News

The date on which notice is given to an employee is important as it will determine when the employment will terminate, which in turn will be the date at which the 3 months time limit to bring a claim at the Employment Tribunal will begin to run. This may be of particular relevance where the […]

‘Whistleblowing’ is the figurative word used for instances where an employee or worker discloses suspected occurrences of wrongdoing or malpractice within their employer organisation. An individual who does ‘blow the whistle’ will be protected in legislation from being dismissed or suffering a detriment as a result of their disclosure and claims in this area can […]

With the pending application of the Agency Workers Regulations, it yet again shows the importance of knowing your legal obligations and understanding what is expected of your business when working in the recruitment industry. This article should provide you with a summary of some of the important things to remember when dealing with clients and […]

A recent case in the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has highlighted the difficulties faced by respondents in getting a costs order against an unsuccessful claimant. The case of HCA International ltd v May-Beheemul [2010] was regarding an employee who resigned and subsequently lodged claims of disability discrimination, constructive unfair dismissal and detriment on the grounds […]

The Employment Tribunal has heard another case involving an employee’s use of a social networking websites which resulted in dismissal. The matter of Preece v J D Wetherspoon plc concerned a pub manager working for Wetherspoons at the Ferry Boat Pub in Cheshire. Her contract of employment clearly set out that she could be dismissed […]

The Government has announced that the national minimum wage for adults will increase on 1st October 2011 from £5.93 to £6.08 per hour – an increase of 15p.The increase is 2.5% below the rate of inflation. Vince Cable (the Business Secretary) commented that more than 890,000 of Britain’s lowest-paid workers will gain from these changes, that […]

There have been recent reports suggesting the possibility of the Employment Agency Standards inspectorate at BIS being merged with the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (“GLA”). It would not appear that there are any firm proposals for this to happen, just an announcement by employment relations minister, Ed Davey, that government is to review workplace rights, compliance […]

If I give an employee three months notice this afternoon, when will it end? Does the notice period include today, the day I give the notice, or does it start tomorrow? The answer may be significant in determining when the employees last day of work is and therefore the period in which they can bring […]

A recent case in the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has highlighted that employers must take care when using selection criteria in a redundancy exercise, and be particularly conscious not to unfairly favour an employee on maternity leave in comparison to other employees. The case (Eversheds Legal Services Ltd v Belin (2011)) involved a male employee, […]

The inclusion of a candidate’s photo on a CV is not a practice which is widely used in the UK unless specifically required by a hirer or recruiter. This is different from some other countries where it is normal practice. This begs the questions should we be including photos on CV’s? Are there benefits to […]

The holiday spirit has been in full swing in recent weeks and here at Lawspeed we have noticed an increase in enquiries about the subject. Therefore, we thought it would be useful to include some general points about holidays in this month’s AgencyZone: How much is the holiday entitlement? From April 2009, the rate increased […]

Hirers and senior recruitment professionals unanimously rejected the government’s proposal to impose a financial penalty on employers for breach of employment laws, at a think-tank meeting held by the Association of Recruitment Consultancies (ARC) to provide input into the government’s consultation on employment tribunal reform. ARC brought together its members and senior HR practitioners to put […]