HMRC has published its draft legislation concerning the proposed changes to the taxation of termination payments. The changes are expected to come into force in April 2018 as consultation on the proposed legislation continues until 5th October 2016. The proposed changes are to make all PILON payments taxable and subject to class 1 NIC’s deductions […]
Tag: settlement agreement solicitor kettering
Disclosure in the public interest
A requirement was added for whistleblowers that the disclosure be made in the public interest. This was added to prevent Claimant’s relying on complaints concerning their own contracts. The question remained however as to how wide the public interest requirement was. The EAT held in Chestertons v Nurmohamed that the Claimant can have a reasonable belief is in the public […]
Early Conciliation results
The ACAS early conciliation statistics for the first six months have been released and, whilst not 100% representative of the actual results due to a time lag in people putting their claim in, make interesting reading. By way of a recap in a claim for unfair dismissal it is now mandatory for the Claimant to first […]
Dress Codes
Issues around dress and personal hygiene are always difficult conversations that many employers simply hate to have. Having a dress code in place spelling out what many would see as obvious can assist with ensuring that staff have a uniform approach to dress at work even if this is not a uniform in the traditional […]
Providing a reference
This month’s business development briefing sets out the key issues a business should consider before providing a reference for an employee or former employee. Types of reference A business is most likely to be asked to provide a reference for a prospective employer, although it could be asked to give one in other circumstances (for […]
Holiday pay
Following my blog at the end of last year, it has been confirmed that holiday pay must include commission. I reported on the case of British Gas v Lock in which the Attorney General had given his opinion that statutory holiday pay under the Working Time Regulations must include commission. This was subject to the […]
National Minimum Wage and sleeping time
When the provisions of the Working Time Regulations came into force, there was a run of cases concerning whether those that were required to be on night shifts sleeping at the employer’s premises were in fact working for the purposes of working time. The recent case of Esparon t/a Middle West Residential Care Home v […]
What is a settlement agreement?
A settlement agreement is a legally binding agreement between two parties, which was previously known as a compromise agreement. It is normally between an employer and an employee or two parties that were in that relationship before employment terminated. The employee agrees not to bring any claims against their employer in return for a lump […]
Shared parental leave
The Government has published the draft Shared Parental Leave Regulations 2014, which will bring into force the ability for parents to share leave and pay for babies due on or after 5th April 2015. The Regulations are only in draft and consultation ends today on their content but they currently contain a great deal of […]
Why do employers offer settlement agreements?
Firstly, what is a settlement agreement? Well it is a legally binding agreement usually between an employee and their employer whereby the employer offers the employee a lump sum in excess of their normal entitlement to compromise any employment claims they may have. It must meet certain legal requirements to be a valid settlement agreement one […]