The Government has announced its review of Employment Tribunal fees, which is expected to conclude towards the end of this year. The review will consider how effective the introduction of fees has been at meeting the original objectives, while maintaining access to justice. The original objectives were: to transfer some of the cost from the taxpayer to those who use the service, where they can afford to do so to encourage the use of alternative dispute resolution services, for example, ACAS conciliation to improve the…
A staggering 59% of the UK population have active social media accounts, with 32 million using a mobile device to access. According to a We Are Social article, the average daily use of social media amounts to 2 hours and 13 minutes - more than half the time that people in the UK spend on the internet. Facebook is the top active social platform with 43% on the network. With the high level of access and usage of Facebook on a daily basis, it is…
It can be tricky to keep up with the day-to-day HR needs of your workforce. Paperwork, approvals, requests for information and staying compliant – they all take away from the main objectives of your business. Cloud-based HR systems can help remove the administrative stress from your growing HR needs and allow you to concentrate on your business. You already use the cloud…and may not even know it Over 75% of businesses are in, or are looking to move to, The Cloud for a variety of…
As a country, we lose 131 million working days and £15 billion every year from sickness absence, according to recent figures. This is clearly a huge problem and employers should take whatever steps they can to manage both short-term and long-term absences effectively. Absences of 4 weeks or more is classed as a period of ‘long-term’ absence. It is estimated that long-term sickness absence makes up 20% of all total absences and 70% of the cost to employers. Steps to Managing Sickness Absence… The following measures can be taken…
News reports and social media sites have been filled with views on Jeremy Clarkson following his alleged attack on a colleague. Love him or hate him, everyone seems to have an opinion on whether he should have continued in his employment or not. Jeremy Clarkson’s behaviour, both on and off the Top Gear camera, has seen him fall from one controversy into the next, before his employment came to an end in March 2015. Clarkson is said to have attacked a producer following a dispute…
New legislation has been introduced which tightens the law on drugs and driving. That means it is now more important than ever to have a clear policy in place. The law on drink driving has been around for a long time now but the law on drugs and driving is comparatively new. The Drug Driving (Specified Limits) England & Wales Regulations 2015, introduced in March, sets limits on the amount of prescribed and non-prescribed drugs in the bloodstream of a driver. At present, the law…
Social media now plays a key role in many businesses as well as in the personal lives of most employees. Employees can, and often do, stray outside of purely personal use and this overlap can cause problems for employers and, of course, provides them with the challenge of monitoring and controlling information. Two very recent decisions provide some help and guidance for employers. Threatening messages on Twitter In Game Retail Limited v Laws, Game have a chain of retail outlets and Laws was a senior…
The Government has introduced new regulations in order to protect UK businesses from potentially damaging underpaid Holiday Pay claims. The Regulations will also apply to most claims of unlawful deductions to two years before a Tribunal claim is lodged. The move comes in reaction to an Employment Appeal Tribunal's (EAT) decision in late 2014, which caused a significant level of concern amongst employers over the potential impact and cost of the decision to employers. In the Bear Scotland v Fulton case in late 2014 the…
Last month, we discussed the Government's new "Fit for Work" occupational health assessment service, aimed at employees classed as long term sick. It triggers when an employee has been (or is likely to be) absent for four weeks or more and referrals can be requested by employers or the employee’s own GP. This is such a big change to Employment Law that we thought we would go into more detail about it and highlight some of its most important aspects. At present, Fit For Work…
By 2020, 36% of the working population will be aged over 50, according to recent Labour Force statistics. Recent data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has shown that employment in older workers aged between 50 and 64 years old has grown to 7.32 million and the numbers of those aged 65 and over in employment reached 900,000. These figures are the highest since comparable records began. Specifically, the percentage of individuals over 65 years old in employment has doubled between 2001 and 2010.…
