All employers want to have a workforce that has high productivity and a low staff turnover. To achieve this, your employer should implement a Staff Handbook which contains workplace rules, standards, and procedures. Here, we provide an outline of what employers should include in their staff handbook. What is a staff handbook? A staff handbook […]
On Tuesday 24th January 2023, the UK Government published the long-awaited draft of its statutory fire and rehire code of practice (the “Code”). The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s (BEIS) code – which is still subject to consultation for the next 12 weeks – has set out employers’ responsibilities when seeking to change the terms […]
In the Autumn Statement, Jeremy Hunt announced that the national living wage for those aged 23 and over would increase to £10.42 from April 2023. Here, we explore the impact of the minimum wage increase. What are the new rates? From 1 April 2023, the National Living Wage (NLW) (for those aged 23 or over) […]
The right to bring claims against an employer for unfair dismissal usually requires an employee to have at least two years of continuous service. There are however some statutory exceptions to this rule as set out in The Employment Rights Act 1996. These exceptions are usually deemed as automatic unfair dismissal. A person does not […]
Dismissal and re-engagement, commonly known as ‘fire and rehire’, is a practice employers adopt when making changes to terms and conditions of employment. Employees who refuse to agree to proposed new terms are dismissed and re-engaged on different, often less generous, terms. The term hit the headlines back in March of this year when P&O […]
Recently, the BBC spent £500,000 defending an unfair dismissal claim against its former chief technology officer, after being offered to settle the case for £50,000. The sum of almost £500,00 did not include damages paid to the claimant, which were reported to be nearly £80,000. Here, we look at the key things an Employer should […]
As employers it is important to understand why flexible working applications are made, how to handle them and in which circumstances it may be refused. The right for employees to request flexible working has been enshrined in law since at least 2003 but the issue has perhaps never been as pertinent as it is now. […]
Employment tribunals are specialist employment ‘courts’. A tribunal comprises up to three people. The employment judge will be legally qualified, and there may be two lay members, one of whom has been chosen as an employee representative and the other as an employer representative. The purpose of the employment tribunal is for it to make […]
In a recent case (Forbes v LHR Airport Ltd), the Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld the decision of the Employment Tribunal, that an employer was not liable for harassment after an employee posted a racially offensive social media post and shared it with a co-worker. What happened? A co-worker, Ms S, of the Claimant posted a […]
In the recent case of Hargreaves v Governing Body of Manchester Grammar School, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that it was not unfair for the school to have withheld evidence from the disciplinary panel following a teacher’s altercation with a pupil. What happened? It was alleged in 2016 that Mr Hargreaves, a teacher at Manchester […]
