Most business owners know that employment legislation can be as changeable as the British weather, and this year certainly has been no exception.
Tribunals are reeling following the introduction of fees and the complex ACAS Early Conciliation Scheme now being mandatory before a claim can be lodged has caused countless problems for both employers and employees.
Another huge change was introduced in June of this year as employees will no longer have to have parental responsibility for young children or be a carer to request flexible working.
There will still be some conditions that need to be met before employees can make such a request:
• Must have 26 weeks’ continuo
us service;
• Request made in writing containing certain specific information; and
• One request can only be made per a 12 month cycle.More...
With the World Cup set to kick off with this week, it’s not surprising that a recent statistic has suggested that nearly 1 in 10 employees would consider calling in sick during the tournament.
As a result, it should go without saying that such events can cause headaches for businesses, especially in the HR Department!
Here are 5 of my top tips for businesses to consider during the excitement of a World Cup:
1. Circulate the dates and times of scheduled matches and explain that any holiday requests will be approved on a ‘first come first served’ basis. Remember, employers are not obliged to accept all holiday requests, especially if there is a business need to turn it down.
2. Due to the time delay between the UK and Brazil, most games don’t kick off until late. So employers need to be mindful that this may result in some employees turning up late for work or not at all. Remind staff of their duties and what’s expected of them. This should reduce the chances of lateness and unauthorised absences – and thus minimising the risk of disciplinary action taking place.More...
How does your business deal with employment contracts? This essential part of employment law is often neglected or underused – particularly by busy, cash-strapped businesses.
But the right employment contracts, drafted in a way that’s specific to your company, can save you thousands.
The importance of contracts for employers and employees
For employees, contracts are very important. They will state many of the benefits to which they will be entitled, as well as the money that they can expect to earn. In the event of an employment tribunal, if a business is found to have not issued a complete contract then it could be fined up to a month’s pay.More...
In recent years, the easy accessibility of recording devices has created a minefield for employers wishing to conduct grievance or disciplinary hearings with employees.
This has been caused in part by the wide discretion given to Employment Judges regarding the admissibility of evidence. The consequence of this is a body of case law allowing the introduction of evidence obtained by covert methods.
An early example is the case of Chairman and Governors of Amwell View School v Dogherty where it was held that while covert recordings from a disciplinary hearing were admissible, the recordings of the private deliberations of the disciplinary panel were not.
The distinction between the two seems to have been made on public policy grounds – specifically, to ensure their decision would not have a detrimental impact on the free deliberation of the facts by a panel. More...
This April, as well as all the usual changes to statutory caps within employment law, has also brought along the introduction of Early Conciliation, in an attempt to further reduce the amount of claims being issued within the Employment Tribunal.
The scheme is handled by ACAS (the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service) and became mandatory from 6th May 2014.
What is early conciliation?
This means that anybody looking to issue a claim through an Employment Tribunal will firstly have to go through early conciliation to see whether there is any possibility of reaching a settlement between the parties.
The short time limit to issue any employment claims within three months shall be put "on hold" for an additional month from when the individual first contacts ACAS. This also can be extended by a further 14 days.
More...