Employee status and agency workers: The nature of the work is the key consideration
An employee on a temporary zero hours contract should be classed as an agency worker, the Employment Appeal Tribunal found in Brooknight Guarding Limited v. Matei.
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Sex discrimination case flushed out of the Tribunal system with a £25,000 settlement
A female council worker has settled her sex discrimination claim for £25,000. She was instructed to go to a different office, ahead of an inspector’s visit, to clean the kitchen and the toilets. She was told the toilets “needed a woman’s touch” despite the fact that cleaning was not within her job description.
Only 6% of Brits work 9am-5pm
A recent survey from YouGov has found that only 6% of Brits now work 9am-5pm and nearly half of those surveyed worked flexibly through job-sharing flexitime or compressed hours. The study shows that the most preferred working hours are 8am-4pm (chosen by 37% of the respondents) with another 21% saying they would prefer to start work even earlier at 7am and finish at 3pm.
Publicise parental leave policies
A study conducted by the Liberal Democrats has revealed that only 4 UK government departments display their parental leave and pay policies on their external websites. This is despite the fact that the government has launched a new “Share the joy” campaign, intended to encourage more parents to utilise shared parental leave, and is spending £1.5 million to increase awareness.
CIPD reports that a reduced amount of EU to UK migration has caused a skills shortage in the UK
According to CIPD’s latest quarterly labour market snapshot, a slump in the number of EU citizens migrating to the UK has exacerbated skills shortages in the UK.
Sickness absences at lowest average since 1993!
Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed a significant fall in the number of days employees are taking off work due to sickness. The ONS reported that an average of 4.1 sick days were taken in 2017, compared to 7.1 in 1993 (the year records began).
Only 20 per cent of tribunal fees have been refunded since Supreme Court ruling
Following the Supreme Court ruling which declared tribunal fees unlawful, the government pledged to refund those who had paid tribunal […]
Migrants' rights in the spotlight
Brexit is thought to be one of the reasons why the Tier 2 (General) restricted Certificate of Sponsorship cap has been reached. However, we may at last be seeing some reprieve from this.
Kilraine v London Borough of Wandsworth [2018]
A recent case has considered the issue of what amounts to a protected disclosure. In Kilraine v. London Borough of Wandsworth [2018], the Court of Appeal guided Employment Tribunals in such cases to focus on determining whether there was a “protected disclosure” and whether the disclosed information, showed or tended to show that one or more of the six specified types of malpractice had taken place or was likely to take place – for example a breach of a legal obligation.
Pay gap between younger and older workers
The pay gap between the under-30s and over-30s has risen by more than half in the last 20 years, as younger workers are still enduring the residual effects of the financial crisis.
Home Office publishes details of settlement scheme for EU Citizens:
EU citizens will be able to apply for settled status in 3 easy steps for less than the price of […]
The future of work could mean automation… and "robot tax"!
The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee (BEIS) has launched an inquiry into automation and the future of work. The purpose of the inquiry is to consider two points. 1.The inquiry will look at the impact automation will have on UK businesses and the potential it has for productivity, growth and re-industrialisation. It will focus on specific questions about automation such as which sectors are most likely to be affected by automation, and whether businesses receive enough financial support when opting to automate. 2.The inquiry will also look at the impact automation will have on workers. The inquiry will consider what policies and actions should be in place to reskill workers and the role Government should play to support this.