News

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 “How Easy Is It To Discriminate Without Realising Your Error?”

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.”

Many employers of domestic staff undoubtedly feel, from time to time, that staff holidays are inconvenient. But it doesn’t change the fact that they are a legal right. According to the Trades Union Congress (TUC) In the UK there are 1.2 million workers who receive no annual leave at all, and 2.2 million who get …
Read the full Story “Paid Leave Is A Legal Right, Not A Benefit”

Summer holidays are over and as an employer or prospective employer of domestic staff you may well be contemplating hiring staff. So how do you stand on the issue of tattoos? Opinions vary greatly and in truth there is a great divide on whether they are acceptable at work or not. Research commissioned by employment …
Read the full Story “Tattoos – The Modern Question”

Summer time and August Bank Holiday is fast approaching. Just to remind you, the date is 27th August. But do you have a legal obligation to give your domestic staff time off and pay them? Contrary to what some employers believe, you do NOT have to give staff paid leave on Bank or Public Holidays. …
Read the full Story “August Bank Holiday Dates And Your Obligations”