Employment Law

Following the debate regarding the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and “on-call” workers in the social care sector (as discussed here), workers’ entitlement to the NMW for travel time is now hitting the headlines. A recent investigation has uncovered allegations that a company which provides home care services across the Midlands has failed to correctly pay […]

As long as long as I’m a colleague or trade union official… We glibly talk about the “the right to be accompanied” at disciplinary hearings however under Section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999 (ERA) an employee has the right to be accompanied to disciplinary hearings if the hearing could result in the employee […]

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 […]

In 2016 the International Labour Organization published statistics showing that at any given time, 24.9m people are in forced labour. Modern Slavery Current UK legislation requires transparency among businesses and organisations in respect of their policies concerning the prevention of modern slavery. Modern slavery encompasses: Slavery, servitude and forced/compulsory labour Human trafficking What do businesses […]

Workplace dress codes are becoming increasingly controversial with a number of high profile cases and changes to company policies having recently appeared in the media. For example, Virgin Atlantic recently announced that its female cabin crew are no longer required to wear makeup. This is only the latest in a series of businesses updating their […]

GDPR and the Data Protection Act came into force in May 2018.  There was some sense of foreboding as we built up to the introduction, there was no transition period just a new and extensive set of rules and regulations to replace and update the Data Protection Act 1998.  The legislation is not a one […]

The Supreme Court’s Judgment in Pimlico Plumbers and another v Gary Smith could spell an end to gig-economy ‘jobs loophole’ being used to avoid worker status. The Supreme Court’s dismissal of Pimlico’s recent appeal has confirmed that their workers are in fact just that: not the self-employed contractors that their contracts with Pimlico sought to […]

Often seen as a protective measure, suspension is primarily used by employers to carry out investigations into allegations of misconduct in instances where the employee’s continued presence may impede those investigations or pose a risk to the interests of the business, its customers or other employees.  Suspension can also give the employer “breathing space” to […]

Many disputes settle without the need for litigation and even when proceedings have been issued the majority of cases settle before they reach trial.  However, the recent case of Mionis -v- Democratic Press SA & Others highlights the need for care when agreeing a settlement so that it does not go beyond what you intend […]

The perils of using your work computer for personal matters was recently highlighted in the High Court case of Simpkin v The Berkeley Group Holdings PLC.  In that case the Mr Simpkin was the Finance Director of The Berkeley Group. Berkeley terminated his employment, removed him as a director and decided that he would not […]

On 26 July 2017 the Government announced that it had temporarily suspended enforcement activity and that it was officially waiving historic financial penalties owed by employers who have underpaid their workers for overnight sleep-in shifts before this date.  It has also prevented HM Revenue & Customs (“HMRC”) from pursuing social care charities over any historical […]

Being well organised, legally compliant and incentivising staff at your holiday park will lead to a productive and loyal work force. Organised chaos It is essential that all parks have a staff induction and training process. This ensures that an employee begins their employment correctly, knowing what the business is about and their role within […]