Excuses, excuses, excuses… there are many reasons why employers fail to provide legally required documents to employees. Unfortunately for employers who have failed in these responsibilities, excuses will not protect them from consequences including financial penalties and reputational damage. In Cartmill v Always Transport and Others, the claimant Ian Cartmill explained he had not been issued with a written statement of his employment terms and conditions despite working as a Lorry Driver at Always Transport for over three years. On behalf of the respondent, Jean Murray admitted she had not c ..read more

The government has published a paper? which announces that, amongst other things, it will consult on proposals to remove EU-derived obligations to keep records of working time. to simplify calculating holiday pay. to allow businesses to inform and consult the workforce directly about TUPE transfers if they don't have representatives in place, where the employee has fewer than 50 employees and the transfer affects fewer than 10 of them. The announcement comes at the same time as the government is abandoning its proposed default repeal of all retained EU law in favour of a more limited repeal ..read more

DEI stands for diversity, equity and inclusion. As a discipline, DE&I is any policy or practice designed to make people of various backgrounds feel welcome and ensure they have support to perform to the fullest of their abilities in the workplace. - Diversity refers to differences within a setting; in the workplace, that may mean differences in race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age and socioeconomic background. - Equity is the act of ensuring that processes and programs are impartial, fair and provide equal possible outcomes for every individual. - Inclusion is ..read more

The government has turned its attention to helping individuals who have taken a career break return to work (Returners). It has now published guidance for employers (the Guidance) and a toolkit designed to help employees returning from such a break. The toolkit includes tips for Returners on how to build confidence and negotiate salaries and flexibility, as well as providing resources for job opportunities and training. The Guidance: The Guidance comes when many businesses are taking steps to reassess and update their policies to align with the post-pandemic working landscape. Returners are se ..read more

In this blog, we consider how employers can define bullying, spot bullying behaviour by their staff and take effective steps to address it early. How to define bullying behaviour? There is no specific legal definition of bullying, which means it is difficult for employers to clearly understand the behaviours, and patterns of behaviour which are generally understood to amount to bullying. Employers often adopt a broad definition in their anti-bullying policies, although it is often set out without due regard to the employer’s industry, working environment, culture or practices. According to ACA ..read more

Individuals who bring successful discrimination claims are entitled to be compensated for the upset and hurt they have suffered by way of an injury to feelings award. These awards are separate from, and in addition to, compensatory awards for financial loss which are uncapped. Awards for injury to feelings have been increased for all claims presented on or after 6 April 2023 and are now over double the original rates. The new bands are as follows: Lower band - suitable for one-off and isolated incidents which are considered to be less serious. £1,100 - £11,200 Middle band - suitable for c ..read more

Many employers routinely consider the award of bonuses to their staff at this time of year and inevitably this leads to disputes with some staff members about the failure to award a bonus to them at all or at a particular level. In this blog, we set out some factors of which employers should be mindful when making bonus-related decisions. Entitlement to a bonus The contractual status of a bonus is a significant factor to consider. Generally, offer letters and employment contracts outline eligibility to earn a bonus without explicitly guaranteeing it. They often state that the bonus scheme's op ..read more

What are reasonable adjustments for mental health? Reasonable adjustments are changes an employer makes to remove or reduce a disadvantage related to someone's disability. Some people might not recognise their mental health condition as a disability, but it's important that employers are aware that it could be. Disability is defined as a mental or physical impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person's ability to carry out day-to-day activities. Employers must make reasonable adjustments for: workers contractors and self-employed people hired to do the work job a ..read more

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a hot topic right now. GDPR is the toughest privacy and security law in the world. Even though it was drafted and passed by the European Union (EU), it imposes obligations onto organisations anywhere, so long as they target or collect data related to people in the EU. Under GDPR people have a fundamental right of access to their personal data from data controllers. Types of data processed In business there are 3 main types of data that is processed regularly. These are: • Customer data • Employee data • CCTV When dealing with this data the three key ..read more

Incase you missed it, a recent headline in the news revolved around Gary Lineker where his politicised tweet criticised the UK Government's new immigration policy. The tweet saw the BBC Match of the Day presenter removed from his presenting duties pending an investigation as to whether he had broken the BBC's *'Guidelines on Impartiality'* and *'Guidance on Individual Use of Social Media'*. The BBC subsequently reinstated Mr Lineker following the investigation. The difficult position the BBC found itself in is a timely reminder that employers should have effective social media policies in plac ..read more