Blog

Is shared parental leave flexible or a failure?

On Father’s Day we show our appreciation of fathers past, present and future. A father’s role in the nuclear family is equally as important as the mother, however the take up of shared parental leave in the UK is at an all time low. The Department for Business believes only 2% of couples welcoming a new child share the responsibility of caring for the child during the first year of its life. Current rules on shared parental leave Parents can

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8th January 2018

Religion / Belief Discrimination Myth Busters – Refusing to do the job

Acas recently published new guidance on religion and belief to help employers prevent discrimination on these grounds in the workplace. To assist employers further, we’ve produced another series of “myth busters”to help separate fact from fiction in this area, all of which will be published on our website over the coming weeks. Of course, if you’re an employer and would like to discuss any of the issues touched on in these posts, please contact one of our HR consultants in confidence

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8th January 2018

Sexual Harassment Myth Busters – Suspension

Claims of harassment, be they current or historical, are everywhere at the moment. Regardless of your view on the legitimacy of some of these, what is undeniable is that employers can’t continue to make allowances for the types of conduct that are being reported without risking significant legal exposure. To assist employers in identifying the behaviours that could give rise to valid discrimination complaints, we’ve produced a series of “myth busters” to help separate fact from fiction, all of which

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29th November 2017

Sexual Harassment Myth Busters – Comments Directed at Others

Claims of harassment, be they current or historical, are everywhere at the moment. Regardless of your view on the legitimacy of some of these, what is undeniable is that employers can’t continue to make allowances for the types of conduct that are being reported without risking significant legal exposure. To assist employers in identifying the behaviours that could give rise to valid discrimination complaints, we’ve produced a series of “myth busters” to help separate fact from fiction, all of which

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28th November 2017

Sexual Harassment Myth Busters – Different Perceptions

Claims of harassment, be they current or historical, are everywhere at the moment. Regardless of your view on the legitimacy of some of these, what is undeniable is that employers can’t continue to make allowances for the types of conduct that are being reported without risking significant legal exposure. To assist employers in identifying the behaviours that could give rise to valid discrimination complaints, we’ve produced a series of “myth busters” to help separate fact from fiction, all of which

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27th November 2017

Sexual Harassment Myth Busters – Types of Harasser

Claims of harassment, be they current or historical, are everywhere at the moment. Regardless of your view on the legitimacy of some of these, what is undeniable is that employers can’t continue to make allowances for the types of conduct that are being reported without risking significant legal exposure. To assist employers in identifying the behaviours that could give rise to valid discrimination complaints, we’ve produced a series of “myth busters” to help separate fact from fiction, all of which

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24th November 2017

Sexual Harassment Myth Busters – Banter

Claims of sexual harassment, be they current or historical, are everywhere at the moment. Regardless of your view on the legitimacy of some of these, what is undeniable is that employers can’t continue to make allowances for the types of conduct that are being reported without risking significant legal exposure. To assist employers in identifying the behaviours that could give rise to valid discrimination complaints, we’ve produced a series of “myth busters” to help separate fact from fiction, all of

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23rd November 2017

Sexual Harassment Myth Busters – Isolated Instances

Claims of harassment, be they current or historical, are everywhere at the moment. Regardless of your view on the legitimacy of some of these, what is undeniable is that employers can’t continue to make allowances for the types of conduct that are being reported without risking significant legal exposure. To assist employers in identifying the behaviours that could give rise to valid discrimination complaints, we’ve produced a series of “myth busters” to help separate fact from fiction, all of which

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22nd November 2017

Sexual Harassment Myth Busters – Failure to Complain

Claims of harassment, be they current or historical, are everywhere at the moment. Regardless of your view on the legitimacy of some of these, what is undeniable is that employers can’t continue to make allowances for the types of conduct that are being reported without risking significant legal exposure. To assist employers in identifying the behaviours that could give rise to valid discrimination complaints, we’ve produced a series of “myth busters” to help separate fact from fiction, all of which

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21st November 2017

How should employers deal with claims of harassment in the workplace?

Claims of harassment, be they current or historical, are everywhere at the moment. Regardless of your view on the legitimacy of some of these, what is undeniable is that employers cannot continue to make allowances for the types of conduct that are being reported without risking significant legal exposure. Whether it’s a male director being too touchy-feely with his female reports or a female manager making risqué comments to male trainees, you could be dealing with valid discrimination complaints if

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14th November 2017

Latest employment tribunal and EAT stats published

The latest employment tribunal and EAT statistics have been published by the Ministry of Justice. They detail the type and volume of cases received, disposed of and outstanding for the period April 2016 to March 2017. This information is useful in assessing employment litigation trends and the impact of fees (introduced in July 2013, but outlawed in July 2017) and Acas early conciliation (introduced in May 2014). The stats show that 88,476 employment tribunal claims were accepted in this period.

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28th September 2017

Unlawful Employment Tribunal fee regime ruling – The implications for employers

Now that the dust has settled on July’s landmark ruling by the Supreme Court that the current Employment Tribunal fee regime was preventing access to justice, was unlawful and should therefore cease with immediate effect, we look an in-depth look at the implications for employers. Prior to the introduction of fees there is no doubt that employers were frustrated by the time and money they had to throw at an increasing number of frivolous and vexatious Employment Tribunal claims. As

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27th September 2017

Revised Vento bands confirmed following consultation

Last month, we reported that the Presidents of the Employment Tribunals had issued a joint consultation statement seeking views on RPI-linked increases to the bands of awards for injury to feelings in discrimination cases, which had not risen since 2009. The Presidents have since released a Joint Response confirming the following revised bands: Lower band: £800 to £8,400: suitable for one-off and isolated incidents where the nature of the prohibited conduct is less serious Middle band: £8,400 to £25,200:

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14th September 2017

Pregnancy-related issues for the Duchess of Cambridge – An employer’s guide

As the Duchess of Cambridge cancels her official duties due to severe morning sickness, we look at what the Palace would need to know if it were deemed to be her employer Risk Assessment As soon as it was notified it would be required to undertake a risk assessment to identify any particular risks to her or to her unborn 5th in line to the throne – perhaps stress on joints caused by constant public walkabouts, swollen ankles exacerbated by

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6th September 2017