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June 23, 2014

5000 SMEs may be fined over Auto Enrolment

A lack of understanding about legal obligations could see as many as 5,000 small employers face fines, according to research. A survey from Creative Auto Enrolment of over 500 SME employers revealed that 24% believe they have "hardly heard anything" from the Government about Auto Enrolment - and a quarter believed they have had "minimal communication". SMEs can be fined between £1,000 and £5,000 for not complying with the law. But over a third said the problem was lack of understanding about the new law. David…

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June 20, 2014

Maternity Leave – your questions answered

The regulations around Maternity and Paternity leave can be complex leaving employers unclear on what their obligations are. We have put together some of our most frequently asked questions to simplify it for you. How much leave are pregnant employees entitled to? Every pregnant employee has the right to take up to 52 weeks leave regardless of length of service. This is made up of 26 weeks' ordinary maternity leave and 26 weeks' additional maternity leave. What are they entitled to during maternity leave? An…

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May 31, 2014

Discrimination cases aren’t always straightforward

Workers who think they have been discriminated against are usually entitled to resign and claim against their employers...but not in a recent case. Constructive dismissal claims are usually based upon a single, fundamental breach of contract by the employer or a continuous course of conduct where there is a ‘last straw’ that led to the Claimant’s resignation. An act of discrimination would usually be sufficient to constitute a breach of trust and confidence, entitling the employee to resign and claim constructive unfair dismissal, although not…

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May 30, 2014

Handling a workplace grievance

Minor grievances should be dealt with informally wherever possible - it's always better to have an open and honest culture where employees can discuss issues with a manager to prevent them from escalating. It is always advisable to keep notes of discussions and investigations so there is an accurate record showing how and when an issue has been dealt with. If the informal approach does not resolve the issue, or the situation has gone too far, then the employee must put the grievance in writing…

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April 29, 2014

How to get sued: Give poor employment references

Employers should proceed with caution when providing a reference for a former employee or else they may be liable to pay compensation. There is a duty of care on the part of the employer to ensure that all the information it provides in a reference is accurate. Even though a reference does not have to be comprehensive, employers must ensure that the information it contains is not misleading. How are former employees protected? There must be a consistency of approach in terms of whether or…

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March 28, 2014

Early Conciliation: In depth

Early Conciliation is being introduced under the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013. The Act contains a range of measures which will hopefully provide the right conditions to encourage long term growth and support business success. It address one of the fears that businesses have reported of having to defend an employment tribunal claim. These fears can sometimes impact on an employer’s decision to take on new staff and develop their business. Changes are therefore being made to allow the parties in a dispute greater…

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March 25, 2014

Do employees have to speak English at work?

An employer recently warned its foreign employees that if they did not speak English in the workplace they would be dismissed. On the face of it this may seem a relatively straight-forward issue and not at all unreasonable...but is it? There are many employers around the country that employ foreign workers which inevitably leads to a more diverse workforce. Given that language issues may arise in the workplace, if there is one common language that is only allowed to be spoken does this have any…

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February 28, 2014

Confused about new Early Conciliation laws?

Workers with employment disputes will soon be required to fill out an 'Early conciliation form' - with basic details of the claimant and the company - before they can submit an employment claim to an Employment Tribunal. The mandatory early conciliation form, proposed to come into force on 6th April 2014,  will not require details of the acts or incidents raised by the claimant, and therefore, the first the company will know of any such claim against them will be when Acas contacts them for…

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February 27, 2014

Employment Tribunal Fees to stay…for now

Employments Tribunal fees were introduced last year, requiring claimants to pay fees up front. In reaction, UNISON challenged the validity of the imposition of fees, but was eventually unsuccessful. UNISON said that the fees are “unjust and discriminatory” and had been widely criticised as having denied people access to justice. Given that the majority of people who would want to bring a claim in the employment tribunal have recently lost their jobs, it is difficult to argue that the fees wouldn’t have an effect on a person’s…

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December 23, 2013

Could you get paid for sleeping?

It seems that it’s OK to sleep on the job in certain situations, according to the outcome of a recent Employment Appeal Tribunal. The Tribunal (EAT) decided that employees required to "sleepover" at a specified location in the course of their work are entitled to be paid the National Minimum Wage for such hours, regardless of whether their sleep is interrupted. The outcome in this case (Whittlestone v BJP Home Support Ltd) will be particularly relevant to those employers in the care and security sectors.…

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