Legal News and Articles

TUPE transfer update With effect from today, the time period for a Transferor to provide employee liability information to a Transferee increases to 28 days before the transfer. Previously it was 14 days. This applies only apply to TUPE transfers that take place on or...

Statutory Sick Pay no longer reclaimable from governmentWith effect from 6th April 2014, it is no longer possible for employers to reclaim statutory sick pay from the government.Previously, employers could reclaim any amount of SSP which exceeded 13% of its national...

Flexible working rights extended Although awaiting confirmation, new flexible working rights are expected to be introduced on 30 June 2014. All employees, regardless of whether they have caring responsibilities or not, will have the right to request a different...

Conciliation requirements from April 2014 The new requirements for Conciliation become operational from April 2014, and then they will be mandatory from May. There could also be a deluge of requests from employees once the new Flexible Working rights are introduced...

New rates of statutory maternity pay and sick pay announcedThe Welfare Benefits Uprating Order 2014 has now been published. The Order sets the rates for statutory sick pay and statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay from April 2014.The changes that come into...

Maximum fine for non-payment of national minimum wage to increase to £20,000 The Government has confirmed that employers who fail to pay their workers the national minimum wage (NMW) will face an increased financial penalty of up to 100 per cent of the unpaid wages...

Child abuse a good reason for dimissal? Maybe not!Does the fact of an allegation against a school caretaker of child abuse, occurring prior to and outside of employment, amount to a substantial reason for dismissal? The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in dismissing a...

Post termination restrictions on trade In the 'information age', may employees' relationships with clients be covered by restrictive covenants? Yes, the High Court decided in the case of East England Schools v Palmer. This case centred on an employee of an...

Financial penalties for Employers - in force from 6 April 2014 From 6 April 2014 Employment Tribunals will have the power to fine an employer up to £5,000 (which is payable to the government) if they lose a claim and their case has "aggravating features", such as...

Third party harassment From 1 October 2013 the third party harassment provisions which were found in s40 of the Equality Act 2010 have been repeald. Transitional provisions mean that they will still apply to acts which occurred prior to 1 October. The third party...

Dismissing an employee for gross misconduct after an inadequate investigation was victimisation A recent EAT decision highlights that even an admission of gross misconduct from an employee is no guarantee that dismissal will be fair. The EAT agreed with an employment...

Employee misconduct: carrying out a reasonable investigation Businesses should take note of a Court of Appeal decision that focused on the level of investigation that an employer may be expected to undertake where there is an alleged theft or act of dishonesty by an...

New Financial Penalties for Employers The new provisions relating to financial penalties on employers come into force in respect of any tribunal claim presented on or after 25th October 2013. Here's what they say... Where an employment tribunal concludes that an...

New cap on level of compensation in Unfair Dismissal cases The new cap for unfair dismissals is now also in force, and will be the lower of 12 months’ pay or £74,200. While the £74,200 cap bites most for those on higher salaries, the 12 month’s pay cap will have a big...

Actions of the Employee after a dismissal can be relevant! In another case involving consideration of events after dismissal, Cumbria County Council & Anor v Bates, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that where a teacher was convicted of common assault...

New Minimum Wage – October 2013 Minimum Wage Increase From 1 October 2013, wage rates increases are as follows: Apprentices to £2.68 per hour, For those aged 21 and above, from £6.19 to £6.31 per hour. For those aged between 18 and 20, from £4.98 to £5.03 per...

Employee Shareholder Agreements On 1st September 2013 the controversial and much talked about ‘Employee Shareholder Contracts’ come into force in the UK requiring employees, in return for equity in the business, to give up rights to redundancy payments, flexible...