Part of my role is monitoring absence. It's come to my notice that one member of staff has been off for some time because of a leg injury. I have reasons to suspect there's nothing much wrong with him. His job involves minimal manual work. I've told him  More...
22 October 2008 12:10

Guy Guinan, employment partner, Halliwells When an employee decides to leave, too often it appears that the contractual notice period is treated as just an annoying formality by people who will try and get around it and leave at the earliest opportun  More...
17 October 2008 16:16

The HR director for XL Leisure Group, which went into administration last week leaving thousands of holidaymakers stranded overseas, has told of her team's struggles to help employees at the tour operator. The company's 1,700 employees face an   More...
19 September 2008 16:45

The latest crop of graduates and school leavers to hit our workplaces have been branded the most demanding and self-serving generation ever seen. But can you really believe the hype? Our special ‘Gen Y’ area is packed with features ab  More...
15 September 2008 09:52

Gagandeep Prasad and Caroline Buckley spell out the vital contract and policy documentation for holiday entitlement. The summer holidays are fast approaching. This can be a difficult time for employers as the majority of the workforce will want to ta  More...
15 September 2008 00:00

The government has decided to extend and revamp the right of employees to request flexible working. When this becomes effective it will mean that employers will have to redefine their flexible working policies, but what are the likely ramifications?   More...
12 September 2008 17:11

What is the legal status of someone employed on a casual basis? Is it related to the number of hours they work? I am an HR manager at a local authority that employs museum education assistants. They run workshops for school parties at museum sites  More...
12 September 2008 16:42

Tullett Prebon Group Limited v Ghaleb El-Hajjali Facts Tullett Prebon Group Limited ("Tullett"), a City investment firm, entered into an employment contract with Mr El-Hajjali, a senior derivatives broker. The contract contained a "no-show" c  More...
02 September 2008 00:00

Watson Wyatt has published the latest editions of its well-known annual reports on employee benefits and employment terms and conditions for Western Europe. Already in their 35th and 34th editions respectively, these reports are essential r  More...
27 August 2008 12:33

Swiss investment bank UBS recently grabbed some headlines with the interim injunction that it won against competing start-up wealth manager, Vestra . Some 75 UBS employees had been persuaded to leave and join Vestra instead. These were key investment ma  More...
26 August 2008 15:14

Flexible working could soon become a casualty of the credit crunch, an employment expert has warned. Julie Quinn, employment partner at law firm Nabarro, has predicted that employers will be unable to keep offering a range of flexible working arrange  More...
20 August 2008 09:30

Q My company regularly tenders for, and wins, government construction contracts. I've read that the government intends to make it so that staff working on government contracts should be entitled to the same conditions as central government employees. Wh  More...
25 July 2008 11:09

The economy is undergoing a period of near-unprecedented change. There's been a definite shift in mood from caution to pessimism, and with that a flurry of mergers and acquisitions and moves to restructure organisations. Here we look at why  More...
22 July 2008 14:40

Q What is a casual worker? A The phrase 'casual worker' is often used to describe workers who are not part of the permanent workforce, but who supply services on an irregular or flexible basis, often to meet a fluctuating demand for work. Their leg  More...
10 June 2008 00:00

The fight for greater workers' rights will go on despite the recent raft of legislative announcements, a key union figure has warned. In the past few weeks, the government has announced that it will extend the right to request flexible working to p  More...
03 June 2008 10:41

Enfield Technical Services Ltd v Payne and BF Components Ltd v Grace Facts Mr Payne worked for Enfield Technical Services as, at his request, a self-employed sub-contractor. He worked exclusively for Enfield but received no sick or holid  More...
27 May 2008 00:00

Fresh claims that agency workers should be given equal treatment within the first few weeks have emerged after a report found the average length of time such workers stay in their jobs is less than five months. The report, Agency Working in the UK:   More...
07 May 2008 11:03

Martland v Co-operative Insurance Society Ltd Facts Mr Martland was employed by Co-operative Insurance Society Ltd (CIS) as a financial adviser. In 2005, the terms and conditions of employment of all CIS financial advisers were changed. CIS sough  More...
23 April 2008 17:38

Robinson v Tescom Corporation Facts Mr Robinson was employed as a territorial manager for Tescom, a manufacturer of pressure regulators and valves. In 2006, Tescom formulated a restructuring plan that involved a expanding the territory covered   More...
28 March 2008 17:07

We have a temporary worker who has been with us for more than two years and has become very much part of the team. Although we have a contract with the supplying agency, their arrangement with our temp is less clear. Are we at risk she may become our em  More...
17 March 2008 15:00