Changes To Employment Law May 2014

From 2 May, 2014 the time period for a transferor to provide employee liability information to a transferee increases from 14 to 28 days before the transfer. This only applies to TUPE transfers which take place on or after 1 May 2014. Additionally, from Tuesday 6th May it will be compulsory to notify ACAS of an intended tribunal claim before presenting an employment tribunal claim form. ACAS early conciliation has been optional since 6 April 2014; from 6 May 2014 it will become compulsory. Published: May 2014 Contact us: For further advice on your employment issues contact Gillian Reid 01904 716050.

Employment Law Changes Coming

Changes to employment law The start of the new tax year on 6 April 2014 will see a number of changes to employment law. The rule changes will affect many areas of employment law, from employment tribunals and discrimination, to everyday areas such as auto-enrolment and maternity pay. Key changes: Statutory maternity and paternity pay will increase from £136.78 to £138.18 The time period for auto-enrolling workers has increased from 1 month to 6 weeks Employee complaints are now required to submit details to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) Tribunal award limits are being increased.   Published: April 2014 Contact us: For further advice on your employment issues contact Gillian Reid 01904 716050. "http://www.warekay.co.uk/news-updates/family

Cv Fraud

There is no doubt that CV fraud is on the increase; in a recent survey, one in five candidates admitted to lying on their CV and more than 50 per cent of employers said they had spotted material inaccuracies in CVs. Many CVs contain minor errors - such as wrong dates or exaggerated achievements - that may be overlooked by an employer, but CV fraud is more intentional and involves lying about qualifications or experience. In the worst case scenario this could be a criminal offence or present a threat to public safety. Being a victim of CV fraud will waste your time and your money and could put your professional reputation at stake.  The best way to avoid it is by verifying details on interviewees' CVs from the outset. You should check: identity…

Employment Tribunal Traps To Avoid

An employee can take an employer to an employment tribunal for a variety of reasons. These include claims for unfair dismissal, unpaid wages, redundancy and discrimination. If the claim is successful, the tribunal can order the employer to pay compensation and/or give the employee their job back. Defending the claim yourself can be very difficult and time consuming if you have no experience of employment law or dealing with a tribunal court. Some claims are very technical and depend on the interpretation of legislation or case law. If you do not follow the correct procedure, present your case properly or miss a hearing you put your defence at risk. If you are tempted to represent yourself, take care to avoid the most common mistakes employers make: failing to complete the response form properly or…

Resignation Checklist

All employers, no matter how good they are, will likely have to deal with an employee resignation at some point. Sometimes it is because an employee's personal circumstances change and sometimes it is because they have been offered a better opportunity elsewhere. On some occasions, it is because there are problems at work. As an employer it is important to know how to handle the details when an employee resigns. You cannot refuse to accept someone's resignation. However, if an employee resigns verbally in the heat of the moment, you should give them an opportunity to change their mind in order to avoid a constructive dismissal claim. Here is a checklist of some of the issues for employers to think about when an employee resigns: ✔   the resignation should be confirmed in writing; ✔…

Religion And Belief In The Workplace

The Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful to discriminate against someone because of their religion or belief.  With religious festivals of all faiths spread throughout the year, employers need to be aware of workers' rights and some of the issues that can arise to avoid costly tribunal claims. The Equality Act protects employees, contract workers, partners and office-holders, and covers the areas of recruitment, terms and conditions, promotion, training and dismissal. An employee, who believes you have discriminated against them, harassed or victimised them because of their religion or belief can bring a claim in an employment tribunal and, if successful, can be awarded unlimited compensation. The average award in April 2012 - March 2013 for this type of discrimination was £16,320. Employers can be held responsible if one employee discriminates against another in the…

Zero Hours Contracts

It is estimated that anything between 250,000 and one million workers are employed on zero hours contracts in the UK. Employment law does not define a zero hours contract. In practice it has come to mean a contract for casual work, where the employer does not guarantee to provide the individual with any work and pays them only for the work actually done. Usually, the worker is expected to be available to work if called on by the employer. Workers are effectively on standby and are generally contacted at the start of each week and told how many hours they will be required to work that week. The advantages for employers are clear: they do not have to pay staff when there is no work available for them; nor do they have to pay sick…

Recruitment Best Practice For Employers

Most employers will need to recruit a new member of staff at some stage, either because an employee has left and they need to be replaced, or because they are expanding. Finding the right person can be tricky but employers need to follow a fair selection procedure to reduce the risk of allegations of discrimination. Discrimination law covers all areas of employment, including advertising jobs and recruitment. You should keep records of the equal opportunities training that managers have received, all decisions made during the recruitment process and the reasons for them, in case you have to justify a decision later. A fair recruitment selection process should: Use a standard application form - a job description and a person specification should not include requests for personal information. Equal opportunities monitoring forms should be kept…

Share For Employment Rights

Three different types of employment status have existed for some time: employee, self-employed and worker. Each benefits from a slightly different range of employment rights. From September 2013, a fourth type joined the list: employee shareholder. This measure was introduced by the government to reduce employment costs for employers by giving employees a stake in the company they work for in return for waiving some of their employment rights. Employees have to be given shares in the business in order to become employee shareholders. The status can only be offered if your business is run as a company. Sole traders, partnerships, charities and public sector organisations will not be able to take part.  An employee shareholder has to be given fully paid-up shares worth at least £2,000 and there is no maximum amount they can…

Do I Need A Staff Handbook

Most employers will be aware that it is a legal requirement to give all employees a written statement of particulars of employment, but also having a staff handbook gives you an opportunity to set out in detail what you expect from your staff. It is a means of passing on to employees important information about your organisation and how it works on a day-to-day basis. It is also a handy place to keep forms for sickness self-certification, requesting holidays, claiming expenses and so on. The handbook can either be printed and a copy given to each employee or it can be put on your intranet so that all staff can access it. There are some policies and procedures that you have to give employees by law and a staff handbook is a good place to…