Employer/Employee Relations

Employers' Duties

Can You Justify Your Service-Related Pay Scheme?
An employer may need to provide objective justification for the way a service-related criterion as a determinant of pay is used in equal pay claims.

Employer/Employee Relations

Contract Disputes

Employed Or Self-Employed? The Legal Test
When is a person self-employed, and when are that employed? A number of tests apply to determine whether a person is self-employed. We discuss some of them here

Employer/Employee Relations

Companies: Internal Governance

Directors and Employees – When is a Director an Employee of a Company?
The Employment Appeals Tribunal has considered whether directors of a company are also employees of the company.

Redundancy

Employers' Duties

Mandatory Employee Consultations for Collective Redundancies
A recent decision of the Employment Appeals Tribunal requires consultation with employees to consider whether redundancies may be avoided at the time closures are proposed.

Employer/Employee Relations

Employees' Rights

Defective Compromise Agreements & Employment Law
Compromise agreements must comply with the provisions of the Employment Rights Act to properly protect employers from new claims being brought at a later date.

Discrimination

Employees' Rights

Employment Appeal Tribunal Rules on Religious Discrimination Claim
Discrimination claims by employees can be close run cases. It is important to respect the religious beliefs and customs of employees in disciplinary matters.

Restraints of Trade

Restrictive Covenants

Enforcement of Restraint of Trade Clauses - Agency Fails to Enforce
Restraints of trade are enforceable unless they are reasonable and only go so far as to protect the legitimate interests of the business seeking protection.

General

Employers' Duties

Controlled Access to UK Labour Market for New Accession Countries
Quota systems apply to some immigrant workers in the United Kingdom

Redundancy

Employers' Duties

Contractual Redundancy Terms Create Unexpected Liability
The timing of redundancy payments may be important to tax liabilities

Age Discrimination

Discrimination in the Workplace

Retirement Age and Discrimination - A Check List for Employers
A checklist of compliance with the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations, which came into force on 1 October 2006

Employee Tax

Taxation

Employment Status and Tax Payments
Employers are not entitled to an setoff where the employee is under a misunderstanding of their tax obligations

Monitoring at Work

Employees' Rights

Sleeping on the Job and Employment Payment Claims
In this case, an employee who was required to be at work as a night watchman was entitled to be paid for sleeping whilst in the course of his employment.

TUPE

Employment Law

Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006
An analysis of the effect the TUPE Regulations 2006 will have on buying and selling businesses.

TUPE

Employment Law

Retirement Age and TUPE
A discussion relating to unfair dismissal in relation to retirement age and the TUPE Regulations applicable to buyers of a business.

Discrimination

Employees' Rights

Age and Sex Equality – House of Lords Ruling
The House of Lord's decision in sex discrimination and unfair dismissal availability for over 65's.

Employer/Employee Relations

Employers' Duties

Briefing Note - Employers' Liability for Secondary Exposure to Harmful Materials
An assessment of employers' liability for damage caused to persons connected with their employees.

Managing Liability & Risk

Employees' Rights

Enforceability of Compromise Agreements in Employment Disputes
Compromise agreements in the employment context must specifically state the causes of action intended to be covered by the agreement. Failing to do so will not effectively settle the dispute and potential claims.

Discrimination

Discrimination in the Workplace

Sexual Orientation Regulations and the Civil Partnership Act
Employers must endeavour to avoid discriminating between those that are married and those in a civil partnership under the Civil Partnership Act

Maternity Benefits

Employers' Duties

UK Maternity Pay Policy Update - Briefing Note
A decision of the Court of Appeal on maternity pay and the effect of the European law on the calculation of maternity pay.

Pension Rights

Employers' Duties

Transfer of a Business and Pension Rights - Business Briefing
Automatic rights apply when a business is applied and all employees are engaged by the new business. A checklist for incoming employers where pension schemes are in place is included to explain the requirements.

Redundancy

Employees' Rights

Collective Redundancies – Notice of Dismissal
After a decision of the European Court of Justice, employers must comply with notice requirements under the EC Collective Redundancies Directive.

Employer/Employee Relations

Employment Law

Briefing Note - Disability Discrimination Act 2005
The application of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 has been extended

Discrimination

Employers' Duties

Employment Law and the Civil Partnership Act – New Obligations for Employers
Employers' obligations arising from the Civil Partnership Act

Employer/Employee Relations

Employers' Duties

In Brief - Employment Law - Spring 2006
Recent updates to UK employment law.

Maternity Benefits

Employers' Duties

Briefing Note - Calculating Statutory Maternity Pay
The new legislation was necessary following a ruling by the European Court of Justice that a woman who receives a pay rise at any time before the end of her maternity leave must receive the benefit of this in the earnings-related part of her maternity pay.

Employer/Employee Relations

Employees' Rights

In Brief - July 2005
Falls from height are the single biggest cause of workplace deaths and one of the main causes of serious injury. New Regulations came into force on 6 April 2005 enforcing minimum health and safety requirements when working at height.

Internet and Email Usage

Monitoring at Work

Data Protection Principles and Monitoring Electronic Communications - Considerations for Internet and Email Use Policies
An enforceable and sensible email and internet use policy requires that the demands of employers must be tempered with the rights granted to individuals and their personal rights to privacy granted under European Directive and brought into force in the UK.

Religious Discrimination

Employees' Rights

In Brief - August 2005
In a recent Employment Tribunal case a member of the Transport and General Workers’ Union was awarded £10,000 in compensation after he was sacked, on his return to work, after taking extended leave to make a religious pilgrimage to Mecca.

Union Membership

Union Membership

Employees' Rights of Free Association with Unions - Amendments to the Employment Relations Act 2004
Changes to UK industrial relations law has granted increased protection for workers. Employers may not offer inducements to their employees to not be a member of, nor to seek to join a union. Furthermore employers may not entice employees not to take part in the activities, to make use of the services of the union or to give up having their terms and conditions of employment determined by a collective agreement negotiated by their union.

Unfair Dismissal

Employees' Rights

Making Unfair Dismissal Claims - Time Limits and their Application to Unfair Dismissal Legal Proceedings
The 3 month time limit on unfair dismissal claims are extended where legal advice had not been sought and the grievance procedure extended beyond Marks & Spencers' internal procedure.

Harassment

Employers' Duties

Briefing Note - Employer's Liability for Conduct of Employees - Harassment
The Court of Appeal has handed down its judgment in the important case of Majrowski v Guy’s & St Thomas’s NHS Trust, which dealt with vicarious liability for breach of any statutory duty and, specifically, with regard to breaches of the Protection from Harassment Act 1999.