Working from home is creating rather a blurred line between employees' work lives and their personal lives. With this in mind, many employers are likely to be encouraging rest breaks. So what does employment law say about lunch breaks? When it comes to the rules, what are employees actually entitled to? Which employees in particular should employers be mindful of? Are there exceptions to the rules? And can an employee determine when they take their lunch break? Keep reading to find out. The Working Time…
A really important message, beautifully executed. I’ve watched the John Lewis Christmas advert five times and it still makes me teary. It also got me thinking: what does this mean for HR teams? Sadly, the requirement to take time out of work in order to adopt or foster a child is not particularly well-supported in employment law. This may leave employers and their HR teams feeling as if they’d like to do more. Let’s look into the adoption and foster care process, the current legislation,…
Once upon a time, in the year 2019, and merely a week since Boris Johnson’s landslide ‘Brexit Election’ victory, the state opening of parliament took place. Prominent in Her Majesty’s announcement of forthcoming legislation, a raft of measures affecting employment. Except… none of it materialised; not in 2020, 2021 or 2022. It all vanished, along with Boris Johnson himself. It would return ‘when parliamentary time allowed’. But it didn’t. And now we have a yet another new Prime Minster, Rishi Sunak, and it’s unclear whether…
What should you do if an employee has been charged with a serious criminal offence for something that has happened outside of the workplace? Can you terminate their employment on the grounds that they will no longer be available for work? And what about the reputational risk to your business? Each case should be decided on its own merits and in some situations, it may be fair to dismiss an employee. However, there’s no automatic right to dismiss an employee because they’ve been charged with…
I’m sure you’re well aware of the term ‘The Bradford Factor’. Created in the 1980’s by Bradford University School of Management, it’s become synonymous with employers who are keen to find a simple and expedient management solution to the disruption caused by employee absence. For the uninitiated, the Bradford Factor is based on the theory that short, frequent, unplanned absences are more disruptive to businesses than longer periods of absence. Using a mathematical formula, it takes the number and frequency of absences to produce a…
Our Mobile App, birthed by our Next Generation Software, and a certified swot when it comes to impressing employees. Our agile deployment structure means we can fast-track fantastic features straight to our customers and their employees. Hooray! So, the real question is, what have we been working on? Payslip notifications Is there a happier day than payday? We think not. Employees now get a pocket-sized ping when their payslip is ready. We don’t need to tell you they can download it and send it directly…
Part-year workers are now entitled to a full year paid holiday allowance, after the Supreme Court hands down its long-awaited judgment. The Court endorsed the earlier Court of Appeal judgment meaning employers who previously pro-rated the holiday entitlement for staff working part of the year on permanent contracts will have to change their practices. What was this case about? It had been common practice for employers to pro-rate holidays for part-year workers - usually ‘term-time’ - for many years. It was a perfectly logical and…
Over 3,000 people across 70 companies in the UK are expected to take part in a 6-month pilot scheme of the four-day working week. The scheme, which launched on 13 June 2022, is being coordinated by ‘4 Day Week Global’, in conjunction with Autonomy (a UK based think tank) and the 4 Day Week UK Campaign, with research involvement from Oxford and Cambridge universities and Boston College. The pilot scheme is based on the 100:80:100 model – 100% of pay for 80% of the time,…
Inundated by repeat employee queries? Sick of sending the same contracts all whilst cracking a smile? Well, not anymore. Recent advancements in our Mobile App mean employees can go about their business without knocking on the doors of payroll and HR departments up and down the UK. So, what’s new? Employee directory You know what it’s like, you’re new to the business, you’re looking for the bloke who sits next to you, but you can only remember his first name. With our Mobile App employees…
Body odour is cited as the biggest bugbear for 70% of employees. So what should HR do to tackle this awkward and personal situation? In the first instance, you should not ignore the situation. Sitting next to, talking to and working with a colleague who has consistent objectionable personal hygiene can be an intricate concern for employers to deal with. You should consider the hefty impact this may have on relationships between colleagues, clients, and customers. For example, working with a colleague who has body odour…
