The Queen’s Speech, which sets out government plans for the year ahead, included proposals for Bills relating to tribunal reform, dispute resolution, shared parental leave and executive pay. Workplace Disputes The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill will, among other things, include proposals for an overhaul of the workplace dispute resolution system, which is designed to [...]
Mr Harvey was employed as a solicitor by Parker Rhodes Hickmotts Solicitors (PRH) from 1 September 2009. On the afternoon of 28 July 2010, a managing partner of PRH met with Mr Harvey and told him that the firm was letting him go because of a lack of work. She handed him a letter that [...]
A judgment handed down at the Supreme Court has left the door open for allowing businesses to set their own retirement age for staff but only if the reasons for doing so meet both their own and public policy objectives. The case, viewed as one of the most significant for years on the issue of [...]
Employment legislation is constantly changing and your HR policies can easily get out of date. Key policies that have changed recently include: Absence – changed by the introduction of Fit Notes in April 2010 Bullying and Harassment – changed by the Equality Act October 2010 Discipline and Grievance – changed by the introduction of the [...]
The government has announced that the national minimum wage rates for young workers will be frozen for 2012. The rates from October 2012 will be:- adults: increasing by 11p to £6.19ph 18-20 year olds: frozen at £4.98ph 16-17 year olds: frozen at £3.68ph apprentices: increasing by 5p to £2.65ph Need Clarification? If you require advice [...]
I have received a noticeable increase in calls from clients over the last month or so relating to holiday entitlement and particularly in reference to the extra bank holiday for the Diamond Jubilee in June. For the second year in succession there will be nine bank and public holidays in England and Wales in 2012 [...]
For any dismissal to be fair it is essential that a thorough investigation has taken place to determin whether disciplinary action is necessary. In my recent article Top Tips to Disciplinary Investigations I touched briefly on suspension of an employee in more serious cases of misconduct. In this article I discuss suspension in more detail. Suspension is [...]
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has upheld an Employment Tribunal’s decision that an employee’s dismissal for redundancy when she was the only employee in the selection pool, was unfair.
The Government has confirmed that it is to postpone the extension of the right to unpaid parental leave until 2013 due to the ongoing development of its Modern Workplaces policy. Under the Parental Leave Directive, the parents of a child under the age of five will each have the right to take up to 18 [...]
The Government has confirmed that the increase in the qualifying period for unfair dismissal protection from one to two years will apply only to employees who start a new job on or after 6 April 2012. The two-year qualifying period will apply to employees who join an employer on or after 6 April 2012, whereas [...]