The British economy may be displaying showing signs of growth but there are still plenty of companies feeling the pinch in the post-recession UK. According to research from Deloitte, 1,833 businesses went into administration last year.  

If an employer has a series of debts that it can’t pay it has four choices: liquidation, receivership, a CVA/IVA or go into administration. Today, we’re going to look at how staff are affected in the event of administration.

What happens in administration

When a company chooses administration, it effectively asks an independent adjudicator, known as an Insolvency Practitioner, to take charge of the company.

The Insolvency Practitioner will restructure the company in an effort to prevent it from being liquidated and has the power to make anyone at the company redundant. More...

Becoming a father, whether for the first or fifth time, is always an exciting occasion. However alongside the sleepless nights and constant stream of nappies come the inevitable financial worries.

What can you expect at work when you become a Dad? What are your paternity rights under employment law? Let’s take a look:

How do I claim Paternity Leave?

To claim Paternity Leave, you need to inform your employer no less than 15 weeks before your baby is due. You must let them know about:
•    Your baby’s due date
•    When you’d like to take your Paternity Leave
•    How much leave you want

What Paternity Leave am I entitled to?

Most Dads are eligible for 2 weeks paid Paternity Leave, but you can take 1 week if you prefer.
To qualify for Paternity Leave, you need to be the father of the child, its registered adopter or the husband or partner of the mother. You must also be an employee that’s worked continuously for at least 26 weeks before the ‘qualifying week’ that occurs 15 weeks before the child’s due date. More...

A recent article on WalesOnline has claimed that stressed-out people are turning Wales into a nation "dependant on anti-depressants”, with prescriptions of some drugs rocketing by more than 100% in just the last six years.

And with the majority of a person's waking day being either spent in work, travelling to work or thinking of work, it is fair to say that a main source of stress and anxiety can be from within the workplace.

Stress and depression are always difficult to handle within the workplace as they cannot usually be detected as easily as other symptoms. As a result, they along with mental health issues are being labelled as the "silent epidemic".

Recognising stress as a disability

Employers need to be especially cautious when dealing with the issues particularly due to the potential of such conditions being classed as a disability. The definition of a disability under the Equality Act 2010 is "a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out day-to-day activities." More...

The outcome of UNISON's Judicial Review was handed down this morning, confirming that Employment Tribunal fees are here to stay.

The fees that were implemented from 29th July 2013 following the Government's intention to "swing the pendulum back in the employer's favour" has attracted enormous criticism, particularly from Trade Unions.

The fees introduced means that if anyone pursuing a claim such as unfair discrimination or discrimination must now have to pay a fee of £250 to lodge the complaint and a further £950 if the matter proceeds to hearing.

However, there is a remission scheme in place which allows such fees to be waived in the event of the individual having little income and capital In reality, these thresholds for such remission are difficult to achieve.More...

Following the recent recommendations to merge the 22 councils in Wales to 10, coupled with the continuing financial difficulties of those local authorities, the future of those employed within councils across Wales has never been so uncertain.

The private sector also doesn’t seem to be going unscathed as both Lloyds TSB and Barclays have this month announced nationwide job cuts.

Although such plans are likely to result in compulsory redundancies, employers must comply with a number of duties before they can fairly make employees redundant. Such duties include undertaking a fair consultation process, along with trying to find suitable alternative employment for those employees at risk of redundancy.

Given the amount of hurdles an employer has to jump over in a redundancy process, employers sometimes offer those potentially at risk of losing their job the opportunity to opt for voluntary redundancy.

If an employee chooses voluntary redundancy, the benefits are usually better than if the process is done compulsorily. This makes a voluntary redundancy package more appealing, especially if the employee's position is already at risk anyway. More...