Employment law is due to hit the big screen in the UK on 1st October. The Equal Pay Act 1970, the first modern piece of anti-discrimination legislation, may not sound like the stuff from which box office hits are made. However the events which led up to it have inspired a major new film, “Made…
The legal right for employees of more than six months standing to ensure that requests they make for flexible working arrangements (such as part-time work or working from home) are taken seriously by their employers was introduced in 2003. Originally the right was only for parents and others (such as guardians) who were responsible for…
There was a useful reminder in the Employment Appeal Tribunal recently of the differences between tribunals and courts when it comes to awarding costs. As is well known, the general rule in the Courts is that “costs follow the event” – in other words, the winner of a case is usually entitled to an order…
The general purpose of an award of compensation by an employment tribunal is to put a wronged employee, so far as possible, in the same financial position as he would have been in if he had not been wronged. It is well established law that if an award of damages or compensation would be tax…
A new law (the Equality Act 2010 s.60) will soon make it unlawful for a prospective employer to ask a job applicant about his or her health before offering work. In fact this goes wider than just “employers” in the technical sense – it covers applications for a position as a partner, as a contract…
It seems that a serious row is brewing over cutting the cost of public services by reducing numbers of Civil Servants. This post attempts to explain some of the legal background. Civil servants are not entitled to statutory redundancy pay. Instead they have their own, generally more favourable, arrangements under the Civil Service Compensation Scheme…
Regulations increasing the National Minimum Wage on 1st October 2010, and making other significant changes to it, have now been made (the National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999 (Amendment) Regulations 2010, SI 2010/1901). The main changes are that: • the principal rate of the national minimum wage increases from £5.80 to £5.93 per hour; • the…
As noted in our last item, on the same day as the government announced its plans to abolish the default retirement age, the Court of Appeal handed down a judgment holding that (on the facts of the particular case before it) a partnership was justified in requiring a partner to retire at age 65. The…
Subject to complying with certain conditions, under current law employers can lawfully require employees to retire at age 65 – commonly called “the default retirement age”. If it were not for a special rule in the Age Discrimination rules this would be a breach of the regulations (the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, SI 2006/1031)…
The UK Border Agency has published new guidance for employers concerning how to deal with the employment of asylum seekers and refugees. The notes are straightforward and there are links to sources of further information and relevant forms. You can download the guide here.