Top 10 HR questions in August 2014: enhanced parental pay, fixed-term contracts and TUPE

If an employer pays enhanced maternity pay, must it also enhance pay to employees on shared parental leave? This seems to be the question that is causing most concern to employers preparing for the introduction of shared parental leave regulations.

Other FAQs in the list of most popular questions on XpertHR last month include additional questions on shared parental leave and on the extension of the right to request flexible working. FAQs on fixed-term contracts and TUPE also feature in the top 10.

1. If an employer pays enhanced maternity pay, must it also enhance pay to employees on shared parental leave?

2. Can both parents take shared parental leave at the same time?

3. What should an employer do if it receives more than one statutory flexible working request at around the same time and cannot accommodate all of them?

4. Are parents entitled to shared parental leave if their baby is due before 5 April 2015 but is born on or after that date?

5. Must an employee provide a reason when making a statutory request for flexible working?

6. Given that the expiry of a fixed-term contract constitutes dismissal, what will usually be a fair reason for dismissal?

7. At what point does an employee who has been employed on a series of successive fixed-term contracts become a permanent employee?

8. Following a TUPE transfer, can the transferee change employees’ terms and conditions that were incorporated from a collective agreement prior to the transfer?

9. What information should an employer give to the representatives of affected employees in a TUPE situation?

10. For how long is an employer obliged to consult with employees to obtain agreement to changes to their contractual terms?