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
So there it is. Subject to a final review next week, said the Prime Minister last night, it will no longer be necessary for the government to instruct people to work from home. From 19 July, all businesses can re-open, no‑one has to wear a mask or stay more than a metre from others and … Continue Reading
Clearly a quiet week over at Acas Towers, judging by all the detailed advice and reasoned analysis which doesn’t feature in its new two-page guidance note on long Covid (also referred to in the guidance as “long-tail Covid”, which is the same but with more feathers). The main thrust of the guidance is notionally to … 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
On Friday last week the Chancellor issued the third and probably final Treasury Direction in relation to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). This is “the law” that will govern the flexible furlough arrangements from 1 July. As with the two previous Treasury Directions, this one is horribly complicated to navigate – to the point … Continue Reading
At the start of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) I wrote that if the Government’s political legacy through the pandemic were to have any chance of surviving intact in the eyes of employers, the Scheme would have to be above all clear and easy for employers to use. Even though parts of the guidance … Continue Reading
The world of work has remained broadly the same for the last 100 to 200 years – offices might have lost the wood panelling, trains become less smoky (inside and out!), top hats turned into bowler hats then no hats, beards have gone in, out, then back into fashion, but the central tenet remains – … Continue Reading
In a bid to reawaken the Australian economy, the Federal Government is developing a return to work health and safety “toolkit” and is encouraging workplaces to become “COVID-safe”. At the same time, the Government is continuing to encourage the public to download its COVIDSafe digital contact-tracing App.… Continue Reading
So now that the slow movement back to workplaces has started, the next hot question will be this: “If I don’t want to go back in because I fear infection if I do, can my employer make me?” The short and absolutely definitively answer to this is no. And yes. It cannot compel you to … Continue Reading
Neatly timed to coincide with the beginning of the end of lockdown, ACAS has this week has issued some new thoughts on the conduct of disciplinary and grievance proceedings during the pandemic. Can or should you really run these things without the physical meetings referred to in generations of prior ACAS guidance? In these respects, … Continue Reading
As from 4 May, Belgium will gradually start the long haul out of lockdown. And when we say “gradually”, that may still be an understatement: in a PowerPoint presentation longer than the Harry Potter series and containing much less magic, the country’s Prime Minister has explained to the media each of the seemingly endless phases … Continue Reading
Here is a quick glimpse behind the scenes of parliamentary process – some highlights from the Parliamentary Treasury Committee meeting yesterday when officials from HMRC were quizzed by the Committee about the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, plus some thoughts of our own in bold. The new scheme will be up and running on 20 April … 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
Earlier this month, the Equality and Human Rights Commission issued new guidance on sexual harassment and harassment at work. The guidance is very comprehensive, running to some 82 pages, but if you are responsible for drafting your company’s harassment policies or for handling such complaints in the workplace, you should still take a look at … Continue Reading
Unheralded and unannounced, recently revised GDPR guidance from the ICO removed one small source of comfort for employers facing DSARs from employees. It used to say that the 30-day time limit was paused, the clock stopped, if you asked the requester for information to clarify his DSAR and it was not provided. This was not … Continue Reading
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has issued new guidance on the use of confidentiality agreements (often referred to interchangeably as “non-disclosure agreements” “NDAs”, “gagging clauses” or “confidentiality clauses”) in discrimination cases. The stated aim of the guidance is to “clarify the law on confidentiality agreements in employment and to set out good practice … 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
At our recent webinar on “GDPR Compliance: How UK Employers Can Meet the 25 May 2018 Deadline” we were asked a number of questions via the chat facility. Those questions showed that with less than a year to run and much to do before then, there is still widespread uncertainty as to the detail of … Continue Reading
The Acas National Newsletter for June, out earlier this week, contains some slightly updated advice on the eternal question of how you calculate holiday pay, plus an existential poser on the relationship between sickness and holiday accrual. On the holiday pay front, there remains no steer as to how commission or overtime earnings should be … Continue Reading
Long-time Employment Tribunal practitioners will recall more or less fondly the days when every so often the Judge would suddenly send the parties out of the room mid-hearing and then lean towards one of the representatives and say incredulously “Come on, really?”. When it was said to the other side, that was absolutely the Overriding … Continue Reading
On August 29, 2016, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its final “Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation and Related Issues,” which replaced the Agency’s nearly-20-year-old 1998 Compliance Manual, Section 8: Retaliation. As the title clearly implies, the guidance primarily sets forth the Agency’s evolving interpretations of the law of retaliation. It also focuses on the … Continue Reading
It is sadly impossible to write anything critical about a report on sexual harassment in the workplace without coming over like some frightful old golf club misogynist. To be clear, therefore, none of what follows seeks to belittle the distress of those genuinely harassed at work, but balance nonetheless dictates a counter-point to the TUC’s … Continue Reading
The deadline for responses to the BIS call for evidence in relation to the use of restrictive covenants expires on 19 July. The Call contains no hard evidence at all to support any suggestion that covenants stifle start-ups. It admits that this is only an assumption, though even those are normally based on something. It … Continue Reading
“We want to ensure that when used, covenants are justified, well-constructed, targeted and reasonable. There needs to be a balance which ensures the employer can protect its business interests when staff move on and the worker is not unfairly disadvantaged when they (SIC) decide to leave or start up their own business“. So says the … Continue Reading
