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Discrimination at Work

Despite increased awareness of its impact, discrimination in the workplace remains commonplace, and poses a significant challenge to employers.  The potential consequences include costly legal action (with unlimited compensatory awards in the Employment Tribunal), as well as damaging publicity. Discrimination need not be intentional in order to be unlawful, and the COVID-19 landscape presents new challenges for employers in ensuring that the measures they take do not disproportionately impact protected groups. An example of direct discrimination – Unfavourable treatment “on

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22nd May 2020
changes to employment tribunal decisions

Law Commission proposes changes to Employment Tribunals

Following a period of consultation in 2019, the Law Commission has made a series of proposals to improve how employment disputes are decided. The proposals include significant changes to time limits and the powers of employment tribunals in relation to breach of contract claims. At present, the time limits vary depending on the type of claim being brought. Some of the most common heads of claim such as unfair dismissal, discrimination and unlawful deduction of wages claims, have a time

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21st May 2020

How do you stop banter going too far?

The escalation of homeworking has led to a rapid increase in digital communication between employees. Channels such as Whats App, Slack, Teams and Zoom offer valuable opportunities to maintain contact and morale at a time when people are isolated, but they also carry a risk that communications can easily “cross the line”, particularly when they have previously been used more for interaction in a social context. What one employee judges to be “harmless banter”: another employee may perceive as inappropriate

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19th May 2020
online meeting

Acas guidance on handling disciplinary and grievance procedures during the Coronavirus outbreak

The Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures was introduced in 2009, replacing the ill-fated statutory 3-step procedures for dispute resolution in the workplace. The Code introduced a principles-based good practice approach to handling workplace disciplinary and grievance situations. In response to the Coronavirus situation, Acas has now published guidance on the application of the Code whilst the current disruption is ongoing. It provides that employers must consider whether it is fair or reasonable to carry out disciplinary

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12th May 2020
downing street

Employers should avoid knee-jerk reactions to the PM’s statement

Sunday’s statement by the Prime Minister had been built up by his colleagues (inadvertently as a result of them deferring responses to questions in TV interviews and the daily briefings) and the press to the point that there was an expectation that something more substantial would be forthcoming. However, that lack of substance in both this and the associated strategy document that was published the day after could end up doing more harm than good in terms of the response

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11th May 2020

How is holiday treated during furlough leave?

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

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4th May 2020

Navigating holiday pay, what are employees entitled to?

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

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30th April 2020

COVID-19 Support for Employers…

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).

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8th April 2020
drivers hours

Government relaxes its enforcement of driver hours rules

The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced that there will be a temporary and limited relaxation of the enforcement of drivers’ hours rules in England, Scotland and Wales. The drivers’ hours and working time rules are in place to protect road safety and the working conditions of drivers and to reduce the risk of drivers being involved in fatigue-related accidents. The temporary relaxation of these rules reflects the exceptional circumstances arising from the COVID-19 outbreak and will apply to drivers of

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2nd April 2020

Legal changes affecting employers from April 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,

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31st March 2020

EML Marathon Relay

EML have entered the Manchester Marathon which takes places on Sunday 5th April to raise money for St Ann’s Hospice, Manchester; a charity which provides excellent care and support to people living with or affected by life-limiting illnesses in the Greater Manchester community. Our Director and Head of HR, Chris Nagel, sadly lost his Dad to cancer during 2019, but he received outstanding care from St Ann’s Hospice and this goes some way to saying a big thank you. We chose

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9th March 2020
coronavirus

Advice for employers – How to manage issues related to Coronavirus

UPDATE, 11 March 2020 * The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced on 11 March that SSP will be paid to all those who are advised to self-isolate due to Coronavirus, even if they don’t have any symptoms, and that the Government will reimburse small employers, i.e. those with less than 250 employees, any SSP they pay to employees for the first 14 days of sickness absence “due to Coronavirus”. UPDATE, 4 March 2020 * The Prime Minister announced on 4

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2nd March 2020
shared parental leave

Is it discriminatory to pay men on shared parental leave less than an enhanced rate paid to women on maternity leave?

The Supreme Court has refused permission to appeal in the Case of Chief Constable of Leicestershire v Hextall. As such, the decision that the Court of Appeal handed down back in 2019 which dealt with this question is final. Hearing two appeals together, Ali v Capita Customer Management Ltd and Chief Constable of Leicestershire v Hextall, the Court of Appeal determined that it was not discriminatory to pay men on shared parental leave less than an enhanced rate that was

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27th February 2020
reporting comments directed at others

EHRC publish guidance on sexual harassment at work

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) have published a technical guidance on sexual harassment and harassment at work. Whilst onerous in that it runs to over eighty pages, it’s difficult to argue that it hasn’t arrived at an appropriate time. In 2020, we live in a society that is much more aware of how we should (or more pertinently, shouldn’t) treat our colleagues. Yet barely a week goes by when we’re not exposed to another media report of inappropriate

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14th February 2020

Redundancies: What you need to consider…

From time to time businesses may need to consider cutting their workforce in order to remain competitive. Advances in technology, changes in the marketplace and issues such as Brexit are all factors that may lead businesses to contemplate redundancies.  Where this is the case, the following factors should be carefully considered in order to avoid successful claims of Unfair Dismissal: Are there genuine grounds for redundancy? The employer must be able to demonstrate that the dismissal meets the statutory definition

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27th January 2020