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April 23, 2012
We hope you will excuse us while we blow our own trumpet for a moment…
We were absolutely delighted to be awarded ‘Best Start Up’ at our local business awards on 30 March. The category was for businesses which have shown “determination, drive and passion to start and grow a successful business.” Read more
April 23, 2012
As you will know from our previous articles, the time for which an employee needs to be employed in order to bring a claim of unfair dismissal increased to two years for employees who started with their employer on or after 6 April 2012.
The increase in the qualification period was not the only change. Employees who started after 6 April 2012 will now need two years’ service in order to be entitled to be given written reasons for their dismissal, except when the reason was pregnancy related. Read more
April 23, 2012
It is relatively common for an unsuccessful job applicant to ask for feedback from the prospective employer. In that situation the team at Pure Employment Law are often asked whether the organisation has an obligation to reply, or whether it is best to say nothing. Read more
April 23, 2012
No, nothing about Alan Sugar’s show, we promise! We recently reported about the impending change in the rules on apprentices – these have now been brought into effect.
As you may recall, the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 states that an apprenticeship agreement entered into under the Act has the status of a contract of service and not a contract of apprenticeship. In order to be an apprenticeship agreement under the Act, it must be “in the prescribed form.” We had been waiting to find out what the prescribed form would be. Read more
April 23, 2012
Employee monitoring can take place in many ways, such as checking emails and internet sites visited by employees or CCTV coverage of the workplace premises. It can be a difficult area for employers to navigate, because a number of areas of law can come into play, including data protection, human rights and the laws on telephone and computer monitoring. Read more
April 23, 2012
In a recent case, Samsung Electronics v Monte-D’Cruz, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) looked at the fairness of an employer recruiting external candidates to fill vacancies in preference to redeploying existing employees whose positions had been made redundant. Read more
April 23, 2012
The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) specifies that any dismissal of an employee before or after a relevant transfer will be automatically unfair where the sole or principal reason for the dismissal is either:
If the dismissal is for a transfer-related reason but the employer establishes an ETO reason, then the dismissal is potentially fair for redundancy or some other substantial reason (SOSR) provided the employer acted reasonably in relying on that reason to make the dismissal. Read more
April 23, 2012
There can sometimes be a dispute about exactly when an employee’s employment actually ended (the effective date of termination). This applies particularly when notice is given by methods such as post and email, because generally speaking, notice can only be effective when it is received by the other party. Read more
April 23, 2012
One of our long-standing employees has asked if he could take an unpaid career break/sabbatical of one year to enable him to do some travelling and volunteering. As he is a valued member of staff and someone we do not want to lose in the long term, his manager has said that he is prepared to agree. What do we need to bear in mind, and what do we need to do next? Read more
March 20, 2012
We are all getting used to the idea of extra bank holidays – 29 April was an extra one last year, for the Royal Wedding, and this year there will be an extra one to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, which will be on 5 June. The usual late May Bank Holiday is being moved – for one year only – to 4 June to create a long weekend of celebrations.
Last year for the Royal Wedding Bank Holiday we were inundated with queries from employers and employees on what their rights and obligations were as far as the additional day was concerned (our article, which was featured in People Management magazine, can be viewed here). Read more