Latest Posts

Checking employee right to work in the UK

July 18, 2022 4:16 pm Published by

As you will know, to ascertain whether an individual has the right to work in the UK, and to prevent illegal working, employers should carry out right-to-work checks. These checks should be carried out against prospective employees in advance of employment, although the Home Office guidance advises that employers can carry out the checks either on the same day employment starts before any work is carried out, or a reasonable time in advance. Care needs to be taken to avoid carrying out these checks too far in advance because an individual’s right-to-work status could change within this period. Check all prospective employees Organisations need to ensure they are carrying out these checks against all prospective employees, including those who are British or Irish. This will remove the risk...

Unconscious bias

May 20, 2022 4:49 pm Published by

What is unconscious bias?It describes the associations we hold outside our conscious awareness and control. It affects everyone and is triggered by our brain automatically making quick judgements and assessments.Think about recruitment you may have carried out recently – did you recruit someone with a similar background to you? (Affinity bias)Did you reject a candidate because they had different politics to you? (the Horns effect)Have you found yourself swayed by a panel away from your own views (Conformity bias)Unconscious biases can lead to unintentional discrimination, but if we are aware of them we can try to limit their impact. If you would like training for your team on unconscious bias please get in touch via help@yourhrpartner.co.uk or come to our seminar https://lnkd.in/e_XhcZxt

What can we learn from unfair dismissal cases of 2021?

March 7, 2022 1:27 pm Published by

In reviewing case law from 2021 there are a number of useful reminders:– In the case of Jaguar vs Rumbold, Mr Rumbold had worked for Jaguar for over 20 years, but had missed 808 shifts during that time, costing the company approximately £95,000 in sick pay. He was dismissed in 2018 but successfully claimed unfair dismissal because his employer, Jaguar Landrover Limited, failed to follow its own absence management procedures. They left it so long before deciding to dismiss him that the Tribunal did not consider dismissal a ‘reasonable response’. What we learn from this case is that disciplinary action should be proportionate – in cases of gross misconduct, dismissal may be a clear outcome, but where misconduct has been tolerated for a...

National Insurance increases can be offset by pension contributions

March 7, 2022 1:25 pm Published by

From April 2022, employees and employers will face a National Insurance (NI) rise of 1.25 per cent. From 2023, the tax will be renamed as a health and social care tax, to pay for the social care system. However the figure of 1.25 per cent is deceptive, because the actual increase employees and employers will have to shoulder is more like 2.5 per cent. Employees will see a greater reduction in their salary, and employers will face higher NI costs.  You can, however, mitigate against these NI rises to benefit both employer and employee. Assuming you have a workplace pension in place, through salary sacrifice, where an employee agrees to reduce their gross earnings by the same amount as their pension contributions, in exchange, you...

SSP Rebate Scheme for covid-related absences to end

March 7, 2022 1:19 pm Published by

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

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...