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Spain proposes visa for digital nomads
21 July 2022Spain has long been the favoured holiday destination for many sun-seeking Brits. The proposed introduction of a new digital nomad visa, opening the door to both “working holidays” and longer term relocations, will therefore be welcome news to employees.
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Holiday pay for part-year workers should not be pro-rated
21 July 2022The Supreme Court has ruled that the paid holiday entitlement of part-year workers should not be pro-rated for the weeks they do not usually work. This means that the 12.07% method for calculating the holiday pay hours of casual workers on permanent contracts is no longer a valid approach.
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SMEs in Northern Ireland: adapting to change and being progressive
21 July 2022In recent years, Northern Irish employers have had to quickly adapt to manage the impact of Covid-19 on workplaces and move to remote and hybrid working arrangements. As the war for talent continues, employers face an increasing need to keep up with and accommodate employees’ changing and diverse needs.
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Gender pay gap reporting in Ireland – updated guidance clarifies some (but not all) tricky issues
20 July 2022The gender pay gap reporting regulations in Ireland were published last month. Straight away, a number of issues with interpretation were apparent. The government has now clarified some (but not all) of these.
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Court of Appeal overturns injunction restraining employer’s ‘fire and rehire’ exercise
18 July 2022The Court of Appeal has overturned an injunction preventing Tesco from “firing and rehiring” employees in order to remove their contractual entitlement to enhanced pay. Despite the facts of this case being unusual and extreme, the High Court had been wrong to conclude that Tesco could not adopt its proposed course of action.
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Maya Forstater wins gender critical belief claim
07 July 2022Following last year’s ruling by the Employment Appeal Tribunal that her “gender critical” beliefs were protected under the Equality Act, Maya Forstater has won her discrimination claim.
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Guarding against the go-between – make sure your terms with staffing intermediaries are suitable
04 July 2022Use of staffing intermediaries has increased greatly since the reforms to IR35. We explain why it’s important for end-user organisations to ensure the terms they agree with intermediaries are fit for purpose and protect their interests.
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Gender-critical religious beliefs are protected but do not justify discriminatory behaviour
30 June 2022In the latest appeal decision on the conflict between gender-critical beliefs and the rights of transgender people, the Employment Appeal Tribunal has confirmed that such beliefs can be protected under the Equality Act. Nevertheless, an employer can still take appropriate action to protect others’ rights without this being unlawful discrimination.
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Unions’ financial liability increased and government moves to repeal agency worker ban
30 June 2022Against a backdrop of widespread industrial action, the government has quadrupled unions’ potential liability for calling unlawful strikes to £1,000,000. It has also published legislation to repeal the ban on agencies supplying workers to fill in for striking staff.
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Remote working overseas – our employer survey
23 June 2022We have surveyed employers from a cross-section of businesses to find out how they are responding to requests from employees to work remotely from overseas.
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When is collective bargaining exhausted and a direct offer of new employment terms allowed? The EAT confirms an objective test
21 June 2022In the first reported application of the Supreme Court’s landmark Kostal decision, the Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled that an employer could not unilaterally declare that its negotiations with its recognised trade union had finished. As unionised employers may only make direct offers to employees after exhausting their collective bargaining procedure, the employer now faces punitive fines.
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Employment law across the globe - what's happened and what's coming up?
20 June 2022Our round-up of key developments in employment law since our last conference in February 2021.
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Managing your international M&A –Top Ten Questions
20 June 2022In international mergers and acquisitions (M&A) navigating the legal requirements and ramifications of the deal can be tricky. This article sets out the top ten questions that sellers and buyers need to consider in relation to employment law in global M&A transactions. We also offer some insights and tips on how to get the deal done.
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Diversity monitoring: what to collect and how to comply with the law
19 June 2022To improve the diversity of your workforce, you need to measure it, and this means collecting and monitoring data. But what questions should you ask employees about their individual characteristics and how can you handle that information lawfully? This article takes an in-depth look at these questions.
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Getting signed off: a system becoming more fit for purpose?
17 June 2022An announcement this week has introduced new flexibility in relation to fit notes. From 1 July a wider group of healthcare professionals will be able to issue fit notes, which will potentially make the process both easier and more effective. We examine what was behind this change and what it might mean for the ever-challenging task of managing sickness absence in the workplace.
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Will the government repeal the ban on agencies supplying workers to fill in during strikes?
16 June 2022Transport secretary Grant Shapps hit the headlines this week when he announced that the government is considering legal changes to allow agencies to supply workers to fill in for striking staff. This is in response to planned strikes across the rail network next week.
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Tom Heys comments for Employee Benefits: Why employers need to think about ethnicity and gender pay gaps
15 June 2022Gender pay gap reporting has successfully increased focus on one aspect of diversity, with high levels of compliance.
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Lewis Silkin continues expansion in Northern Ireland with employment partner hire
09 June 2022BELFAST – Lewis Silkin today announces the appointment of Paul Gillen as a partner in the firm’s Belfast office, further enhancing its employment capabilities across the island of Ireland.
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Gender pay gap reporting in Ireland – regulations finally published
06 June 2022The government published the gender pay gap reporting regulations setting out the detail of the reporting obligations under the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 on 3 June 2022.
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Court of appeal decision gives comfort on employment status for tax purposes
26 May 2022The Court of Appeal has held that when determining employment status of an individual for tax purposes the contractual terms should not be disregarded unless they are unrealistic. This decision offers some comfort to businesses which engage self-employed contractors, including those in the gig economy.