Settlement Agreements

Negotiating an executive exit? This article covers settlement agreements, restrictive covenants, tax considerations and negotiation strategies — with expert support from settlement agreement solicitors in Sheffield, Chesterfield and Mansfield.

Discover how employers can effectively manage office romances while respecting privacy, preventing conflicts of interest and meeting the duty to prevent sexual harassment. Banner Jones’ Employment Law specialists provide guidance, policies and training to keep your workplace compliant and protected.

From April 2026, Statutory Sick Pay rules are changing. We explain what SMEs need to know, how SSP is changing and how to manage sickness absence safely.

As diagnoses of ADHD, autism and other forms of neurodivergence surge - particularly among younger generations - the challenge for employers is no longer awareness, but action. From legal obligations under the Equality Act to the cultural shift in how we understand difference, the workplace is being rewired.

As part of the government’s pledge to deliver on its promise to Make Work Pay, we will see various statutory payment rate changes from April 2025 as well as an increase to the minimum wage and Neonatal Care Leave becoming a day 1 right.

The UK Government's consultation on the Employment Rights Bill has culminated in several significant amendments aimed at enhancing workers' rights while addressing concerns from businesses and other stakeholders. Initiated in October 2024, the consultation sought feedback on various aspects of the proposed legislation, leading to a series of revisions being published at the beginning of March 2025.

The Department for Business and Trade confirmed that a day one right to neonatal leave for working families with babies in neonatal care will be introduced from 6 April 2025.

The UK employment law landscape has undergone significant changes in 2024, and more updates are on the horizon for 2025 and beyond. These reforms impact employers, demanding careful consideration by them to ensure they are legally compliant and ensuring they are following best practice.

This guide sets out the steps involved if you’re an employee considering the offer of a settlement agreement and are looking for advice on how to navigate the process in England and Wales.

New Regulations came into force on 6 April 2024 in England and Wales to give pregnant employees and those on maternity leave or family-related leave better protection from redundancy.

Carer's Leave is where employees apply to be absent from work to provide or arrange care for a dependant with a long-term care need.

The Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024 have now come into force, bringing with them changes which see fathers or partners of children born or adopted after 6^th April 2024 being able to take their paternity leave entitlement in 2 blocks of one week within the first year of the birth or adoption of their child.

Disclosing a workplace relationship depends on various factors, including company policies, the working environment, and the nature of the relationship. Our Employment Law Specialists in Sheffield, Chesterfield and Mansfield, explain some considerations to help employees navigate what can sometimes be a complex situation.

The Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Bill received Royal Assent on 18 September 2023, becoming the Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023. This new legislation will give workers the right to request more predictable working patterns relating to the number of hours, times and days of the week that they work.

Making a Will is commonly associated as something you do in later life however, in reality anyone over the age of 18 can have a Will and we would strongly recommend it to anyone with children.

Head of Employment Law at Banner Jones, Katie Ash, features in this recent Calendar News item about why people are campaigning for legal reform.

With the rise of remote work opportunities and the desire for more flexible lifestyles, many UK employees are considering the possibility of working remotely from another country, particularly during the summer months. In this article, we will explore whether a UK employee can work remotely in another country, examine relevant UK laws, and discuss important precautions to consider.

Here Katie Ash, Head of Employment Law, explains what Paternity Leave is, what fathers are entitled to and why businesses need to place as much importance on supporting men in the workplace, as they do women.

The news this week that teachers from the National Education Union had voted for more strike action in England and Wales will have left lots of working parents – and their employers – wondering how they are going to manage if the employee’s child’s school is closed.

For many, the Covid-19 crisis is starting to feel like a distant memory. However, there are still changes to the way we live and work today that were influenced by the restrictions that were put in place. The biggest example in employment law is the shift to working from home.

New legislation is expected to complete its course through parliament giving rise to new requirements on employers to offer alternative positions to those subject to redundancy during pregnancy or in the six months after returning to work and businesses must be ready to respond.

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

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 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. 

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.

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.  

At Banner Jones Solicitors, we can help with all aspects of employment law. In this video, we will discuss restrictive covenants and how they can impact you. For more information, watch our video. 

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?

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.

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.

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”.

What do you need to know? The General Data Protection Regulations (‘GDPR’) come in to force on the 25th May 2018 and whilst the Regulations are new, the principles and requirements are not. The GDPR is an overhaul of the Data Protection Act 1998 (‘DPA’), and extends to the processing of personal data of all data subjects in the whole of the EU. Brexit will not prevent businesses from needing to comply with the Regulations. In practice for those businesses that have already been complying fully with the DPA, they should not need to undertake much work to ensure that they are compliant with the GDPR, and will at the very least have the basics in place.

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.

As the Nation waits with baited breath to discover what the Government’s strategy for leaving the EU will be, when it will happen and whether it will be a ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ Brexit, many employers are, unsurprisingly, concerned about what the future of employment law will look like. How quickly will it change, what will their obligations be, and what steps will they need to take to ensure compliance?

The Court of Appeal recently ruled that a senior manager’s negligence in failing to ensure that a colleague followed company policy could amount to gross misconduct justifying the manager’s summary dismissal.

What’s the worst that could happen if you don’t have a Will? Our expert Wills solicitors have explain what can happen, in simple terms, in our guide.

A recent study has found that only one in three employees believes their employer cares about their financial wellness.

We’re living in a world where employee benefits are perhaps more varied than ever before.

A guide for employees with essential information on employment rights, capability, conduct, gross misconduct, redundancy, illegality and automatic unfair dismissals.