Holiday Pay

In a judgment handed down by the Employment Appeal Tribunal on 4th November 2014 in the case of Bear Scotland v Fulton (and conjoined cases) the Working Time Directive requires holiday pay to be calculated so as to include overtime, including non-guaranteed overtime, as part of normal remuneration, and that it is possible for the Working Time Regulations 1998 to be construed accordingly. However, this only applies to the four weeks' annual leave derived from the Working Time Directive, not the additional 1.6 weeks provided by regulation 13A of the Working Time Regulations 1998. The Employment Appeal Tribunal also found that it was not open to employees to claim that they had suffered a series of deductions (for the purposes of the unlawful deductions from wages provisions of the Employment Rights Act (1996) by linking…

Dress Codes And Appearance In The Workplace

Employers must avoid unlawful discrimination in any dress code policy. Employers may have health and safety reasons for having certain standards. Dress codes must apply to men and women equally, although they may have different requirements. Reasonable adjustments must be made for disabled people. Dress codes should relate to the job and be reasonable in nature. Consulting with employees over proposals may help to ensure that the dress code is acceptable to all. The dress code should be in writing and be communicated to all employees. Employees may dress in a certain way for religious reasons: any restriction should be connected to a real business or safety requirement. Employers should work with employees to allow them to manifest their faith in a suitable way. Employers should have sound business reasons for requiring tattoos to…

National Minimum Wage Increase

The National Minimum Wage will change from 1 October 2014. The new rates will be as follows: The standard adult rate (for workers aged 21 and over) will rise by 3% to £6.50 an hour (up 19p from £6.31). The youth development rate (for workers aged between 18 and 20) will rise by 2% to £5.13 an hour (up 10p from £5.03). The young workers rate (for workers aged under 18 but above the compulsory school age who are not apprentices) will rise by 2% to £3.79 an hour (up 7p from £3.72). The rate for apprentices will rise by 2% to £2.73 an hour (up 5p from £2.68). The accommodation offset will rise by 3.5% to £5.08 a day (up 17p from £4.91).   The increases follow recommendations from the Low Pay Commission…

Changes To The Law On Parental Leave

Currently, unpaid parental leave is available to birth and adoptive parents and also to anyone who has, or expects to have, parental responsibility for a child and has been continuously employed for not less than one year at the time the leave is to be taken. The right applies in respect of each child: an employee with one qualifying child may normally take 18 weeks' leave, an employee with two children would be entitled to 36 weeks' leave in total. From April 2015 new mothers and their partners, who are eligible, will be able to share up to 52 weeks of leave in total, between them, either in alternating blocks or taken together (subject to final Parliamentary approval). The right will apply to agency workers as well as employees. Employees expecting babies on or after…