The Apprenticeship Levy — Are You Ready?
The apprenticeship levy is a levy on UK employers to fund the costs of apprenticeship training and assessment. The levy will be set at 0.5% of an employer's pay- bill (the paybill is the employer's total employee earnings subject to Class 1 secondary national...
Is It Unlawful To Ban An Employee From Wearing A Hijab?
Yes, advises the CJEU's Advocate General in the French case of Bougnaoui v Micropole SA. Ms Bougnaoui was employed by Micropole SA as a design engineer. She was a practising Muslim and wore an Islamic headscarf (hijab) at work and when she visited clients. The...
How Can Small Business Owners Improve Staff Wellbeing At Work?
Cut Down on stress. Around 10 million working days a year are lost to stress, according to the Health and Safety Executive. This may not always be due to work pressures, but creating a culture where employees know it’s OK to talk about their workload or other worries...
Living Wage – The Real Cost!
From 1 April this year the government introduced a new National Living Wage for the over-25s of £7.20 an hour (£6.70 for those aged between 21 and 25), which will benefit more than a million workers. The new NLW will rise each year, with the aim of reaching 60 per...
Gender Pay Reporting – Are You Ready?
With Gender pay reporting taking aback seat to the Brexit discussions we take a look at the timeline for implementation of the reporting requirements. October 2016: The Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2016 are expected to come into force on...
What is The Future of EU Workers in Light of the Brexit Vote?
Clients are asking us what a Brexit vote will mean for UK employment laws. We’ve taken a look at some of the key laws to see what might change. The withdrawal will not, by itself, repeal UK employment laws or immigration rules wholesale. Parliament would have to...
Does The ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures Apply to Ill Health Dismissals?
No it does not, held the EAT in Holmes v QinetiQ. The Claimant was dismissed on the grounds of ill health. The dismissal was held to be unfair because of the failure to obtain an up-to-date occupational health report. At the remedy hearing, the Claimant contended that...
Disability Discrimination – What Can We Learn From Newcastle United’s Mistakes?
The tricky subject of workplace health is once again in the spotlight following a successful employment tribunal claim by ex-Argentina international footballer Jonas Gutierrez against Newcastle United FC. The key aspects of the tribunal’s decision are that the...
Tribunal Insurance – Do You Really Need It?
If you are seeking to outsource your HR support services, chances are you will have considered tribunal insurance as essential for your peace of mind. But there are several reasons to rethink this. You might not even need it. There are many steps on the journey...
Voluntary Overtime & Holiday Pay Update
Employees who regularly work voluntary overtime beyond their contracted hours could be eligible for holiday pay on that overtime, following the initial ruling in a case that looks likely to add another level of confusion to the ongoing holiday pay debate. In White...
When is an employer vicariously liable for the Acts of their employees?
In Mohamud v WM Morrison Supermarkets plc, a customer had been subjected to a serious assault and racial abuse by the employee in his working hours and on company premises. The customer brought a claim in the County Court against Morrison’s which they contested,...
Is it OK to Snoop on your Employees Emails?
The case in question is Barbulescu v Romania [2016]. The employee was an engineer and he had been asked to setup a Yahoo Messenger account which could be used by the company to respond to customer queries. There was a strict company rule that said that no employee...