Category: Employment
February 2014
False Self Employment
Author: Nicola O'Dwyer
HMRC has recently issued a consultation paper on false self-employment, due to increasing evidence that Intermediary Companies and Employment Businesses are being used to present individuals as self employed to avoid paying national insurance and tax. They also avoid the costs and risks associated with having employees.
January 2014
Zero Hours - Useful or Abused?
Author: Laura Marchington
Zero-hours contracts have been the subject of much debate over recent months. This includes a lot of press coverage where these types of arrangements have alleged to have been abused. Figures from research carried out by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) estimates that around 3% of the workforce are working on a zero-hours contract; that is, approximately one million people.
November 2013
School Liable for Brain Damage?
Authors: SImone Horrobin and Matthew Kilgannon:
The recent Supreme Court decision of Woodland v Essex County Council highlights the exposure faced by Schools when engaging third parties to provide services. While the case involved a maintained School, the implications apply equally to independent Schools, indeed, part of the Court’s rationale included reference to fee-paying schools have greater exposure given the contractual nature of the relationship.
October 2013
Confidential Discussions (Pre-Termination Negotiations)
As one of its many recent changes, the Government has now introduced a new right for employers, employees and their representatives to have confidential discussions regarding the termination of an individual’s employment.
September 2013
Shareholder Employees
Employee Shareholder status came into force on 1st September 2013. The Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013 introduced a new section into the Employment Rights Act 1996 which provides employers the opportunity to provide shares to an employee (the Employee Shareholder), in return for the employee giving up some of their employment rights.
September 2013
More Confusion over Calculating Holiday Pay
In Neal -v- Freightliner Limited an Employment Tribunal considered whether overtime pay should be included when calculating statutory holiday pay.
July 2013
Employment Law Reforms
There are three major changes to employment law which come into effect on 29 July 2013:
July 2013
Woolworths Administration: protective awards should have been paid to all staff
In USDAW –v- Ethel Austin Limited (in administration) & another case, the EAT has given its long awaited decision regarding protective awards under TULRCA. This involved the cases of employees of the Woolworths and Ethel Austin Stores, the former of which went into administration in November 2008.
July 2013
Who are “affected employees” for TUPE consultation purposes?
In I Lab Facilities –v- Metcalfe & others, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) considered who could be “affected employees” as defined in TUPE for the purposes of a complaint for failure under the information and consultation provisions.
July 2013
Maximum Protective Award unfair where company faced insolvency
In AEI Cables Limited –v- GMB & others, the Emploument Appeal Tribunal (EAT) considered whether a maximum protective award under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 had been appropriate.
