TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings Regulations 2006)
Updated July 2024: The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (referred to below as TUPE) is now the main piece of legislation governing the sale or transfer of…
Disability Discrimination – what makes a worker disabled under the Equality Act 2010?
Updated April 2024: 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…
Guide to pay, wages, pay cuts, ‘unauthorised deductions’ and Tips
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…
Guide To Statutory Redundancy Pay and Redundancy
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…
Flexible Working – April 2024 changes
Certain Employees, who have caring responsibilties for children or adults, now have the legal right to request to work flexible hours. Additionally, employees have the right to request time off…
Adoption Leave and Pay – all the details
Information about Adoption Leave and Pay and who is eligible for it. Our advice is updated for 2011 to include details of how your adoption partner/husband/spouse can take over any…
Paternity Leave and Pay – and April 2024 updates
Updated February 2024. Following the birth of a child or an adoption placement, fathers, spouses and partners/civil partners have a right to paternity leave and pay, to care for the…
Holiday entitlement and sick leave – some clarity? (updated 2024)
Updated January 2024. 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…
Third party harassment provisions in Equality Act repealed….but possibly coming back in 2024!
(Updated October 2024 – see below) The 2010 Equality Act contained the concept of Third Party Harassment, where employers could be held liable for harassment of their workers by 3rd…
Statutory sick pay, sickness and fit notes
Up to date information about Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) and your entitlement to it. New information in 2010 on Sick notes and 'Fit' Notes and our advice is updated for…
Maternity Leave and Pay Chart
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.
The Conduct of Employment Agencies Regulations 2003
(updated July 2023) 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…
Whistle-blowing (the Public Interest Disclosure Act)
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.…
The National Minimum Wage – record keeping period now 6 years
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.
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…
Agency Worker Regulations (AWR) – what does it mean?
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.…
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…
The Swedish Derogation Model – what is it? When is it ending?
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…
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 where it applies. Before getting too intimate with the ins…
Limited Company Contractors not always protected under Equality Act
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…
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…
Time workers should be paid the NMW to ‘sleep over’
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…
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!).…
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 is entitled to paid maternity leave. Women who adopt a…
‘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 have a dispute in their working relationship which they are…
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…
Can a Limited Company Contactor be in scope of the Agency Workers Regulations?
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…
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…
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 October 2011, a case about the Swedish Derogation model came…
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…
What is religious discrimination?
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,…
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…
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…
Your client asks you to do something illegal, what should you do?
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…
Care Workers – what are your rights at work?
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…
How to make your contracts IR35-proof
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…