New rules for flexible working requests from 6 April
The right to request flexible working has been around for over 20 years, and in that time eligibility to the right has been extended from parents and carers of young…
The right to request flexible working has been around for over 20 years, and in that time eligibility to the right has been extended from parents and carers of young…
Most employers will try to protect staff from bullying in the workplace, but sometimes it is hard to know what to do about the problem. A third (32 per cent)…
Dealing with employee grievances properly can require a great deal of time and effort, but a prompt investigation could uncover inappropriate behaviour or poor management. If this can be nipped…
On average, each employee in the UK took 5.7 days off due to sickness in 2022, according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics. The estimate of working…
When it comes to protecting intellectual property (IP), business owners are constantly on their toes to ensure that their assets are safeguarded. However, once an employee leaves a company, the…
‘One in ten people are estimated to have dyslexia according to the British Dyslexia Association,’ says Alana Penkethman, employment expert at Laceys Solicitors. ‘Dyslexia awareness week runs from 2 –…
When did you last review or update the policy on social media use for your employees? Does it reflect the way that social media is being used on a day-to-day…
Due to changes in ways of working since the pandemic, or in response to the economic slowdown, some employers are downsizing their premises and asking employees to relocate to new…
One story which received a great deal of media coverage earlier this year was the publication of the results of a six-month trial involving around 2,900 workers who had moved…
According to the Office for National Statistics, before the Covid pandemic only one in eight working adults reported working from home at least once during the previous seven days. This…
The client is king and businesses will usually do anything they can to keep and grow clients, but not everyone is committed to increasing diversity and inclusion at the same…
‘Other than the usual April updates to statutory rates, it looks deceptively quiet on the regulatory front for employers. However, the end of the year could see the biggest shake-up…
‘Performance management can be challenging and time-consuming,’ according to Alana Penkethman, employment expert at Laceys Solicitors. ‘The first challenge is to determine if this is a capability issue that needs…
Have you ever spotted someone wearing a lanyard with a sunflower as a means of indicating that they have a non-visible disability? What about those individuals who do not wish…
Christmas parties are a great chance for employees to have fun together, and an opportunity for employers to treat their staff and thank them for their hard work during the…
According to the charity Adoption UK, there are nearly 3,000 children in care waiting to be adopted. National Adoption Week took place this month, and as many Charities will be…
Employee recruitment and retention remains challenging for employers and offering an attractive package of benefits can give employers an edge. A wide range of benefits can be offered, including buying…
Recruiting the right senior executive can be an immense benefit to a company if they bring the right mix of skills, experience, and contacts to the business. It is not…
This year’s Queen’s Speech was surprisingly light on employment law developments, with the omission of the long-awaited Employment Bill. However, the last few months have seen a couple of announcements…
The subject of pay is always a hot topic and requires sensitive handling. Employees feel they need more, due to the rising costs of living, or believe they deserve more…
‘Being dismissed for misconduct can have a devastating impact on an employee’s future job opportunities,’ says Alana Penkethman, employment law expert with Laceys Solicitors. ‘Before fairly dismissing someone for misconduct, employers must…
April is usually the month when the Government introduces new employment legislation, and in recent years, it has announced its commitment to introducing significant new rights, such as neo-natal leave…
The law gives five potentially fair reasons for dismissal. The most commonly used reasons are redundancy, capability and misconduct, but a breach of a statutory duty or restriction, or some…
‘As an employer, it’s likely that at some point, you will receive a tribunal claim from an employee, former employee or even an applicant,’ says Alana Penkethman, an Associate in…
Now is a time of transition as employees return to the workplace either on a hybrid basis or for all their working time. ‘Employers need to keep in mind the…
Many businesses are now at the stage where they have planned their longer-term working arrangements for staff, whether they are based in the office, working remotely, or embracing a hybrid…
According to Care UK, three million people in the UK are juggling work with unpaid caring for disabled, seriously ill, or older loved ones. NHS England reports that carers are…
Despite all your best efforts to recruit and retain the right key executives, sometimes things just do not work out as planned and it becomes evident that it will be…
The last 18 months have seen employers turn on a dime to keep their business on track, while guarding the health and wellbeing of staff and customers. While flexibility has…
In an episode of the Netflix series House of Cards, the American First Lady Claire Underwood opens the door of her huge refrigerator and stands there cooling off from a…
Alana is an Associate in our Corporate and Commercial team and is an expert employment lawyer. She advises businesses and individuals on matters arising from recruitment to termination. Alana provides…
Despite the success of the vaccine programme, the impact of the pandemic on businesses will continue for some time. For example, when the furlough scheme ends in the autumn, it…
The official government message encouraging people to work from home is expected to end with the final step out of lockdown. For many employees though, homeworking is here to stay….
While the predicted lockdown baby boom has not materialised and the birth rate is similar to 2020 (down just 0.5%), family caring responsibilities have been more evident in the last…
The statutory definitions of the three categories of employment status have long been criticised as being unclear, and over the years a body of case law interpreting these definitions has…
On 22 March, it was being widely reported that the French subsidiary of IKEA was being prosecuted in France. The offences centred around the company allegedly engaging private detectives and…
It has long been thought that requiring an employee to be at or near their place of work during the night was ‘working’ even if the employee was required to…
Laceys’ Head of Employment & HR, Robin Watson spoke to the Wessex Branch of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) on Thursday 11 March. CIPD is the professional…
After postponements in 2019 and 2020, the 6 April 2021 is the third date scheduled for the off-payroll working rules to be extended to the private sector. The purpose of…
The Supreme Court has ruled that Uber drivers are not self-employed and are workers. This means that they are entitled to receive basic employment rights such as minimum wage; holiday…
The rollout of the vaccination programme has been welcomed as the beginning of the end for the Covid-19 pandemic. For many employers, ensuring their workforce is vaccinated is an important…
2020 was a tumultuous year with employers having to respond rapidly to the challenges of the pandemic. Culturally the world has shifted too, with the Black Lives Matter movement bringing…
While some people are enjoying working from home, this is not the case for everyone and the negative impacts over several months are taking a toll on some employees. ‘Employers…
The government coronavirus job retention scheme (also known as furlough scheme) has been extended through to March 2021. The job retention scheme which was initially introduced in 1 March 2020…
The viability of many businesses is on a knife edge and flexible working options enabling the scaling up or down of your workforce at short notice have become increasingly important….
If you are restructuring your business getting the redundancy procedure right is crucial, as mistakes can open the door for an employee to bring a claim before an employment tribunal….
With a resurgence of the Coronavirus and the furlough scheme ending on 31 October, Rishi Sunak has announced plans for a Job Support Scheme, allowing workers to get 3/4 of…
When a key employee is about to leave, employers look to minimise damage to their business and may wish to keep the employee away from customers and commercially sensitive information….
Back in March, the Government introduced the concept of furlough leave under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, to support employees who may otherwise likely be made redundant, in an attempt…
Since 1 March, the Covid-19 Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) was set up to support people, protect jobs and businesses through the pandemic, and has proven to be a lifeline to employees…