Fit For Purpose?
8th December 2009
Employers need to be aware of the new regulations on 'fit notes' that come into force in April 2010 and replace sick notes.
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HR Retainer Service Data Sheet
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Employment Health Check Data Sheet
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TUPE OR NOT TUPE bringing a service in-house
8th October 2009
Employers involved in the transfer of a business can be forgiven for being a little confused by the very complex legal rules that govern this practice.
Under TUPE 2006 (or giving its full title The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006) when a business or part of a business is transferred from one party to another then the employees of that business automatically transfer across with the same terms and conditions, and continuity of employment as before.
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A Better Way to Manage Your HR
18th June 2009
Herrington & Carmichael LLP now offers clients a bespoke HR retainer service that works as a part of your business – in effect your own HR team, but without the cost and legal obligations of employing FT or PT HR staff.
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It's time to give your sickness policy a check-up
14th January 2009
Short-term sickness absence is one of the hardest staff issues for an employer. A survey recently by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that employees took an average of eight days off sick last year, costing their employers £666 each.
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Employers Risk Claims of 'Discrimination by Association'
7th August 2008
Until now, only people who were themselves disabled could bring a discrimination claim. But following a recent ruling of the European Court of Justice, those associated with a disabled person – such as the parent of a disabled child – could have a claim too. Every employer in the land should take note of this radical extension of the law.
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Holiday Entitlement for the Long Term Sick
30th May 2008
Previously the Courts had made what seemed to be a perfectly logical decision, that employees on long term sick leave were not entitled to accrue a right to paid annual leave. The rationale being that annual holiday is provided for a Health and Safety reason to give people a break from work. Those on long term sick leave did not need a break from work so had no entitlement to paid annual leave.
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Grievances-Would you know if one had been raised
30th May 2008
The intention of introducing the Statutory Disciplinary and Grievance procedure in October 2004 had been to simplify matters and encourage employers and employees to resolve disputes before they got to an Employment Tribunal.
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Mobility Clauses
16th April 2008
The Court of Appeal has held that an employer can in certain circumstances use a mobility clause to avoid making an employee redundant.
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Employers Tax Break
15th March 2008
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) can no longer require an employer to pay income tax on a person’s earnings where the employer has paid someone as a self-employed person and then HMRC has re-categorised them as an employee.
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Employment Law Changes
20th February 2008
The limit on the maximum compensatory award for the unfair dismissal and the maximum amount of a week’s pay for the purpose of calculating the basic award for unfair dismissal and a redundancy payment all increased as from 1st February 2008.
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Has Retirement Had Its Heyday
20th February 2008
The introduction of the Age Discrimination legislation in October 2006 also saw the arrival of the default retirement age of 65. Employers have been able to insist on employees retiring at 65 providing they follow a statutory procedure. Employees could ask to work longer but had no right to insist. The legality of a default retirement age has recently been challenged – so where does this leave employers?
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Age Discrimination Developments
4th December 2007
When the Regulations came in to force in October 2006, it was thought there would be a flood of applications to the Employment Tribunals, not least because it was estimated that one third of the working population was over 45 and all the demographics expect that to rise over the next 10 years.
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Internet Mis-Use - Social Networking
29th November 2007
With social networking sites such as My Space and Face-book having around 15 million users in the United Kingdom, it is clear that these sites are now hugely popular. Sites like these enable users to share their lives and experiences with friends and strangers via public and private messages, music, photos and videos. An employee’s ability to keep up to date with friends and relatives while at work could be argued to be beneficial in helping manage the work life balance more effectively. Some surveys however show that a third of Internet users access the web from work and it is therefore hardly surprising that Internet use has become a real issue for the HR manager.
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Age Discrimination - one Year on
29th November 2007
The Age Discrimination Regulations came into force just over a year ago and yet age discrimination still appears to be prevalent. A recent survey revealed that over half of the people responding were aware of age discrimination taking place in their workforce. This is despite the fact that nearly 90% of those responding were aware that it is unlawful to discriminate against people on grounds of age in their employment. This high level of awareness has not yet translated into the number of discrimination claims that many anticipated.
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Restrictive Covenants
13th November 2007
Over the last year or so the courts seem to have taken a much tougher stance over employees who have restrictive covenants preventing them from approaching customers and suppliers within 12 months of the employment ending.
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Flexible Working Update
1st March 2007
Flexible working rights are not new and it was in the context of working parents caring for young children that they were first introduced as part of the Maternity and Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2001 and the Flexible Working (Eligibility, Complains and Remedies Regulations 2002.
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Home Working
1st February 2007
Since April 2003 the Flexible Working Regulations have allowed employees with at least six months service and children under the age of six to ask their employer to consider allowing them to switch to flexible working. This of course includes working from home (wholly or in part). Whilst it is only a right to request, nonetheless the employer must consider any such request carefully.
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More Flexible Working Rights
1st February 2007
Most employers have been well aware that from 10 January 2002 employees who have been with you for at least 26 weeks and who wish to change their working hours or introduce other flexible arrangements in order to care for a child who is not yet 6 (or if disabled, 18) can request such changes. This was under the Maternity and Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2001. It has always been an entitlement to make a request, not an obligation on the employer to grant it.
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Smoke Free Premisies - Are You Ready
29th January 2007
The National Heart Forum estimates that second hand smoke in the workplace causes at least 600 premature deaths a year, nearly three times the number killed in industrial accidents. The British Medical Journal published a paper in April 2006 indicating that second hand smoking could increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
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Age Discrimination; Major Changes in Employment Law
1st October 2006
Later this year discrimination in the workplace on the basis of age will become unlawful as a result of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006. Age discrimination legislation has been promised for a number of years and is now likely to become effective in October 2006. The new Age Discrimination Regulations will be enforced alongside the existing legislation which deal with discrimination on grounds of race, sex, disability, sexual orientation, religion and belief.
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Leave Entitlements Briefing Note
1st October 2006
The entitlement to time off work has become increasingly more difficult to deal with as differing criteria apply depending on whether it falls within the “family friendly” legislation or other employment legislation.
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HR Forum
1st October 2006
Once a month Herrington & Carmichael host a lunchtime networking session for managers responsible for HR issues. The forum, which is held in our Camberley offices on Watchmoor Park, is very informal and there is no charge to attend.
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