Lawful Deductions From Pay

As the recession continues to bite and many employers feel the need to run a tight ship, care should be taken that deductions from employees' wages are made lawfully to avoid expensive tribunal claims. "Wages" are defined broadly and cover any sums payable to the worker in connection with employment, including any fee, bonus, commission, holiday pay or other payment referable to the worker's employment. A deduction from a worker's wages can only be made lawfully if: the deduction is required or authorised by law, and this includes tax, national insurance and attachment of earnings; the deduction is required or authorised by the worker's contract, for example a company car clause; or  the worker has given prior written consent to the deduction, such as a season ticket loan agreement or the purchase of childcare…

How To Discipline Employees Fairly

Some employers are reluctant to address problems with employees and put up with unacceptable conduct or substandard performance, sometimes for many years, until the employee resigns and solves the problem by default. However it is possible to deal with such matters fairly, without risking costly employment tribunal claims. You should first consider whether you need to take formal action under your disciplinary procedure and carry out a thorough and reasonable investigation. Before the disciplinary hearing, the employee must be informed in writing of the case against them, told what the possible consequences will be, given copies of any evidence so they can prepare and reminded of their right to be accompanied by a work colleague or trade union representative.  At the hearing, you should explain the allegations and go through the evidence. Following the hearing…

Tupe Pitfalls

Last month, Gillian Reid explained when the TUPE rules apply. This month, Gill highlights a couple of mistakes for employers to avoid in a TUPE situation. Changing terms of employment Any changes made by the new employer to terms of employment will be void, if the reason for the change is the transfer or a reason connected with it. This makes it very difficult to harmonise terms and conditions of employment. If changes are made to an employee's contract that are to his detriment, he can resign and claim constructive dismissal. Automatic unfair dismissal Any dismissal of an employee with the necessary qualifying period of service (which is one or two years, depending on when he started work), will be automatically unfair if the reason for the dismissal was the transfer or a reason connected…

Varying Terms Of Employment

Changing terms and conditions of employment is one way of reducing payroll costs without having to make staff redundant. But, as ever, it is important to follow the correct employment procedures and look out for a number of pitfalls. Examples of changes to terms of employment include: scaling back working hours reducing the number of days of work cutting pay by a percentage. You can vary a contract of employment in two ways. The first is if the contract of employment allows you to do so and the second is with the agreement of the employee. If your contracts do not include any of these terms, you will need to obtain agreement from your employees to the changes you wish to make. This can be done in three ways: You can seek…