Employment Law

As an employer, it is no secret that you are responsible for ensuring that your employees have a legal right to work in the country. The punishments for not doing so are harsh indeed: up to 5 years in jail and a potentially unlimited fine. As such, it’s imperative that you’re familiar with the necessary requirements to legally employ people in the United Kingdom.  To assist in this, companies can make use of a feature introduced in July 2019 as…

Conservative MP and Minister for Levelling Up Dehenna Davison resigned last week, citing chronic migraines as the chief reason for her being unable to continue her work1. The 30-year-old MP for Bishop Auckland’s sudden and surprising resignation has raised concerns over how migraines are handled in the UK, the extent of their effects and how businesses can better accommodate those who suffer from them. In this article, we take a look at the scale of the issue, and offer advice…

In light of our newsletter discussing National Minimum Wage (NMW) breaches, we’re highlighting the major factors that employees should consider to avoid falling foul of the law. Indeed, ensuring that your employees receive at least the minimum wage is not just a legal obligation, but also a moral one. Failing to do so can result in serious consequences, and not just financial ones: many businesses across the country have already faced becoming part of the government’s ‘name and shame’ list,…

Following on from our previous newsletter discussing the upcoming changes to flexible working, this article will instead focus on how the effects of the new legislation can be dealt with and what changes employers may need to make before the proverbial hammer strikes.  The Changes to Flexible Work and What it Means for Employers As it currently stands, workers are able to request flexible working once in any given 12-month period, and employers have up to three months to respond. In addition, employees must also explain…

One of the more common misconceptions people have towards minimum wage law is that they assume salaried positions don’t have to correspond to hours worked. In other words, many employers seem to think that a job with a salary means that employees always get their salary, regardless of hours worked. This is, quite simply, not the case: instead, the hourly rate must always correspond to the national minimum wage regardless of the figure of the salary. In this article, we…

“I quit!” Two words no employer wants to hear. Resignations happen all the time, but when an employee quits on the spot, something has gone badly wrong. Resignations are generally seen as an employee’s voluntary act to terminate their employment contract; however, there are situations where a resignation can become contentious, leading to disputes and even potential legal consequences for employers. A resignation that can be considered contentious is one which does away with the normal process for employees – that…

Over the course of the pandemic, many of us in regular employment had, for perhaps the first time, the opportunity to partake in what is now deemed ‘flexible working’. This meant that for at least a portion of the week, employees could work from home, given the requisite tools to do so. Many businesses have never looked back. Now, The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 is set to usher in a new era of workplace flexibility in the country,…

If you’ve been in business for a while, you’ll likely have encountered instances where an employee, usually a director or manager, suddenly seems to be off work before vanishing altogether. Why? They could well have been placed on “garden leave”. In the realm of employment law, garden leave is a term used to describe a situation where an employer instructs an employee who is leaving the company to serve their notice period away from the workplace while still receiving full…

Despite living in the wake of the #MeToo movement and the ensuing push for greater recognition of sexual harassment in the workplace, the problem is still all-too real for many people in the world of work. Almost a quarter of employees feel that challenging issues like bullying and harassment are swept under the carpet in their organisation [1]. Is your business taking the steps it needs to prevent and deal with instances of sexual harassment? Since the Equality Act of 2010, the…

Pregnancy can be an exciting time of anticipation for both the employee and the employer. However, as an employer when your employee informs you that they are pregnant, there are steps you must take to ensure their rights are protected. So it’s important that you understand the legalities and procedures surrounding maternity. In this article we explore everything you need to know to allow you to successfully manage the process from beginning to end. Maternity Leave: Employers Checklist Maternity Leave:…

In these uncertain times with inflation still rising and the cost of living continuing to make an impact, we understand the need for business owners to ensure their business is protected against fluctuations in workload or reductions in demand for products or services. Short-time working and layoff may be options businesses can use in these situations. Short-time working is when an employer reduces workers’ hours, whereas lay-offs are when there is no work at all and employees can temporarily not…