Redundancy consultation period: HR advice
Specific processes and rules apply if your business is having to make employees redundant. These determine how you should consult with workers that may be affected and how long the redundancy consultation period needs to be. Get the process wrong, and as an employer, you could face costly tribunal claims for unfair dismissal. What is […]
Collective bargaining: employer guidance
The following guide examines the process of collective bargaining from an employer’s perspective, from the different types of collective bargaining and union recognition within the workplace, to how best to approach collective bargaining negotiations with a recognised trade union. What is collective bargaining? Collective bargaining is the official process by which representatives of trade unions […]
ACAS shared parental leave: employer guide
Eligible employees are entitled to take time off work as shared parental leave (SPL). As an employer you will need to understand the statutory rights and responsibilities of your employees in relation to SPL and what this means for your business in practice when handling a request for SPL. Further, in accordance with best practice, […]
Managing absences: Coronavirus guide for HR
The disruption to business caused by the COVID-19 outbreak is unprecedented. In this article, we consider various scenarios in which an employee may be absent from work and what are their rights during those periods, with practical guidance for employers managing absences due to the coronavirus crisis. Sickness absence due to coronavirus If an employee […]
COVID-19 & holiday entitlement: HR guide
Various new employment regulations have been introduced in response to the coronavirus pandemic, all with the intention of helping businesses and the workforce cope with the effects of the outbreak, whether from a social or economic perspective. Here, we focus on the introduction by the UK Government of new regulations, which relax the current rules […]
Mobility clause: advice for employers
Mobility clauses can be a blessing and a curse. If drafted carefully and with thought, they can assist an employer to maintain its workforce if the workplace has to change location and so provide certainty in this regard. However, if the wording is drafted too widely, is unreasonable or the employer fails to adequately consider […]
Working from home policy: HR guidelines
Permitting employees to work from home is by no means a new concept for many companies and organisations, but the number of employees working from home in consequence of the coronavirus outbreak is unprecedented. For employers where homeworking has not previously been used, or at least not on such a large scale, it has become […]
Employment case law update April 2020
A number of key employment law cases of significance for employers have recently been decided. Vicarious liability WM Morrisons Supermarkets plc v Various Claimants [2020] UKSC 12 and Barclays v Various Claimants [2020] UKSC 13 On 1 April 2020 the Supreme Court handed down two judgments in Barclays Bank Plc v Various Claimants [2020] UKSC […]
Rest breaks at work: employers’ guide
The rules on taking breaks at work are covered by the Working Time Regulations 1998 and your employee’s own contract of employment. Whether or not these breaks are paid is entirely your decision as the employer, and should be stated in the employee’s contract. Most employees have a right to a break of twenty minutes […]
Statutory layoff pay: guide for employers
In the current climate, where the coronavirus crisis has forced the closure of many UK businesses, or resulted in a significant downturn in profits, employers may be looking to temporarily suspend workers’ employment. To avoid use of layoffs and redundancies, the Government has introduced the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which reimburses employers employment costs such […]