As part of our guide to Maternity here is a quick chart to help you work out your Maternity Leave and Pay entitlements - updated for 2011.

Employees and Workers who ‘blow the whistle’ - i.e.make a 'protected disclosure' of any wrong-doing in the workplace by their Employer - are now protected by law in certain circumstances.…

Detailed information about the Minimum Wage; information on TV/Film Industry Pay Guidelines; information about Agency Workers and guidelines for Unpaid Work Experience in the TV/Film Industry.

(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.…

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…

From 1st October 2011, Agency Workers in Great Britain (Northern Ireland will publish their own separate regulations) will have the right to ‘equal treatment’ in certain areas of their employment.…

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…

The Agency Workers Regulations come into force on 1st October 2011 to bolster the rights of so-called "vulnerable" agency workers - and the Swedish Derogation is being mentioned a lot…

When calculating holiday pay Employers must now include payments for regular overtime and contractual results-based commission. Updated to look at October 2016’s Court of Appeal decision in Lock vs British…

IR35 – Updated 2016. Many new freelancers and contractors may be vaguely aware of IR35, but not know when and where it applies. Before getting too intimate with the ins…

Are LCC’s protected under the Equality Act? It is common in many industry sectors for workers to work through a Limited Liability Company (or Personal Service Company). In a recent…

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…

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‘…

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…

At the end of 2013 an important case went to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) – Whittlestone v BJP Home Support Ltd – which confirmed that employees who are engaged on…

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!).…

The European Court of Justice in 2013 advised that a British woman who had a child through a surrogate mother is entitled to paid maternity leave. Women who adopt a…

‘Without Prejudice’ Rules have existed for a long time and are used by an employer when they and an employee have a dispute in their working relationship which they are…

The 2010 Equality Act contained the concept of Third Party Harassment, where employers could be held liable for harassment of their workers by 3rd parties.  This meant that employers could…

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,…

It’s a long title, but these Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations are important for Limited Company Contractors (or Personal Service Companies) and agency temps. These regulations were introduced in April 2004 (2005…

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. Here though,…

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…

When considering if a worker is disabled or not for the purposes of being covered by the Equality Act 2010, Employers must consider the impact of any physical or mental…

Although many commentators believe that the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) were not intended to apply to ‘professionals’ with their own limited companies (also called a Limited Company Contractor or Personal Service Company contractors)…

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…

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…

Updated July 2020 Finally, at the end of 2012, over a year after the Agency Workers Regulations were introduced in October 2011, a case about the Swedish Derogation model came…

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…

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…

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…

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 staff…

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,…

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…

Religious discrimination employment law cases have been in the news for several years and with four important UK cases going to the European Court of Human Rights in September 2012,…

There has been plenty of confusion surrounding how workers holiday entitlements interact with sickness absence. With several years of conflicting UK and European Court decisions, we are finally getting close…

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…

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 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…

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…

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…

Although rare, it’s not completely unheard of for a client or boss to ask you to do something illegal as part of your job. If not that, then perhaps you’ve…

At Workline we get a lot of queries from Care Workers who are unsure of their rights, and with Healthcare Providers in the news lately as they run out of…

This is a difficult and potentially time-consuming process. Long-term freelancers will certainly wish to 'IR35-proof' their contracts in order to avoid the reduction in earnings. Contracts will need to be…

With a 56% rise in Tribunal claims in 2010, Employment Tribunals (ET’s) have been in the news a lot lately! Here we give you the information you need to know…

There are three different types of working individuals but deciding someone's employment status can be complicated as there is no single legal definition. Our advice is updated for 2011. Here…

Our advice about Redundancy is updated for 2011. Redundancy is a ‘fair’ means of dismissal by your Employer if the procedures they follow and the circumstances are correct. A Redundancy…

Pay and Wages explained. How your Pay is protected from 'unauthorised deductions' from your Employer and what to do if your Employer wants to cut your pay or you cannot…

Whatever your employment status, whether you are an employee, worker or freelancer, you have rights at work that are protected by law. Below is a comprehensive summary of what you…

All Employees are legally entitled to a Written Statement, which they must receive within two months of starting the job. It is a summary in writing of your main terms…