New Coronavirus regulations see crackdown on self-isolation and the introduction of fines for employers who fail to enforce the same!

Following the Prime Ministers announcement on Tuesday 22 September and as of 12am on 28 September 2020, the Government have introduced new Coronavirus regulations, adopting a harsher approach to individual self-isolation and the obligations on an employer to encourage enforcement.

Is it fair to dismiss an employee based on the risk of a future conviction that is unknown at the time of dismissal?

Summary of Facts in the case of K v L

The Claimant in this case was a Teacher. He was accused by the police of being in possession of indecent images, which it appeared were downloaded to an IP address associated with the Claimant. The Claimant denied the allegations. Upon review of the evidence, it was decided that he would not be prosecuted but future rights to prosecute were reserved.

Changes to the Employment Tribunal Rules & tips for attending hearings

The Government has announced new reforms to the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure 2013, with the aim of increasing the employment tribunals' capacity to hear claims and ensure a speedier resolution of cases for businesses and employees.

The main driving force behind the reforms is the employment tribunals' lack of capacity caused by an increased caseload following the abolition of tribunal fees in July 2017.

CJRS update: Job Retention Bonus

The Job Retention Bonus aims to reduce the scope for compulsory redundancies by rewarding employers who retain their furloughed employees. The bonus is a fixed £1,000 one-off taxable payment, payable to the employer, for each eligible employee that was furloughed and kept continuously employed until 31 January 2021.

Furloughed employees to receive redundancy pay based on 100% of normal wage costs!

The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has announced this morning (Thursday 30 July 2020) that it is bringing in a new law to ensure that all furloughed employees will receive Statutory Redundancy Payments calculated based on 100% of their normal pay, rather than their furlough pay.

The Employment Rights Act 1996 (Coronavirus, Calculation of a Week's Pay) Regulations 2020, which can be found on https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/814/made was published today, which will come into force tomorrow (31 July 2020).

Throughout the pandemic, the government has urged businesses to do right by their employees and pay those being made redundant based on their normal pre-furloughed wages, rather than their furlough pay, which is often less.

Employment case law updates you may have missed in July and August 2020

Below are a number of interesting and recent case law updates, on the issue of unfair dismissal, disability discrimination and equal pay, which you may find relevant to your organisation.

Unfair dismissal

23 July 2020: Evans v London Borough of Brent UKEAT/0290/19

Update:

The Employment Appeal Tribunal ('EAT') has overturned a Tribunal's decision to strike out an unfair dismissal claim, even though there was no prospect of a financial award.

"Job Support Scheme" - The Winter Economy Plan

Rishi Sunak has today unveiled the Government's plan to protect jobs and support businesses over the coming months following the announcement earlier this week, which warned Britons that restrictions could be in place for the next 6 months.

The Chancellor confirmed that the current Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (known as the furlough scheme) will come to an end on 31 October as planned and will not be extended as, in his words, "it is fundamentally wrong to hold jobs that only exist under furlough".

However, it will come as much relief to both employers and employees alike that going forwards businesses may be able to access financial support under the Government's new "Job Support Scheme", of which the Chancellor's key motive is to "support people in viable jobs with genuine security" who are working at least a third of their normal hours.

Upcoming Online Events

• Mock Employment Tribunal - 13th October
• Employment and HR Live Q&A Session - 14th October
• Mock Forensic Investigation - how to deal with an internal data breach - 20th October
• Handling Crucial Conversations - 17th November
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion - The Business Case - 1st December
• Burnout - Spotting the signs and dealing with the consequences - 27th January

Audit of Furlough Arrangements – Have you got it right?

Over the last few weeks we have produced a significant amount of guidance on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the process and requirements for furloughing staff. The Government guidance has been changed several times and has been quite contradictory in part. The claims portal has now opened and hundreds of thousands of businesses have submitted claims for their furloughed staff.   

We understand it is HMRC’s intention to pay out all of the properly submitted claims immediately, but will then retrospectively audit a large number of these claims. If businesses are found to not hold the proper paperwork, do not have adequate justification for furloughing, or have calculated the claim incorrectly HMRC will seek to recover the payments. 

Given that one of the requirements is to hold paperwork relating to these claims for 5 years, they appear to be anticipating the audit process will take a considerable amount of time. Businesses therefore need to ensure that they are ready for this audit now and remedy any potential issues whilst the employees remain furloughed.

Forbes are offering a fixed fee audit of your furlough arrangements to ensure they are compliant with the legislation and current guidance. We will advise you on any areas which need addressing, potential issues with your claims and we can provide a pre-prepared report to provide to HMRC in respect of these payments, should you be audited.

Please contact Amy Stokes on 0333 2071157 or email amy.stokes@forbessolicitors.co.uk.

Agile working toolkit

We have developed an agile working toolkit which includes the below:

• Contractual clauses suitable for agile working* (clauses to be provided as a template only – not a review of existing)
• Homeworking policy (template)
• Data Protection Impact Assessment (template)
• The cost of the toolkit is £350 plus VAT or free if you are a HR Complete/In-House HR client.

To request further information please email Abigail at Abigail.lynch@forbessolicitors.co.uk.