Age Discrimination Checklist
The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 , which came into force on 1 October 2006, aim to achieve equal treatment in employment and vocational training to eradicate discrimination on the grounds of age. Under the...Asleep But On Call
Asleep But ‘On Call’ A hotel worker won his appeal that he was entitled to be paid for the hours he spent asleep at work. William Anderson worked as a general assistant with Guest Care...Blind Worker Wins Discrimination Case
In an unusual case, a blind computer specialist won her claim of disability discrimination and constructive unfair dismissal in the Court of Appeal, highlighting the risks for employers who fail to give sufficient attention...Bullying Award Sounds Further Warning Bell for Employers
The award of £828,000 in damages for a Company Secretary Assistant, who endured a long-running campaign of bullying and harassment at the hands of her workmates, serves as a further warning to employers who allow such behaviour to go on in the...Call Centre Worker Wins Flexible Working Case
Since 6 April 2003 parents of children aged under 6 (or under 18 if the child is disabled) have had the legally enforceable right to ensure that a request for flexible working arrangements is not rejected without good cause....Compromise Agreements
As a general rule, ‘out of court settlements’ of employment disputes are not legally binding in that they cannot exclude an employee's right to take the matter concerned to an Employment Tribunal (ET). A formal compromise agreement is one of the...Consultation on Draft Code of Practice on Discipline and Grievance
The Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2004 , which require employers and employees to operate statutory minimum disciplinary, dismissal and grievance procedures were intended to give those involved the chance to settle...Dealing with Employee Absence
Employee absences can be both costly and disruptive. It is advisable to have systems in place to measure and analyse these costs so that you can identify problem areas. Are there patterns of absence? Does a particular department...Defective Compromise Agreements
There are specific rules that normally apply when an employer enters into a compromise agreement in order to prevent an employee from taking action on a particular matter at the Employment Tribunal at a future...Disability Discrimination - Normal Day-to-Day Activities
Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA), a person has a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment which has a long-term substantial adverse effect on their normal day-to-day activities. The...Disabled Employees and Sick Pay
In an important judgment in a case concerning the application of sick pay policies to disabled employees ( O’Hanlon v HM Revenue and Customs ), the Court of Appeal has held that a sick pay policy that did not provide unlimited full pay for a disabled...Driving on Company Business
Research by the Health and Safety Executive shows that 20 people are killed and 250 are seriously injured each week in traffic accidents involving someone driving for business reasons. The threat of employers being...Drug Policy - Recognising the Signs and What to Do
Research findings from Medscreen, based on drug testing carried out over the last ten years across a variety of professions, reveal that there has been a 3,000 per cent increase in the number of workers testing positive for cocaine. More than five per cent of...Dual Vicarious Liability for Negligence
Vicarious liability is the obligation which falls on one person, for example an employer, as a result of the actions or omissions of another, for example an employee. The Court of Appeal has ruled that...Employee or Self-Employed - Mutuality of Obligation
When deciding whether a worker is an employee or a self-employed person, it is necessary to examine the exact nature of the working relationship. Two important factors in deciding whether an arrangement is a contract of...Employers Warned to Take Hearing Damage Seriously
The Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID), the charity which represents 9 million deaf and hard of hearing people in the UK, has joined with the TUC in issuing a warning to employers and employees to take the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005...Faulty Work Boots - Employer Not Liable for Employee's Frostbite
The House of Lords ruled, in the case of Fytche v Wincanton Logis tics, that an employer’s absolute obligation to maintain or repair protective equipment, under the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992, does not extend to...Guidance for Employers of Teleworkers
Nowadays, many people work away from the traditional office environment through the use of modern technology. The Government estimates that there are now more than two million ‘teleworkers’ in the UK who do some work from home, an increase of 65...In Brief - ACAS E-learning Guides
The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) now has eight electronic learning guides available on its website. The topics are bullying and harassment; managing...In Brief - Advice on Occupational Asthma
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) estimates that each year between 1,500 and 3,000 people in Great Britain develop occupational asthma. The number rises to 7,000 cases a year if asthma made worse by work is taken into account. The cost to society is...In Brief - Data Protection
The Office of the Information Commissioner has published a consolidated version of the guidance on data protection issues in employment. This brings together the four existing guides on recruitment and selection, employee...In Brief - Guidance on Cancer and Working
Changes introduced in December 2005 extended protection under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to those diagnosed with progressive forms of cancer. The Chartered...In Brief - Working at Height Regulations
Falls from height are the single biggest cause of workplace deaths and one of the main causes of serious injury. In order to help prevent accidents of this type, revised Regulations came into force on 6 April 2005....In Brief: ACAS Guidance on Holiday and Holiday Pay
The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) has useful guidance for employers puzzling over staff holiday pay entitlements. These clarify the law in a useful question-and-answer format. Subjects covered include the...Increases in Statutory Holiday Entitlement
From 1 October 2007 the Working Time (Amendment) Regulations 2007 increased the statutory minimum annual holiday entitlement from 4 weeks (20 days for those working a 5 day week) to 4.8 weeks (24 days). ...
Latest News
