News

It has been reported that Government Equalities Office (‘GEO’) has confirmed that Gender Pay Gap (‘GPG’) reporting requirements to apply to “employees” in the wider sense, as defined by the Equality Act 2010 (‘EqA’), which may include some agency workers. Essentially, GPG reporting requirements mean that businesses with more than 250 “relevant employees” will be […]

Lawspeed launches its new monthly live webinar programme, offering top quality training on a range of recruitment law topics. Our webinars provide managers, directors and employers in the recruitment sector with practical guidance and useful, clear overviews about current and looming legislation.  The webinars are delivered by our team of legal experts, who have received […]

Bonuses and commission are well established in the recruitment industry culture. The benefits are bountiful. It motivates your consultants and generates income to your business which in turn leads to sometimes sizeable bonus payments to your staff.  Everybody wins. Until the working relationships become strained. Even the most amicable parting of ways tend to have […]

Lawspeed introduces a series of incisive sector reports, providing recruitment agencies and umbrellas with comprehensive and practical advice on key taxation and legal issues. The reports are designed to provide guidance for recruitment agencies – helping them to make informed decisions and to protect commercial interests.  Increasingly agencies are faced with new and complex tax […]

The government has published draft legislation on gender pay reporting which will affect businesses with 250 employees or more. Essentially, the changes mean that businesses with more than 250 employees will be required to publish their gender pay gap information on their website, confirming in a statement the accuracy of such information.  The aim of […]

You may be thinking that this probably has nothing to do with your business. Think again. The obligation under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (‘MSA’) applies to organisations that have an annual turnover of £36 million and above and is therefore likely to affect recruiters and umbrella companies more than other SMEs due to, for […]

This was the message from Adrian Marlowe, MD of the recruitment law and compliance specialist Lawspeed, whilst speaking at the Recruitment International compliance conference in London on 8th March. Explaining the issues Marlowe said “from 6th April HMRC will be using a double test in order to crack down on the use of tax relief […]

The government has responded to its latest consultation on the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations 2003, announcing its proposals for change and confirming once again that job boards will not be excluded. New regulations have been published which will include an extension of the requirement to advertise in Great Britain as well […]

Following the decision in Lock v British Gas, it is now an established principle that commission should be taken into account in calculating the amount that an employee should receive whilst on holiday. Commission would usually relate to an earlier period and therefore be paid whilst an employee is on holiday, but how do we […]

On 1st April 2016 the government’s new mandatory National Living Wage of £7.20 per hour for workers aged 25 and above will become law. Paying a worker less than the National Living Wage will be a breach of National Minimum Wage (“NMW”) legislation which could lead to fines and/or an organisation being named and shamed […]

Long gone are the days when your boss could, completely out of the blue, walk up to your desk and shout ‘You’re fired!’…or are they? The Employment Appeal Tribunal (‘EAT’) recently considered the issue whether a series of relatively minor acts of misconduct can be “aggregated” to justify a fair dismissal without any prior warning. […]

From April 2016 organisations that fail to pay tribunal awards or settlement amounts can be subject to financial penalties. The legislation which allows these penalties has already been passed, and following a specific parliamentary question, an intended implementation date of April 2016 has been confirmed. Individuals who settle claims or who are awarded amounts by […]

No, provided that the reason why the request is being made is not due to the employee’s race, which includes colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins. In the recent case of Kelly v Covance Laboratories Ltd, the Claimant, who is of Russian origin, was asked by her employer to speak in English rather than in […]

A recent case reminds employers of the need to be careful in both giving of references and agreeing references as part of settlement agreements. In Pnaiser v NHS England and Coventry City Council, the Employment Appeal Tribunal considered whether the giving of a verbal reference which implied that the claimant had a poor sickness record, […]