Insights & News
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TUPE and collective agreements - static vs dynamic debate revisited
25 September 2017A judgment of the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) in a German case has reconsidered the effect of a TUPE transfer on employment terms governed by a collective agreement. The issue to be determined was whether, once a business had transferred, the new employer was compelled to apply the terms and conditions arising from collective agreements adopted after that transfer.
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Service provision changes – determining principal purpose of organised grouping
25 September 2017The EAT has given guidance on the correct approach to determining the “principal purpose” of an organised grouping of employees within the meaning of the service provision change (“SPC”) rules under TUPE.
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Gender pay gap reporting – the story so far
25 September 2017It’s a little over five months since the first “snapshot date” of 5 April 2017 and less than seven months before the final deadline for employers with 250 or more UK staff to publish their first ever gender pay gap reports without incurring the wrath of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. This seems as good a point as any to ask the question “Where are we now?”
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Automatic transfer of employees applies on ‘pre-pack’ sale
25 September 2017The European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) has confirmed that, in the event of a “pre-pack” sale aimed at rescuing all or part of an insolvent undertaking as a going concern, EU transfer of undertakings law requires that the employees automatically transfer. This is consistent with the position in the UK under TUPE.
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Illegal working penalties released; name, shame and make them pay
25 September 2017The ONS has released the illegal working civil penalties data for the first quarter of 2017. The revenue raised was £5,900,000, prior to any adjustment following objections to the penalties. Given the population difference, it is not surprising that London and the South East had the highest number of penalties applied and illegal workers found but there were still large numbers issues in the Midlands and North West as well.
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New guidance published for employers conducting right to work checks
22 September 2017In August we also saw the publication of amended Home Office guidance for employers conducting right to work checks. Here are some of the highlights:
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Gimme 5
22 September 2017A series of five hints, tips and thoughts to help keep your sponsor licence healthy.
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April 2017 changes
22 September 2017In April we saw the introduction of the Government’s much heralded immigration skills charge. The charge is in essence a penalty fee payable by Tier 2 sponsors for relying on non-resident rather than local workers.
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Bid to object to transfer fails because TUPE did not apply
22 September 2017The High Court has considered an employee’s attempt to escape a lengthy period of garden leave by objecting to a TUPE transfer when his employer was going through a change in ownership. This was a creative attempt by the employee to avoid his contractual notice obligations, but he ultimately failed due to the lack of one key ingredient - a TUPE transfer.
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Continuous service for notice pay preserved on transfer
22 September 2017The European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) has considered an interesting TUPE issue concerning continuous service, arising in a case referred by the Swedish Labour Court.
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Mansplaining, micro-inequities and managers
21 September 2017Over the years, awareness of discrimination has increased significantly. Almost everyone will (hopefully) be able to spot direct discrimination when they see it. For example, subjecting a gay worker to homophobic abuse, sacking a woman as soon as she announces her pregnancy, or telling a Muslim colleague that her hijab “made her look like a terrorist” (as was alleged in a recent Employment Tribunal claim).
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Taxation of termination payments updated legislation published
19 September 2017The Government proposes to make a number of changes to the tax and national insurance (“NI”) treatment of termination payments.
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Andrew Osborne comments for Bloomberg: Premier League Fights to Retain Playing Talent After Brexit
15 September 2017Andrew Osborne has commented in an article for Bloomberg which discusses the affect of Brexit on the Premier League retaining and attracting foreign players.
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The Times' Lawyer of the Week: Adam Glass
14 September 2017We are delighted that litigation Partner, Adam Glass has been named as The Lawyer of the Week by the The Times.
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Competition watchdog’s open letter to the creative industries
12 September 2017The UK’s Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) has published an open letter to the creative industries on competition law. The letter reminds businesses that certain conduct that undermines competition in those industries is illegal.
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Yahoo! We’re watching you… Monitoring employee communications
06 September 2017Monitoring an employee’s personal correspondence at work was a breach of human rights, according to a new ruling by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (“ECtHR”). This reverses the ECtHR’s previous judgment in the same case in January 2016.
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Uber’s worker status appeal rejected
05 September 2017The Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has upheld the decision of an Employment Tribunal (“ET”) that drivers engaged by Uber are “workers” rather than independent contractors.
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Retail workers comparable to distribution centre workers for equal pay claim
05 September 2017The Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has ruled that individuals working in Asda’s retail stores can compare themselves with distribution centre workers in claims for equal pay.
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Executive pay ratio reporting – sound familiar?
04 September 2017The Government has recently announced it will take forward a number of proposals for corporate governance reform relating to employment. Media reports have focused on the watering down of earlier plans for worker representation on boards, which has predictably been attacked by unions.
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Cliff Fluet speaking at VUT events in Germany
25 August 2017Cliff Fluet will be speaking at two events on The Role of AI and VR in Today's Music Industry and The Controversy Between Copyright Owners and Users, for the German Association of Independant Music Companies. Both events will be taking place on Friday 22 September 2017.