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04 April 2023 Employment advice

The client is king and businesses will usually do anything they can to keep and grow clients, but not everyone is committed to increasing diversity and inclusion at the same pace. This can create some tricky dilemmas. Should an employer accommodate a client’s discriminatory preferences? And does the employer have a duty to protect employees from discriminatory clients? ‘Employers can sometimes find themselves in the difficult position of wanting to keep a client happy, but also needing to protect their employees. The law in this area is a mix of seemingly contradictory provisions,’ says Kalpesh Nakeshree, Head of Employment Law with Ware & Kay in York, Wetherby & Malton. Kalpesh offers guidance and practical tips for dealing with this type of scenario and he also looks at the potential impact of clients rewarding diversity and…
14 March 2023 Employment advice

Times are tough for UK farmers at present, with high energy prices and the cost-of-living crisis combining with the aftermath of Brexit and the pandemic to force many farming families to tighten their belts. One obvious way of saving costs is to reduce staffing numbers, with lay-offs, short-time working or redundancy all possible options. Kalpesh Nakeshree Head of Employment Law at Ware & Kay in York, Wetherby & Malton, outlines the legalities and potential pitfalls of these courses of action. Lay-offs and short-time working If you need to reduce your staff-count for only a short period, you could consider laying off an employee. This involves asking them to stay home or take unpaid leave until you need them on the workforce again. Alternatively, you can ask your employee to agree to short-time working, which sees…
10 March 2023 Employment advice

What did Mr Lineker Tweet? Gary Lineker recently caused a political storm when he compared the current UK asylum policy to 1930s Germany. Mr Lineker Tweeted that the language in which the plan was set out was ‘’not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30’s’’ and referred to the policy as ‘’beyond awful’’. Why was this controversial? The BBC (his employer) has impartiality guidelines. He is one of their highest profile stars and receives his circa £1.8M salary from us the taxpayer. As a result the BBC felt the need to have a ‘’frank conversation’’ reminding him of his ‘’responsibilities.’’ As a gentleman on the radio said yesterday ‘’why should he spout politics? He should stick to football and flogging crisps. I don’t pay his salary to listen to his views on immigration’’. Mr…
02 March 2023 Employment advice

"Other than the usual April updates to statutory rates, it looks deceptively quiet on the regulatory front for employers. But the end of the year could see the biggest shake-up in employment law for years as a consequence of Brexit," explains Kalpesh Nakeshree, Head of Employment Law with Ware & Kay. Kalpesh highlights the key changes to rates, and looks at the extra bank holiday, a raft of private members’ bills aimed at seeing through earlier government commitments, a consultation on a statutory code on ‘fire and rehire’ and a couple of topical cases. Increase in statutory rates Employers should prepare for increases on the following dates: 1 April 2023 – national minimum wage Increase in the national living wage for workers aged 23 and over from £9.50 to £10.42 per hour. Increase in the…
03 February 2023 Employment advice

‘Performance management can be challenging and time-consuming,’ according to Kalpesh Nakeshree, Head of Employment Law with Ware & Kay. ‘The first challenge is to determine if this is a capability issue that needs to be addressed under a performance management procedure, or if it is a conduct issue to be dealt with under the disciplinary process. As a rule of thumb, capability relates to the employee’s abilities and competence, whereas conduct involves carelessness or laziness.’ ‘It is important to get this right to make sure you follow the right procedure and increase the chances of any dismissal being fair. Kalpesh Nakeshree outlines the performance management process, looks at common problems and highlights some alternative options. Key steps The purpose of a performance management policy and procedure is to give the employee the opportunity to improve…
06 January 2023 Employment advice

  Have you ever spotted someone wearing a lanyard with a sunflower as a means of indicating that they have a non-visible disability (also known as a hidden or invisible disability)? But not everyone wishes to advertise their disability, and some people may not know that they have one. ‘Employers are sometimes surprised by the level of support that they are legally required to provide to disabled employees,’ according to Kalpesh Nakeshree, Head of Employment Law with Ware & Kay. ‘What can come as an even greater surprise is that those legal obligations may arise even if the employee has not told their employer about the disability.’ Kalpesh looks at hidden disabilities and debunks some common myths about what employers need to know to trigger their responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010. What is a disability…
20 December 2022 Employment advice

This short article is aimed at the businesses who are looking to employ new staff.  It is important to take the correct legal steps when hiring new employees. Though it may seem simple to some, there are mandatory steps that any employer must take when looking to take on a new employee – and that doesn’t mean just showing them where the tea and coffee is located! Right to work in the U.K. First thing’s first, every employer MUST ensure that their new employee has a right to work in the U.K. Right to work checks can be carried out manually by obtaining documents from an approved list (see Home Office website for this). If an employee is unable to show their documents or status, you may be able to use the free Employer Checking Service…
06 December 2022 Employment advice

Christmas parties are a great chance for employees to have fun together and for employers to treat their staff as a ‘thankyou’ for their hard work during the year. An unintended consequence can be that employees take this as a chance to behave badly or share uncomplimentary opinions about colleagues and managers that they have kept under wraps during the rest of the year. An employment tribunal is likely to see the Christmas party as falling within the ambit of employment, bringing the risk of the employer being liable for discrimination and other claims. This can also land you with grievances and damaged relationships. ‘No team is harmonious all the time, but sometimes working relationships can deteriorate to such an extent that employers may need to take drastic steps to resolve the situation. A breakdown in…
04 October 2022 Employment advice

According to the charity Adoption UK there are nearly 3,000 children in care waiting to be adopted, and as charities seek to raise awareness of this during National Adoption week (17-23 October 2022), employers may get questions about employment rights related to adoption. Kalpesh Nakeshree, Head of Employment law with Ware &Kay explains how ‘Family-friendly employment rights support employees adopting looked-after children, as well as children adopted through surrogacy arrangements or from overseas. Although employment rights for adopting parents lagged behind those of a biological mother, adopting parents now have broadly the same entitlement to leave, pay and legal protection.’   Who is entitled to adoption employment rights? An employee may be adopting on their own, with a spouse, civil partner or in an unmarried couple, whether same or different sex. Adoption employment rights apply to…
14 September 2022 Employment advice

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