Internships – a good opportunity or a waste of time?
(Updated 2023) Internships and work experience placements can often get bad press, so we look at whether they are a beneficial experience for both Employers and the interns, or unethical…
How to deal with an Acas conciliation request
(Updated October 2020). If an employee or ex-employee has a potential Employment Tribunal claim, from May 2014 they are required to contact Acas first, who will then contact their employer.…
Taking on an apprentice – the full details
Apprenticeship schemes are often in the news (and not always for the right reasons), so we’ve had a look at what they are about and where you can find out…
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, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and have updated this for…
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 take a look at what can sometimes be a quagmire…
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 varies according to the sentence – an offender’s cautions and…
Statutory Sick Pay changes could affect small employers
A major change to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) comes into force on 6th April 2014, which will affect all employers. Currently, under the Percentage Threshold Scheme (PTS), employers can recover…
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 to stay in education or training. Raising the Participation Age‘…
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 languages and cultures. This will mean that employers may need…
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 are no problems (yawn – but bear with us here!).…
Criminal record checks
The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), which replaced the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) in late 2012 is there to help employers make safe recruitment decisions,…
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 a fee to the Agency for their work.…
Can disciplinary or grievance meetings be audio recorded?
There could be various reasons you, or your Employer, may wish to audio-record important work meetings/hearings, including the hope that this will support your/their position should a claim be made…
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; what laws are derived from Europe; where the Government has…
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 of Redfearn v the United Kingdom, the Court of Human…
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 other changes to an employee’s Employment contract including lay-offs and…
What are zero-hour contracts, and can casual workers ever become employees?
With the introduction of the Agency Workers Regulations in 2010, many Companies are believed to be using far more zero-hour contract workers now, instead of Agency temps. At Workline we…
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 reference for an employee. The Data Protection Employment Practices Code…
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 and whether there is a legal obligation for a previous…
Workplace surveillance: can your employer spy on you at work?
With CCTV cameras everywhere you go these days, how likely is it that your employer or client will be keeping an eye on you? Basically, quite likely. Employers can monitor…
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 understood to exist because of the conduct of the parties,…
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 they make you redundant? The Employment Rights Act 1996 (the…
Continuity of Service – for employees and workers
We thought we’d look at the concept of continuity of service in more detail here, as it is important for employees and workers in terms of the employment rights that…
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 would focus on the actual reality of working relationships when…
Your employer is making you redundant but has offered you another job – must you accept it?
Your job is at risk of redundancy, and your employer has offered you redeployment to another job in the same company – are you obliged to take it? We look…
Fixed Term Contracts: what are they & how can they come to an end?
Fixed Term Contracts have always been popular with employers as a way to fill a ‘gap’ for a temporary period, but we also know they can be abused. Here we…
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. With unemployment rising in the UK, British workers may have…
Disciplinary procedures: common mistakes made by employers
In unfair dismissal claims, employment tribunals take the "Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures" that was introduced in 2009, into account where relevant..However, many Employers make mistakes…
What employment status do I have? Your contract may not provide the answer!
Recently, Freelance Advisor reported on the very important Supreme Court 2011 legal judgement on Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher and Others and how this may affect freelancers and contractors who have…
Small Business Owners – documents you need to employ staff!
We recently highlighted how red tape is putting off small businesses taking on staff. Another area of huge concern and confusion is what paperwork you need to give your staff…