Helping remote workers avoid isolation and burnout
Academics at Oxford University have been urged not to send emails outside working hours to avoid colleagues, especially remote workers, from feeling harassed. Administrators have asked the university’s academics to keep all online communications to normal working hours as part of a new email protocol. For much of today’s workforce, sending and receiving emails outside […]
Good Work Plan | Taylor Review
The government are pressing ahead with some key changes to several pieces of UK legislation that will come into effect in April 2020 affecting the contractual and working arrangements with staff. As part of the Industrial Strategy, the Prime Minister commissioned the independent Matthew Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices to ensure that the UK […]
Absence Management Strategy: A Focus on Mental Health
Balancing both compliance with employment law, and effective absence management at work can be a minefield for managers. Absence and employee mental health With the number of reported mental health problems increasing year on year it’s vital for businesses to consider employee mental health in the same bracket as employee physical health. This includes removing […]
Payslips
Further to the Matthew Taylor review of Employment Practices in the Modern Economy, which identified the need for greater clarification and increased protections for workers, it has been confirmed that two key changes to the Employment Rights Act 1996 will be in effect from 6th April 2019. Pay that varies according to hours worked Employers […]
Sleep-ins and the national minimum wage: significant ruling by the Court of Appeal
On 16th July 2018, in Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake, the England and Wales Court of Appeal made the distinction between being ‘available to work’, (as per section 15 (1)/32 of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) Regulations), and ‘actually working’ (as per section 15 (1A)/32). It ruled that NMW was only payable in respect of the latter. Sleep-in shifts […]
Critics warn leaked immigration proposals could see the exploitation of migrant workers
The government has come under fire after leaked Home Office files reveal proposals to curb low-skilled EU migration. The leaked immigration proposals also show plans for stricter ‘right to work’ checks. The controversial proposals have seen the government accused of allowing bad bosses to exploit migrants and undercutting good employers. The leaked draft proposals […]
The Taylor Review: what you need to know
Finally published a year after its announcement, “Good Work: The Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices” runs to 116 pages and contains many recommendations for change, including several that are of particular interest to employers and HR teams. ‘Worker’ status scrapped The Taylor Review proposes that a new category, ‘dependent contractor’, should replace the current […]
Government pledges millions in fight against modern slavery
Government pledges millions in fight against modern slavery, just as dozens of illegal workers are removed from burger restaurant Prime Minister Theresa May has pledged £33m in the battle against modern slavery in the UK. The money will be focused on dealing with the routes of people-trafficking. She has also announced that she will be […]
The Great Repeal Bill
At the Conservative party conference last weekend, Brexit minister David Davis announced that The Great Repeal Bill would be introduced that would mean European Union law ceases to apply from the moment the United Kingdom officially leaves the EU. The Government has said that the intention of this new bill, to be known as the […]