HR Articles

Under the Working Time Regulations a worker is entitled to a 20 minute rest break if they work over six hours.

Businesses with sponsor licences have a huge responsibility to ensure that the points based system is not abused. The role of the Authorising Officer is to effectively manage the licence and ensure the employer is not in breach of its sponsor duties.

Basic criminal records checks provide details of an individuals’ convictions and conditional cautions considered to be “unspent” under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

In The Chief Constable of Norfolk v Coffey the EAT held that an employer’s belief that an employee’s hearing problem may become a disability in the future amounted to direct perceived disability discrimination.

For the first time since July 2015, the Home Office’s monthly Restricted Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) limit was reached and many employers saw their applications refused. Data published on the government’s website shows that 1,527 applications were granted. Successful applications had to score a minimum of 55 points as opposed to the usual 21 points (see data for previous months).

Gender remains on the agenda as we move into the new year! The Equality and Human Rights Commission has published its draft enforcement strategy for pursuing large private, voluntary and public sector employers who fail to comply with the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017. Under the Regulations, private and voluntary sector employers with 250 or more employees in the UK are required to publish data surrounding their gender pay gap, with the first reports due by the 4th April 2018.

With 2018 newly arrived, it’s the ideal time to take a look at what’s in store for the world of business and its employees over the next year.

Pre-termination discussions between employer and employee are protected and cannot usually be referred to by either party in a subsequent unfair dismissal claim.

In 2017, we saw the government push ahead with its policy to reduce net migration to “sustainable levels.” Businesses saw the introduction of the Immigration Skills Levy, the closure of the Tier 2 Intra Company Transfer (ICT) route and an increase to the minimum salary threshold for skilled workers.

Earlier this year we reported on the Tribunal decision in Dunkley and others v Kostal UK Ltd, involving an attempt to induce staff to give up their collective bargaining rights by informing them directly that failure to agree terms would lead to “no Christmas bonus”.