Insights & News
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‘Living in the dark ages’ - pregnancy and maternity discrimination at interview
21 February 2018Fresh out of my first year at university and applying for a summer job at a pub, I was slightly taken aback when the interviewer asked whether I had children, in a tone that implied “no” was the right answer… Back then, with no children, I simply answered the question - but it made me wonder.
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Update on the new tax rules for payments in lieu of notice
16 February 2018New tax rules will mean that income tax and national insurance contributions (“NICs”) must be paid on all payments in lieu of notice (“PILONs”) with effect from 6 April 2018.
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When to pay interns?
09 February 2018Media outlets have reported that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has initiated a crackdown on unpaid internships, including sending letters warning that “workers” must be paid the national minimum wage and setting up teams to tackle the problem.
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The Government’s response to the Taylor review – a damp squib?
08 February 2018The Government has published its Good Work Plan in response to Matthew Taylor’s review of modern working practices. While the response sets out the Government’s intention to take forward nearly all of the review’s recommendations, there are very few specific proposals and much of the detail will be the subject of further consultation.
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Further clarity on relevance of TUPE following a share sale
31 January 2018How relevant is TUPE in the context of a share sale? A recent decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) provides a reminder that TUPE can easily come into play when a buyer is considering what to do with its newly acquired subsidiary. In this case, the buyer’s actions led to an unexpected TUPE transfer and a £3.5 million bill.
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When does service provision change amount to transfer of an economic entity?
31 January 2018The European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) was recently required to consider whether the award of a service contract to a replacement contractor in Portugal amounted to the transfer of an economic entity under the EU Acquired Rights Directive (“ARD”). Portugal has no equivalent legislation to the UK’s service provision change (“SPC”) rules
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TUPE and offshoring
30 January 2018In a recent case, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) was asked to consider the application of TUPE in the context of an offshoring of services and whether a transferring employee was entitled to protection of his salary terms if he relocated to the new place of operations in the transferee’s home jurisdiction.
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Advocate General suggests no transfer on change of music school contractor
26 January 2018An Advocate General (“AG”) of the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) has considered whether a transfer of an undertaking occurred where a contract to operate a Spanish music school was terminated and another contractor resumed the service five months later. Under the EU Acquired Rights Directive (“ARD”), a transfer of an undertaking occurs where there is a transfer of an economic entity which retains its identity. An economic entity consists of an organised grouping of resources (i.e. persons and assets), organised with a view to carrying on economic activity.
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Equal pay, TUPE and insolvency
24 January 2018The issue for the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) in a recent case was what happens to historic equal pay liabilities when claimant employees transfer under TUPE on to a new employer in the context of the transferor employer’s insolvency.
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Evidence of pre-termination negotiations will be admissible if the EDT is in dispute
15 January 2018The Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has decided that if the effective date of termination (“EDT”) is in dispute in an unfair dismissal case, a tribunal can hear evidence of pre-termination negotiations if that evidence is relevant to determining the issue.
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Employment Appeal Tribunal confirms that an employer’s attempt to bypass collective bargaining was unlawful
10 January 2018A recent decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has confirmed that offers made directly by an employer to its employees risk amounting to unlawful attempts to bypass collective bargaining contrary to s145B of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. This was a costly exercise for the employer as they were ordered to pay penalties of more than £400,000.
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The year in employment law
08 January 2018The UK’s political landscape continues to be dominated by the shock 2016 referendum vote to leave the European Union. Following a surprise General Election in June 2017, Prime Minister Theresa May unexpectedly lost her parliamentary majority amid deep divisions about how the UK should “Brexit”. Against that backdrop, the Brexit negotiations between the UK and EU began in 2017 and will continue into 2018. This has meant that, as with many other areas, employment policy reform has taken something of a backseat. Nevertheless, employment law continues to change at pace.
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Discrimination based on perceived disability is unlawful
29 December 2017The Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has confirmed that it is unlawful to discriminate against an employee because of a perceived disability, even where that employee is not actually disabled under the relevant legal test.
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Enforcement of gender pay gap reporting – the EHRC gets involved
21 December 2017The Equality and Human Rights Commission (‘EHRC’) has published a consultation on its plans for enforcing the Gender Pay Gap Reporting Regulations (‘GPG Regulations’).
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Rogue employees and no-fault liability
14 December 2017A recent High Court judgment has illustrated how employers can potentially be held liable for wrongful disclosure of personal data by their employees.
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Avoiding the Hedonic Treadmill: designing a sustainable employee engagement strategy
14 December 2017The concept of the “Hedonic Treadmill” is well established amongst psychologists, but what lessons can HR draw from it in relation to improving employee engagement and productivity?
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Ask About... Retail, Fashion & Hospitality
12 December 2017Many of our clients in the retail, fashion and hospitality sector face similar HR issues. Each month one of the members of our team will identify an issue, ask how you would deal with it and provide our advice. This month we asked Laura...
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Chaos at the Christmas party - how to avoid an HR headache
08 December 2017The festive season is almost upon us, bringing with it the long-awaited office Christmas party - a chance for colleagues to let their hair down and enjoy themselves in a relaxed setting.
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The legal sector and #metoo – clarification from the Law Society
07 December 2017The Law Society has provided some important clarification in relation to the recent joint statement made by its presidents on sexual harassment in the legal profession.
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Workers denied paid holiday can carry over rights until termination
30 November 2017The European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) has ruled that where workers are not granted paid annual leave to which they are entitled under the EU Working Time Directive (“WTD”), they must be able to carry over and accumulate those holiday rights from year to year and be compensated for them on termination of employment