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Can employers afford to ignore their employees’ health and wellbeing?

Being told that they should look after the health and wellbeing of their employees, and engage them, may not get an enthusiastic reception from managers whose primary focus is the bottom line. However, identifying the consequences of neglecting these areas might put a different spin on things. Stress can turn into depression, short-term absence can quickly become long-term, medical conditions evolve into disabilities, and if employment is terminated without considering reasonable adjustments, this could result in claims of Disability Discrimination.

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21st February 2019
EU Flag

EU Settlement Scheme Overview

As the date on which Britain will exit the European Union draws ever closer, and with a continued lack of clarity on how Brexit will affect us, it is undoubtedly a difficult and unsettling time for both EU citizens and their families in the UK, and for their employers. Whilst there is no requirement for employers to explicitly advise employees of what they need to do to remain in the UK, EML has been providing clients with relevant and practical

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31st January 2019
EML website homepage

Welcome to our new website!

We’re excited to share news of our brand new EML website, which has launched this week. It’s has a fresh design fit for 2019 and some valuable new content, as well as keeping all the popular areas of the old site. We hope you’ll take some time to explore and let us know what you think. Every member of the team has contributed and we all feel pretty proud right now. Here’s a whistle-stop tour of our new website… All

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29th January 2019
Jose Mourinho

The Employment Law implications of Jose Mourinho’s sacking

If there’s one thing that changes almost as frequently as employment law, it’s football managers…particularly at the latter-day Manchester United! In April 2014, United parted company with David Moyes, its first manager since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, after less than one year in post and on account of the club’s disappointing season. Moyes’ successor, Louis Van Gaal, appointed in June 2014, lasted just two years before being handed his P45. Now, Van Gaal’s successor, Jose Mourinho, has been

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24th December 2018
Contract of employment

The importance of having a contract of employment from day one

The general rule of thumb is that an employment contract or statement of written particulars need only be issued within the first two months of employment. For this reason, many employers will hold off dealing with the additional administrative work until such time that they are confident that the employee will continue beyond the two months. However, a recent case has emphasised the importance of complying with the legal requirement set out in the section 1(2) of the Employments Right

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22nd December 2018
festive guidance for HR managers

Letters from Santa – Fun, festive guidance for HR managers

Christmas can be a worrying time of year for HR managers. Teams working extended hours, overtime and stressful working conditions can quickly lead to unrest amongst your team. Add to that last minute holiday requests, time off for school concerts and dealing with the aftermath of the staff Christmas party, and you’d be forgiven for hiding under your desk instead of getting into the festive spirit. For our final blog of the year, we’re sharing a few emails we’ve received

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19th December 2018
EML team

All change in the EML team

There have been a number of exciting team developments at EML over recent weeks. We’ve strengthened our service offering by welcoming two new consultants, and also said (a partial) goodbye to one of our longest serving employees. Garry Humphreys Garry Humphreys CIPD joined the team in June as HR Consultant. A specialist in employee relations cases, Garry has extensive experience in HR, employment law, training and recruitment across a range of sectors, including retail, sales, teaching and hospitality. Garry says,

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3rd December 2018

In conversation with Chris Nagel

To celebrate International Men’s day, we sat down for a chat with one of our directors and leaders. Chris Nagel joined EML as a Graduate Trainee back in 2001 and is now our Director and Head of HR. He gave us his thoughts on men working in HR, male role models and the EML way of doing things.   What is your role at EML? As a Director, I’m in continual dialogue with our Managing Director, Debbie Knowles, about every

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18th November 2018
Tribunal fees

Government ponders the reintroduction of tribunal fees

The Law Society Gazette is reporting that the Government is considering reintroducing tribunal fees. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is convinced that a fee system can be found which does not deny claimants access to justice, as indicated by a written answer in Hansard earlier this year which stated that it was reviewing how (as opposed to whether) it would reintroduce tribunal fees. Fees for bringing a claim in the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal were introduced in 2013,

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9th November 2018

What the budget has in store for employers….

Increase in National Living Wage The Government pledge to achieve a national minimum wage of £9.00 by 2020, would appear to be on track. Therefore, the increase to £8.21 per hour from April 2019 is no major surprise and Companies would be wise to plan ahead for the further increase that’s in the pipeline. Rates overall will increase as follows: 25 and over – from £7.83 to £8.21 21 to 24 – from £7.38 to £7.70 18 to 20 –

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2nd November 2018
Mental health first aiders

Government petitioned to introduce workplace Mental Health First Aiders

It will be common knowledge to employers that they have a duty to provide the appropriate equipment, facilities and suitably trained personnel, to ensure that all employees receive immediate attention if they are injured, or if they fall ill whilst at work, in the form of accredited first aiders. Whilst this is a long-accepted workplace norm as far as physical health is concerned, it does not cover mental health issues. This seems strange when you look at the statistics surrounding

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19th October 2018
employment law

Reforming Employment Law Hearing Structures – Is there bad news on the horizon for employers?

On 26th September 2018 the Law Commission issued a consultation paper on Employment Law Hearing Structures. The consultation is due to conclude on 11th January 2019 after which recommendations will be presented to the Government.  So what might be in store for Employment Law hearings and how might this impact on employers? One of the proposals set out in the paper is an extension of the limitation periods in Employment Tribunal, in most cases extending this to 6 months. For

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28th September 2018
Resignation unfair dismissal

When does giving notice not amount to a resignation from employment?

On first glance when an employer receives “notice” from an employee the immediate assumption is likely to be that the communication amounts to a resignation. It seems logical doesn’t it? It may however surprise a number of employers to learn that it is not always in fact the case as has been explored in the recent case of East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust v Levy (UKEAT/0232/17/LA). In this case the Claimant was an Assistant Administrator in the Records

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20th September 2018
Woman wearing headscarf

Burkas in the workplace: to wear or not to wear?

Burkas. They create media frenzy and polarise opinion, particularly when Boris Johnson is involved. There’s so much discussion around wearing Burkas and headscarves in the workplace, it’s very easy for employers to feel confused and start to doubt whether their own policies and procedures are fit for purpose. What is a Burka? The Burka is a full-length body veil worn by Muslim women as a sign of commitment to their religion. Those who wear Burkas and headscarves see them as

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3rd September 2018
Working from home

Is this the end of the 9-5?

If you look around any town centre, shopping mall, or in fact, any location where young people can be found en masse, there will almost certainly be a common image. That is of young people, the future workforce, with their heads down, scrolling or tapping away on their phone, often whilst with their friends. The simple fact of the matter is that this is modern communication. WhatsApp, Snapchat, YouTube and Instagram (don’t for one second try to add Facebook to

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22nd August 2018