Most employers know that it is foolhardy to dismiss an employee for incapacity based on sickness unless medical evidence has been obtained to support the decision. The fairly straightforward reason for this is that a sickness incapacity dismissal will generally be unfair unless it has been established that the employee will be unfit to return…
The Government has announced a new Health and Work Service which is due to launch later this year. It is intended to provide assistance and support for employers, employees and GPs. The focus will be on helping employees to stay in or return to work and it is targeted at employees who have reached or…
One of the employment law questions I am most often asked is whether an employer can insist on changing the terms of an employee’s contract of employment. I considered the law concerning the imposition of pay cuts in October 2011. The general principle is that a variation in contract terms which operate to the detriment…
In June 2012 I reported the decision of the Court of Appeal in Hounga v Allen. Ms Hounga had entered the UK from Nigeria on a false passport, ostensibly to visit friends, but in fact to take up work as an au pair for a Nigerian family. She was about 14 years old and was to…
In all the time that I have been dealing with employment claims (quite a long time!) there has been a permanent confusion concerning the tax treatment of settlement payments. Should tax be deducted from notice payments? Is there a “payment in lieu” clause in the contract of employment? Should the £30,000 exemption apply? Why should…