Over 700 people signed up to our Handling Grievances webinar last week, reinforcing our view that the return to the workplace (RTW) process is going to be a fertile breeding ground for such complaints by employees, some around new working conditions, some alleging health and safety failures and others just to vent minor unhappinesses and … Continue Reading
As attention turns increasingly to the practicalities of the physical return to the workplace in what may be little over 3 months, questions of employers’ rights and obligations in relation to testing and vaccination are becoming more common. These are vexed areas which can easily put common interest into conflict with civil liberties. Just how … Continue Reading
I spoke at a commercial webinar yesterday concerning the opportunities for and obstacles to mediation as a solution to workplace disputes in the pandemic. Other speakers represented employers and the mediation community. Here are some takeaways:… Continue Reading
Here are brief answers to two more of the questions raised at this week’s webinar on Effective Settlement Agreements. Can we make it a term of a Settlement Agreement that an employee will not make a DSAR after he leaves? Yes and no. Yes, in that he can sign up to such a term. No, … Continue Reading
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency has changed life as we know it, including by severely disrupting business on a nationwide scale. In some cases, employers have been forced to temporarily close their doors and cease operations, while others have had to make radical changes to the workplace in order to maintain operations. … Continue Reading
Just flicking idly through the ICO’s new guidance the other evening, as you do when the only alternative is Ant & Dec, and two paragraphs caught my eye. In the section relating to DSARs which are “manifestly unfounded” (and can therefore be batted away by the employer) appear two examples, where:… Continue Reading
A new manager arrives in the department. He is notably unburdened by people skills. Employees begin to leave. The protagonist of this story (let us call her Sarah) does not actually get it in the neck from Bad Boss very much, but she can see his actions having a toxic effect on the team. She … Continue Reading
The limelight on Hollywood has turned fifty shades darker recently with more high- profile celebrities being called out on allegations of historic inappropriate behaviour. The news of late has been littered with claim after claim of sexual harassment by celebrities against their peers in years gone by but don’t be fooled into thinking it is … Continue Reading
Statutory construction can be a bit like nuclear fusion – you take an atom of something relatively ordinary and then subject it to such pressure that it explodes into a million flaming pieces and lays waste to your entire afternoon. Employment Tribunals and Courts do the same to words, taking perfectly mundane sentences and phrases … Continue Reading
In support of a good cause, here is a blatant plug on behalf of the Workplace and Employment sub-group of the Civil Mediation Counsel. We are big fans of mediation in the employment context (see our Insider’s Guide Series). As a result, we are delighted to have been invited to speak again by the CMC … Continue Reading
Courtesy of Acas, here are the top ten myths to be “busted” by the Government’s promised campaign to make the Gender Pay Gap Regulations look less over-engineered than they really are together with some italicised comments of our own. MYTH: We did an equal pay audit a while ago so we’re fine FACT: Equal Pay deals … Continue Reading
For those who missed it last time, here is another chance to sign-up for the 1st February conference of the Civil Mediation Council from 3pm at Lloyds of London. This conference is aimed at HR and legal practitioners considering the introduction of mediation as a proactive part of dispute resolution in their workplace, but who … Continue Reading
Fans of the unnecessary medicalisation of management issues in the workplace will be sadly disappointed by a new Employment Appeal Tribunal decision at the end of December. For everyone else, Herry – v – Dudley MBC represents a very sensible and timely reminder of where the line lies between being disabled on the one hand … Continue Reading
We don’t often do shameless plugs on this blog (except for our own stuff, obviously), but here is one on behalf of the Civil Mediation Council and specifically its Workplace and Employment Sub-group. That group is holding a conference on the afternoon of 1 February 2017 in the Old Library at Lloyds of London. It … Continue Reading
Dealing with employee absences and grievances in redundancy consultation You’ve delivered the at risk letter and sent the employee home on pay pending the formal consultation meeting. As an HR professional it is possible that your faith in human nature has become a little corroded over time, so you are not completely surprised when what … Continue Reading
