The Government has published a new guide to transgender staff. The guide is for employers and covers the recruitment and retention of transgender staff. The publication also assists managers with what can be a thorny issue of dealing with issues in the work place that arise when an employee makes the gender transition. Whilst not a frequent […]
Sarah King Employment Solicitor
for specialist employment law advice
News – HR practice
HR’s involvement in disciplinary decisions
An interesting practical point arose in the recent case of Ramphal v Department of Transport surrounding whether HR advice and guidance should be sought by the dismissing officer. In that case the issue for the EAT was whether the Tribunal had properly considered the inference that HR had inappropriately interfered with the dismissing officers decision […]
Agency Worker’s Rights to be informed about vacancies
The Employment Appeal Tribunal in the recent case of Coles -v- Ministry of Defence has held that Regulation 13 of the Agency Workers’ Regulations 2010 does not prevent the company giving preference for vacant posts to permanent employees in need of redeployment. Regulation 13 of the Agency Workers’ Regulations 2010 gives agency workers the right […]
Consultation time
It is time to have your say on a number of number of employment law issues. So if you are one of those people who wants to have their voice heard or you just have an interest in the subject matter you should provide your views on the subject. There have been numerous consultations opened […]
Criminal record checks without the CRB
Whilst the Information Commissioner’s Employment Code of Practice has actively discouraged it for some time, it will from the 10th March 2015 be a criminal offence for an employer to require job applicants or existing employees to obtain a copy of their criminal records by means of a data subject access request. Some employers required […]
Genuine sickness absence?
According to a survey by healthcare provider Benenden Health, 60% of bosses do not believe the reason given by an employee for absence and 33% of managers scour social media after a sickness call to see if the employee is genuine. Having seen the worst excuses 1000 bosses and 1000 employees had heard for taking […]
Ban on advertising UK jobs
The Government has confirmed it will go ahead with its proposal to ban employment agencies and employment businesses from advertising vacancies for jobs in Great Britain exclusively in other EEA countries. For example this would prevent a UK Company advertising solely in Poland or Hungary for labour as is frequently reported in the press. The Government […]
Employment law changes this month
There are a number of employment law changes which came into effect on the 6th April 2014. A summary of these changes is set out below: Acas conciliation The Acas early conciliation procedure will be introduced. Discrimination questionnaires Section 138 of the Equality Act 2010 (which deals with discrimination questionnaires) will be repealed. Employment […]
Covert recordings
Nowadays almost every employee has access to recording equipment thanks to the modern day smart phone. There are many apps or inbuilt programmes that allow the device owner to make recordings. This can present a new challenge to employers where employees covertly record disciplinary and grievance meetings particularly where this includes deliberations and adjournments. In […]
What to expect in 2014
Following on from my post last week on the busy 2013 there are more changes on the horizon in employment law for 2014. Again some of the highlights include: January 2014 – the planned changes to TUPE; April 2014 – mandatory pre-claim conciliation; April 2014 – financial penalties imposed in ET for employers; Spring […]
(Our news section brings you the latest news on published judgments and cases which are all in the public domain. We only comment on these published cases and not cases of our actual clients. Publication of the case or comments is a public service designed to make the courts and tribunals more accessible and ensures justice is seen to be done. This is why court and tribunal judgments are published publicly.)