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Employment Law

Settlement Agreement Advice

Settlement Agreement Advice

Katie Ash explains and answers some questions about settlement agreements.

 Managing Redundancy in your Business

Managing Redundancy in your Business

Katie Ash, head of Employment Law, answers the most commonly asked questions about redundancy.

New legislation on tipping protocols

New legislation on tipping protocols

Hospitality workers must receive all gratuities and service charges without deductions in future.

Dyslexia- What reasonable adjustments should your employer be making?

Dyslexia- What reasonable adjustments should your employer be making?

World Dyslexia Awareness Week 2022 will run from the 3rd to the 9th October. This annual event aims to raise awareness of dyslexia amongst the general public, educational institutions, and employers.

Holiday pay ruling upheld for part year workers

Holiday pay ruling upheld for part year workers

Holiday pay for those who work only part of the year and have no contractually set hours should be calculated on the basis of average earnings, the Supreme Court has confirmed. 

The HR Manager myth buster

The HR Manager myth buster

Here Sara Patel, an employment law expert at Banner Jones, helps to separate the facts from the fiction, and clarifies the law and the role of employers in relation to a few of the most common workplace myths.

Why businesses should embrace the Employment Bill changes

Why businesses should embrace the Employment Bill changes

Workers’ rights have long since been protected by law… to an extent. However, in 2019 the Conservative government promised to introduce a unified Employment Bill which would hold British businesses accountable across the board.

Why the consultation period matters when making redundancies

Why the consultation period matters when making redundancies

Running a business can be challenging, and never more so than when decisions need to be made that potentially affect the lives and livelihoods of employees.

Sadly, however, it is part and parcel of the day job, and most business owners and decision makers will grapple with the prospects of having to let people go, and the subsequent redundancy process, at some point during their career.

Protecting the mental health and wellbeing of employees is more than just a workplace perk

Protecting the mental health and wellbeing of employees is more than just a workplace perk

As such a large part of an employee’s life is spent at work, it’s important that employers play an active role in ensuring that their workers develop and maintain good mental wellbeing and a healthy relationship with their place of work.

This is particularly important post-pandemic, when it is widely acknowledged that employees' health has suffered because of lockdowns, job uncertainty, and the mandate to work from home.

After all, healthy and well-motivated employees will have an equally positive impact on the productivity and effectiveness of a business!

The Great Resignation – how to minimise disruption across your business

The Great Resignation – how to minimise disruption across your business

One of the most widely publicised phenomena caused by the pandemic is what has now become known as The Great Resignation.

According to a poll undertaken by recruiter Randstad UK in November of last year, almost 7 in every 10 employees (69%) said they felt confident to move to a new job within just a couple of months.

How to avoid an Employment Tribunal

How to avoid an Employment Tribunal

 

The cost of defending Employment Tribunal cases can vary significantly and could cost your business anything from £10,000 to £50,000. Then if the claimant is successful, there will be the cost of compensation on top of this. The average award for an unfair dismissal case in the UK is a little under £7,000, with claims resulting from discrimination costing significantly more. Businesses also need to consider the hidden cost of employment law claims caused by the damage it can do to their reputation as an employer and as a business that clients and customers want to work with. Often this cost can be more damaging than the award itself.

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What counts as bullying in the workplace?

What counts as bullying in the workplace?

Experiencing unfair treatment in the workplace can be distressing and can have an impact on your life both in and out of work. You may be worried about your financial situation if you leave, your performance at work, or suffer from low self-esteem. However, there are laws to protect employees from such treatment, but you must first understand what type of negative treatment you are experiencing under the law. In this article, we look at what bullying in the workplace is, and what you can do if you are a victim.

Employment Law: Age Discrimination in the Workplace

Employment Law: Age Discrimination in the Workplace

Age discrimination claims to employment tribunals have risen steeply since the pandemic, and a recent case has highlighted the challenge for employers using a mandatory retirement age.  

Employee rights –  Compulsory Vaccinations Update September 2021

Employee rights – Compulsory Vaccinations Update September 2021

From 11 November 2021, all care home workers and anyone entering a care home must be fully vaccinated, unless they are medically exempt under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2021.

Flexible working- what are my rights?

Flexible working- what are my rights?

A recent employment tribunal found in favour of a woman – a sales manager for a small estate agent in London, and a mum of one – whose request for more flexible working was refused by her employer.

Employer Protect

Employer Protect

Fixed Fee Employer Protection Plan

Compulsory vaccinations in the care sector

Compulsory vaccinations in the care sector

With the Covid-19 vaccine fast being rolled out across the country and all over 18’s to be offered a first dose by the end of June 2021, the Government has now mandated that all people working in elderly care MUST be vaccinated in order to continue to do this work. The new legislation, which is subject to Parliamentary approval, is expected to come into force from October.

Recruitment - How to get it right

Recruitment - How to get it right

In our latest blog Head of Employment Law, Katie Ash, goes through the eight key steps to lawfully recruiting someone into your business.  It can be a costly mistake to ignore the rules and get this wrong.

An employer's guide to flexible working

An employer's guide to flexible working

Flexible working has been at the forefront of many businesses since the pandemic began, and for many it is now time to formalise a flexible working policy. This guide tells you how to handle flexible working requests but we can also assist with a policy if required.

 Breastfeeding when returning to work: What’s the law?

Breastfeeding when returning to work: What’s the law?

 

For many women, returning to work after maternity leave can feel like a daunting prospect and one of the biggest sticking points is in relation to those who continue to breastfeed or express milk once their maternity leave has ended.

Here, Banner Jones’ Head of Employment law, Katie Ash, looks at the state of current legislation here in the UK. 

Returning to work after maternity

Returning to work after maternity

Handling an employee’s return to work after maternity leave can feel like a bit of a minefield to most employers. Added to this is the risk of expensive pregnancy and maternity related discrimination claims as well as possible sex discrimination and constructive dismissal claims if they get things wrong.

Out of hours communication – do you know the law?

Out of hours communication – do you know the law?

For many business owners and decision makers, the lockdown restrictions introduced as a result of the Covid-19 crisis have provided them with an unprecedented opportunity to review their operations.

Supreme Court rules sleep-in shift workers not eligible for National Minimum Wage

Supreme Court rules sleep-in shift workers not eligible for National Minimum Wage

To the dismay of employees, but a decision arguably welcomed by employers, the Supreme Court has recently ruled in cases Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake and Shannon v Rampersad and another (T/A Clifton House Residential Home) that sleep-in shift workers are not ‘working’ when they are asleep. This in turn means that care workers should only be paid the National Minimum Wage hourly rate on sleep-in shifts when they are awake for the purposes of actively working.