News

In 2020, the government will introduce a new leave entitlement, bereavement leave, being a statutory entitlement, it will be paid leave. There is currently no requirement for you as an employer to grant leave in these harrowing times , although common decency comes into play an time is allowed off. But because this is not …
Read the full Story “Bereavement leave to be made law”

Despite repeated publicity promotions and warnings to employers – including of course those of domestic and household staff – of not paying the legal minimum wage, a record £15.6 million worth of underpayment has been uncovered by the government in just the last year. As a result 200,000 workers missed out on being paid at …
Read the full Story “Not Paying Legal Rate Is Costly”

You would like to think that when your domestic/Household staff are working for you, that even on their days off,  they are not working for anyone else. But according to a report by Henley Business School, 40% of employees have a job on the side to make ends meet. Does it matter? Well it depends …
Read the full Story “Do Your Domestic/household Staff Have A Job On The Side?”

With some claims by employees and former employees of discrimination at Employment Tribunals, one can easily see how an employer crossed the line. However, with some you might think; “Well, that took me by surprise.” A recent case in Belgium might come under that umbrella. A shop has just been ordered to pay a man …
Read the full Story “Real Employment Tribunal Case Worth Knowing About…..”

Continued exposure of deficiencies in care homes in England will yet again focus the minds of families on alternative solutions. The organisation which checks and rates care homes the Care Quality Commission (CQC) uses four ratings – outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate. Almost 3,000 of the country’s 14,975 care homes in England are currently …
Read the full Story “One In Five Care Homes In England Are Criticised.”

Some time ago, we reported on the case of an employee who won a landmark battle when the European Court of Human Rights ruled that she had been discriminated against for being made to wear a uniform that prevented her from visibly wearing her crucifix. We pointed out the dangers to employers of domestic staff …
Read the full Story “Be Aware Of Risks To Stopping Religious Symbols being Visibly Worn”

When your new domestic worker, nanny, or carer has been cleared by police checks to work with children, it is fair to assume that all is well. Now a leaked document has revealed London’s Metropolitan police cleared up to 20,000 people without going through full security checks after Scotland Yard secretly relaxed its vetting system. …
Read the full Story “20,000 May Have Slipped Through Police Checks To Work With Children And Vulnerable Adults.”

‘The times they are a-changing’ sang Dylan, and in the case of robots in the home, yes they are, but will they ever replace a human housekeeper? So, what can robots do in the home and do they do it as well as a traditional human housekeeper? Well the list is growing, but is still …
Read the full Story “Day Of The Robots Is Here?”

A recent court case has highlighted how a professional carer looking after a vulnerable elderly woman  in their own home was abused. The woman’s daughter had installed CCTV cameras which caught the carer of her elderly mother, a dementia sufferer, subjecting her client to abuse, threats, “cruel and degrading” treatment. At Poole magistrates court, CCTV …
Read the full Story “Professional Carer Abused Her Client”

It would seem that on the face of it that staff are even healthier that ever as they take less and less time off sick …but research shows this is not true. What is true is that in all spheres of work including Domestic and Household staff are continuing to turn up for work when …
Read the full Story “When Turning Up For Work Is A Bad Idea.”