structure which they had created for that precise purpose. According to HMRC, someone earning £100,000 over the period of a […]
Football Managers: How Would They Be Punished in the Office?
As HR Knowledge Manager at HR Solutions, I had the interesting task of helping Viking, suppliers of office equipment, with their recently selected real-life offences from football management. They asked me to compare what might have happened if the offences committed had taken place in an office environment. The pressure cooker of football management can sometimes get […]
What advice would you give to small business owners regarding maternity leave?
Recently published statistics from the Equality and Human Rights Commission revealed that many businesses’ attitudes towards maternity leave, “are decades behind the law”. The Equality and Human Rights Commision surveyed 1,106 senior business decision makers and found that around a third (36%) of private sector employers agree that it is reasonable to ask women about […]
Lord Chancellor plans to bring back tribunal fees
The Lord Chancellor has suggested to MPs that employment tribunal fees should be reinstated, in a bid to deter frivolous claims. In July 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the high level of employment tribunal fees was unlawful. However, speaking to the justice select committee, The Lord Chancellor said that the judgment did not entirely […]
BP alleged to have sacked female employee because ‘women aren’t funny’
An employment tribunal has heard that a BP surveyor lost her job because her sense of humour wasn’t considered a female asset. At the time, Kathryn Buttle was the only female surveyor working in her team in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey. Ms Buttle was made redundant last year and is now claiming unfair dismissal, public interest disclosure and […]
Should criminal records be sealed from employers?
In the future, employers may no longer know if an individual has a criminal record. This follows a recommendation from an independent review of how the criminal justice system treats black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people in the UK. The review, led by David Lammy MP, concludes that the UK should follow the U.S. system. In […]
The Taylor Review: what you need to know
Finally published a year after its announcement, “Good Work: The Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices” runs to 116 pages and contains many recommendations for change, including several that are of particular interest to employers and HR teams. ‘Worker’ status scrapped The Taylor Review proposes that a new category, ‘dependent contractor’, should replace the current […]
What’s the future of the gig economy?
Following the recent employment tribunals of City Sprint, Uber and Deliveroo workers, what is the future of the gig economy? For several years, the gig economy and self-employment in the UK has seen a steady rise. Self-employed people make up about 15% of the UK workforce. Between July and September 2016, an extra 213,000 people […]
The Great Repeal Bill
At the Conservative party conference last weekend, Brexit minister David Davis announced that The Great Repeal Bill would be introduced that would mean European Union law ceases to apply from the moment the United Kingdom officially leaves the EU. The Government has said that the intention of this new bill, to be known as the […]
Deliveroo will not force workers to take on new contracts
Following protests by its workers, takeaway delivery company Deliveroo has announced it will withdraw plans to make staff take on new contracts, which would have seen them earning less than the National Living Wage. Many workers said that the new deal could mean that they would earn less money and lose the security of an […]
No significant change to employment law says Brexit minister
While there has been much speculation about what the impact of an EU exit will be on UK employment law, the new Brexit secretary has promised that there will be no changes when the UK does leave the European Union. Brexit supporters had suggested that leaving the EU would free the UK of restrictive […]
What will Brexit mean for employment rights?
The dust may have started to settle a little after the EU referendum result, but what happens now and what will a Brexit mean for employment rights? The UK government still needs to submit a withdrawal notice to officially start the process of exiting the EU. But this isn’t expected to happen for a while, […]
Morrisons Vicariously Liable for Assault
The Supreme Court has ruled that supermarket chain Morrisons is vicariously liable for an employee’s physical assault on a customer. The ruling has not changed the law, but it does indicate that there is now a broader definition of an employer’s accountability for their employee’s actions. Mr Amjid Khan, at the time an employee at […]
Commission Must Be Included in Holiday Pay
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has confirmed that an employee’s average commission must be included in their holiday pay. The judgement, published Monday (22nd February), set out how the European Court of Justice (ECJ)’s ruling will apply in the UK. This is another step in the long-running case of Lock v British Gas, which was […]
Starbucks Loses Workplace Dyslexia Case
A dyslexic employee has won an Employment Tribunal against coffee retail chain Starbucks. Meseret Kumulchew, a barista at a Starbucks in Clapham, London, suffered discrimination in her role after she was wrongly accused of falsifying documents. Ms Kumulchew made mistakes in her role due to her difficulties with reading and writing. Yet instead of making […]
High Court Rules Criminal Record Checks Unlawful
The High Court has ruled the Government’s criminal record disclosure scheme is not consistent with the Human Rights Act. The verdict came on January 22nd after two separate legal challenges. The challengers claimed that having to disclose minor offences is a breach of their right to privacy. They also argued that it is inconsistent with […]
Monitoring Private Emails at Work: What You Need to Know
The European Court has reaffirmed that employers can read private emails and chat messages sent by employees. The ruling has caused a media panic that employers can now ‘snoop’ on their employees, although this is far from the case. Furthermore, given previous UK Employment Tribunals, very little has actually changed. Regardless, with the case generating […]
Is Dismissal for Persistent Lateness Fair?
Can you dismiss an employee for persistent lateness? You can as long as you show that you followed procedure, ruled the Employment Tribunal. The case of Ghartey v Royal Museums Greenwich recently asked the Employment Tribunal to resolve this question after Mr Ghartey, a former visitor assistant at the museum, was dismissed from his role […]
New Penalties for the National Minimum Wage
The Government has published new legislation regarding the forthcoming amendments to the National Minimum Wage. There will be tougher penalties in place for employers who fail to pay the National Minimum Wage. These include doubling the penalty for non-payment and disqualifying guilty employers from holding a directorship for up to 15 years. The legislation will […]