One of the main queries I get asked by businesses, regardless of its size, is if they can dismiss an employee without the risk of the individual bringing forward a claim for unfair dismissal.

Can you fire an employee risk-free?

The short answer is that there's always the potential risk of a claim being lodged against the business - it's just a case of minimising the risk and strengthening the employer's position.

There are five potentially fair legal reasons for dismissal:

•    Misconduct
•    Capability
•    Redundancy
•    statutory duty for example not having a work permit,
•    A ‘catch all’ reason, known as ‘some other substantial reason" or SOSR’. More...

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has today ruled that overtime should be taken into account when calculating holiday pay. The Tribunal made its decision in two cases relating to the United Kingdom’s interpretation of the Working Time Directive (WTD) from 1998.

The decision could have a potentially enormous impact on businesses of all sizes, as they now have the prospect of employees being able to bring claims against them for unpaid holiday pay.

Employers liable for backdated pay

With approximately one in six employees regularly engaging in voluntary overtime, employers could find themselves liable for backdated pay collectively running into several billions of pounds. More...

The issue of sex equality and pay in the workplace has been a major issue for decades. In fact, the UK has had laws governing this for nearly half a century; but with new regulations set to come into force on the 1st October 2014, could there be a huge step in the right direction?

What Are These New Regulations?

For years many have been petitioning for equal pay, in other words for male and female staff to get paid the same for doing the same job.

The changes that will now be in place are an amendment to the Equality Act 2010. These state that if an employer loses a case of equal pay they are legally obligated to undertake an equal pay audit (EPA) of their entire company. More...

Today sees the Government's implementation of the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission (LPC) and raised the National Minimum Wage from £6.31 per hour to £6.50 for those aged 21 and over.

The New National Minimum Wage

Thanks to the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission (LPC) there is a new, higher National Minimum Wage. Those over the age of 21 years old should see a 19p increase in their hourly wage, increasing the amount from £6.31 to £6.50.
Other pay brackets will also increase. The new wages are as follows:

•    Apprentices (under 19 or in first year of apprenticeship) - £2.73
•    Employees aged 16-17 - £3.79
•    Employees aged 18-20 - £5.13 More...

Having a child is a wonderful experience and attending antenatal appointments is something that couples should experience together, so imagine the upset when many partners find they cannot attend appointments with their pregnant partner.

The Current State of Affairs

At present, pregnant women may attend antenatal appointments during work hours, that by law, bosses must pay for. This paid time off however, is not an option for partners, to go with them for support. But the law is changing…

New Antenatal Rights for Partners

As of October 1st 2014, new antenatal rights for fathers, or any other ‘qualifying persons’, will be introduced. This new entitlement will allow partners to take unpaid time off to attend two appointments that last up to 6.5 hours per session. And this should not be influenced by their length of service with a company in any way.

Further to this, ‘qualifying persons’ can include many different individuals, allowing more than one person to require the time off. Those able to have this time off include: More...