There are a number of changes taking place in April 2020 to employment legislation. Some of these arise out of the government’s Good Work Plan which was published in December 2018 and which has been described as the government’s “vision for the future of the...
Following on from the large number of sexual harassment allegations in Hollywood, the social media campaign #MeToo has highlighted that sexual harassment is a common occurrence across workplaces. In addition, many have also said that they don't know any women who haven't been the subject...
On 26th July, Unison was finally successful in their case against the government. The Supreme Court made a ruling that employment tribunal fees were unlawful. Tribunal fees were introduced in July 2013 and an employee who wanted to claim unfair dismissal or discrimination had had to...
There have been a number of landmark cases recently in which people working in the so-called "gig" economy have been found to be workers, and therefore have access to various rights. Typically these are individuals who work for a service organisation, and are paid for...
The BBC has published an article about the increase in the number of Council workers that have been suspended for accessing social media and porn sites at work. Some of it relates to staff spending too much of their working time on non-work activities. However,...
As a result of recent case law (the "Tyco" case) some employers may be required to pay their employees to travel to and from work. This is only the case where: Employees are paid on an hourly rate They have no fixed place of work, and The employer...
From 26th May 2015, it will not be lawful to include or enforce an exclusivity clause for employees on zero hours contracts. Under the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 employees on contracts which do not have a minimum number of paid hours per...
A Tumblr blog called Racists getting fired (and getting racists fired) has claimed another victim in the USA recently, according to the BBC. Chris Rincon, who used to work at Jet Set car wash in Houston, Texas, was fired after posting an offensive slur against...
There has been a landmark case decided by the Employment Appeals Tribunal which suggests that employers should be paying workers their base pay plus overtime while they are on holiday. Whilst it has been less well publicised, this could also include commission, travel pay and...
On Friday 17th October we are running another free seminar in conjunction with Start My Biz. The session is focusing on Managing Staff. This is particularly aimed at businesses who have limited experience of managing employees. The session will cover: Managing performance Managing maternity and absence Dealing with difficult...
We are running a seminar in association with Start my Biz on Friday 26th September on employing staff. This will cover the basics of taking on new employees and will include: Contracts of employment Policies and handbooks Health and safety Induction and training Employment law basics The seminar is free for...
Rachel Downer from Canterbury HR is running a series of seminars with Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce: For new employers there is a session on Starting to Hire Staff on 20th June at Maidstone and 3rd September at Ashford. Do you want to know How to Get the...
It's time to get your ducks in row! Have you recently reviewed and updated your employment contracts to ensure that they are in line with the latest legislation? Or perhaps you've been meaning to get your policies written down into a handbook but you haven't...