News & Events

Smoking breaks at work hit the news recently as a Spanish court ruled that an organisation there can deduct pay from staff who take them. But what is the situation for you as an employer of domestic and household staff in the UK? In the UK there no statutory right to smoking breaks. However, employees […]

Major changes to what information you have to provide to all employees and workers come into force from April 6th. In addition to greater detail, the new document, a: Statement Of Main Terms and Conditions (SMT) now applies to both employees and workers on the first day they start work or before they start work. […]

Parents of babies born prematurely are to have extra statutory paid leave. The move was announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in his March 11th budget. The proposed new Neonatal Pay and Leave regulations  will allow new mothers and fathers to claim statutory paid leave of £160 a week for every week their child is in […]

But how precisely does redundancy differ from dismissal? As an employer of domestic and household staff, the differences are important as not following procedures can result in an employment tribunal case. The following will be helpful if you find yourself in a position when you need to let staff go. Dismissal is when you dismiss […]

Who would have thought a few years ago, that a compensation payout for Age and Race Discrimination would have totalled close to £400,000, whoever the person and whatever the organisation?  But the case of Anne Giwa-Amu of mixed Nigerian and Welsh descent who was wrongfully dismissed while working for the Department of Work and Pensions […]

The government’s proposed immigration reforms will not affect the status of foreign workers already in the UK. Neither are there are consequences for those wanting to change jobs. The proposed rules however will change in the future for all those wanting to work in the UK The automatic  right of citizens from European Economic Area […]

UK set to introduce ‘Jack’s Law’ – new legal right to paid parentalbereavement leave A new law which gives working paarents who suffer the loss of a child, the statutory right to two weeks leave is set to come into force. The Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay Regulations, which will be known as Jack’s Law […]

There will be new rules for EU citizens visiting the UK post-Brexit if they are given approval by parliament. It is envisaged  that visitors will need to give at least three days’ notice before arriving in the UK and have had to fill in an on-line form – the Electronic Travel Authorisation in addition to […]

There has been considerable publicity around the issue of confidentiality agreements – so called “gagging orders” with employers unsure of their position. Recently a former employee who was dismissed after refusing to sign such an agreement brought a case to an employment tribunal claiming discrimination. However, her case was dismissed. The former employee had claimed […]

With a recent survey showing that nine in ten care chiefs are worried about how they will cope over the winter attention is again focussed for many families on the issue of long term care for elderly relatives. The  Association of Directors of Adult Social Services has said they “are desperately lacking the sustainable long-term […]