The starting point is that there is no general right in law for an employee to have time off for medical appointments, however, most employers are likely to want to support the national effort for vaccination and to allow employees to attend their appointments. Employees should also check their contracts of employment and policies contained in staff handbooks to see what rights they have around attending medical appointments. It is likely that employers have a responsibility to promote the vaccination because health and safety law provides that employers have a legal obligation to provide a sa ..read more

For some people, coronavirus (COVID-19) can cause symptoms that last weeks or months after the infection has gone. This is sometimes called post-COVID-19 syndrome or long COVID. Symptoms of Long Covid can include: Lung disease Dizziness Blood clots Pins and needles Heart palpitations Breathlessness Extreme fatigue Earache Memory loss Brain fog Rashes Loss of taste and smell High temperature Can employees with Long Covid come to work? Once an employee’s self-isolation period is over, they are legally permitted to return to work. If the employee has Long Covid symptoms there is no legal need f ..read more

This morning (19 March 2021) The Supreme Court issued the long-awaited judgment regarding whether carers are entitled to payment of the National Minimum Wage while undertaking night shifts for time that is not spent actually performing some specific activity .  The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal from Mrs Tomlinson-Blake.  Had the employee been successful, this could have cost the care sector millions of pounds in outstanding wages and fines. In Royal Mencap Society –v- Tomlinson-Blake the Claimant, Mrs Tomlinson-Blake was a care worker, caring for vulnerable adults with severe le ..read more

Rishi Sunak yesterday (3rd March) set out his Spring Budget in the Commons.  The Chancellor announced a raft of new measures to springboard the economy, after lamenting that the pandemic has caused ‘acute’ damage to the country. The decision on the rate increases was reached following recommendations by the Low Pay Commission, which the Government has accepted in full. The current minimum wage rates are: Ages 25 and over: £8.72 Ages 21-24: £8.20 Ages 18-20: £6.45 Under-18: £4.55 Apprentices: £4.15 Among the updates, the Chancellor confirmed that from 1st April 2021, workers aged 23 and ..read more

Most employers recognise that bullying can happen in the workplace and that it can have serious consequences.  Prudent employers therefore implement policies in the workplace such as anti-bullying and dignity at work policies.  These policies typically set out what behaviour is and is not acceptable in the workplace.  If you feel you are being bullied at work, your first step is to review any policies and see what your employer’s position is. The first step is to ascertain whether you are being bullied.  For example, being chastised for poor performance may sometimes be dif ..read more

The furlough scheme will be extended until the end of September by the chancellor in the Budget later today (3rd March 2021).  The Government’s Job Retention Scheme (“Furlough”) shall be extended to September 2021 to help the UK’s economy, as the Covid-19 vaccine is rolled out to the population.  There has been pressure from business on the government to extend the scheme in order to avoid mass redundancies at the end of April. Rishi Sunak is also expected to be extending the government-guaranteed Covid-19 business loan schemes until September. The Furlough scheme was initially exten ..read more

Chris Randall, Head of the Employment Law Team at Ringrose Law has been advising Employers on managing Furlough Leave since the Covid-19 Pandemic began last Spring. Around ten million people are currently absent from work on Furlough leave.  Although the Furlough scheme shall continue until the end of April. As lockdown begins to ease across the Country and employers start to ‘open’ their businesses there are major considerations to consider when returning furloughed employees back to the workplace. Returning back to the workplace Employers should provide their employees with a reasonable ..read more

Today (19 February) The Supreme Court has unanimously held that Uber drivers are workers.  This is a landmark judgment that will have significant implications for the gig-economy and brings certainty to a long-running important legal case. The case started nearly five years ago when two Uber drivers: James Farrar and Yaseen Aslam issued claims to the employment tribunal that they should be considered workers rather than self-employed.  The employment tribunal found that the drivers were workers and that they were working whenever they: (1) had the Uber app switched on; (2) were withi ..read more

This week is Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence week. Sexual harassment at work is unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature and is unlawful under the Equality Act 2010. The actions or words are found to be harassment if they violate an employee’s dignity or create an environment which is intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive. Many people do not realise the experiences they have had would amount to sexual harassment as this can include sexual jokes, displaying images of a sexual nature i.e. calendars, sending emails of a sexual content or unwelcome sexual advances relating to to ..read more

It is estimated that around ten million people are currently absent from work in the UK on furlough leave as part of the government’s job retention scheme. The government is estimated to have spent £46 billion on the job retention scheme. This could rise to £80 billion by the time the scheme ends in April 2021. Despite this investment from the government, we have seen a steady rise in the number of people made redundant on furlough leave.   Can you be made redundant whilst on furlough leave? Some employees believe they cannot be made redundant while on furlough leave. This is false. The g ..read more