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On 20 March 2018, the Women and Equalities Committee published a report, Fathers and the workplace, which called on the government to make a number of improvements to fathers' rights at work
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In this "landmark" ruling, the employment tribunal ruled that a group of couriers were not independent contractors, as Hermes had claimed, but were in fact workers who should be entitled to essential workers' rights.
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Under normal circumstances employers must carry out their own internal investigation and follow a fair procedure before dismissing an employee or taking any other disciplinary action.
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Establishing the employment status of individuals has been an on-going matter of dispute for decades. There is often a thin line between whether an individual can be considered self-employed, employee or a worker.
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The recent decision in the case of Pimlico Plumbers Ltd & another v Smith 2018 is expected to have major ramifications for freelance workers and those who work in what is known as the “gig” economy. The gig economy is best described as a market relating to short-term contracts/freelance work as opp…
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Transgender employees have for the most part presented quite a quandary for employers. For instance, whilst they are in the transitional period and living as the opposite sex what facilities should they use.
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Employment tribunal fees were recently abolished. The fees were abolished because the Supreme Court held that the fees were unlawful under both domestic and EU law given that the fees had the effect of preventing justice and made it disproportionately difficult for employees to enforce their employm…
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Awards for injury to feelings made under the Equality Act 2010 for discrimination have increased.
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Calculating holiday / holiday pay can be a daunting task for employers. Throw ‘term time only’ employees in to the mix and you have a recipe for disaster!
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Employers who have legitimate proprietary business interests that require protection can do so by ensuring that their employment contracts contain restrictive covenants for a specific period post termination period.
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You may find that you have employees who are on long-term or short-term sickness where they are taking numerous days off work which is having a significant impact on the team and business.
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Under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, employers need to either prevent or reduce their workers' exposure to substances that are hazardous to their health.
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What are Subject Access Requests? The Data Protection Act (DPA) was implemented into UK law in 1998 following a directive from Europe by way of the Data Protection Directive. It was designed to regulate the way personal data is used and stored. Section 1(1) of the DPA describes “personal data” be…
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Commissioned by the government, Matthew Taylor, the head of the Royal Society of Arts began his inquiry into ‘controversial employment practices’. That was ten months ago and the report was published on 11 July 2017.
Read moreIn September 2015, the government introduced the ‘Fit for Work’ scheme in a bid assist employers with sickness absence.
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Performance management is not a one-off occurrence but instead an all year-round process – managers need to reconsider their methods of appraising their team members and ensuring that this is an ongoing process rather than an annual ‘tick box’ activity.
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Each year, changes to employment law, challenge businesses more and more. Non-compliance can lead to heavy fines putting additional pressure on the SME to remain in business.
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In July, the Supreme Court ruled that employment tribunal fees were unlawful. Following this decision, the number of claims has already increased threefold. The July ruling found that the fees – which were set up to £1,200 - were “discriminatory” against women
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What employment legislation changes are in store for 2018? As the end of the year 2017 beckons, HR professionals will no doubt be thinking ahead to 2018 and what is to come from an employment legislation perspective.
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Guidance for employers at a work Christmas party. As the festive spirit kicks in at this time of the year, employers may wish to share some rules with their employees to avoid any legal implications from a work Christmas party.
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