The World of Work by Harry Sherrard
Non-disclosure agreements and discrimination allegations
I was speaking to a group of employers in London recently about the Government's recently introduced proposal to ban confidentiality clauses (or NDAs to use the American terminology) in cases involving discrimination allegations. Judging by their worried looks and their comments, this is a development that is causing employers a lot of concern.
25 Years of Sherrards!
Last year we reached the 25th anniversary of Sherrards Employment Law Solicitors. In late 1999, after leaving the firm where I had been a partner, I travelled up to Emirates’ office in London and started Sherrards in their ground floor foyer.
Speaking Up
As the fallout from the Harrods sexual harassment cases continues, and with Al Fayed being compared to Jimmy Savile, it makes us question once again why on earth people were so reluctant to speak up.
Employment Rights Bill Unveiled
In the 2024 General Election campaign, the Labour Party gave prominence to their manifesto commitment of "Making Work Pay". We were promised the greatest shakeup of individual employment rights in a generation, along with a commitment to progress this to legislation within 100 days of winning the election.
Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
“Handy Andy we used to call him! You had to keep your back to the wall if you were getting in a lift with him….! Everyone just accepted it; it was normal….” I will keep the source of this recently heard anecdote anonymous, for obvious reasons, but we’ve all heard stories like it from (usually female) friends and colleagues about their experiences of working in offices and factories of the not-too-distant past.
Weaponization of Subject Access Requests
It is now the rule rather than the exception for claimants to make a subject access request alongside their tribunal claim. Subject access requests are not new, but the GDPR legislation heightened awareness has led to a significant increase in requests being received by employers.
Flexible Working – New Legislation 6th April 2024
Revised Flexible Working Regulations were published in December, to take effect on 6 April 2024.
Restructuring the Workforce
The requirement to restructure a workforce can be driven by a number of factors such as changing customer requirements, new technology or a realisation that the existing structure has become outdated and inefficient.
What to expect in 2024
October and November are busy months for us at Sherrards as we prepare for our annual Employment Law Latest seminars.
World Menopause Awareness Month
We are 1 week into World Menopause Awareness Month. How is your company marking 18th October ‘World Menopause Day’?
Probationary periods to be made illegal?
If current opinion polls turn out to have correctly anticipated the result of the next General Election, Labour is heading for Government in 2024, possibly with a significant majority.
The Future of Work – AI & HR
Over the last 6 months Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become increasingly accessible to everyone. What are the benefits of AI and ChatGPT for HR and what are the current challenges?
“It’s not harassment, it’s only banter.”
As employment lawyers, probably our least favourite word is banter. Countless times over the years we have heard the perpetrators of harassment of various kinds dismiss their behaviour as "only banter."
Menopause leave trial rejected by Government
Has the Government missed an opportunity to support both the employer and employee by rejecting the proposal to introduce menopause leave? What signal has been sent to women in the workplace?
Sunset Boulevard
The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill doesn’t sound very exciting, but behind this rather dull title is a Bill of historical significance. It introduces what parliamentarians call a “sunset clause”, which is a mechanism to establish an end date to legislation.
Office Banter
An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman walk into a bar and engage in some innocent banter. But if they are colleagues going to the bar after work, then banter based on national stereotypes could be anything but innocent and could result in costly employment tribunal claims, as well as serious reputational damage for their employer.
Employing Overseas Workers
A perfect storm of Brexit, pandemic-induced reappraisal of working practices and severe staff shortages have led many UK employers to look in more detail at the feasibility of employing staff overseas.
P&O Ferries – did they break the law?
Whilst there is unanimous agreement that the 800 employees dismissed by P&O Ferries were treated abysmally, there is doubt as to which employment laws the company may have broken.
Fire and Rehire
What do British Gas, Weetabix and Clarkes Shoes have in common? The answer is that they all have recently undertaken "fire and rehire" exercises in relation to long serving staff.
The Perils of Inflexibility
The award of £185,000 to Alice Thompson as a result of her employer declining her flexible working request continues to reverberate.
Recruitment following the pandemic
With business confidence recovering strongly, many organisations' priority is recruitment of additional staff. Businesses which suffered greatly during the pandemic, such as hospitality, are seeing a significant rebound. But the business press is full of stories of staff shortages in many industries, shortages which are holding back the UK's recovery from the pandemic induced recession.
GDPR and Data Protection
For obvious reasons, GDPR and data protection have not been in the forefront of employees' minds for the last 18 months but like all the other legislation affecting employer/employee relations, it hasn't gone away.
Return to the Workplace
From 19th July 2021, the Government’s advice will no longer be for employees to work from home if they can, and significant numbers of employees are expected to return to their pre-Covid workplaces.
How to get the best advice from an Occupational Health referral
Here at Sherrards as well as the employment law firm we also have a sister occupational health business. That is a unique combination and enables us to deliver a fully joined up service to clients.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
As an economic migrant myself – I was born and raised in Northern Ireland – equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) is a subject on which I have abundant personal perspective. But from attending an English university at age 18, through Law School, to becoming a partner in a Sussex law firm, to establishing my own practice in 1999, I have had few negative experiences.
The Level Playing Field
As we enter the final furlong of the Brexit negotiations, one of the major sticking points is the so-called level playing field. The EU Commission President said on Monday 14 December that the issue of the level playing field is the most important question as to whether the UK should continue to have access to the single market.
Post-Brexit Immigration Plans
With COVID-19 continuing to dominate the headlines, Brexit has taken a back seat. However, with the transition period coming to an end on 31 December 2020, employers should be aware of what this means from an immigration perspective.
Furlough Leave Extension
On Saturday 31st October 2020, just hours before the furlough leave scheme was due to end, the Prime Minister announced an extension. The Government had always resisted this, but its hand was forced by the imposition of a new lockdown.
Job Support Scheme
Throughout the summer the Chancellor Rishi Sunak resolutely maintained the position that furlough leave would not be extended beyond the end of October. But following months of pressure from employers’ groups and trade unions he relented in September and announced a new Job Support Scheme to take effect from 1 November.
Will employers be forced to return furlough monies if they have been used to pay employees notice pay?
An article in The Telegraph published on 4th July 2020 has led to a lot of speculation about whether employers can claim monies for notice pay under the Government Retention Scheme.
Returning to the Workplace
The Covid 19 pandemic has changed our lives in so many ways in a short space of time and, now that employees are gradually returning to the workplace, as an employment lawyer I am helping clients deal with another difficult development.
Helping out with Furlough
What a few weeks it's been! Whilst many businesses and indeed whole industries have ground to a halt or experienced significant reductions in work, the same certainly can't be said for employment lawyers.
28th April 2020 – Employment Law Update
The current pandemic is presenting an unprecedented challenge for organisations and we are continuing to post videos on our YouTube channel to guide employers on the latest updates on furlough leave and related issues. However other aspects of employment law are also changing and we have detailed some of the major updates that you need to be aware of now and over the next few months.
Employment Law Update April 2020
As you know most employment news at the moment is focused on the coronavirus pandemic but there are some other news items that you also need to be aware of. Some are as a result of coronavirus while others are scheduled changes that have gone ahead despite the current situation.
Coronavirus and the Workplace
As the world enters into a defensive fray against Coronavirus (COVID-19), employers naturally have many questions on how to keep their employees and business as safe as possible, and also what they should be paying any employees who are in isolation.
New employment contract rules – April 2020
In line with the Employment Rights Act 1996, employers have a legal obligation to provide a written statement of particulars to employees within two months of commencing employment. From 6th April 2020, organisations will be required to provide a written statement of particulars to both employees and workers from day one of their employment.
Talking Politics
Discussions about politics can be interesting and lively, but sometimes they can become disruptive in the workplace.
Can an employer be forced to take back an ex-employee?
It’s every employer’s worst fear, when faced with a claim from a disgruntled ex-employee: “Might we have to take them back?!”
Covert Recordings
Imagine you have dismissed an employee and you later discover that they have covertly recorded the internal disciplinary meetings. This is what happened in the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) case of Phoenix House Limited v Stockman.
Restrictive Covenants
Restrictive covenants in employment contracts sounds like a pretty dull and turgid subject; until that is a key member of staff leaves the business and takes significant customers and/or members of staff with him.
Employee Engagement
High on most employees’ wish list is better communication from the employer. An effective way of achieving this, and which also enables effective engagement with the workforce, is to set up a staff forum.
Cyber Attacks and Data Breaches – Hope for the best, prepare for the worst
Cyber attacks and data breaches are on the rise and it’s easy to believe they’re all caused by criminal hackers out for financial gain. However, this is not always the case.
Managing absenteeism in the workplace
‘National Sickie Day’ on 4th February has just passed and serves as a reminder to employers on how best to tackle employee absence management issues.
Compulsory Reporting on Ethnicity Pay Gap?
Employers could be required to report their ethnicity pay gap statistics under new Government plans. This requirement will enable businesses to start improving equality and diversity within their own organisations.
GDPR – where are we now?
Six months after implementation, there is still a lot of misinformation and confusion about how GDPR works. In fact, I have renamed GDPR the “Great Data Protection Racket” as a result of the dodgy advice that I see circulating from supposed experts. Top of the list is the misplaced obsession which some organisations have about the issue of consent.
Modern Apprenticeships
In April 2017, the Apprenticeship Levy was introduced to ensure that there is a long-term investment in high quality apprenticeship training. Under the levy, large employers – those with the wage bill of more than £3 million per annum – pay 0.5% of their total wage bill into a training fund. It is hoped that the levy will raise £3 bn a year.
Resilience
As technology expands and many of us have work emails accessible on our mobile phones 24/7, the division between work and home life is more blurred than ever before. Whether you are thinking about a work deadline, household chores, childcare, health problems, financial worries, finding time to socialise, helping the kids with their homework, it can be hard to ‘switch off’ and the daily pressures of life can seem relentless.
Modern Slavery
Theresa May has described modern slavery as the greatest social injustice of our time. The UK is unique in legislating on this subject, with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (MSA). Alongside this legislation, the Home Office produced a dedicated ad campaign to raise awareness of the issue.
EU nationals – what employers need to know and to do now
It's not something I say often, but our recommendation is that employers should disregard current Government advice about the employment status of EU nationals.
Going on holiday whilst off sick
Employees going on foreign holidays or visiting relatives abroad whilst on sick leave would feature in most employer's top 10 annoyance lists! It's a common phenomenon, and it can understandably irritate employers that an employee is not well enough to work, but is apparently well enough to go on holiday.
Slaying a couple of myths about GDPR
Earlier this week, using the technical miracle that is Skype, I delivered a pan-European seminar on the implications of GDPR for HR. Delegates in Italy, Germany, France and other European countries were able to listen and follow the slides, whilst I sat in our client's offices in Surrey.
The “Reasonable Steps” Defence
This month's blog is an update to the story that I covered in my last post. To recap, the daughter of a client had been subjected to significant acts of sexual harassment by a manager of her employer, a high-profile London business.
“Ensuring a harassment free workplace”
As an employer focused practice, we rarely take on cases for employees, but recently I made an exception. A former client asked me to consider taking on a case for his daughter, and when the facts were outlined to me, I agreed to do so.
Employment Tribunal Fees
As I write this on the afternoon of Thursday, 8 June 2017, whilst voting in the general election is taking place, I am reflecting on the various parties' positions on employment law developments.
“Just be reasonable”
"Reasonable" is the employment lawyer's favourite word. A reasonable investigation must precede a disciplinary sanction. Dismissal must be a sanction that is fair and reasonable in all the circumstances. And when later being assessed by an Employment Tribunal, the test applied is that dismissal must have been within the range of reasonable responses.
A Spooky Business
Industrial espionage is the process of illegally and unethically obtaining confidential information from other companies and using it to gain a competitive edge. Harry Sherrard advises on how businesses can protect their information.