Employment Law in the United Kingdom – what differences are there?
Is it a United Kingdom? We thought we’d look in detail at the main differences in Employment Law between England,…
Small Business owners – how to work well with freelancers
With the ongoing shift towards employers using freelancers / contractors instead of employing PAYE workers and employees in the current…
Antenatal Leave for fathers/partners available from 1st October 2014
For a long time pregnant employees have had a legal right to paid time off for antenatal appointments and from…
Can love and relationships in the office work?
It’s not uncommon for romance to blossom between work colleagues – generally, this causes few problems, but we thought we’d…
Is obesity a disability? It can be!
When considering if a worker has a disability or not – for the purposes of being covered by the Equality…
Deciphering your legal status and IR35
IR35 – Updated 2016. Many new freelancers and contractors may be vaguely aware of IR35, but not know when and…
Say Thank You to your staff – employee ‘experience’, motivation
Say thank you! In a recent survey by recruitment website monster.co.uk, taken by 2000 workers and 500 employers/managers, more than…
Changes to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 supports reformed offenders entering the workplace. Following a specified period of time – which…
Employing young people/school leavers
From the start of the 2013/14 Academic year the Government changed the law on how long young people are required…
What languages should be spoken at work
With the diversity of workforces in the UK today, there’ll inevitably be many workers of different nationalities and with different…
Should employers fear the office Christmas party?
Your Christmas Party is normally pretty lively and good fun, but employers need to consider various factors beforehand, so there…
EU decides surrogate mothers can take maternity leave
The European Court of Justice in 2013 advised that a British woman who had a child through a surrogate mother…
‘Without Prejudice’ rules explained (and Settlement Agreements)
‘Without Prejudice’ Rules have existed for a long time and are used by an employer when they and an employee…
Confidential pre-termination negotiations and Settlement Agreements
Many employers, if a relationship with an employee is not going well, for whatever reason, may consider ending that relationship and will…
Criminal record checks
The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), which replaced the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) in late…
Can an Agency worker become permanent at the company they work for?
An Agency worker (temp) is usually contracted and paid by the Agency who employs them, and the Company that hires them pays…
Should you let an employee audio-record a disciplinary or grievance meeting?
Read our latest advice here about whether you should let an employee audio-record a disciplinary or grievance meeting or appeal;…
Disability Discrimination – what makes a worker disabled under the Equality Act 2010?
When considering if a worker is disabled or not for the purposes of being covered by the Equality Act 2010,…
Interrupted breaks can still count as rest under the WTR
An important case about compensatory rest and rest breaks took place recently. The case of Hughes v Corps of Commissionaires…
What would UK Employment Law be like without Europe?
Following the Referendum in June 2016 we look at what impact Europe has had on our existing UK employment laws;…
Can an employee be dismissed because of their political opinions?
The European Court of Human Rights says no, you can’t be dismissed because of your political opinions! In the case…
Short-time working and lay-offs – can you use them?
It can be quite common that during a bad patch an employer, rather than make redundancies, may choose to make…
Important Agency Workers Regulations Tribunal cases
Updated July 2020 Finally, at the end of 2012, over a year after the Agency Workers Regulations were introduced in…
Leadership Tips for Entrepreneurs!
Have a read of our new article, one of an occasional series on Management and Leadership Tips for Entrepreneurs/Company Directors/Managing…
Everything you need to know about references (part 2)
In our second article on References here we look at what obigations a previous employer has whey they provide a…
Everything you need to know about references (part 1)
In our first article on References here we look at whether Employers have to seek references about employees when recruiting…
Trust and Confidence – what does it really mean, and what happens when it breaks down?
We look at the Implied Terms in your contract of employment that are probably not written down anywhere, but are…
For what reasons can I be made redundant?
In this article we look at the scenarios when your employer is considering making redundancies, and in what situations can…
What is religious discrimination?
Religious discrimination employment law cases have been in the news for several years and with four important UK cases going…
Peter Stringfellow – how he is clarifying employment law
Updated for 2013. Last year there was an important employment law case about employment status that showed that Employment Tribunals…
Redundancy and ‘suitable alternative employment’ explained
In this article we look at the concept of an Employer providing 'suitable alternative employment' when an individuals job is…
Have you been dismissed while working abroad?
If you work abroad you may now be able to claim unfair dismissal in the UK if you are dismissed.…
Large Scale Dismissals – are they legal?
With dismissal notices being given out by Shropshire Council to all their staff earlier this month, we thought we’d take…
Equal Opportunties and Discrimination (Equality Act 2010)
The new Equality Act came into force on 1st October 2010 and replaces all previous equality legislation. The Equality Act…