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Uncertainty of employing overseas workers A high degree of uncertainty around the issue of employing overseas workers has resulted due to the UK’s decision to leave the European Union . The recent piecemeal comments on the shape of the future policy on immigration and overseas workers’ rights have…
Read moreDress and appearance causes controversy Dress and appearance at work is in the news again. The Olympic Games has thrown up an unlikely controversy involving the BBC Sports presenter, Helen Skelton. Her own attire attracted a high volume of complaints from viewers even thought she was presenting a b…
Read moreWhat is it and when should garden leave be applied? Garden Leave, is a measure that is often used by employers. It is used to keep employees, who are leaving the organisation, out of the workplace during their notice period. It can be applied to any employee, regardless of their status. Although it…
Read moreHSE’s cost recovery scheme 'Fees for Intervention' goes up The HSE’s cost recovery scheme, 'Fees for Intervention' designed to shift the financial burden away from the tax payer to non-safety compliant businesses has gone up. The scheme came in to force in 2012, as the then coalition government pu…
Read moreExtension lead safety - the guidelines Extension lead safety should be considered. You’re not going to tell us that extension leads are no longer safe are you? Of course not, but… (There’s always a but with you!) …you must follow some simple guidelines when using them. Remember health and safety is…
Read moreChris Boardman angry about Olympic cycle crash A cycle crash prompted Chris Boardman, a former Olympic gold winning cyclist and the voice behind safe cycling in the UK, to claim that the Olympic race organisers were negligent. The Dutch cyclist, who was leading the race with no other cyclists in si…
Read moreSettlement agreements are legally binding contracts Settlement agreements (commonly known as compromise agreements prior to 2013) are legally binding contracts. They are drawn up to remove employees’ rights to bring a claim arising out of their contracts of employment to an Employment Tribunal or o…
Read moreAwards in unfair dismissal cases Where an award is made to a successful claimant in an Employment Tribunal unfair dismissal case, it will normally be made up of two distinct component parts. Firstly, there is the “basic award”, which is calculated as a sum equivalent to the notional statutory redu…
Read moreAge discrimination and the law? Specific age discrimination law forms part of the Equality Act 2010, having been first introduced into the UK in 2006. This Act consolidates all of the other laws on matters of potential discrimination; relating to all of the “protected characteristics” that exist in…
Read moreDismissal due to ill health - following the disciplinary procedure Dismissal due to ill health - a recent Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) decision has helpfully clarified the question of whether or not an employer should follow their disciplinary procedure when dismissing an employee on the ground…
Read moreHow will this affect the employment law framework? Like many aspects of economic and social life in the UK at the present time, there is a high degree of uncertainty surrounding the medium and long term picture of our employment law framework. However, in the short term at least, the situation is c…
Read moreIntroducing rules on dress in the workplace The recent story involving the instruction given to a female agency worker that she should get herself a pair of high heels if she wanted to stay in her role, continues to run and run. But is this fair, what are the rules when it comes to dress in the wor…
Read moreBritish Gas Trading Ltd v Miss K Price Personal relationships that develop in the workplace have often led to difficulties for employers for a variety of reasons, not least when something unexpectedly goes wrong between the two employees involved. This was certainly the situation, in the Employment…
Read moreControl of immigration? The current debate relating to the forthcoming EU Referendum is gathering pace day by day. The two central issues surrounding the arguments of both sides remain the control of immigration and the potential impact of the vote on the country’s economic health. The “Brexit” ca…
Read moreIts impact on industrial action Following agreement by both Houses of Parliament on the text and detail of the Bill, the Trade Union Act finally received Royal Assent on 4th May 2016 and will impact on the way in which industrial action is organised. It will come into force on a date still to be co…
Read moreProsecuted £1m plus costs A young worker was killed by an exploding pneumatic tyre when trying to repair a puncture. The tyre belonged to a dresser or wheeled loading shovel. The company was subsequently prosecuted £1m and ordered to pay costs of £99,485 How did it happen? The resulting investiga…
Read morePaying less than the National Minimum Wage Today, Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley admitted to MPs that his business is paying less than the National Minimum Wage (NMW) to some of its workers, and has agreed to back pay the underpayments. Previous criticism of the company abusing its zero hour co…
Read moreIs your engineer a registered Gas Safe engineer? The HSE are running a mini-campaign on knowing your gas safe engineer, the campaign is ‘Trust the Triangle.’ A list of possibilities why your gas engineer is cheap and why you need to check credentials: Unqualified – a person working with any gas…
Read moreGuidance to judges when prosecuting for health & safety breaches Firstly, you may be asking what the new sentencing guidelines are. Well simply put, they came into force on the 1st February to provide guidance to magistrate and crown court judges for prosecuting individuals and businesses, for…
Read moreProcessing of personal information by employers The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) incorporates the main bulk of existing legislation on the issue of privacy at work and the processing of personal information by employers. The latest addition to the Data Protection related legislation arrived in De…
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