Employment law is constantly changing, and dealing with HR and employment law issues can be one of the most difficult factors in running your business or organisation.
It’s therefore crucial to ensure that you get the right advice at the right time to ensure that you keep on track. Our Employment Law specialists in Chesterfield, Sheffield and Mansfield have many years of experience advising and guiding employers to ensure that they get the best outcomes. We can guide you through the entire life cycle of the employment relationship from recruitment to termination.
Coronavirus Update
Our Employment Law team are working successfully from home, with full access to the systems they need, so minimal disruption to our service is anticipated. Our main switchboard will continue to operate as normal and the vast majority of our normal administrative functions will still operate.


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.


How to calculate holiday pay in 2021: an update on legislative changes
For many businesses, calculating holiday pay is a straight-forward process. Employers are, within the parameters of the law, able to dictate how many annual leave days or hours a staff member is entitled to.


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.


My employer has asked me to have the vaccine- what are my rights?
With the Covid-19 vaccine being rolled out across the country, many are starting to wonder when it will be their turn.
To date, vulnerable, front-line, care home staff and social workers have been at the front of the queue, with plans now afoot to reach the rest of the UK’s 66 million residents.


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.


Restrictive Covenants
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.


Coronavirus - Extended Furlough Guide
With the furlough scheme being extended and on-going decisions around the safe return to the workplace, home working and potential redundancies, we have updated this guide to cover the key points that your business may wish to consider.


Coronavirus - Flexible Furlough Guide
With lockdown being eased, the CJRS changing and workplaces beginning to open up again we have created this guide to summarise the key points that your business may wish to consider.


Coronavirus - Business Support Guide
Explains the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and summarises the additional support measures currently available to businesses.


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.


The Good Work Plan


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).


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.


Positive Action not Positive Discrimination


HMRC data reveals the UK’s real gender pay gap
The figures released by the HMRC about the nation’s income and taxation during 2015/16, revealed some fascinating insights into the UK’s finances. But the figures also shed light on the continuing pay gap experienced between men and women. According to HMRC, 57% of all income tax payers were men in 2015/16, contributing almost three quarters (73%) of the total £178 billion income tax bill. These figures are in line with the 2014/15 statistics, suggesting there was little real shift in the gender pay gap between the two years.


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


Notification of email checks required
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.


The impact of Brexit on the UK’s Employment Law
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?


Gender Pay Gap Reporting- Is Your Business Ready?
In April 2017 employers with over 250 staff became obliged to report on gender pay gaps. Here are some tips that your business may wish to consider.


Guide to Selling a Business
There are many factors to consider when selling a business and it isn’t something that should be entered into lightly. Our free guide runs through some of the important considerations this involves.


Need for Email Use Policy All Too Obvious
The recent case of two young lovers whose amorous emails to each other were mistakenly copied to the wider world emphasises all too clearly why firms need an “email, internet and social media use” policy for all members of staff.


Employer’s duty to home carer travelling between clients
An employer was recently held liable for injuries sustained by their employee when they were travelling between clients.


Disciplinary Action Guide
We have put together a Disciplinary Action Guide for Employers featuring procedures, problems and grievances.


Redundancy Procedure Guide
We have put together a redundancy procedure guide for employers to outline the full process, selecting people for redundancy, common mistakes and vital information you should consider to be able to make informed decisions.


Online Privacy in the Office
Companies are within their rights to monitor the private online activities of their employees when they are in the office.


Hotel ‘wrong’ to Sack Chef who bit Police Officer
A chef jailed for biting two police officers during a drunken altercation has won a claim for unfair dismissal from the hotel where he worked.


Employer not liable for employee’s reckless actions
The Court of Appeal recently found that an employer was not liable for the severe injuries caused by an employee who, while at work and apparently as a prank, had put highly inflammable thinning agent on to the clothes of a workmate and ignited them.