HR / Employment Law News

During periods of ‘furlough leave’ in the context of the Coronavirus pandemic, workers will continue to accrue their holiday. Workers can take holiday during the furlough period in the normal way, subject to the employer’s agreement, and this will not break the furlough period.  If an employee takes holiday during this time, they should be paid at their full normal rate of pay for such period. If an employee has booked annual leave, then it is possible that they will

Who is entitled to paid holiday? All employees and workers, workers being those who don’t have full employment status, but are engaged on the basis of providing personal service. How is the holiday leave entitlement calculated? The statutory right is to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday each year, which equates to 28 days for those working five days a week (note that those working more than 5 days are still only entitled to 28 days).  There is no statutory right to

In the face of the massive repercussions of the spread of COVID-19, the Government has put in place several initiatives specifically designed to address the needs of employers. The following is our summary of the help which is currently available.  The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme  A new Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will allow employers to claim back up to 80% of the wages of employees and workers who agree to be placed on “furlough” leave, during which they will not be allowed to undertake any work. This is currently available for 3 months and businesses should be able to apply for this relief by the end of April (backdating to 1st March 2020).

In the current situation relating to COVID-19, it would be easy for employers to lose sight of the fact that there are important Employment Law changes taking effect in April.  Many of these have come out of the Good Work Plan, which the Government published in December 2018 setting out its ‘vision for the future of the UK labour market’.  This remains a key time for employers to review contracts of employment and policies to keep in line with new legislation.  Changes to Statements of Employment Particulars  As of 6 April 2020, all workers,

According to the Mental Health Foundation, around 15% of people experience mental health problems in the workplace. Therefore, it’s more important than ever that employers understand their responsibilities in this area. For employers who may already be dealing with any of these issues, we offer a specialist Employment Tribunal representation service. We’re also running a couple of free half-day seminars on 6th December 2019 aimed at:     helping employers understand their responsibilities and the benefits of managing mental health in