News

You may have noticed that the winter months take a heavy toll on people’s mood and well-being. Well, there’s a reason why. It’s called Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, and it causes the winter blues between October and March. Around 20% of people in the UK suffer from winter blues each year, which leads to …
Read the full Story “Are your domestic staff “sad”?”

As an employer of domestic/household staff you will undoubtedly pay considerably more than either the National Minimum Wage or the Living Wage. However, it can be useful to know what is happening in both regimes as it gives an indication of whether wage trends for staff are stagnating or on the rise. There are two …
Read the full Story “Keeping In Touch With Staff UK Wage Trends”

A recent case which came before an Employment Tribunal illustrates how careful employers of all staff – including household and domestic – have to be in assessing if a person’s age is potentially an issue when their future employment is being considered. In the case in question an 89 year old former medical secretary was …
Read the full Story “Nowadays Age Is No Barrier To Keeping Your Staff”

Public Holidays 2019 And 2020 In The UK. Note Change In May The thing about public holidays is that they don’t always remain the same. And in this coming year, there is an additional difference as it is a Leap Year, which means the calender has an additional day. Some days remain the same of …
Read the full Story “Public Holidays in December & 2020. ‘Note Change In May’”

Do you have a legal obligation to give your domestic staff time off and pay them? Contrary to what some believe, you do NOT have to give staff paid leave on Bank or Public Holidays. You can choose to include them as part of their statutory annual leave. Their entitlements should be specified in their …
Read the full Story “What Is Your Obligation To Pay Or Not To Pay Staff & Give Time Off On Public Holidays.”

What are their rights to time off to deal with it? First of all, let us  be clear on what constitutes a “dependant.”A dependant could be a spouse, partner, child, grandchild, parent, or someone who depends on you for care. Employees are allowed a reasonable amount of time off to deal with the emergency, but …
Read the full Story “There Is An Emergency Involving A Domestic Staff Dependant….”

If any of your domestic and household staff who are EU citizens and have already been granted Pre-settled status it is vital they understand  the differences and the future actions they need to take. Those who have been in the country for less than five years or have not proved definitively that they have been …
Read the full Story “Brexit ~ Pre-settled Or Settled Status, Ensure Your Concerned Staff Know The Difference.”

If you are applying for a domestic position through The Graham Agency we can help you through the process required to obtain pre-settled or settled status. Call us now for more information.  You may also like to click the link below, which will take you to the Government website with more information. https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families/applying-for-settled-status

While EU laws will still be in force after Brexit, there are no guarantees that they will stay that way. In the longer term this and future UK governments will be free to change them if they wish to do so. The Prime Minister has hinted that the laws regarding how holiday pay is calculated …
Read the full Story “One Of The Post-Brexit Questions Arising From Employers Concerns Holiday Arrangements”

It’s a question that some employers who have had employment tribunal judgements given against them may well be asking. And does the compensation award granted still stand? We can clarify the situation here for you. All pre-Brexit judgements will remain binding on all UK courts except for the Supreme Court. However any new European Court …
Read the full Story “Will A Tribunal Judgement My Former Employee Won Still Stand Post-Brexit?”