Finally, after twice rejecting the Government's legislation introducing the new employee-shareholder status, the House of Lords voted through the proposals on 24 April 2013. This new employment status could come into force, as intended by the Government  More...
25 April 2013 15:20

Solicitor Michael Scutt looks at the legal position behind the debate on so-called "gagging" clauses in compromise agreements. Who says history doesn't repeat itself? The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 came about because of a number of high-pro  More...
19 February 2013 12:07

Government sets out timetable for employment law changes Friday 15 March 2013 14:42 The Government has set out a number of forthcoming legal amendments due to take place as a result of its employment law review, which set out to an  More...
02 January 2013 05:57

Around 100 fixed income traders based at the London office of the Swiss bank UBS suffered the embarrassment of arriving at work for a normal day only to be told, out of the blue, that their services were not needed and they were being sent on "special l  More...
12 November 2012 08:41

The Chancellor of the Exchequer's proposals to pass legislation that allows employees to give up some of their employment rights in return for shares is intended to boost worker involvement, commitment and productivity. But it also raises employment and  More...
05 November 2012 00:01

Companies experiencing a downturn in business are increasingly looking for alternatives to redundancies. Recruitment freezes, unpaid sabbaticals and secondments have all been used to avoid making job cuts. In addition, employers often ask employees   More...
26 October 2012 14:50

Nearly two-thirds (63%) of people think the Government's proposal to allow employers to offer staff tax-free shares for the removal of some employment rights is a bad idea. This is according to a YouGov poll carried out in response to Chancellor Geo  More...
11 October 2012 16:18

Those opposed to the new "owner-employee" contract should wait to see the full package of policies on employee ownership before criticising the Government's stance, according to the author of the Nuttall review. Talking to Personnel Today, Graeme Nu  More...
10 October 2012 12:25

Chancellor George Osborne announced yesterday that a new employment contract for "owner-employees" could be in place by April 2013, but the plans have quickly been attacked by employment lawyers, employer groups and the unions. Designed to app  More...
09 October 2012 16:21

Civil servants are to face new restrictions on the amount of paid time they can spend on trade union activities, under proposals set out at the Conservative Party conference today. Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude announced that civil servants   More...
08 October 2012 16:46

Employees will be asked to give up some of their employment rights in exchange for shares in their company and tax-free gains, under a new "owner-employee" employment contract announced by the Government today. In his speech to the Conservative Part  More...
08 October 2012 14:54

Amid recent news reports of an increase in employers' use of zero-hours contracts, Sarah Veale, TUC head of equalities and employment rights, argues that time is up for such arrangements. During the recession in the 1990s, a new form of employment c  More...
07 September 2012 11:19

The Court of Appeal has ruled that an employee was entitled to be paid annual leave under the Working Time Directive, even though she had been absent from work through sickness. In a landmark ruling, the court also ruled that the employee,  More...
25 July 2012 16:03

Quashie v Stringfellows Restaurants Ltd FACTS Ms Quashie worked as a lapdancer in a Stringfellows club. Her services were terminated and she sought to bring a claim for unfair dismissal. The question arose as to whether she was employed or self  More...
05 July 2012 08:54

An employee relations adviser has compared Unite's attempts to agree national minimum standards for fuel-tanker drivers, employed by seven different companies, to getting all the major UK supermarkets to agree unified pay and working conditions for thei  More...
05 April 2012 16:48

The UK has introduced new laws increasing the rights of temporary workers. Linda Goldman and Joan Lewis find out what this means for firms hiring agency staff. There was a time when the use of temporary staff was seen as the huma  More...
01 December 2011 11:57

The recent case of Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher is important for all HR professionals to understand. It highlights the importance of clarity around the employment status of those they engage. Most importantly, it makes it clear that the courts will focus t  More...
03 October 2011 00:01

Organisations need to start planning for next year's Olympic Games in London, to reduce the risk of unauthorised absence and to make sure they get the best from workers during the event, Acas has said. With one year to go until the London 2012 Olympi  More...
27 July 2011 11:41

My business has recently acquired some new staff under a TUPE transfer, but they're on substantially better terms than my existing staff. I don't want a two-tier workforce so I'd like to harmonise the new employees' terms and I am even prepared to offer  More...
07 June 2011 12:23

A number of my staff have applied for tickets to the same events at the 2012 Olympics, where the tickets are allocated by a ballot. If one or two staff are off at the same time that won't be a problem. However, if a number of them receive tickets for th  More...
01 June 2011 08:25