The European Court of Justice has ruled that employers need to treat employee's commuting time as work time, which will have an impact on every size company in the UK. This will affect sectors with large numbers of travelling workers, and require employers to look at the distance employees travel to clients/work sites. Employers cannot afford to ignore this ruling, as ignorance could cost money. What does this mean for employers? The decision from the European Court of Justice could impact on: Business prospects Job…
You probably already know that employees have a number of rights under TUPE laws. However, you may not be aware that employers face a number of pitfalls when buying a business, which could result in huge fines if ignored. What is TUPE? Transfer of Undertaking (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006/2014, commonly referred to as TUPE, applies when there is a transfer of business or services from one employer or service provider to another. TUPE applies regardless of the size of the transferred business, whether it…
Employment Tribunal Fees could be completely abolished in Scotland over the next 12 months, according to the Scottish Government. The First Minister revealed the plans in its "Programme for Government', a document which outlines the legislative agenda for the year ahead. This represents a radical shift away from the UK Government's policy of charging for access to the Employment Tribunal system, which has been in place for over 2 years. The Introduction of UK Tribunal Fees Before 2013, there was no fee payable for issuing…
The Court of Appeal has dismissed Unison's appeals against its judicial review applications challenging the legality of Employment Tribunal Fees. Whilst “troubled” by the sharp decline in Employment Tribunal claims, the Court decided the fact of decline also needed to be supported by evidence of a lack of affordability of the fees in the financial circumstances of (typical) individuals. However, The story on Employment Tribunal fees isn't over, since Unison have said they will seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court and the government…
Can you dismiss employees for putting offensive comments on Twitter? In Game Retail Limited v Laws UKEAT0188/14, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) considered whether the dismissal of an employee for tweeting offensive comments from a personal Twitter account was unfair. Mr Laws was employed by Game Retail Limited as a risk and loss prevention investigator, with responsibility for approximately 100 stores. He set up a personal Twitter account and began to follow these stores for work purposes. He was followed in return by 65 stores.…
The biggest shake-up to workplace pensions is currently underway. Life expectancy in the UK is increasing and at the same time people are saving less into a pension. New regulations now provide duties for employers to automatically enrol workers into a workplace pension scheme and make contributions into it. Employer obligations in relation to this new legislation and the process they should follow are highlighted below. What employers must do? Employers are required to automatically enrol workers into a workplace pension who: Are not already…
The right to request flexible working has now extended to all employees - not just those caring for a child or dependant adult. Under the provision of the Children and Families Act 2014 from 30th June 2014 an extension of the right to the existing request flexible working process was introduced. The statutory right to request procedure has now been replaced by an ACAS Code of Practice. These changes are intended to make it easier for employees to apply to change their hours, the days…
Now fathers and partners as well as mothers can take time off with their new baby. Shared Parental Leave is being introduced to enable both parents to be able to take paid time off to look after their child within the 52 weeks following the birth. Due to come into force on 1st December 2014, the new regulations will apply for any baby born on or after 5th April 2015. The regulations also apply to Adoption, so will apply to any child adopted on or…
Dark days and dark nights are almost upon us as the clocks go back. So - while we have a little daylight left - you may need to review your Health & Safety at work to prepare for the winter period. Maybe your staff won't be able to get to work, ro maybe, closed schools will mean parents need to remain at home. You may already have experience of staff members being off due to unforeseen circumstances but when it may be a majority of staff what…
Morbid obesity could be considered a disability under EU law, according to the European Court of Justice. The Advocate General (AG), of the ECJ, has stated that, while EU law does not generally prohibit discrimination on the ground of obesity, morbid obesity may come within the meaning of ‘disability’ under EU law. The AG’s opinion in the case of Karsten Kaltoft v Billund is not binding. However, the ECJ is due to rule on the case and if the full court agrees the UK could…
