Growth is about the entrepreneur, great products and innovation, strategy and opportunity, right? What has that got to do with HR and employment law support? Well let us flip the question around. Do disputes, litigation, workplace grievances, staff turnover, recruitment costs and damage to reputation act as a brake on Read more…
It is that time of year again when the government announces the annual increase in statutory payment rates. The following increased rates will therefore apply from 6 April 2014. Statutory Sick Pay (“SSP”) This will increase from £86.70 to £87.55 a week*. Statutory Maternity, Paternity and Adoption Pay The Read more…
As has been widely publicised in the media, new rights are due to be introduced by the Government allowing parents to share a period of parental leave following the birth of their child, which is envisaged to take effect from April 2015. Parents will be able to choose to share up to Read more…
The Ministry of Justice has published its “provisional management information” showing receipt of Employment Tribunal claims up to September 2013, in light of Employment Tribunal fees now being in effect for all claims issued after 29 July 2013. It was envisaged that there would be a surge in claims in Read more…
It has recently been announced that from April 2014, Tribunals will have the power to order employers who lose a tribunal claim to pay a financial penalty of up to £5,000. This will not however be an automatic penalty for a losing employer. Instead, the Tribunal will have discretion to Read more…
The Employment Appeal Tribunal in the case of Warner v Armfield Retail & Leisure Ltd [2012] has held that a disabled employee’s contract of employment is capable of being frustrated, but that in such cases, the Employment Tribunal must first consider whether the employer was in breach of its duty Read more…
A potentially redundant employee will lose their right to a statutory redundancy payment if they unreasonably refuse an offer of suitable alternative employment made by their employer. In the recent case of Devon Primary Care Trust v Readman the Court of Appeal confirmed the correct test to use when assessing Read more…
A recent decision of the Employment Tribunal has confirmed that payments in lieu of accrued and untaken statutory holiday upon termination of employment must reflect normal pay: token payments are not allowed. The Facts In the recent case of Podlasiak v Edinburgh Woollen Mill Limited ET/2701291/2013, Ms Podlasiak worked for Read more…
The Advocate General of the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) has given her key opinion this week on surrogacy arrangements and the rights of both the birth mother and the employee benefitting from a surrogacy arrangement in respect of Maternity Leave and other surrounding benefits. In February 2012, the Newcastle Read more…
The Government has published its proposals for reform of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (“TUPE”). The big news is that the Government has decided not to scrap the service provision change (SPC) rules. Instead, there is a relatively minor (and arguably unnecessary) amendment to reflect case law Read more…