23/11/21
On 11th November 2021, the amendment made to The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, to mandate vaccines for care home staff, came into force. The new legislation, which was passed by the government in July 2021, has given care home staff adequate time to comply and…
18/11/21
At first sight it would appear that the imposition of a compulsory retirement age which forces employees to retire when they reach a certain age is blatant age discrimination. However, an employer can avoid liability for such discrimination provided that it can demonstrate that its conduct in enforcing…
13/10/21
What can happen if you ask an employee to work extra hours where it would breach the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR)? Would an employee need to work the shift proposed in order to claim automatic unfair dismissal? These issues were discussed in the recent case of Simoes v De Sede UK Ltd.…
28/09/21
The new 'statement of changes' published by the Home Office on 10 September 2021 contains several modifications including rebranding the T5 (Temporary Worker) Youth Mobility Scheme to the simplified Youth Mobility Scheme. The most significant change regarding the Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) is…
15/09/21
No legal requirement currently exists for workers to be vaccinated, with the exemption of care workers. Many businesses, however, are considering introducing vaccination requirements, despite the fact that, in the absence of any legislation making vaccinations compulsory, any such policies could well be…
14/09/21
The Court of Appeal has recently considered whether the failure to offer an employee an appeal on a redundancy scenario makes any dismissal unfair in the case of Gwynedd Council v Barratt and anor. Facts The two claimants were PE teachers at a community secondary school. In May 2015, the…
30/07/21
The Government has now passed legislation mandatory for care home staff, volunteers and certain other groups entering the care home (subject to certain exemptions). These provisions have now come into force meaning there will be a 16-week grace period from when the regulations are made to when they…
27/07/21
On Thursday 22 July 2021, the Government announced a list of sectors within which it proposed workers will be exempt from self-isolation, even if they are contacted by the NHS Track and Trace app. This exemption only applies to those double vaccinated (14 days after the second dose), who come into…
15/07/21
It has been confirmed this week that England will move to the final stage of easing of Covid restrictions meaning that almost all legal restrictions on social contact are set to end on Monday 19th July. But what does this mean from an employment and health and safety perspective? The guidance to…
13/07/21
On going to bed disappointed on Sunday night, many no doubt expected they would be getting up on Monday morning to an influx of press articles and social media posts centred around a technical critique of the football skills on display in the final along side messages of support for the players. Few…
07/07/21
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has published its response to the consultation on mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for care home workers. It confirms that vaccination will become mandatory for care home staff, volunteers and anyone else entering the care home for work purposes (subject to…
07/07/21
The Home Office has published their updated guidance on carrying out right to work checks in light of the deadline to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) and the significant changes that accompany this. The guidance is titled ' Employer right to work checks supporting guidance ' and…
08/06/21
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) can now be added to the list of bodies bolstering the position of the claimants in the ongoing retail equal pay claims. This time it was Tesco taking the hit, with the CJEU confirming that supermarket shop floor workers can be compared to distribution…
02/06/21
The new, long-awaited, Graduate route?is now open under the UK's points-based immigration system. It is for international students, including EEA students without settled or pre-settled status, who want to work in the UK following the successful completion of a degree at undergraduate level or above…
13/05/21
The Home Office has announced that from 21 June 2021, the concession on Right to Work (RTW) checks, permitting employers to conduct RTW checks via video, will end. The amended checks were due to end on 17 May 2021, however the Home Office confirmed shortly beforehand, on 12 May 2021, that their…
07/05/21
Currently, under s44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, an employee can bring a tribunal claim if they have been subjected to a detriment because they reasonably believed that being at work would place them (or someone else) in serious, imminent danger. Employees also enjoy protection from unfair…
22/02/21
With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to cause pressures across sectors and around the world, attention is gradually beginning to turn to the implications of a more widescale return to the workplace, including the wider rollout of rapid response testing and the encouragement of employee vaccinations.…
15/02/21
The Treasury has recently announced that long proposed cap on Public Sector Exit Payments (the Cap) which came into force on 4th November 2020 has been withdrawn effective from 12th February 2021 due to "unforeseen circumstances". Therefore any exit payments made after 12th February 2021…
12/02/21
On 4 February 2021, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) handed down judgment in the case of Allay v Gehlen. The case not only addresses the issue of discrimination and workplace harassment but also highlights the importance of providing appropriate training to employees. Training needs to be adequate…
10/02/21
National Apprenticeship Week began on 8 February. This year's theme is 'Build The Future.' With 20 years of experience in progressing employees through apprenticeships, Forbes Solicitors has helped build futures and this year has been no different and has been as successful, despite the…
26/01/21
The planned roll out of the off-payroll tax changes to medium and large private companies were due to come into force from 6 April 2020. However, given the unexpected global pandemic that surfaced in the UK just before this date, the decision was made by the government to push this back until 6 April…
19/01/21
As we settle in to our third lockdown it might not be easy for businesses to think about the future and plan their "exit strategy". However, could this latest lockdown provide a unique opportunity for businesses to think outside the box, critique the way they operate and how they utilise their…
19/01/21
A claim to an employment tribunal must usually be made within 3 months less 1 day. This is known as the 'limitation date'. For example, if an employee wants to claim for unfair dismissal, they have 3 months less 1 day from the date their employment ended to make the claim. However this is with…
18/01/21
Under the new lockdown restrictions, the government has urged all employees to work from home unless they cannot "reasonably" do so. The very nature of the construction sector means that this is not possible for construction workers and so despite the tighter restrictions they can thankfully…
