Holiday Pay and Commission
In May 2014, the European Court of Justice clarified that if workers are paid commission as part of their remuneration, commission must be included when calculating holiday pay (see Lock v British Gas). This was confirmed by the Employment Tribunal (ET) during a two day hearing in February this year. However, the ET decision did […]
Summary of key articles for October 2015
National Minimum Wage increase From Thursday 1st October 2015, the adult rate of the National Minimum Wage (‘NMW’) has risen from £6.50 to £6.70 per hour, a rise of 20 pence. The following NMW rates apply: The rate for 18 to 20 years olds has increased by 17 pence to £5.30 per hour The rate […]
BIS announces new post – Director of Labour Market Enforcement
The government has recently published the Immigration Bill 2015-16 (which can be accessed here.) The Bill implements a number of the policies which were introduced in the Conservative Party Manifesto, such as measures to tackle illegal working and support the enforcement of labour market rules. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has announced that […]
Requirement for public sector workers to speak ‘fluent English’
The Immigration Bill, which was published on 17th September 2015, introduced a new legal requirement for all public sector employees who work in a public-facing role to speak ‘fluent English’. This will include social workers, police officers, teaching staff and assistants, Jobcentre Plus workers and local government employees. The recent requirement will apply to both […]
100% think proposed changes to travel and subsistence relief will be detrimental
“Could HMRC proposals affect the flexible workforce?” was the topic of the debate at a meeting held by the Association of Recruitment Consultancies (ARC) on 23rd September in London, and on a show of hands every attendee thought it would. The debate, attended by two speakers from HMRC, a Treasury representative, and speakers from the […]
On the clock – travelling to and from work
Earlier this year the Advocate General recommended that travel time to the first customer and from the last customer is to be considered “working time” for mobile workers. The Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) has now brought this non-binding recommendation into law. (Click here for those who would like to refresh their […]
Social Media (Ab)use
Social media is an increasingly popular and growing area due to the number of benefits it offers to businesses, ranging from the ability to communicate with a wide audience, to using it for recruitment purposes. Recent case law demonstrates the importance to employers of having a clear social media policy in place, to ensure that […]
The (LinkedIn) Battle of Britain
Connecting with clients on social media has a number of attractive benefits for a business. Statistics from Twitter suggest that 24% of job seekers form negative opinions of companies that do not have a social media presence. Luddites may be shaking their heads but the statistics speak for themselves: On Saturday 4th August 2015 a […]
Court of Appeal dismisses Unison’s third tribunal fees challenge
The trade union Unison has lost its third challenge of the legality of the introduction of fees in the Employment Tribunal (ET) and Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). The fees for bringing employment claims came into force on 29th July 2013. Under this fee regime, depending on which employment legislation has allegedly been breached, claimants have […]
Could you ask David Beckham to accompany you to an investigation meeting?
Running any internal procedures could be very stressful for all parties involved, be it for investigation, disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence or performance management purposes. Even if the employer has solid evidence and good reason for subjecting employees to a formal procedure, employees can feel targeted and suspicious of perceived ulterior motives of the employer. A […]