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
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?
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
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.
Gender Pay Gap Reporting: Your Questions Answered
Over time, the gap between women’s and men’s median hourly earnings has been narrowing. In fact, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) it has fallen by over a quarter among full-time employees in the last decade.
The Uber Ruling and the future for the Gig Economy.
On the 20th February 2021, the Supreme Court handed down its Judgment in the long awaited Uber case (Uber BV and Others v Aslam and Others). All six Judges unanimously ruled that the Uber drivers were workers, not self-employed contractors and as a result were entitled to basic employment rights like National Minimum Wage, holiday pay and sick pay.
Redundancy in the hospitality sector: what do employers need to consider?
With the country now in its third lockdown, it is clear that the hospitality sector has been hit the hardest and with no sign of hotels, pubs and restaurants reopening soon, employers in this sector will be almost certainly be facing some tough decisions about their staff in the coming weeks and months.
Skilled Worker Visas: What your HR team need to know
After a lengthy transition period, the UK has now left the EU with a deal agreed. While many possible scenarios have been discussed at length in recent years, until now we have been limited to speculation and conjecture in terms of what the outcome might be. Not to mention how it might affect businesses and, more specifically, employees.
Looking after your workforce- what are your responsibilities for lone workers?
Employers need to protect the mental health of those who work alone. This blog gives you an overview of what you should be considering.
What is the Good Work Plan and why does it matter?
For many, 2020 will go down in history as the year that changed everything, and one of the most significant changes was the way in which we work.
Brexit: supporting your European employees in the UK & British employees abroad
As the UK prepares for the end of the Brexit transition, new laws will be coming into place from 1st January 2021 which will affect businesses, as well as the people who work in them. But what are the expectations on you as an employer?
Your FAQ’s regarding annual leave and Coronavirus
Here, our employment law team cover some of the most commonly asked questions relating to holiday during the pandemic.
Treat redundancy with the respect it deserves
As a business owner, we know you try to plan for every possible situation but unfortunately, nobody could have predicted what 2020 had in store.
Post-Lockdown Planning- What does the future hold for your business?
Over recent weeks there has been a huge amount of emphasis on dealing with the lockdown. Businesses and business owners have worked tirelessly to get their heads around the terms of furlough under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, ensuring staff who need to work can do so remotely, and that the office, factory or other workspace remains safe for those who do need to physically attend the workplace.
Protecting your business and your employees during difficult trading periods
As the country continues to grapple with the evolving situation relating to the Covid-19 pandemic, many businesses and business owners are reacting in real time to the government advice relating to social distancing and non-essential travel.
How best to prepare for outbreaks of sickness in the workplace
When the first cases of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) were reported last month, it was widely assumed it would run its course relatively quickly, with a minimal number of people affected resulting in little impact on the UK economy.
The Good Work Plan
Protecting your business during the redundancy process
Handling Holiday Season as an Employer
Dementia in the workplace – what are your responsibilities
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.
Health & Wellbeing in The Workplace
Risky Business- Employment Law Changes 2019
Uber drivers entitled to workplace protections
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).
To employ or not to employ?
Employing Older Workers
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.