April is an important time of the year for HR professionals. New legislation and ACAS guidance notes affecting employment law have been introduced. We’ve put together a quick round up of some of the key things you should know.
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Articles by ‘Richard White’
With the Budget announced last week you may be wondering what the employment-related announcements are and how they might affect you as HR professionals. We bring you a summary of the main employment budget points to be mindful of.
Welcome to the Bigger Picture – a series of in-depth features on important issues which may affect you personally or in business. These features are published monthly in the Bath Chronicle. In this feature:…
New regulations have come into force which ban “exclusivity” clauses for zero hours employees. This means that some clauses, if you have them, in zero hours contracts are banned, and cannot be enforced.
Whether as a result of protected conversations, disciplinary or capability processes, grievances or tribunal proceedings, as an employer you may find yourself engaged in ‘negotiations to settle’ with current or former employees. Employees may allege that they have suffered an “injury to feelings” as a result of what they see as unlawful treatment, and settlement monies may be apportioned between financial losses, legal fees, and pre- and post-termination injury to feelings, to take advantage of the tax rules.
Our client was a director being made redundant who wanted to get everything done as quickly as possible. After reviewing the settlement agreement we successfully negotiated a number of key changes as follows:
Do you transfer customer data to the United States as part of your business? If you do, you should be aware of the recent European Court of Justice decision.
As you know the minimum hourly rate most workers are entitled to is reviewed each year by the Low Pay Commission.
Do you have employees who work on different client sites as an integral part of their role? If so, in an important legal case in Europe, a ruling is due which is likely to say that travel to and from sites may count as working time – meaning employees should be paid.
As we wait to see what legislative changes lie ahead in the wake of the general election, the ban on exclusivity clauses in zero hours contracts has already come into force.
Two important employment law changes came into force over the Easter weekend.
It’s the norm for office workers to be based in open plan offices, often in close proximity to fellow employees. To deal with the inevitable grumbles and occasional tensions, employers often have policies relating to loud chit-chat, eating hot food at desks, and many provide break-out facilities. But what about employees who use their desk or place of work to put on make-up or perfume or aerosol-based products? Could this have an adverse affect on those with allergies? And what of dissemination in the air of potentially alcohol based products to co-workers?