http://www.hresource.co.uk/ Employment Law Protection Insurance and helpline Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:52:23 PST en-us http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/In-Brief---March-2010.asp Employment Law Updates Parents of children due on or after 3 April 2011 will be able to take advantage of new legislation announced recently by the Government. The rights also apply to parents of adopted children matched on or after 3 April 2011. Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:50:29 PST http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/In-Brief---March-2010.asp http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/LET-ME-GO.asp Employment Law Updates Under the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), employers have to make reasonable adjustments in certain circumstances. In Secretary of State for the Department for Work and Pensions v Alam, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) said that employers do not have to make adjustments if they knew or ought to have known about the employee's disability, but did not know and could not be expected to know that it would have a specific effect on them. Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:49:16 PST http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/LET-ME-GO.asp http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/IT-S-CRIMINAL.asp Employment Law Updates Although the 1997 Protection from Harassment Act (PHA) was not drafted with the workplace in mind, the Court of Appeal has said in Veakins v Kier Islington Ltd that there is nothing in it to say it could not be used to tackle workplace harassment. However, the conduct has to be “oppressive and unacceptable” and sustain criminal liability. Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:48:13 PST http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/IT-S-CRIMINAL.asp http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/FORTHCOMING-LEGISLATION-2010.asp Employment Law Updates In general, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills introduces legislative changes twice a year – April and October. The idea is to make it easier for employers (and employees) to keep abreast of the changes. The following are effective from April 2010. Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:46:29 PST http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/FORTHCOMING-LEGISLATION-2010.asp http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/In-Brief---Feb-2010.asp Employment Law Updates Legislation to give Britain's 1.3 million agency workers important new rights was laid before Parliament recently. They should be on the statute book before the end of this Parliament and become law by October next year. Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:12:13 PST http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/In-Brief---Feb-2010.asp http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/IT-S-THAT-BASIC.asp Employment Law Updates Every year the Low Pay Commission sets a basic rate as allowed for under the 1999 National Minimum Wage (NMW) regulations. In Hamilton House Medical Limited v Hillier, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) said that if an employee's hours of work always attract premium rates of pay, the rate on which they are calculated must be the basic rate set under the regulations. Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:11:27 PST http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/IT-S-THAT-BASIC.asp http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/STIGMATISED.asp Employment Law Updates Employees can sometimes be stigmatised for bringing a claim against their employer. In Chagger v Abbey National plc and anor, the Court of Appeal has said that employees who find it impossible to get another job because they brought proceedings against a previous employer, are entitled to be compensated for that “stigma loss”. Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:09:02 PST http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/STIGMATISED.asp http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/ROUND-UP-OF-RELIGION-AND-BELIEF-DISCRIMINATION.asp Employment Law Updates Following the introduction of the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations in 2003, discrimination against employees on grounds of religion or belief in employment, vocational training and the provision of goods, facilities and services was outlawed. We provide an overview of some of the most recent cases. Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:07:50 PST http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/ROUND-UP-OF-RELIGION-AND-BELIEF-DISCRIMINATION.asp http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/IN-BRIEF-January-2010.asp Employment Law Updates Under new rules agreed recently by EU ministers, parents will have the right to longer parental leave. Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:31:46 PST http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/IN-BRIEF-January-2010.asp http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/CLIMATE-CHANGE.asp Employment Law Updates The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 cover not just religious but also “philosophical” beliefs. In Grainger plc and ors v Nicholson, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has concluded that a belief in man-made climate change could constitute a 'philosophical belief” for the purposes of the regulations. Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:31:05 PST http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/CLIMATE-CHANGE.asp http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/LONG-SERVICE.asp Employment Law Updates Although the law requires employers to pay men and women equally for work rated as equivalent under a valid job evaluation scheme, they do not have to justify a difference in pay if it is due to a length of service award. In Wilson v Health and Safety Executive, the Court of Appeal has now said, however, that employers can be required to justify the “use” of a length of service criterion “as well as its adoption in the first place”. Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:30:33 PST http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/LONG-SERVICE.asp http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/EMPLOYING-FOREIGNWORKERS.asp Employment Law Updates If you want to employ people from outside the UK, you have to ensure they are allowed to work here under one of the various systems (depending on where the worker comes from) before you take them on. If they don't qualify and you employ them anyway, you could face a fine or even risk going to prison. Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:28:57 PST http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/EMPLOYING-FOREIGNWORKERS.asp http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/In-Brief-December-09.asp Employment Law Updates The Government recently announced that it was bringing forward a review of the default retirement age (DRA) from 2011 to 2010, which was introduced when the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations came into effect in October 2006. It is now asking for evidence to inform that review. Sun, 06 Dec 2009 11:32:24 PST http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/In-Brief-December-09.asp http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/Waive-Goodbye.asp Employment Law Updates If an employee commits a breach of contract, the employer can either accept the breach and end the contract or waive the breach and affirm the contract. In Cook v MSHK Ltd and anor, the Court of Appeal said that the company lost the right to dismiss the employee when it affirmed the contract by failing to take any disciplinary action. Sun, 06 Dec 2009 11:31:38 PST http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/Waive-Goodbye.asp http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/Holiday-Blues.asp Employment Law Updates Article 7 of the European Working Time Directive gives workers the right to four weeks' paid annual leave. In Pereda v Madrid Movilidad SA, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) held that although member states can introduce legislation allowing a worker on sick leave to take paid annual leave during sick leave, they must also allow workers to take their annual leave at another time if they wish to do so. Sun, 06 Dec 2009 11:30:29 PST http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/Holiday-Blues.asp http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/DEALING-WITH-MENTAL-HEALTH-ISSUES.asp Employment Law Updates Current figures show that mental health problems (such as depression, anxiety and stress) cost UK organisations around £26 billion each year. This is the equivalent of £1,035 for every employee in the UK workforce. Sun, 06 Dec 2009 11:27:51 PST http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/DEALING-WITH-MENTAL-HEALTH-ISSUES.asp http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/IN-BRIEF---Nov-09.asp Employment Law Updates The Government has recently published another consultation document on draft regulations to implement the EU Agency Workers Directive into domestic law. This follows on from the consultation conducted by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills earlier in the year. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:53:36 PST http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/IN-BRIEF---Nov-09.asp http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/COLLECTIVE-RIGHTS.asp Employment Law Updates Under European law, employers are required to inform and consult workers in the event of making collective redundancies. We look at a case that said that employers must start the process of consultation as soon as they decide to contemplate collective redundancies Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:52:25 PST http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/COLLECTIVE-RIGHTS.asp http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/REPUTATION-AT-STAKE.asp Employment Law Updates Employees can be dismissed for doing something that impacts on the reputation of their employer. We look at a case which said that dismissing a chaplain for doing a media interview could not be fair as the company had not even bothered to listen to the interview. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:51:21 PST http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/REPUTATION-AT-STAKE.asp http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/BLOWING-THE-WHISTLE.asp Employment Law Updates There are a number of circumstances in which workers can legitimately blow the whistle on malpractice at work. We provide an overview of the legislation governing this area. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:49:12 PST http://www.hresource.co.uk/recent-articles/BLOWING-THE-WHISTLE.asp