In May 2019 it was announced that Simply Business was proposing to move from a five day working week to a four day working week (with no reduction in basic salary). Simply Business is not the first to make this move; but will others follow in their footsteps? That seems to be the view of […]

Uniform to Work Day On Wednesday 25 June reservists for our armed forces are being asked to wear their uniforms into work as part of the annual Uniform to Work Day to raise awareness in the time leading up to Armed Forces Day on 28 June. Therefore, this seems an entirely appropriate point at which […]

The introduction of Employment Tribunal Fees Fees were introduced into Employment Tribunal proceedings (which had previously been free for all parties) on 29 July 2013. Since that date: Claimants have to pay a fee to submit a claim, a further fee for the tribunal hearing and another fee if they want to appeal against the […]

Earlier this year, the High Court had to decide on an application for interim relief in a case that will provide comfort to employers about their ability to prevent employees and ex-employees from using the employer’s social media databases to gain an unfair competitive advantage for the employer’s competitors. The facts of the case The […]

Earlier this year, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) decided on a case, which is likely to have far reaching consequences for employers seeking to make multiple employees redundant over several different offices. The Case The case in question (one of two linked cases) was called USDAW v Woolworths and concerned employees who had been made […]

I was involved with a case earlier this year (HMRC Commissioners v Whiteley) which involved the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) considering what approach should be taken by employers in making adjustments for employees that suffer from conditions which have a close interaction with day-to-day afflictions. The Circumstances of the Case The EAT hearing related to an […]

Earlier this month the Defence Secretary, Phillip Hammond, published a white paper setting out his plans to support the UK’s armed forces reservists and drive up the numbers of reservists. The paper (called ‘Reserves in the Future Force 2020’) sets out various incentives that will be offered to reservists, reservists’ families and reservists’ employers alongside […]

The new tribunal compensatory award limits and the increase in a “week’s pay” have been announced. The changes, which reflect a Retail Price Index increase of 2.6%, will take effect from 1 February 2013 and are as follows: The maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal will rise from £72,300 to £74,200 The maximum limit on a […]

In a recent case the Leeds Employment Tribunal have considered a subject that has been of increasing concern to employers in recent years: alleged misuse of social media by employees. Two caveats to this case are that: a) it very much turns on its very specific facts; and b) it is a first instance decision […]

Recent reports have shown that approximately 5,000,000 Britons work around 7 hours unpaid overtime each week. 1 in 5 workers in Britain report feeling extremely stressed. Whilst, the Government is proposing to expand flexible working legislation to assist workers, the reality is that this legislation will only assist parents of children aged under 18. I […]