Categories for Employment law

What can we learn from P&O, Meta and Twitter?

November 30, 2022 11:28 am Published by

You will have heard that P&O Ferries fired 800 staff with immediate effect in March. Similarly, technology company Meta and social media giant Twitter have laid of thousands of staff in an attempt to significantly reduce costs. It has been reported that Twitter offices were closed overnight and employees found out whether they were to be made redundant by email en masse – seemingly without any consultation – some having already been locked out of company systems in advance of the company email. This type of approach can open up a company extensive liability, as well as negatively impacting their image, reputation and employee relations. Staff with over two years service have the right to claim unfair dismissal in an Employment Tribunal. Considering all options prior to restructuring  Ideally all options should be considered prior to proposing redundancies. For example,...

Changes to statutory sick pay from March 2022

February 23, 2022 12:42 pm Published by

The Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme will close on 17‌‌‌ ‌March‌‌‌ ‌2022. Employers will no longer be able to claim back Statutory Sick Pay for their employees’ coronavirus-related absences or self-isolation that occur after ‌17‌‌‌ ‌March‌‌‌ ‌2022. Employers have until 24‌‌‌ ‌March‌‌‌ ‌2022 to submit any new claims for absence periods up to 17‌‌‌ ‌March‌‌‌ ‌2022, or to amend claims they have already submitted. After that, there is a return to the normal SSP rules, which means employers should revert to paying SSP from the fourth qualifying day their employee is off work regardless of the reason for their sickness absence.

Temporary changes to employee fit notes

January 5, 2022 11:14 am Published by

In light of the rates of covid the Government have made temporary changes to the rules regarding fit notes until 26 January 2022. Previously if an employee was off sick they could self-certificate for up to 7 days after which they required a fit note from a doctor. However in order to relieve the burden on GPs for the next few weeks, employees can now self-certificate sickness for up to 28 days, including non-working days such as weekends and bank holidays and will not require a doctors note. If staff are self-isolating for a covid-related reason they will be eligible to receive SSP from day one. However for all other illnesses SSP applies from day four.

Business planning and Employment law

March 24, 2021 12:19 pm Published by

A 20 minute briefing on Employees, Workers, Contractors; Contracts; Right to work; Employee rights; Social media; the Furlough scheme and Redundancies! Hope you find it useful

Employing non-UK nationals

January 20, 2021 3:39 pm Published by

If they have not already done so, any EU workers you currently employ who do not have British passports or indefinite leave to remain in the UK, will need to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme. The scheme will grant them either ’settled status’ or ‘pre-settled status’ depending on how long they have lived in the UK at the time they make their application. Those employees with over five years’ continuous residence should receive ‘settled status’ and can remain in the UK permanently and those employees with less than five years’ residence should receive ‘pre-settled status’ enabling them to remain in the UK until they can upgrade to ’settled status.  Applications for the Scheme can be made at www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families and it is free to apply. Applications must be made by 30 June 2021. Employees who...

Changes to IR35 rules

January 20, 2021 3:37 pm Published by

IR35 is a set of complex rules that affect an individual’s Tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs) if he or she is contracted to work through an intermediary. Its’ stated aim is to prevent workers using limited companies, through which they effectively work as employees, without paying the relevant Tax. In the eyes of HMRC those who do supply services through an intermediary should be classed under IR35 as ‘disguised employees’ and taxed in the same way as general employees – by making the appropriate PAYE and NIC payments. IR35 does not cover individuals that are genuinely self-employed. When assessing whether IR35 rules should apply, HMRC assess both Contracts and working practices. They also consider tests such as control, mutuality of obligation and personal service, as well...

Extension to the Furlough scheme

November 2, 2020 3:31 pm Published by

Further to the Government announcement at the weekend regarding a national lockdown from 5 November 2020, it has also been announced that the Furlough scheme will be extended into November and December (no end date has been confirmed as yet). As such if you have any staff who have already signed agreements regarding the Job Support Scheme you will need to get their agreement to put this on hold and put them back on furlough leave where applicable. The key points of the scheme are as follows: – The level of the CJRS grant will mirror that from the month of August, i.e. up to 80% of salary will be paid for hours not worked up to a cap of £2,500 per...

The Job Support Scheme

October 14, 2020 12:09 pm Published by

Here are some of the finer details of the Job Support Scheme (JSS): – The Government has explained that an employee on the JSS will earn a minimum of 77% of their normal wages where the Government contribution has not been capped – Employers using the JSS will also be able to claim the Job Retention Bonus for each employee which meets the criteria – For the first three months of the scheme the employee must work at least 33% of their usual hours, after which time this threshold may change – Working patterns may change after a minimum of 7 days and staff may ‘cycle’ on and off the scheme – For every hour not worked by the employee, the Government and the employer will pay a third each of the...

The Job Retention Bonus

October 14, 2020 12:00 pm Published by

The Treasury has issued more details on the Job Retention Bonus. Here is a summary, broadly in line with what we knew was coming:- the Job Retention Bonus is available to employers in respect of each employee who (a) has been on furlough at some point; and (b) remains employed, and not under notice, on 31 January 2021. HMRC will make a payment of £1,000 to the employer for each eligible employee.  This is a bonus to the employer, and the employer does not have to pass it over to the employee. to receive the bonus, the employer must have paid a salary of at least £1,560 to the employee between 6 November 2020 and 5 February 2021 (this is to prevent the employer getting a bonus of £1,000 by keeping,...

Help with redundancies

July 22, 2020 9:03 pm Published by

Do you need to make redundancies? This guide summarises the consultation process and explains the need for ‘pools’ and objective criteria. For advice around your specific needs, as well as an analysis of your contractual obligations, statutory redundancy pay and the relevant letters please contact us on 020 8346 8686 or via help@yourhrpartner.co.uk