Be wary of informal grievance complaints as tribunals may see fit to consider them Statutory grievance procedures continue to plague employers. For example, in Procek v Oakford Farms Limited , the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) found that a grie  More...
25 July 2008 11:42

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

French president Nicolas Sarkozy has successfully abolished the country's controversial 35-hour working week limit. A law passed by the country's parliament late on Wednesday will allow French employers to strike individual deals with unions on  More...
25 July 2008 11:08

Tempers can flare in the workplace, occasionally prompting employees to take hasty action, which they may later regret. So what should an employer do if an employee resigns after a bust-up with the boss, but then has a change of heart and wishes to with  More...
25 July 2008 11:00

The number of employment tribunal claims rose by one-third last year, according to the Tribunals Service's annual report. A total of 189,348 claims were received last year, compared with 143,474 in 2006-07. The number of claims disposed of decrea  More...
23 July 2008 08:00

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 a  More...
22 July 2008 14:40

The recent employment tribunal decision in Lillian Ladele v London Borough of Islington has been the subject of much media attention. While it is not the first case that has had to grapple with a direct conflict between the legislative pr  More...
22 July 2008 00:00

Millions of workers could claim unlimited discrimination damages from their employers because of their association with people covered by equality law, legal experts warned after a landmark court ruling last week. A European Court of Justice (ECJ)   More...
22 July 2008 00:00

London mayor Boris Johnson has ruled out the use of positive discrimination to increase the number of black and minority ethnic (BME) officers in the Metropolitan Police Force. Speaking exclusively to Personnel Today, Johnson urged the Met to use  More...
22 July 2008 00:00

Employers want to stay on the right side of disability discrimination laws even if they think an employee may be using the protection it provides to behave inappropriately. A ruling by the House of Lords in the case of London Borough of Lewisham v M  More...
21 July 2008 00:00

HR news and analysis including: why some employers are disillusioned by the latest duties imposed on them when bidding for government contracts, including that they must publish diversity stats and enable staff the right to training new boss o  More...
18 July 2008 16:04

A security analyst has warned HR directors they are "under threat" from computer hackers hunting for employee data, after unearthing a huge operation. Anti-virus software giant McAfee discovered a scam targeting users of global recruitment website M  More...
18 July 2008 11:00

SG&R Valuation Service Co v Boudrais & Others   More...
16 July 2008 16:18

A gay church worker who quit his job after less than a year on claims of sexual harassment has been awarded more than £35,000 at employment tribunal. Stephen Price, 25, said he was constantly teased about his sexuality by his 40-year-old "sex obsesse  More...
16 July 2008 11:19

I am the HR manager at a large warehousing and distribution company. Over the summer we will be employing quite a number of youngsters who've just left school and who are doing temporary work. We also have young people of school age doing work experienc  More...
16 July 2008 10:20

The legal retirement age of 65 was again challenged in court yesterday by a solicitor who was forced to retire on the grounds of age. Leslie Seldon, former senior partner at Kent-based law firm Clarkson, Wright and Jakes, is challenging an Employmen  More...
15 July 2008 09:22

Roisin Woolnough finds out what it takes to win the race to compliant health and safety. Health and safety is a key concern for TNT Express Services UK & Ireland . It has to be, given the nature of the business. "We have to make sure that we hav  More...
15 July 2008 00:00

Sarah-Marie Williams explores tribunals and what employers need to know. Q When will an employer become aware that an employee or former employee has commenced proceedings against it? A Usually only when it receives a letter from the employment  More...
15 July 2008 00:00

We take a look at the  Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2007  which came into force on 6 April. Q What is the main change to the agency workers amendments? Neil Carberry Head of employme  More...
15 July 2008 00:00

Last month we looked at the Advocate General's opinion in Stringer and others v Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs. In that case the Advocate General's opinion...  More...
15 July 2008 00:00

Gagandeep Prasad and Caroline Buckley consider the issue of applicants being economical with the truth when applying for jobs. The number of people who lied on application forms to obtain credit, insurance and other products increased by 24% last yea  More...
15 July 2008 00:00

Extended maternity leave rights risk sabotaging women's careers, the head of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission has warned. Nicola Brewer, chief executive of the equality watchdog, said the "unintended consequences" of the focus on mothers   More...
14 July 2008 13:14

Up to six million people have sued their employers in the past year after receiving injuries or illnesses at work, according to research. Pollsters YouGov interviewed 1,979 adults for insurance firm RSA and calculated that 11.8 million people had suf  More...
14 July 2008 12:30

In a win for religious freedom, a Christian registrar who refused to conduct gay weddings has won a landmark discrimination case. Compensation for Lillian Ladele will be decided in September after Islington Council was found guilty of bullying and th  More...
11 July 2008 12:04

The number of employers prosecuted for hiring illegal workers has risen dramatically this year, Personnel Today has learned. Just four months after new immigration legislation was launched in February, 352 businesses have been caught employing illega  More...
11 July 2008 09:00

Once again the UK has kept its opt-out from the directive – but there are a few grey areas.  More...
10 July 2008 13:11

The recent agreement by EU employment ministers to give temporary and agency workers the same rights as permanent employees is causing concern in City organisations that engage large numbers of IT contractors. Standard practice in how the secto  More...
09 July 2008 15:00

A sales assistant who claimed she was fired from a fashion boutique owned by Sadie Frost because of the colour of her skin was awarded more than £5,000 compensation. A central London employment tribunal heard the German-born Aba Yankah, of African de  More...
08 July 2008 11:00

The threat of knife crime is persuading increasing numbers of employers to provide staff with stab vests to protect them if they are attacked with a knife. Stab vest supplier the Body Armour Company said it had received about 10,000 orders for protec  More...
07 July 2008 10:40

Vodafone sacked or disciplined 429 employees for fraud or ethical breaches last year, according to figures revealed in its annual corporate responsibility report. The mobile communications giant also dismissed or warned 186 contractors during 200  More...
07 July 2008 10:00

Employment relations minister Pat McFadden has refused to rule out further employment legislation this year. He told HR professionals last week: "It's not about whether there will be more or less employment law, it is about getting the right emp  More...
07 July 2008 08:29

A leading construction union has accused the government of complacency about workplace safety which is putting employees' lives at risk. Ucatt warned that the government's failure to toughen up company directors' responsibilities for health and safet  More...
03 July 2008 10:47

Kimberley Group Housing Ltd v Hambley & others Angel Services (UK) Ltd v Hambley & others FACTS Leena Homes had a contract with the Home Office under which it provided accommodation and related services for asylum seekers pending their  More...
02 July 2008 16:20

The government White Paper on the Equality Bill was published on 26 June 2008. And although it doesn't go as far as some employers had originally feared, the clear message is that the government is committed to working to achieve equality in the workpla  More...
02 July 2008 16:07

It would appear that despite the HR voices, equality minister Harriet Harman is adamant that mandatory pay audits and positive discrimination is the way ahead. ('Equality Bill laid before Parliament', Personneltoday.com, 26 June). What a serious e  More...
02 July 2008 15:36

Employment relations minister Pat McFadden this morning pledged to save HR professionals across the UK £1m per day in consultancy fees. McFadden said the government was working with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) to   More...
02 July 2008 15:21

New guidance for organisations about whistle-blowing arrangments has been released to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Public Interest Disclosure Act. Standards body BSI has published a new code of practice in association with whistle-bl  More...
02 July 2008 00:01

MPs have rejected claims that spending £35m to reduce the burden of regulation on employers could yield a 50-fold return. A House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report states that the figures were based on unreliable estimates. In 2005,  More...
01 July 2008 11:04

HR legal eagles will need to swap their summer read for some serious Equality Bill swotting, following the raft of controversial new measures announced last week. The purpose of the Bill is to "strengthen protection, advance equality and de-cl  More...
30 June 2008 10:56

'No-win no-fee' lawyers at the heart of the equal pay chaos that is overwhelming local councils could face tighter controls in the future after the government announced a review of the way they work. The Ministry of Justice has asked three senior  More...
30 June 2008 00:03

Civil servants handling personal information will have to undergo annual training as part of a range of measures to prevent a repeat of data loss scandal that hit HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) last year. Cabinet secretary Gus O'Donnell publis  More...
26 June 2008 09:24

Johnson v Edwardian International Hotels In cases where the mental capacity of a party is doubted, employment tribunals must use their general case management powers in relation to the conduct of the proceedings and the merits of the claim rather t  More...
25 June 2008 12:30

Encouraging or forcing workers to opt out from a workplace pension scheme will become unlawful under proposed changes to the Pensions Bill. Pensions reform minister Mike O'Brien said an amendment to the current Bill would stop employers from o  More...
24 June 2008 14:40

Companies prosecuted for employing illegal immigrants have been named and shamed in a further attempt to crack down on people smuggling. The UK Border Agency has published a list of guilty firms, along with how many illegal workers the companie  More...
20 June 2008 10:02

One-third of workers have sneaked a preview of sensitive company information on laptops or confidential work documents while travelling on trains, a survey has revealed. A survey by flexible working provider Regus out this week also found that more t  More...
20 June 2008 10:00

What can employers do if they think staff's behaviour outside work oversteps the mark? The ninth series of the TV reality show Big Brother yet again raises questions about employees' duty to uphold their employers' reputations outside work. There i  More...
20 June 2008 00:00

FACTS Mrs McLean was employed by the...  More...
18 June 2008 10:00

I'm an HR manager at a food processing company that also owns some fruit farms. We use lots of labour supplied by gangmasters. How can I be sure they're operating within the relevant laws and how can I safeguard my company's position in case they aren't  More...
18 June 2008 00:49

Seven City brokers, who quit ABN Amro after being poached by a dealing firm, are suing the bank after it witheld parts of their bonuses, according to the Financial Times . The seven, who were poached by dealer Tullet Prebon, are seeking to   More...
17 June 2008 10:02

The High Court today ruled to support National Minimum Wage legislation on tips, siding with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) against Annabel's club/restaurant. The ruling means employers are required to pay staff at least the minimum wage regardless  More...
16 June 2008 16:06

The Acas Code of Practice states that employees should not normally be dismissed for their first misconduct offence, and should be given a chance to improve, using a written warning. Acas advises that a warning should last for a set period, after which   More...
16 June 2008 11:47

Ross Wigham finds out what the right to award qualifications means to McDonald's.   More...
16 June 2008 00:16

Rarely has a new piece of legislation had such a tortuous history as the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. But what does the Act,...  More...
16 June 2008 00:11

Employment law specialists are largely in the dark about the changes the government has made to the Sex Discrimination Act. Here's what the diversity experts have to say.   More...
16 June 2008 00:07

Ms Coleman, who cared for her severely disabled son, brought a claim against her former employers alleging that she had been treated less favourably because of his disability. She complained that her former employers refused to allow her to return t  More...
15 June 2008 12:08

The European Parliament has adopted a five-year strategy to reduce accidents at work by 25%. It is estimated that one worker dies in a work-related accident in the EU every three-and-a-half minutes. To raise awareness of the issue the strategy prov  More...
15 June 2008 00:00

Hungarian wage agreement A wage agreement between the state-owned Hungarian post office and its trade unions has secured an average salary increase for the workforce of 7.5% for 2008. The significance of the agreement is that it sets the benchmark f  More...
15 June 2008 00:00

Can workers take annual leave during a period of sickness absence? Stringer and others vHer Majesty's Revenue and Customs Court of Appeal ***** The claimants were all previously employees of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC). One had re  More...
15 June 2008 00:00

With the UK on the brink of a recession and poor rental growth forcing the first round of redundancies in the property industry, a commercial organisation has fast-tracked programmes to assist workers in the sector facing redundancy. The Investment   More...
13 June 2008 10:17

The battle over the right to keep the UK's opt-out of the 48-hour working week may have been won, but employers should brace themselves for a war come the autumn, experts have warned. The UK secured a deal to keep its opt-out from the Working Time D  More...
13 June 2008 09:04

The number of employment tribunal claims filed against BA has risen for the second consecutive year. During 2007-08, the airline was served with 69 new tribunal claims, up from 45 the previous year and 39 in 2005-06, according to figures revealed in  More...
13 June 2008 08:09

I enjoyed reading Ranjit Dhindsa's article regarding Acas's new code of practice on discipline and grievance ('Be seen to be fair or face up to a fine', Personnel Today , 27 May ). It prompted me to ask Personnel Today readers for their comments  More...
13 June 2008 00:00

Changes to the Sex Discrimination Act will affect pension contributions during maternity leave. Changes to the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (SDA), which came into effect on 6 April 2008, requires employers to continue paying pension benefits for emp  More...
11 June 2008 00:00

Home secretary Jacqui Smith's decision to stage the latest police pay rise was lawful, the High Court ruled today. The Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, took Smith to court in February after she ignored an independent arbit  More...
10 June 2008 11:50

The UK has secured a deal to keep its opt-out from the Working Time Directive following a meeting of European employment ministers yesterday (Monday). EU member states voted to allow the UK to keep its exemption which allows employees to work longer  More...
10 June 2008 11:40

Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection v Ward FACTS The claimant, Ms S Ward, had been employed by the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection (CHAS) and its predecessor since February 2001. Following a second restructuring exerc  More...
10 June 2008 00:00

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

European employment ministers are attempting to thrash out deals on agency workers and working time at a meeting in Luxembourg. Ministers on the EU Employment Council are hoping to cement a deal on the thorny issues and bring to an end years of   More...
09 June 2008 14:00

When companies go bust, is there anything that HR departments can do to ease the pain? My first job was making books at a factory in Frome. Twenty years on, the BBC reports that the very firm, Butler and Tanner, is "history" and that nearly 287 staf  More...
09 June 2008 00:00

Using minority workers as role models for other staff can lead to "exploitation", experts have warned. 'Talent not Tokenism', a joint report by the CBI and the TUC, last week found that employers with diverse workplaces had higher morale and product  More...
09 June 2008 00:00

Business secretary John Hutton's recent announcement that to introduce more employment legislation would be like "using a sledgehammer to miss a nut" has angered unions but has been largely welcomed by big business. Celebrating the 10th annive  More...
09 June 2008 00:00

Flexible working law could be thrown into disarray if the Working Time Directive goes through the European Council in its current state on Monday, according to an expert. The right to request flexible working could be extended to every employee  More...
06 June 2008 16:51

The CBI has pledged to keep its guard up against further employment legislation after a senior trade union figure warned that the fight for tougher laws was far from over. The government announced a raft of employment legislation in recent week  More...
06 June 2008 07:07

Collidge v Freeport plc FACTS  Mr Collidge was the chief executive and a director of Freeport. In early 2006, allegations of financial impropriety were made against him. In March 2006, the board proposed that Collidge be suspended while   More...
05 June 2008 14:55

New transfer of employee information guidance has been published to help organisations comply with the Data Protection Act. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has published the booklet for employers who publish information about their  More...
04 June 2008 16:31

A coaching scheme for pregnant workers helped law firm Clifford Chance improve its maternity practices and hang on to some of its most talented staff. Lucy Freeman reports.   More...
04 June 2008 12:01

Later this year, the work permit scheme will be abolished and replaced by Tier 2 of the new points-based immigration system . The government has recently published further guidance in relation to Tier 2. Q When will the new regime replacing th  More...
04 June 2008 11:00

A landmark challenge to scrap the compulsory retirement age for employees will now be heard in less than a month, it has emerged. Charity Heyday, part of Age Concern, will dispute the legal retirement age of 65 at the European Court of Justice (ECJ)  More...
03 June 2008 15:14

New maternity leave guidance in relation to non-cash benefits has been published by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs department. It comes ahead of changes to the Sex Discrimination Act (1975), which will affect women whose expected week of c  More...
03 June 2008 12:00

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

Communications giant O2 has sacked at least six workers who used staff discounts to buy Apple iPhones and sold them on the internet at a profit, according to reports. Employees in London-based stores allegedly bought large quantities of the fashiona  More...
02 June 2008 16:13

The points-based immigration system has created an overwhelming burden on employers, who are struggling to understand and comply with the rules, an education provider has warned. Amanda Harris, head of HR at the Institute of Ismaili Studies, sa  More...
02 June 2008 00:01

Oyarce v Cheshire County Council The Court of Appeal decided, unanimously, that the reverse burden of proof which applies to direct and indirect race discrimination claims, does not apply to claims of victimisation. Facts The claimant, Mrs Oy  More...
29 May 2008 17:46

I have just taken over as HR manager at a food company which hires lots of casual and seasonal workers and students during the summer and early autumn. I'm unsure about the status of such employees and especially what zero hours contracts are. Det  More...
29 May 2008 17:35

Signing up for the National Dismissal Register could leave employers open to all sorts of claims.   More...
29 May 2008 17:30

HR may have escaped the swathe of redundancies in the City, but it still has to manage the fall-out. Here's how to turn bad news into an opportunity.   More...
28 May 2008 00:09

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled in favour of the City lawyer whose discrimination and bullying claim is worth £19m - the largest amount on record. Gill Switalski quit her £140,000-a-year job as head of legal affairs last September fo  More...
27 May 2008 10:30

Agency workers could gain equal rights to permanent staff at an even earlier stage than the 12-week watershed agreed last week, a senior official has warned. The government reached an agreement with the CBI and the TUC last week which would see tem  More...
27 May 2008 00:01

Earlier this month, I used this column to accuse Gordon Brown of dithering over what to do about the rights of agency workers. Well, I send my apologies to the embattled prime minister: despite a rogue Bill making its merry way through Parliame  More...
27 May 2008 00:01

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

Earlier this year the Office for National Statistics released figures that showed 95,000 more people over the age of 50 were in work than in the last quarter of 2007. But what does this increase of older people in the workplace mean for employers?   More...
23 May 2008 17:59

The revised Acas code of practice on grievances and disciplinary procudures is shorter and less prescriptive, but employers should still be wary  More...
23 May 2008 17:48

Hopes of a landmark decision in the High Court case between British Airways (BA) and pilots union Balpa have been dashed following a withdrawal by the union this afternoon. A decision on Balpa's right to strike over BA's plans to set up a separate   More...
23 May 2008 15:01

Most employers know their key legal obligations - from duty of care to staff to dismissal procedures. But it's easy to get caught out. Richard Kenyon and Louise Fernandes list 10 hazards to steer well clear of. 1. Providing particulars Eve  More...
22 May 2008 16:09

The Temporary and Agency Workers (Equal Treatment) Bill proposed by Labour MP Andrew Miller has been withdrawn following an announcement in Parliament. The death of the Bill was inevitable following the announcement earlier this week that employe  More...
22 May 2008 14:47

Telesales account manager Theresa Bailey was recently awarded £5,146 by an employment tribunal after her manager forced her to wear a badge proclaiming "I'm Simple". Bailey, 43 - the only woman on her sales team at Kent direct marketing company Selec  More...
22 May 2008 09:23

Home secretary Jacqui Smith has attempted to defuse the police pay row by offering changes to the service's pension scheme. Officers will now get higher lump sums on retiring, although this will mean lower pension payments over the long term. If an o  More...
21 May 2008 15:21

The Workers Registration Scheme (WRS) should be scrapped, according to an alliance of employers, unions and migrant groups. The TUC, the Association of Labour Providers, the National Farmers Union (NFU) and the Federation of Poles in Great Brit  More...
21 May 2008 11:06

A landmark deal on the rights of agency workers has been agreed between the government, employers and trade unions. Temporary and agency workers in the UK will receive equal treatment after 12 weeks employment. They will be entitled to the same pay   More...
20 May 2008 12:40

Don't take the easy way out: if you make sure you have sound policies and procedures for dismissal and follow them, you can't go wrong, writes David Green.   More...
19 May 2008 10:41

Matthew Whelan spells out the requirement to collectively consult when making staff redundant under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.   More...
19 May 2008 10:32

Imelda Walsh has moved to calm employer fears that new flexible working laws will lead to a rapid rise in employment tribunal claims. The Sainsbury's HR director sent shock waves through organisations last week when her government-commissioned flex  More...
19 May 2008 00:01

Fingerprint technology could soon be used across the UK to monitor employees' movements, after a pilot scheme was deemed successful. The system allows several HR roles to be carried out automatically when a worker presses their finger on a touch scre  More...
19 May 2008 00:01

HR news and analysis including: Imelda Walsh talks exclusively to Personnel Today on the flexible working review to extend the right to request flexbile working to parents of children aged 16 and under HR directors from Topps Tiles and   More...
16 May 2008 16:58

Lancaster University reprimanded its head of economics professor Geraint Johnes for breaching data protection rules by telling a concerned mother about her son's performance. According to a report in the Times Higher Education Supplement , the s  More...
16 May 2008 10:57

The case of top City lawyer Gill Switalski, who won a record £13.4m in compensation for sex discrimination...  More...
16 May 2008 00:00

What action can an employer legally take when a dispute escalates into industrial action? There is no right to strike under English law, but you wouldn't know it judging by the number of industrial actions over the past few months. Schools have bee  More...
16 May 2008 00:00

Impact v Ministry for Agriculture and Food (Ireland) and others A European Court of Justice (ECJ) decision has made it easier to enforce directly effective EU law against public sector employers where national legislation has been overdue. Facts  More...
16 May 2008 00:00

A national blacklist of retail employees sacked for dishonesty is up and running, and could soon be extended to other sectors, Personnel Today has learnt. Mike Schuck, chief executive of campaign group Action Against Business Crime (AABC), said the  More...
16 May 2008 00:00

Many previous cases have considered the effect of post-transfer changes to an employee's terms and conditions, and in particular the issue of enforcement where the new terms and conditions were to the employee's overall benefit. In this case the Cou  More...
15 May 2008 00:59

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) definition of "disability" includes conditions which, although the sufferer is not currently affected by them, are "likely to recur". In this case, the Court of Appeal considered what factors an employer should ta  More...
15 May 2008 00:56

Miss Eweida claimed that British Airways (BA) refusal to let her wear a small cross with her uniform was religious discrimination. Although the case caused BA much negative publicity, the tribunal actually dismissed the claim. BA's uniform policy w  More...
15 May 2008 00:51

England football manager Steve McClaren was sacked because the team was not winning. Gareth Kervin outlines the do's and don'ts of capability dismissals. Capability, as a potential reason for dismissal, is something of a poor relation to redundanc  More...
15 May 2008 00:00

EAT In two recent cases the EAT considered how employers should conduct themselves when faced with the question of whether to dismiss employees suffering from ill-health. First West Yorkshire Limited t/a First Leeds v Haigh "Capability" is o  More...
15 May 2008 00:00

The UK has a patchy track record in its deployment of migrant workers. Incidents such as the accident on a London building site in 2005, when Polish worker Pawel Szczotka was permanently disabled after a two-ton concrete slab fell on him, serve to illus  More...
15 May 2008 00:00

The Post Office could be liable for a £2m payout if an employment tribunal rules that it acted unlawfully when closing Crown post offices. A tribunal will hear claims this week from workers represented by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) that t  More...
14 May 2008 14:59

Gordon Brown used the draft Queen's Speech to announce a new right to request time off work for training. Revealing his plans for the next parliament, Brown said every adult should have the right "to make the most of their potential". He sai  More...
14 May 2008 14:00

A major shake-up of discrimination laws is expected to be announced in Gordon Brown's draft Queen's Speech today. Brown will outline the long-awaited Single Equality Bill, on a list of measures to be introduced during the 2008/9 Parliamentary sess  More...
14 May 2008 09:10

A prison officer has been awarded £43,875 in damages after she was victimised by colleagues for appearing as a witness in a high-profile whistleblowing case. Emma Howie claimed fellow officers turned on her after she gave evidence at a disciplinary h  More...
13 May 2008 11:10

Just what is the government's position on increasing workplace rights for temps and agency workers? Ministers will insist that the government is committed to finding a solution at European level through the Agency Workers Directive. But with negotia  More...
12 May 2008 10:00

One of my team leaders has told me that she has been trying to have a baby for several years, and that her doctor has now recommended IVF. She will require three days off a month to have the treatment. She has also asked me what her maternity rights wou  More...
12 May 2008 10:00

The spate of new guidance from the Pensions Regulator and its extra powers to protect people whose company pension scheme is involved in a buy-out have been more of a downpour than an April shower. The Pensions Regulator will gain additional powers to   More...
12 May 2008 10:00

Lobbyists have hit back at a report by the TUC-backed Commission on Vulnerable Employment, saying employers shouldn't be punished by tougher laws just because of actions by "rogue organisations". The Hard Work, Hidden Lives report published last  More...
12 May 2008 07:26

Tighter immigration laws coming into effect this autumn will lead to confusion among employers, with HR professionals effectively becoming an unpaid border police force, experts have warned. The Home Office last week set out the new rules for 'skil  More...
09 May 2008 14:50

A country-wide database of 'workplace offenders' will be launched later this month to combat the annual loss of half-a-billion pounds through staff theft and fraud. The National Staff Dismissal Register will allow employers to share and access detai  More...
08 May 2008 14:58

Local government staff transferring to new unitary councils in April 2009 will be protected under TUPE legislation, the government has confirmed. The creation of nine new unitary councils in Bedfordshire, Cheshire, Cornwall, Durham, Northumb  More...
08 May 2008 10:14

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

Business leaders this morning called on the government and employers to rescue millions of mistreated UK workers from exploitation reminiscent of practices that were considered exploitative in the 19th century. A report by the TUC-backed Commission   More...
07 May 2008 08:10

Maternity leave still causes major headaches for employers, according to a legal expert. Audrey Williams, head of discrimination law at law firm Eversheds, warned that despite laws against sex discrimination, a sharp rise in claims against emp  More...
07 May 2008 08:01

The plight of sports managers has been in the headlines recently, raising the question of what happens when a team fails to support a manager in the face of derogatory comments and starts courting replacements for their job. When the Rugby Football  More...
06 May 2008 16:03

Dynamex Friction Ltd & another v Amicus and others   More...
06 May 2008 13:57

Thomas-James and others v Cornwall County Council and others Where it is not possible to identify a new service provider who carries out the activities of the old service provider after a service provision change, there will be no service provision  More...
30 April 2008 13:00

Whistleblowing has been under the media spotlight recently as a result of proposals to increase the Financial Services Authority's (FSA) powers to offer protection to whistleblowers. This article explains the protection given to whistleblowers and looks   More...
29 April 2008 12:00

A recent Glasgow employment tribunal ruled that baldness was not a disability . James Campbell, a 61-year-old retired teacher, argued that his baldness was an impairment which had a "substantial and long-term adverse effect" on his ability to do hi  More...
29 April 2008 10:00

A supermarket supervisor has been told by an HR department to 'jump or be pushed' after giving away a bunch of out-of-date, 75p flowers to a regular customer. Mary Whitner, 59, who was days away from retirement, but had hoped to work on, said she wa  More...
25 April 2008 10:27

Testing employees for alcohol and drugs is capturing the interest of an increasing number of employers as drugs and alcohol become more prevalent in the workplace. One in three men and one in five women drink over the recommended limit, while nearly one-  More...
23 April 2008 17:50

When it comes to stress and depression, employer obligations may extend further than you think.  More...
23 April 2008 17:42

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

A financial adviser at a high street bank has told a tribunal that she was forced out of her job because she did not fit into the company's "boys' club" ethos. According to the Daily Mail, Jacqueline Crawley, a financial adviser with HSBC who had   More...
23 April 2008 12:56

Don't expect the agency workers debate to go away anytime soon. Emma Ceballos explains why the Agency Workers Directive isn't dead yet. It could have been D-day for the UK's recruitment agencies as the European Commission discussed the Agency Worker  More...
22 April 2008 11:02

A City lawyer who won a record £13.4m claim for sex discrimination could now be in line for a £19m payout, it was revealed yesterday. Gill Switalski, claims she was subjected to an 18-month campaign of bullying, leaving her with a mental illnes  More...
22 April 2008 00:00

Three-quarters of Brit bosses would not take on a new recruit if they knew they would fall pregnant within six months of starting work, new research has indicated. A survey of 1,100 bosses, conducted by Employment Law Advisory Services (ELAS), found  More...
21 April 2008 11:00

Dr C D'Silva v NATFHE (now known as University and College Union) and Others , Employment Appeal Tribunal Failure by an employer to reply to a Race Discrimination Act 1976 questionnaire will not result in a tribunal drawing an adverse inference  More...
21 April 2008 10:53

Q Nine months ago we issued an employee with a second stage written warning for poor timekeeping, but failed to specify the duration of the warning. Our disciplinary policy says warnings normally remain on file for at least six months. We're investi  More...
21 April 2008 10:48

Health screening is working its way up the government's agenda and earlier this month, health secretary Alan Johnson unveiled a new scheme to offer health screenings for everyone aged 40 to 74 . Based on the old philosophy that 'prevention is be  More...
21 April 2008 10:14

When is it the right time for a woman to inform her employer that she is pregnant?  More...
21 April 2008 10:03

EXCLUSIVE Changes to maternity law introduced earlier this month could see employers lumbered with huge costs in forking out for unforeseen pension payments for women on maternity leave. Employment experts have warned that under amendments to the  More...
21 April 2008 08:00

HR news and analysis including: legal experts warn that maternity law changes made this month could cost employers huge amounts of money in pension contributions Metropolitan Police HR director Martin Tiplady discusses the need to ramp up  More...
18 April 2008 15:40

A bald teacher who claimed he was a victim of disability discrimination has lost his tribunal claim, it has emerged. Retired art teacher James Campbell, 61, at Denny High School in Stirlingshire, took Falkirk Council to an employment tribunal claimi  More...
16 April 2008 16:27

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has suspended its main board after an external review highlighted leadership failings in the wake of its loss of two CDs containing the child benefit data on 25 million people. An interim panel of advisers from the  More...
16 April 2008 12:05

Talks aimed at securing a revision of the Works Council Directive have collapsed before they even had a chance to begin. Union umbrella body the ETUC refused to start discussions with employer representative Business Europe - because the parties cou  More...
15 April 2008 11:13

The driver of a larger goods vehicle (LGV) has instigated a personal injury claim against his employer TDG after he sustained injuries when his truck overturned in strong winds in February. According to Personnel Today's sister publication Commer  More...
14 April 2008 10:13

The recent Bill that attempted to extend TUPE legislation to cover takeovers by private equity firms that purchase a majority shareholding (rather than buying all company assets outright, where TUPE already applies) was described as "using a sledgehamme  More...
14 April 2008 00:00

The ministry of Defence (MoD) will appeal a ruling by the High Court that found sending British soldiers out on duty with defective equipment may breach their human rights. Justice Collins said it had to be recognised that the lives of members of th  More...
11 April 2008 16:47

HR news and analysis including: An exclusive interview with Amit Kapadia, executive director of HSMP Forum, outside the High Court in London - on the landmark ruling which stated the government acted unlawfully in changing rules to   More...
11 April 2008 16:19

Poland's government has launched a fresh bid to lure workers back home by scrapping a law that made them liable for tax in both the UK and Poland, turning many into tax exiles. Officials have estimated Poland needs to lure 200,000 workers back into  More...
11 April 2008 15:18

April is always a busy month for employment regulations and this year is no exception. Five different pieces of legislation were introduced on 6 April and, unsurprisingly, employee rights are at the forefront. No doubt industrious HR practitioners will   More...
11 April 2008 00:00

Employers who knowingly hire illegal migrant workers now face a £10,000 fine or a prison sentence. Does this mean HR has to keep closer tabs on employees?  More...
09 April 2008 12:17

We read with interest the article by Mike Berry ( 'French-style staff powers loom as Brussels barges in', Personnel Today , 1 April ) in which he writes: "UK employers are being threatened with French-style staff consultation laws as part of an EU   More...
08 April 2008 17:54

Statutory dispute resolution is soon to be abolished which should be good news for employers... shouldn't it? Q I hear the statutory dispute resolution procedures are to be repealed after being in force for less than three years. What are they  More...
08 April 2008 14:43

Q I’m an HR co-ordinator. My boss’s remit covers dealing with staff on maternity leave. One of my friends – from anoth