This week saw the issue of what will probably be the final version of the Government’s statutory Code of Practice on dismissal and re-engagement. This follows the consultation on an earlier version which we covered here. The new Code comes accompanied by some Guidance which is an unusually, in fact disconcertingly, helpful summary of the … Continue Reading
So, quick, answer me this – when making redundancies outside the collective consultation rules, do you need to consult with the affected employees about the selection criteria relied upon or only as to the proposed impact of those criteria on that person? Traditional wisdom would point to the latter. The selection criteria are a matter … Continue Reading
The thing about one-stop shops is that if they do not stock what you want, they become next best thing to useless. Anyway, welcome to the government’s new Guidance on Employment Status, expressly billed in the accompanying press release as meeting all your worker status needs in one handy document. … Continue Reading
So you have finally introduced a no-jab, no entry policy in your workplace and now the government seems intent on pulling the rug on the whole thing by agreeing that even workers with some of the UK’s most vulnerable people don’t need to be vaccinated after all. If they don’t need the jab, on what … Continue Reading
If ever a government consultation was overtaken by events, it is this week’s offering on Making Flexible Working the Default. For many employers this is now pushing at a door which is not just open but blown clean off its hinges by the pandemic and the WFH experience of the last 18 months. The Consultation … Continue Reading
Sexual harassment is absolutely no laughing matter, but it is difficult to suppress a tired smile when reading the government’s Response to its 2019 consultation on harassment in the workplace. This is very heavy on prospective voter-appeal but rather lighter (weightless, basically) on the practicalities. We shall impose a proactive duty on employers to prevent … Continue Reading
Here are two more answers to questions raised at our “Employment Law in 2021 and Beyond” webinar last week. Answers to the immigration-related questions are on their way. If you make representations to the non-compete consultation, will your name be published? When might we see an outcome from that consultation? Do we know when the … Continue Reading
A well-known term of the CJRS is that the employee shouldn’t while on furlough do any work for the employer or provide any services to it. A simple enough proposition, one might think, despite the unknown pundit whose wise words appear above, but as with much of this Scheme, once you get down into the … Continue Reading
Although industrial relations did not heavily feature in the Coalition’s election campaign, now that the dust has settled on its re-election the Government has announced a Review of industrial relations laws. The areas to be targeted include:… Continue Reading
The Government announced in September its intention to undertake a full public consultation on the issue of caste and the Equality Act – a consideration which has been contemplated since the enactment of the Act in 2010. The aim of the consultation is to obtain views from the public on whether the Act requires additional … Continue Reading
In Jo Faragher’s article for the CIPD’s People Management magazine September 2016 “Employee councils and social media are opening up new routes for staff to get their voices heard. But is anyone listening?” she raises a number of interesting questions about the methods and effectiveness of employee feedback The article suggests that the combination of … Continue Reading
So there it is – to no-one’s really very great surprise, the Government consultation document on the simplification of the tax and NI treatment of termination payments turns out not to be about simplification after all, but just a naked tax grab. This was reasonably apparent from the chronically ill-considered nature of the original consultation … Continue Reading
The Government has today launched a consultation on its commitment to introduce regulations to require private and voluntary sector businesses with at least 250 employees in Great Britain to publish gender pay gap information. A gender pay gap shows the difference between the average earnings of men and women as a percentage of men’s earnings. … Continue Reading
I was made redundant yesterday. Several times, actually. As part of a redundancy consultation training session for a client, we ran a series of role plays where unsuspecting managers were faced with some not wholly implausible human behaviours. I played an employee brought to tears by the at-risk letter and announced mid-way through the first … Continue Reading
