The government has announced new legislation to ensure that furloughed employees who are made redundant will receive a statutory redundancy payment based on their normal rate of pay and not their reduced furlough pay. The same will apply in respect of notice payments for furloughed employees. The new legislation is to come into force today (31 […]
Schools have broken up for summer holidays and more employees are now venturing out and going abroad. Already we are seeing signs of further coronavirus related issues for employers. The first big challenge has been triggered by the government’s sudden decision to impose 14-day quarantine on those returning from Spain.This has implications for employees who […]
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a £30bn plan to boost the economy and prevent mass unemployment as the financial effects of the coronavirus wear on. We have summarised the key points below which will be of interest to employers: Job retention scheme The furlough scheme is due to be phased out over the summer before coming […]
The president of the employment tribunals for England and Wales has said that he expects a big increase of unfair dismissal claims by reason of redundancy as the government’s furlough scheme is wound up. We know that for many employers the furlough scheme has simply been a means of delaying the inevitable. With changes to […]
Over the weekend, the government released guidance about upcoming changes to the coronavirus job retention scheme (also known as the furlough scheme). The changes relate to new flexible furlough arrangements that will be available for employers to operate as they ease out of lock down and before the scheme closes as the end of October. […]
On Friday 29 May 2020, the Chancellor announced reforms to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) (also known as furlough leave) and outlined a number of changes that will take effect over the next few months. The government have published a factsheet which can be access here. The key points for employers to be aware […]
The government has launched its contact tracing service in England (similar initiatives available in the rest of the UK). The purpose of the initiative is to try and reduce the spread of Covid-19 by tracking down anyone that has been in contact with a person who tests positive for the virus and asking them to […]
Following concerns over a lack of migrant labour as a consequence of Brexit, the Government is significantly expanding its Seasonal Workers Pilot, which was first announced in 2018, in order to boost the UK horticulture sector for the 2020 harvest. The scheme, which permits agricultural businesses to take on seasonal migrant workers from outside the […]
The Chancellor has today announced that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (“Scheme”) will be extended for four months, until the end of October 2020. There will be no changes in relation to how the Scheme is run between now and the end of July 2020. Between August and October 2020 the Scheme will be continue […]
We have prepared a guidance note to assist employers through the uncertain times caused by the coronavirus outbreak. You will find answers to common questions below but if you have any concerns which are not addressed here then please do not hesitate to contact us.
We know that many of our clients have been eagerly awaiting further guidance from HMRC about whether tronc payments should be included in the calculation of wages for the purpose of the retention scheme. The guidance has been updated to confirm that “any tips, including those distributed through troncs” are not to be included when calculating wages. […]
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme online portal is now live and can be accessed through the Government Gateway. There is a step by step guide for employers to assist in making a claim through the portal which can be accessed here.
HMRC has just updated it’s guidance to confirm that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will now be available until 30 June (instead of 31 May).
HMRC has published updated guidance about the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. This is the fourth version of the guidance since it was initially announced last month. Originally, to qualify for the scheme employees had to have been on an employer’s payroll on or before 28 February 2020. This meant a lot of employees who had […]
Over the weekend, HMRC published some much needed additional guidance about the Furlough Scheme (otherwise known as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme). We now know that:
Quick and easy access to employment law data booklet. Following the announcement of our merger with Barlow Robbins, our data booklet which includes easily accessible brief employment law information, will this year be distributed a month later, in May. The data booklet includes the and limits for the upcoming tax year. As we know many […]
In one of the largest ever surveys of its kind to be carried out, the Government EqualitiesOffice is surveying thousands of victims of sexual harassment as the government continues to address the issue of harassment in the workplace. Wanting to strengthen protection for workers, the government has issued a survey to 12,000 workers, inviting them […]
As 2019 draws to a close it’s worth looking ahead to those employment law changes coming intoforce next year.
A primary school headteacher who was sacked for having sex with two 17-year-old boys has wonnearly £700,000 in compensation.
A casual worker is entitled to paid holiday, and their entitlement pay is calculated pro rata by reference to the hours they work. The law on this calculation has developed and recently become complex. If a casual worker believes they have not been paid correctly for their holiday entitlement, they may bring a claim in […]
Conisbee v Crossley Farms Ltd and others In an intriguing case, the Tribunal considered whether vegetarianism is a belief, and therefore a protected characteristic, or a ‘lifestyle choice’. Mr Conisbee, the claimant, resigned after being told off for not ironing his shirt. As he’d only been employed for five months, he didn’t have the requisite […]
The Court of Appeal has found that NHS Trust’s monitoring of working hours and rest breaks was flawed, and junior doctors could be owed £250,000 in back pay.
Pregnancy or maternity discrimination is illegal under the Equality Act, yet up to 54,000 women ayear still feel forced out due to discrimination on these grounds.
A recent ruling by the Court of Appeal (COA) has clarified the differing purposes of sharedparental leave (ShPL) and maternity leave.
On 20 May, a 10-minute Rule Bill was introduced in the House of Commons to extend redundancy protection for women and new parents. This is further to the publication of the Women and Equalities Select Committee (WESC) support for the proposal on 1 May.
The case of Grange v Abellio London Ltd will be of particular interest to employers as it confirms that non-compliance with (or a refusal to provide for) an employee’s entitlement to a rest break can result in an award of damages for personal injury.
In a recent landmark case that was hailed the ‘first public sector gig economy victory’, a group of art educators sacked by the National Gallery established “worker” status, despite the Gallery’s claim that they were self-employed.
Following a recent compensation claim for £300,000 against Cancer Research UK by one of its employees during a staff party, employers may need to review the potential health and safety risks at social events, and think twice before throwing office parties.
Iceland Foods are in a dispute with HMRC over the company’s Christmas savings scheme.
The government has published the Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2019 which increases compensation limits for employees in various situations, applicable from 6 April 2019.
In the case of Tillman v Egon Zehnder Ltd, the Supreme Court is considering whether professional services firm Egon Zehnder unreasonably restrained trade by means of a covenant preventing its former employee, Mary Tillman, from taking a job with a competitor for six months.
Six out of ten women would take into consideration an organisation’s gender pay gap when looking for a job, according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
An employer can be held liable for the unlawful actions of one of its employees if it takes place during the course of their employment. This is known as ‘vicarious liability’. ‘Employment’ is provided with a very wide meaning and can extend to social events that take place off-site and outside normal working hours.
In order to “fulfil the tax obligations of their workers” the Office for Tax Simplification (OTS) has asked the government whether online platforms such as taxi firms or food delivery businesses could deduct tax from earnings.
‘Lancaster and Duke Ltd v Wileman’
The case of Mbubaegbu v Homerton University Hospital considered when dismissal for misconduct without prior warning can be reasonable. It considered whether when multiple issues arise (even if individually they are not gross misconduct) they could collectively be deemed as misconduct.
Uber recently announced that it would be providing insurance cover at no extra cost to its drivers over Europe. It is also giving drivers insurance backed protection when not working (i.e. out of driving hours) such as for sickness, having a baby or jury duty.
This April saw the most significant change to the taxation of termination payments in many years. The intention of the change is to tax payments for unworked notice as though the notice had been worked, though the details of the implementation are inevitably more complicated than that.
Ahead of the implementation of the GDPR on 25 May, Facebook and its relationship with Cambridge Analytica could set a quasi-benchmark in consumers’ minds about how much their GDPR claim could be worth if their personal data is mishandled.
Tesco is facing an £4 billion equal pay claim from thousands of female shop workers. If this claim is successful, it could result in the UK’s largest ever claim for equal pay, potentially opening the floodgates for other similar claims.
From Westminster to Hollywood and more recently the charity sector, reports of sexual harassment have become a regular feature in headline news.
While gender pay reporting currently only applies to organisations employing over 250 people, it’s advisable that any organisation employing over 100 people take a keen interest in the legislation as the rules could be rolled out more broadly over time. Although organisations employing less than 250 people aren’t obliged to report, they can do so […]
Christmas can be a notoriously tricky time for employers, with numerous social events and of course the inevitable office Christmas party. How can you deal with these situations if something gets out of hand? What do you do about calculating employees’ holiday allowance for the festive period? Our mini guide below will help you overcome […]
Cross-party support has been given to proposed legislation that would automatically give grieving parents two weeks bereavement leave if they lose a child.
A recent ruling by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the case of Barbulescu v Romania will mean employers will have to be very clear with staff if they propose to monitor their internet usage. The case – which centred on a Romanian engineer who was sacked for sending […]
ACAS has issued new guidance related to employees who have a baby or babies that are ill or premature.
The gig economy is often defined as “a labour market characterised by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work, as opposed to permanent jobs.” Prior to going mainstream, the term ‘gigging’ was most commonly used in the musical world, for those musicians who are only paid per concert, or ‘gig’ they do. Now the […]
Shared parental leave (SPL), which came into force in April 2015, allows parents to share up to 50 weeks of leave, 37 of which are paid, following the birth or adoption of a child.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has recently handed down their judgment in Kent Police v Bowler. They confirmed that an Employment Tribunal (ET) should not infer discrimination simply because the employer’s conduct has been unreasonable, there must also be discriminatory behaviour.
If an employment contract is silent on when notice is deemed to be given, notice of termination doesn’t take effect until the notice has been actually received. This may potentially have immense consequences for your company if it means the employee has completed an extra year service by the time they receive the notice, and […]
Determining ‘worker’ status has been a major focus in the world of employment law recently, with several high-profile cases considering the issue. Aslam, Farrar and Others v Uber contemplated whether Uber’s taxi drivers were workers or self-employed contractors, while the employment status of CitySprint’s couriers was deliberated in Dewhurst v CitySprint UK Ltd. The issue […]
Reporting Guidelines
On 15 February 2017, the government ‘named and shamed’ more than 350 employers who had underpaid their workers the national minimum or ‘living’ wage. Department store Debenhams topped the list of offending employers, having failed to pay £134,894.83 to nearly £12,000 workers. Under the government’s ‘name and shame’ scheme, the names of all employers who […]
Last year an employment tribunal heard the case of Aslam, Farrar and Others v Uber where it was held the drivers that brought a claim against Uber were ‘workers’ and accordingly qualified for various rights under employment legislation.
In the Autumn Statement 2016, the government announced major changes to salary sacrifice schemes that are due to take effect on 6 April 2017.
Last year we reported on the Trade Union Act 2016 (the “Act”) which received royal assent on 4 May 2016. The Act contains key provisions which apply to unionised work forces and have an increased effect on public services. In the words of the government, the aim of the Act is to ‘ensure strikes can […]
In the case of Rehman v Jamia Hanfia Ghosia Mosque an employment tribunal has held that a former employee was unfairly dismissed, but was not entitled to any compensation.