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.…
Some UK employers have already banned employees from using e-cigs at their desk - but should all work places do this? A recent Employment Tribunal case highlighted the importance of employers ensuring that the use of e-cigarettes or ‘vaping’ is included in a smoking policy. The Tribunal in Insley v Accent Catering considered a claim that the employee had been 'constructively dismissed' by her employer. Ms Insley had been seen her using an e-cigarette at the school where she worked in full view of pupils. She…
Have you seen in the news that obesity is now considered to be a disability? That means, in some cases, obese employees will have the same employment protection as other disabled employees. It must be emphasised that discrimination on the grounds of obesity on its own is not itself unlawful. This question was considered recently by the European Court of Justice ("ECJ"). The matter concerned Mr Kaltoft who was a clinically-obese childminder for a local council in Denmark. He was dismissed due to redundancy; he…
Please note, legislation has been updated in regards to holiday calculations since this article was written, effective for holiday years starting on or after 1 April 2024, so some of the content below may be out-of-date. If you're a Moorepay client, please contact us if you need guidance. Otherwise, please see this article on the changes for more information. Following the landmark case in 2014 which ruled that overtime could be included in Holiday Pay, overtime now plays a part in this calculation. In this…
The status of workers and whether or not they should be categorised as employees is one of the most difficult questions in employment law. This is underlined by the recent case of Quashie v Stringfellows Restaurants Ltd. In this case the Employment Tribunal found that Ms Quashie was not an employee, the Employment Appeal Tribunal decided that she was and finally the Court of Appeal decided that she was not. The situation is not helped by parliament providing broadly similar definitions of a “worker” in…
As Christmas draws closer, it’s time to unwind and have fun with your colleagues at the end of the year. Companies are likely to have more or less the same legal responsibilities at the Christmas Party as during office hours. But with great planning and communication, you can completely avoid any potential problems. Health & Safety Safety is obviously one of the main considerations, which is why risk assessment before the event is crucial. This will reduce accident risks and help defend a claim if…
The Transfer of Undertakings for the Protection of Employment (TUPE), which became UK law over 30 years ago, is tinkered with nearly every year - and 2014 is no different. There are several major changes this year. The first change is that work that is to be transferred must be; “fundamentally the same” for TUPE to apply. What does; ”fundamentally the same” mean? We have a very good understanding but until case law is to be set by Judges in Upper Courts there is no…
