There is a law in Poland guaranteeing minimum pay for work. There are rules how its amount is calculated and agreed. There are also upcoming elections in October 2019 which may unexpectedly influence its amount.… Continue Reading
In the lead-up to the close of the Government’s consultation on sexual harassment in the workplace we will be running a series of blogs on the issue, starting with a look at existing legislation, how it works and how it holds employers accountable for sexual harassment in the workplace.… 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
This time concerning how holiday pay should be calculated for those who only work for part of the year, e.g. term-time workers, and arguably proof positive of the old legal maxim that “hard cases make bad law”.… Continue Reading
In recent months we have been privileged to have sitting with us in our Labour & Employment team Anela Lucic, Employment attorney at leading Swiss commercial lawyers Vischer. After an eye-opening glimpse into English employment law and practice, here is Anela’s brief summary of the Swiss position.… Continue Reading
The EU Settlement Scheme designed to protect the rights of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens and their families already resident in the UK by 31 December 2020 is based on the citizens’ rights section of the UK government’s Withdrawal Agreement with the EU. However, the Withdrawal Agreement has been considered and rejected by the House … Continue Reading
There are many things about our jobs which we all find irksome from time to time but right up there for me (#firstworldproblems) is gratuitous use in legal correspondence of the heading without prejudice “subject to costs”. What this is supposed to mean is that the correspondence is intended to be without prejudice and so … Continue Reading
Learning point 2: remember that you are in control of the whistleblowing investigation If a worker raises concerns about something which might represent serious wrongdoing in the workplace, the first step is to get a clear understanding of what they are complaining about.… Continue Reading
The first Supreme Court judgment on employment competition in a century was handed down recently – and it is good news for employers.… Continue Reading
Over the last 12 months we have seen a significant increase in queries on whistleblowing in the workplace. It seems that more and more individuals are “blowing the whistle” and claiming they have been dismissed or suffered a detriment for having done so.… Continue Reading
Last month the government published both the results of its latest consultation on IR35 and the draft legislation. So with time to digest, any surprises?… Continue Reading
If you Google that phrase you get any number of possible movie sources for it, but here in the height of the holiday season, I can offer you two more.… Continue Reading
Hot on the heels of a petition for new legislation aimed at preventing sexual harassment in the workplace, the Government has launched its consultation on the matter. The group behind the petition, called “This is Not Working”, is made up of unions, charities and women’s rights groups.… Continue Reading
In all the hoo-hah around the use of NDAs in settlement agreement, no one yet seems to have asked the question of what happens if you sign such an agreement and are then called as witness to the Employment Tribunal anyway. Can you (or your former employer) rely on the NDA as a reason for … Continue Reading
In a previous blog [here] I mentioned to you that the social partners – bar one – had come to an agreement on employment conditions for 2019 and 2020. This agreement was then to be further implemented by social partners at an industry level.… Continue Reading
Employers are relieved! One of the most talked-about provisions of the Macron ordinances has been confirmed as valid by the French Court of Cassation (Supreme Court). The cap on compensation for unfair dismissal, which was contested by several industrial tribunals, was confirmed as consistent with international texts ratified by France.… Continue Reading
Phoenix House Limited -v- Stockman has been kicking round the Employment Tribunal system ever since Ms Stockman was dismissed in 2013. It has something for all the family – discrimination, some victimisation, a touch of whistleblowing and a light dusting of trust and confidence. However, on its second trip to the Employment Appeal Tribunal at … Continue Reading
I gave a talk last week on constructive knowledge of disability, i.e. the point where the employer didn’t actually know its employee was disabled, but is nonetheless held liable because on the facts it ought to have done.… Continue Reading
Over 240 people signed up for our IR35 webinar last Thursday. I would love to see this as a long-overdue recognition of my presentation skills, but fear instead that it just reflects widespread and continuing uncertainty among end-users about how new IR35 will work in practice. Our latest information is that the draft legislation will … Continue Reading
We have cautioned earlier in this series about allowing your PSC contractors to become integrated into your business so far as their outward projection to clients is concerned – describing them as part of “our team”, giving them business cards, company phones or invitations to the client party, and so on. Integration is something you … Continue Reading
All the best-practice recommendations about accommodating employees with disabilities stress the importance of dialogue with them about the limitations their disability may impose and the adjustments which might be made to help overcome them. Unimpeachable advice in principle, but not without risk in practice, as it turns out.… Continue Reading
Flowers –v- East of England Ambulance Services NHS Trust this month concerned a claim by a number of workers in the Trust ambulance service that their holiday pay should include an allowance in respect of overtime, both non-guaranteed and voluntary. For these purposes, voluntary overtime was work which the employee was under no obligation to … Continue Reading
