The big-picture information about Coronavirus being issued by the Government at present is all well and good, but it does not (in fairness, cannot) address the multitude of little spin-off questions arising for employers every day. We held a webinar on this earlier this week, with members of our Employment, Commercial, Data and Health & … Continue Reading
Some new clarification from the Information Commissioner’s Office yesterday about that grey area between individual privacy rights on the one hand and the public interest on the other. Against the background of the Coronavirus crisis (and perhaps recognising that any other position would be politically terminal), the ICO has made it clear that even though … Continue Reading
An early contender for 2020’s Least Necessary Employment Law Award was issued last week, with a special commendation also in the Most Distasteful Details category.… Continue Reading
This Autumn brings quite a few changes for Polish employers. Not only do new pension plans called PPK (Pracownicze Plany Kapitałowe) became a reality for the biggest Polish employers in the fourth quarter of 2019, but the Labour Code and Code of Civil Procedure see changes too. Some of them result in a need to … Continue Reading
There is a risk when you comment in any way critically on reports on workplace stress that you come across as some form of Victorian mill-owner, a keen believer in cold showers, beatings and the maintenance of staff morale through the periodic execution of slackers.… Continue Reading
Beginning January 1, 2019, employees became entitled to a new benefit which must be provided by employers under Article 185.1 of the Russian Labour Code.… Continue Reading
Group of 10 reaches agreement on employment conditions In the very early morning of 26 February, the Belgian social partners in the so-called Group of 10 (the main representatives of employers’ federations and trade unions) reached the bones of an agreement on employment conditions for 2019-2020. In this draft agreement, the margin for increases in … Continue Reading
Last week it would have been difficult to miss the statistics: mental health affects 1 in 4 of us. In reality, it affects far more indirectly. Many people will have been affected by the mental health of a colleague, a friend or a family member. In addition, anyone with experience of mental health problems will … Continue Reading
The New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal in Australia last year awarded an employee AU$20,000 in compensation for pain and suffering where her employer forced her onto “personal leave” for assumed mental illness based on her discussion of conspiracy theories in the workplace. Though an Australian case, it contains valid lessons for UK employers … Continue Reading
The so-called “big amendment” to the Czech Labour Code is currently under preparation in the Czech Republic. The amendment consists of many interesting proposed changes, one of which, in particular, stands out: the amendment of the Labour Code’s annual leave provision.… Continue Reading
Today we cross to the Emerald Isle for a recent lesson on bullying and negligence issued by the Irish Court of Appeal. Though not binding on the UK Courts, it is hard to see that any very different principles could apply here.… Continue Reading
The Court of Appeal handed down its much anticipated judgment on Friday last week in the joined cases of Royal Mencap v Thompson Blake and John Shannon v Jakishan and Prithee Rampersad (t/a Clifton House Residential Home). The decision provides much-needed clarity on whether workers are entitled to the national minimum wage for each hour during … Continue Reading
With a clear link between increased employee wellbeing (both in terms of physical and mental health) and reduced sickness absence, many employers may use renewed New Year ambitions to adopt or promote employee wellbeing programmes. Businesses have introduced measures including step challenges with free pedometers, fruit ‘desk drops’ and health monitoring stations in the workplace. … Continue Reading
It is comforting to know that the medical world is constantly developing and striving to improve diagnoses, treatments and understanding of health problems, particularly in the sphere of mental health. The world is becoming more and more aware of the reality of mental health and the significant issues it can cause both within and outside … Continue Reading
No job within the Square Mile is immune from its own stresses or strains. As the City of London Corporation’s Business Healthy blog notes (https://www.businesshealthy.org/blog/), the recent economic climate has exacerbated these through the invariable requirement that businesses reduce their cost base without adversely affecting their profits. Undoubtedly, this drive to do more with less … Continue Reading
If you drive from your home to your office and then your office to your client, only the second trip counts as working time for the purposes of the EU Working Time Directive. But what if you don’t have an office and so drive straight from your home to your first customer and at the … Continue Reading
At last! A holiday pay ruling that doesn’t make your head spin or leave you with more questions when you put it down than you had before reading it. Mr Plumb was off sick from his work at Duncan Print Group from April 2010 until the termination of his employment in February 2014. He did … Continue Reading
The Northern Ireland Court of Appeal has today added its small contribution to the debate around the inclusion of overtime earnings in holiday pay. The direction it has taken in Patterson –v- Castlereagh Borough Council is logical up to a point, but of terrifyingly little practical assistance to employers looking for some, indeed any, reliable … Continue Reading
How would you feel about your employer knowing where you are 24 hours a day? News reaches us of a claim by an employee dismissed in the US for deleting a smartphone app Xora which her management had required her to install as part of its mobile workforce management systems. Xora bills itself (with callous … Continue Reading
From Greg Viviani via our Global Compensation Insights blog: In M&G Polymers USA, LLC v. Tackett, the U.S. Supreme Court has opened the door for many employers to re-examine their ability to alter or amend retiree benefit plans. The Court rejected a long-standing presumption in the Sixth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals (Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, … Continue Reading
In the end, the Advocate General reached the inevitable conclusion – that obesity by itself is not automatically a disability, but can be if and when it “hinders full participation in professional life on an equal footing with other employees”, or (translated into the UK Equality Act’s definition) has a substantial adverse effect on a … Continue Reading