Bribery Act guidance published
The Government has now published its long awaited guidance on the Bribery Act. The legislation has been delayed by the guidance, and will now come into force on 1st July 2011, leaving organisations with 3 months to implement any appropriate policies and procedures. The Act creates specific offences of ‘offering’ or making a bribe, of […]
Workers registration scheme to close
The government has announced that the workers registration scheme will close after 30th April 2011, having been in operation for 7 years. The scheme currently requires that nationals of the A8 countries, namely the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, register with the Home Office if working for an employer in […]
Two cases on bonuses
Two cases from the end of last year are worth noting for their conclusions as regards the payment of bonuses. In Humphreys v Norlisk Nickel International the claimant, an economist, was hired on a one year contract to provide the Respondent with economic advice relating to the mining industry. At the conclusion of the first […]
Two Employment Tribunal cases of note
1. Employment Status The EAT has determined a new case on employment status and confirmed the position that where there are no mutual obligations to accept and offer work on either party; there is no employment relationship. In the case of Knight v BCCP, a taxi driver working for a taxi firm had his contract […]
Paternity leave changes
Have you got any employees who have children due on or after 3rd April 2011? If you do then you could receive a request for additional paternity leave. Additional paternity leave is a period of up to 6 months which can be taken by the father of a child or the mother’s partner in order […]
Changes to the powers of the Advertising Standards Authority
From 1st March 2011, the Advertising Standards Authority (“ASA”) is able to take action against companies which publish misleading claims on their own websites and any other spaces they control, for example on social media websites. Prior to March 2011, the ASA was only able to monitor paid for space. This extension of power is […]
Employment Tribunal reform
A recent survey by the CIPD has underlined how important the recent government consultation on the reform of the Employment Tribunals system and ‘resolving workplace disputes’ will be. According to the figures in their ‘Conflict Management’ report published earlier in March more than two out of three employers (69%) believe that they have no effective […]
IR35 stays put after hopes raised of repeal
March was a month of highs and lows for contractors and their tax affairs. In the first half of the month the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) released its review of small business taxation including IR35. The report had been eagerly anticipated by the contracting community and particularly the Professional Contractors Group, which has long […]
AWR draft guidance published today – more work required says the ARC
Commenting on the draft guidance, which the Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) is due to publish for comment today, Adrian Marlowe, Chair of the Association of Recruitment Consultancies (ARC), said “BIS has worked very hard to produce guidance that is intended to help everyone understand the Regulations, and the ARC has provided significant […]
AWR: Draft Guidance Announced
The government has today (1st April 2011) published the draft guidance, open for comment for a two week period. It is crucial that people recognise that the document is a work in progress and has not yet been finalised. Final guidance is expected to be published early in May 2011, with plenty of time for consideration before […]