The four-day working week was hot on the agenda back in 2019, but it's taken a backseat in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the rise of homeworking and the increasing desire for flexibility, is it time to dust off the idea? The four-day working week comes with plenty of benefits for employees as well as businesses. Let's remind ourselves of these and also ask the question: can the four-day working week help resolve gender pay issues? Reducing the Gender Pay Gap There are…
The new rules for off-payroll working (IR35) in the private sector are fast-approaching. If your business is busy preparing for the changes on 6 April, perhaps this blog post will help you. We've compiled the questions asked by attendees at our recent off-payroll working (OPW) webinar. Our in-house payroll experts have answered them all - we hope you find them useful. To help you find relevant FAQs, we've grouped them together under the following themes: General FAQs Qualifying Criteria Running a Separate OPW Payroll Intermediaries…
Are you doing enough to protect your workers and avoid HSE enforcement action? A recent BBC article reported concerning figures which suggest that either employers are failing to protect their workers from COVID-19, or failing to adequately communicate effective COVID controls to their employees. The report states that between 6 and 14 January, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) received 2,945 complaints about safety issues. Due to this, the HSE has had to scale up its efforts to check and support firms, and has carried out…
Following the formalisation of a trade deal and the end of the Brexit Transition period, what is the immediate effect of Brexit on UK health and safety legislation? And how will your business, and your processes be affected? The UK has been driving health and safety standards across the world for decades. Even prior to the Health and Safety Act 1974, the UK has been at the forefront of improving health and safety policies, so much so that many other countries follow our lead and…
2021 will see the introduction of life post-brexit, as well as new off-payroll working (IR35) rules, gender pay gap reporting, increased statutory rates of pay... the list goes on. This blog post lists some of the key events and all-important dates to look out for this year. Post-Brexit Immigration System From 1 January 2021, EEA nationals who are ineligible for the EU Settlement Scheme will need to apply for the right to work in the United Kingdom. The government has a points-based immigration system for…
An important belief discrimination case was decided by the Employment Appeal Tribunal in October 2020. The recent Development in Belief Discrimination was between Mrs K Higgs v Farmor’s School. Mrs Kristie Higgs was employed at Farmor’s School in Fairford, Gloucestershire for seven years before being dismissed in 2018. Her dismissal for gross misconduct came after complaints received regarding her sharing two Facebook posts that openly criticised LGBT+ inclusive education. Mrs Higgs shared the posts to around 100 people in her network. The posts openly criticised…
With 2020 thankfully behind us, many of us will be making our New Year’s Resolutions. So, what resolutions should HR be making? There is no doubt that we’re all crossing our fingers for a return to a normal life, both at work and at home in 2021. However, with lots of companies realising that many, or in some cases all, of their employees can work efficiently from home, what does that mean for HR? With this in mind, here are a few New Year's Resolutions…
In April 2018, the regulation on the provision of personal protective equipment became more complex for employers. Do you fully understand your obligations when providing employees with PPE? If you’re unsure, we’ve created an employer’s guide to PPE to help you. In the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992, regulation 4 states an employer’s obligations. ‘Every employer shall ensure that suitable personal protective equipment is provided to his employees who may be exposed to a risk to their health or safety while at work…
Your newly recruited employees may be facing their first day with you, from their home. So, how do you make sure your new, remote employees feel welcome? Typical onsite onboarding would include an introduction to the team, a tour of the office, and a meeting with management. A failure to do these things could result in the new employee feeling isolated or uncertain about their new workplace. This is especially pertinent given that new recruits who are going to be working from home are unlikely…
When the imminent changes to off-payroll working were first introduced, I have to admit, there was a lot of terminology to take in. One article would refer to the changes as IR35. Whereas other articles would described it as off-payroll working. This led to some debate amongst Moorepay colleagues. We were of course keen to understand, what exactly is the difference between IR35 and off-payroll working? What is IR35? IR35 is the abbreviated term for the intermediaries legislation. It came into force in April 2000.…
