Categories for News

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.

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...

Paid Parental Bereavement Leave expected

August 1, 2019 4:29 pm Published by

Paid Parental Bereavement leave is expected to be introduced in April 2020 allowing parents two weeks statutory bereavement leave. Entitlement to statutory paid leave under the Parental Bereavement (Pay and Leave) Act will be subject to service qualifications and proof of the employee’s relationship with the child. Currently parents are entitled to take unpaid leave to deal with emergencies involving dependants.

‘Exclusive’ Zero hours Contracts unenforceable

May 26, 2015 5:29 pm Published by

As of May 2015, employers using so called ‘zero hours’ employment contracts are no longer able to require such staff to work exclusively for them. Any provision in a ‘zero hours’ employment contract which prohibits the worker from working for another employer, or requires the employee to first get the employer’s consent is unenforceable. This gives zero hours employees the ability to supplement their incomes by undertaking work for other employers without being in breach of the terms of their employment contract.