Employment Law Changes Taking Place From April 2017

Employment law is a fast-changing area and as an employer you need to stay up to date with developments to ensure that you are acting lawfully.  Most employment law changes take place in April and October each year.  Gillian Reid, Head of Employment at Ware & Kay Solicitors in York, Wetherby & Malton , looks at what is happening in April 2017 and what you need to do. National minimum wage and national living wage aligned The review date for the national minimum wage has moved to 1 April 2017 instead of 1 October 2017. This means that the next round of changes to the national minimum wage and national living wage will take effect on 1 April 2017: From this date: the national living wage for workers aged 25 and over will increase…

Have You Been Accused Of Misconduct

Conduct is a potentially fair reason for dismissal so, if an employer has accused you of misconduct, you should get independent legal advice to ensure your employment rights are protected.  Gillian Reid, Head of Employment at Ware & Kay in York, Wetherby & Malton , looks at what you need to do if you are facing disciplinary proceedings for misconduct. Misconduct is unacceptable or improper behaviour.  Cases of minor misconduct, such as lateness, are usually dealt with informally.  If informal resolution fails or the matter is more serious, your employer will normally take formal action.  Gross misconduct is the most serious type of conduct and includes theft, fraud, fighting, drunkenness, harassment, serious negligence and serious breach of health and safety rules.  It can result in the termination of your employment without notice or pay in…

Employment Law Newsletter February 2017

In this newsletter, we outline updates which will take effect from April, summarise the government's recent review of Employment Tribunal fees and look at 2 recent cases dealing with Rest Breaks and Redundancy Consultation, plus a brief mention of a recent case on employment status. Updates from 6th April 2017 National Living Wage For workers age 25 and over   £7.50 per hour For workers age 21 - 24          £7.05 per hour For workers age 18 - 20          £5.60 per hour For workers age under 18        £4.05 per hour The apprenticeship rate           £3.50 per hour   Parental payments (Provisional figures) Statutory maternity Pay (after the first 6 weeks), paternity pay and adoption pay will rise to £140.98 per week. Statutory Sick Pay (Provisional figures) SSP will rise to…

Age Discrimination In The Workplace

As school leavers and graduates compete with an aging population who need or want to work longer, there is an increasing risk to employers of employees bringing claims against them for age discrimination where they believe their career prospects have been adversely affected by how old they are. In this article, Gillian Reid, employment lawyer at Ware & Kay in York, Wetherby & Malton , outlines the main provisions of the law on age discrimination, contained in the Equality Act 2010, and explains the steps you, as an employer, can take to avoid falling foul of the rules. Discrimination in recruitment Job applicants are protected from age discrimination. Before publishing a job advert, you need to look carefully at the language you intend to use to check whether it might put off a potential candidate…