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…
We explain what an unauthorised absence is and the steps you should take when an employee is absent from work and hasn’t contacted you. When is an absence classified as unauthorised? Unauthorised absence is also known as going AWOL (absence without leave). It occurs when an employee fails to attend work and doesn't have a statutory or contractual right, or the employee’s permission to be absent. Essentially, if an employee fails to come to work without a good reason, it’s an unauthorised absence. It's key…
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,…
BOGOFF, 3 for 2, and who can forget good old Costco? If your employees are like us, then they love a bargain. It’s like stealing, without the criminal record. With this in mind, we’ve only gone and released a brand-new discounts function for employees. And the best part? They never need to leave their remote workspace. For some it’s tightening the purse strings, for others it’s ditching the fifth holiday of the year. With inflation at a record 40 year high, and fuel prices pricking…
Your lunch has been bumped to a tenner, employees are hounding you for a pay rise, add in a staffing shortage and you’ve got the perfect storm for top talent hot tailing it out the door. Luckily, we’ve been cooking up the perfect solution. The sad news is the cost of living crisis isn’t blowing over. Cathedral City is security tagged, fuel prices are tipping the scales, and don’t even get us started on heating the home. It’s double jumpers all around. The truth is,…
I’m sure you’ll agree the pandemic increased our reliance on digital technology with many aspects of our daily lives moving to the online arena. From Teams calls with colleagues, to virtual exercise classes, to the (dreaded) Zoom quizzes with family and friends, we all became heavily dependent on various smart apps and video conference tools. And for many businesses, the pandemic accelerated digital transformation by months or even years. However, whilst some industries have rapidly changed beyond recognition, others have struggled to do more than…
Suella Braverman's return to the post of the Home Secretary just one week after she resigned has raised a few eyebrows. In terms of conventional employment situations, just how long should an employee be gone before it’s a good idea to take them back? And what are the downsides? For many sectors, it’s a very competitive labour market right now, and previous employees with an established skill set seem like desirable avenue to go down. In fact, we covered why rehiring could be a good avenue for…
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…
How concerned should employers be about an apparent trend in staff turning to union membership and industrial action as a solution to myriad woes both in and out of the workplace? As the cost-of-living crisis endures, and with winter on the horizon, news headlines talking about trade union recognition and industrial action are more commonplace. Though the trend isn’t confined to public sector employers – where nurses are joining transport and postal workers in escalating their respective disputes – similar headlines often reference private sector…
It's a common misconception that once your employees leave work for the day, what they do outside of work is nothing to do with you as their employer. Actually, if an employee's actions outside the workplace impact your organisation, their colleagues, or affects the way they do their job, employers can intervene. It may even be necessary to take disciplinary action to protect your staff, uphold your company values and minimise reputational damage. Below are some typical scenarios of where you may be required to…
