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
Squire Patton Boggs presents a webinar to discuss current hot topics in French employment law and their impact on employers in France. The election of Emmanuel Macron as President in May 2017 led to an ambitious transformation of France’s labour laws. Following the extensive reforms launched in September 2017, the French government continues to implement … Continue Reading
If you try to mediate a workplace clash, then the hardest part is often to get the parties to focus on the future of that relationship, not the recent past leading to its breakdown. For so long as one or both find themselves unable to let go of that past, there will be obvious difficulties … Continue Reading
Clearly another quiet week over at Acas if its new guidance on employment references is anything to go by. It is, in all honesty, a bit on the basic side, even including an answer to that never-asked question – what is an employment reference?… Continue Reading
Forget the law for a moment and answer me this. If: despite having no reasonable grounds to hold that view, I genuinely believe that someone made a racist remark about me; and I sit on that belief without a murmur of complaint for four years; and when my work is entirely justifiably criticised, I then … Continue Reading
If you have been one of the many wilting at work in the Great British Heatwave of 2018 (or what I believe many other countries just call “summer”), panic not – Acas has issued new guidance to help ease your working day. Or not. Including such gems as “check with your local train company” to … Continue Reading
Part 7 of this series looked at how far an employer might be exposed if employees whose images were used in internal or external marketing or other corporate communications then withdraw their consent to that processing. Our Global IP and Technology team has now provided some useful further thoughts on this risk, accepting that the … Continue Reading
So now the House of Commons Business Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee has recommended the extension of Gender Pay Gap reporting to employers with over 50 staff, a colossal expansion from the 10,000 or so businesses caught by the current minimum 250 employees requirement. When those smaller businesses turn their attention to compliance with those … Continue Reading
At present there is no legal obligation to do anything more with your pay gap than publish it on your website, not necessarily accompanied by any form of explanation or other comment at all. Most employers caught by the current gender pay gap regulations (about 10,000 of them) have added some form of narrative, but … 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
Here is a new case which you think initially might be quite helpful on the calculation of holiday pay, but which then suddenly veers off into the contractual undergrowth, and actually isn’t. However, what it does do is administer a sharp lesson about the wisdom of trying to incorporate broad principles into individual employment contracts. … Continue Reading
How often have you had an employee make some vague and unspecific complaint about your “unlawful” or “improper” or “inappropriate” conduct (often among a welter of other gripes and grievances) only to find him later claiming protection as a whistle-blower. Is that sort of gripe really enough for him to gain that protection?… Continue Reading
Perhaps that is not really fair – Acas’ new guidance on overtime certainly does what it can to help employers on the vexed question of whether and how you take overtime into account for holiday pay purposes. However, it is held back from saying anything either new or useful because there haven’t been any developments … Continue Reading
Squire Patton Boggs presents a webinar to discuss the latest practical guidance and analysis on the EU Settlement Scheme. The Home Secretary has issued a Statement of Intent relating to the Scheme, which will be rolled out from late 2018. The Statement explains in more detail the criteria and process for EU citizens to obtain … Continue Reading
Apparently, said the Court of Appeal, the unlawful retention and circulation of confidential material by a union representative “was not a sufficient departure from good industrial relations practice” to justify his dismissal, a conclusion which initially seems little short of perverse, let alone an alarming comment on the state of industrial relations in the UK’s … Continue Reading
As we know, where an employee is engaged under one or a series of fixed-term contracts for a period of over 2 years, they acquire the right not to be unfairly dismissed. It is also the case that non-renewal of a fixed-term contract will count as a dismissal under the ERA 1996. An employee whose … Continue Reading
A useful little reminder from the Employment Appeal Tribunal last week that underneath all the practices and codes and assumptions which govern our conduct of HR matters, there is still The Law.… Continue Reading
Tras una moción de censura en el Congreso español el 1 de junio, España tiene un nuevo Presidente del Gobierno, Pedro Sánchez, y un nuevo gobierno socialista. Si bien aún no se conocen todas las implicaciones de este cambio trascendental, el nuevo Presidente del Gobierno ha declarado que su gobierno: Continuará respetando la estructura y … Continue Reading
Re-wind to May 2016 and you may recall the widely-reported story of a receptionist sent home from work without pay for wearing flat shoes in contravention of her agency’s dress code. The incident led to a joint report by the House of Commons Petitions Committee and Women and Equalities Committee, High Heels and Workplace Dress … Continue Reading
Following a vote of no confidence in the Spanish Parliament on 1 June, Spain has a new Prime Minister – Pedro Sánchez – and a new Socialist government. Whilst the full implications of this momentous change are not yet known, the new Prime Minister has stated that his government will: Continue to observe European regulations … Continue Reading
On 15 May we posted a piece on a case about the importance of context on workplace discussions which might otherwise sail close to being discriminatory. As if by magic, Acas has now issued some new Guidance which includes comment on the same point: “Religion or Belief Discrimination – Key points for the Workplace”.… Continue Reading
The National Minimum Wage rates have increased, bringing new risks for employers. Employers may now find themselves breaching the regulations for something as simple as asking employees to provide an item of uniform, and the penalties for non-compliance can be severe. On 25 June 2018, National Minimum Wage lawyers James Pike and Laura McLellan will be hosting this … Continue Reading
Ostensibly the Employment Appeal Tribunal’s decision in Bakkali –v- Greater Manchester Buses last week is a faintly technical one about how the required connection with a personal characteristic protected under the Equality Act differs between direct discrimination and harassment.… Continue Reading
