Latest News within Employment Law

As a working parent it can often feel like you overcome one obstacle only to be met with another. The start of the new school year brings with it the challenge of fitting the school run in to an already full working day. The average school day is between 9am until 3pm, give or take 15 minutes either side, which is shorter than the traditional 9-5 working day. Whilst wrap around school care is often available to cover the gap, this is not always a feasible or desired solution.

The weather is finally getting warmer and it looks like summer has almost arrived. There is a buzz around the office as people are getting ready to jet off on their holidays.

In a previous article, we looked at the impact of the country’s ageing population on the UK workforce, and the subsequent impact that it was having on employers and businesses large and small.

As an employer, you will know just how important the wellbeing of your staff can be, but it’s not always easy to implement. At a recent ‘Listen & Learn’ event in Chesterfield, Banner Jones Solicitors’ Employment Law team discussed the importance of having a wellbeing focus in the workplace and, in this article, Head of Employment Law, Katie Ash focusses on the methods of best practice when it comes to ensuring that strategies are all encompassing and effectively implemented.

Not keeping up to date with changes to Employment Law can put your business at risk, so from an employer’s perspective it is important to spend time understanding what the changes are so that you can ensure your business complies. That’s where we can help.

The ‘gig’ economy is characterised by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work, as opposed to permanent jobs. Depending upon your viewpoint, it is either a positive working environment that offers a great deal of flexibility (for example, employment hours in the control of the individual) or it is a form of worker exploitation with very little protection (for example, lack of paid holidays, sickness benefit and so on).

For a new business the first year is all about survival, but what happens when your business is doing more than just surviving and is starting to flourish? As a business grows it is inevitable that the amount of time that needs to be invested to secure its future is too much for one person, particularly if that person is a working parent wanting to maintain a sensible work-life balance.

With an ageing population leading to a need for many people to work longer, coupled with the abolition of the compulsory retirement age, the average age of people leaving the workplace has increased steadily over the last two decades. In fact, the over 50s now make up over a third of the working population.

People often talk about how certain groups are under-represented within workforces, but what steps can an employer take to redress this? Director and Head of Employment Law at Banner Jones Solicitors, Katie Ash, discusses how employers can use a Positive Action approach to help these groups access employment or training as outlined in the Equality Act 2010

Last week 2 volunteer crewmen for Whitby RNLI were sacked over allegations of having pornographic images of a fellow crew member on a mug. The crewmen were long standing volunteers with one of them having over 15 years’ service. The crew members were suspended pending an investigation following which they were stood down. They appealed and contended that the decision was an overreaction to a joke that was taken out of context. Their appeals were dismissed and 4 colleagues have resigned in support.

Introduced in April 2017, the Apprenticeship Levy was introduced as a method of increasing national productivity. With the aim of developing vocational skills and increasing both the quality and quantity of apprenticeships in the UK, the government committed to 3m new apprenticeship starts in England by 2020.

Complying with GDPR is the responsibility of every employee so we’ve written some tips on how you can help your business stay compliant.

What is the “gig economy” and how large is it? The gig economy is defined as “a labour market characterised by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work as opposed to permanent jobs”.

Sara Ellison’s appointment will help meet growing demand following Legal 500 recognition.

A recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights has provided further specific clarification of companies’ responsibilities in respect of their employee email policies. Katie Ash, Head of Employment Law said, “The ECHR ruling in case of Bogdan Bărbulescu could shape extent to which firms can monitor employees’ private communications”. In essence, the court ruling says that not only must a company policy inform employees that they reserve the right to monitor employee emails, but they must also let employees know when they are doing so.