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Belgium – “Who you gonna call?” — appointment of a person of trust mandatory as of 1 December

While some are already hanging up the Christmas decorations and squeezing back into their Christmas jumpers, the Belgian legislator has picked the festive season to introduce a number of new measures relating to well-being in the workplace. We will discuss these measures in a series of blogs. The first measure holds that the appointment of … Continue Reading

The trouble with the reluctant complainant (UK)

It has been annual review season here at Squire Patton Boggs.  Looking back over my efforts this year in the usual endeavour to justify my own existence, I have spotted the same scenario cropping up with unusual frequency.  An employee tells their employer that they have experienced something at work that they are not too … Continue Reading

Attention! Important new decision on accrual of paid leave in France

French law has traditionally provided that absences due to non-occupational illness are not taken into account when determining the amount of paid leave accrued, as they do not constitute a period of actual work. Periods of absence due to an occupational accident or illness lasting more than one uninterrupted year are not taken into account … Continue Reading

Knew this would happen, Part 3 – draft Acas code fails to plug holes in predictable working patterns law (UK)

Last week saw the publication of the draft Acas Code of Practice for handling requests for a “predictable working pattern”.  When we previewed the draft Bill in February, we noted here Knew this would happen – entirely predictable problems with new working patterns Bill (UK) the lack of any definition of “predictable” despite the obvious … Continue Reading

Workplace monitoring – new guidance from the ICO

Workplace monitoring has become a matter of particular contention in recent years. In a world where remote and hybrid working practices have become the norm, many employers have concerns about what their employees are actually doing while ‘at work’ elsewhere. This has led to an increasing amount of discussion about monitoring employees who are working … Continue Reading

“Getting the most out of the fit note”: new guidance for UK employers

Well, sort of.  Almost nothing has changed in this month’s new government guidance on fit notes over the previous versions.  You can receive a fit note digitally these days and (to reduce doctors’ workloads) a wider range of medical practitioners are now authorised to issue them, but officially that’s about it. That under-sells it, maybe … Continue Reading

WEBINAR October 18 – Global Workforce Compliance: Navigating Changes in US I-9 and UK Right to Work Rules

Join Gregory Wald and Annabel Mace for an insightful and comprehensive webinar reviewing recent changes and trends in US I-9 and UK right to work rules and regulations on Wednesday, October 18, from 8:30 – 9:45 a.m. PDT / 4:30 – 5:45 p.m. BST. This webinar brings together legal experts in immigration and employment verification … Continue Reading

Knew this would happen, Part 2 – predicted problems persist in working patterns legislation (UK)

Back in February I offered here some thoughts on the main practical problems implicit in what was then the Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Bill.  It was a mess, missing explanations of key concepts and grossly over-engineered for its objectives. That makes it all the more depressing to report that it has now received Royal … Continue Reading

UK Business Immigration: major hike in illegal working penalties from January 2024

The Home Office is picking up the pace on immigration compliance matters – we have seen increased activity on everything from right to work enforcement to visa curtailments as well as requests for further evidence across all aspects of sponsorship. We will be focusing on these and other challenges in our webinar on 14 September … Continue Reading

UK Business Immigration: EU Settlement Scheme Enhancements

The UK government has announced changes to the EU Settlement Scheme from September 2023 which will affect those living in the UK with pre-settled status. The changes have been made following the case of R (Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens’ Rights Agreements) v the Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] in which … Continue Reading

Acas Consultation shows direction of travel for UK flexible working changes

Twenty years on from the introduction of the flexible working regime, Acas is looking again at its statutory Code of Practice, last tweaked in 2014 and of course already largely overtaken since then by the seismic shift in working practices caused by ever-more capable IT, the pandemic lockdowns and industrial discord on the railways.  This … Continue Reading

High Court quashes legislation allowing temporary workers to cover for striking workers (UK)

Yesterday in R (on the application of ASLEF and ors) v Secretary of State for Business and Trade the High Court quashed the government’s controversial legislation which repealed the prohibition placed upon employment agencies from supplying temporary workers to businesses in order to backfill labour shortages caused by employees participating in industrial action. The proceedings … Continue Reading

New anti-bullying law proposals make grim reading all round for UK workplaces

So here we go again, another attempt to legislate against workplace bullying.  This is not the first – back in 2001 there was a Dignity at Work bill, a fantastically inept piece of drafting crippled alike by internal processes more complicated than the wiring diagram of a battleship and the inevitable (and as it turned … Continue Reading

The inexplicable not explained in UK government’s Response to non-competition consultation

If you are prepared to accept “bold” as a substitute for “reasoned and sensible”, then there is much to like in the government’s formal response to its 2020 consultation on restrictive covenants, which was finally published last month.  It is this which seeks to explain the thinking behind the proposal we covered here – to … Continue Reading

New post-Brexit DSAR guidance – still no bonfire (UK)

Back in March 2020 we reported here on some new guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office concerning DSARs.  In particular, we looked at what it said about the employer’s rights not to comply with a DSAR to the extent that it was manifestly unfounded or manifestly excessive, and concluded that despite the superficially encouraging words … Continue Reading

A tip for your trouble – new rules for employers on treatment of gratuities and service charges (UK)

Employers in the hospitality, leisure and service sectors should be aware that the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 has now completed the parliamentary process and will be coming into force at some point in 2024, most likely May.    This particular piece of legislation has been a long time coming – the suggestion was … Continue Reading

Competition and employment – a marriage that does not allow for a prenup …

In our blog here, we noted EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager’s focus on the evolution of cartels in recent years, with the emergence of purchasing cartels and the focus in the US on ‘no-poach’ agreements, whereby companies agree not to recruit each other’s workers and/or fix wages.  This is similar to a purchasing cartel, except … Continue Reading

No sparklers in new employment law regulatory bonfire proposals (UK)

Of course it could just be coincidence, but scarcely hours after my post last week concerning the dearth of the employment law candidates for the Brexit red-tape bonfire, out pops a Gov.uk policy paper on “Smarter Regulation to Grow the Economy” containing the first five suggested victims. And what a woeful little bunch they are, … Continue Reading

Common sense briefly prevails in UK’s “taking back control of our laws” debate

Things have surely come to a pretty pass when it is front page news twice in two weeks that the Government has decided not to press on with doing something daft.  First, the abandonment of smart motorways and last week, reports that the Government has backed away from its original proposal to wipe all EU-sourced … Continue Reading

Italian Government approves new labour market reforms

On 1 May, the Italian government’s Council of Ministers approved a new “Labour Decree” that will make significant changes to current employment law provisions. The final text of the Decree has not yet been published in the Official Gazette, but below is a summary of the main provisions that will affect employers based on the … Continue Reading
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