Often we’ll get told by prospective business clients that they have a happy workforce with no employment law issues and so they don’t need to pay for employment law & HR advice. We understand their logic. But often a reactive approach to employment disputes can be expensive and time consuming. In this article we discuss… Read more »
Article Category: Employment Law & HR – Insight & Opinion
Summer office dress down day: what could go wrong?
The heat is rising and summer is in the air. As Brits, we like to make the most of the good weather during its rare decision to grace us with its presence. Many of us will hit the beaches and parks, but many others will be stuck in stuffy offices with no air-con. Your staff… Read more »
Employee disputes – six steps to effective management
Employee disputes hit the headlines recently with the BBC’s dismissal of Jeremy Clarkson. While few disputes are as high profile as this there are some important points to note for all employers. In particular, that getting to the bottom of the situation swiftly in order to make the right decision is critical. This critical process… Read more »
Hiring apprentices: get it right from the start
Today marks the start of National Apprentice Week (NAW) – a week designed to celebrate apprenticeships and to encourage more small businesses to take on apprentices. The government has declared that there are now over 1500 different apprenticeships on offer in more than 170 industries and £1.5bn was invested in apprenticeships by the government in… Read more »
Shared Parental Leave: further addition to family-friendly rights
A future Labour government would double the amount of paid paternity leave available to new fathers from two to four weeks, Ed Miliband has announced. The Labour leader has also pledged to increase statutory paternity pay by more than £120 a week to £260 a week. But what are new fathers currently entitled to? And… Read more »
Covert surveillance by employers and secret recordings by employees: where do you stand?
Recent decisions of the ICO (Information Commissioners Officer) and the EAT (Employment Appeals Tribunal) have placed renewed focus on these issues. However, is this something new or are these decisions just telling us what we already knew? As a result of covert surveillance of an employee who was off work for four weeks with a… Read more »
Don’t be left in the cold
With the snow falling thick and fast across some parts of the county we are seeing an increasing number of enquiries with regards to whether or not employers are obliged to pay their employees who are unable to make it into work. One of the basic principles of an employment relationship is that an employer… Read more »
Commission payments whilst on annual leave
Recently, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) handed down its decision in Lock v British Gas, holding that commission payments fall within the concept of normal pay and should therefore be taken into account when calculating the holiday pay to which a worker is entitled. Background to calculating pay The EU Working… Read more »
