Employment Law Changes Effective Today

April 06, 2020Alan Kitto

With all of the updates about coronavirus, it’s easy to forget that today is the start of a new financial year and the date on which a number of employment law changes take effect.

Vicarious Liability - Two Supreme Court Decisions

April 01, 2020Alan Kitto

The Supreme Court has today issued judgement on two cases dealing with vicious liability.

Tips For Working Productively at Home

March 19, 2020Alan Kitto

From many recent conversations, I know that more and more people are being asked to work from home in an attempt to keep business running in these unprecedented times. For some people, working from home is the norm, for others, it’s daunting and even stressful, especially if they are doing it for the first time.

Coronavirus - Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) Update

March 12, 2020Alan Kitto

Yesterday, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, has announced that the Government will reimburse small employers (those employing less than two hundred and fifty employees) any statutory sick pay they pay to employees, for the first fourteen days of sickness in the event that they are ill with coronavirus, or have to isolate under the advice of a medical practitioner.

Uber Drivers in France are Not Self-Employed

March 06, 2020Alan Kitto

There French Court of Cassation (their equivalent to the UK Supreme Court for civil law matters) has issued a ruling that Uber drivers are not self-employed despite the fact that contractually that is the case.

Annual Statutory Rate Increases

March 04, 2020Alan Kitto

The Government has announced the statutory rate changes that will take effect from 6th April 2020. The changes are as follows …

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

February 29, 2020Alan Kitto

Employers have a duty of care towards their employees which includes not exposing them to unnecessary risk. In this case, that may include not putting them in a position in which they could become infected by the virus without taking all reasonable precautions.

This duty of care, where Coronavirus is concerned, may differ depending on an employee’s specific circumstances, for example, if they are older or they have underlying conditions.

Supreme Court - 'Sleep-In' Shifts and National Minimum Wage

February 12, 2020Alan Kitto

Two significant cases are being heard the Supreme Court over the next couple of days and although we’re unlikely to hear the outcome of each for several months, they are certainly worthy of mention.

Major Data Breaches in 2019

January 17, 2020Alan Kitto

Thanks to our anti-virus software provider Bitdefender for the following update.

With more than 4 billion records exposed, 2019 hit a milestone in cybercrime. It’s hard to keep track of the daily flood of security and data breaches, so here we lay out some of the more significant ones that may have affected you or your family last year. 

Is Ethical Veganism a Protected Philosophical Belief?

January 05, 2020Alan Kitto

You may have seen in recent news reports that ‘Ethical Veganism’ has been accepted by an Employment Tribunal as being a recognised and therefore protected philosophical belief for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 and as such, ethical vegans can not be treated less favourably by their employer because of their belief.

Employment Law Changes in 2020

December 29, 2019Alan Kitto

As 2019 draws to a close, we thought we’d take a few minutes to outline the planned changes to employment law in 2020 and the Government’s intentions within this term following the recent general election.

The Labour Party's Manifesto 2019

November 22, 2019Alan Kitto

The Labour party has published its manifest for the 12 December 2019 general election; key manifesto pledges are:

Recruitment, Remember it’s a Buyers Market

November 01, 2019Alan Kitto

We’re regularly hearing from our clients about how challenging it is for them to find good candidates to fill vacant roles and that it’s now not uncommon for candidates to reject their offers of employment.

Health and Wellbeing Challenges in the Workplace

September 22, 2019Alan Kitto

A recent study by Willis Towers Watson, one of the country’s largest providers of employee healthcare and risk management services has highlighted a number of interesting challenges for employers:

Labour Party Proposes a Ministry for Employment Rights

September 10, 2019Alan Kitto

The Labour Party is today announcing plans to create a Ministry for Employment Rights, along with a Workers' Protection Agency to enforce those rights, in what would be substantial repositioning of employment and trade union law.

Barclays Eagle Lab in Cardiff

August 22, 2019Alan Kitto

We’re delighted to announce that from the beginning of October, we’ll be collaborating with the Barclays Eagle Lab in Cardiff, giving HR advice and guidance to their resident start-up businesses.

The Effects of Alcohol in the Workplace

August 10, 2019Alan Kitto

One of the essential HR policies that we advise all companies to have is a policy on ‘Alcohol at Work’, covering what is and isn’t allowed and also the consequences of non-compliance. The following statistics, taken from the Willis Towers Watson Employee Health, Wellbeing and Benefits Barometer 2019, are cause for significant concern for most employers:

It's Hot Outside (and Inside Too)

July 23, 2019Alan Kitto

With temperatures outside souring to 30 degrees and more, we’ve had an increased number of enquiries around how hot it has to be before employees can complain about their working conditions. The following information from ACAS may be helpful when deciding what you may be able to do in your workplace to make working conditions more bearable.

There's More Than Just a Gender Pay Gap

July 05, 2019Alan Kitto

As Pride month comes to an end, a survey of over 4,000 workers by YouGov for LinkedIn and UK Black Pride identified a pay gap of 16% between straight and LGBT+ workers, equivalent to £6,703 per annum before tax. 

Dealing With Trauma at Work

June 28, 2019Alan Kitto

A serious accident or worse, a death in the workplace would be most employer’s worst nightmare and yet most employers don’t plan for how to deal with these eventualities should they happen.