Restrictive Covenants – are they worth the paper they are written on?
Restrictive covenants are clauses in an individual’s employment contract which place restrictions on what they can do for a specified period once they have left your employment. Common restrictions include “non-compete” which prevents them from setting up in competition with you, or “non-deal” which prohibits them from dealing with your customers or clients. I am […]
We need to talk
Having difficult conversations can be, well, difficult! If you are an employer, you’re acutely aware that telling someone who has employment rights and bills to pay that you’re ending their employment can lead to conflict. But if you consider your options carefully and plan your conversation before you speak to your employee, you give yourself […]
How do you unfurlough staff then?
The simple answer is that you: (1) work out what the business needs and then (2) talk to the furloughed employees (ASAP!) about your proposed plans and what that might mean to them. What you say to them will depend on step (1), but here are some scenarios that we are currently advising employers on […]
The ticking clock
What’s your plan when furlough ends? We all have stuff that we put on the back burner until we really have no option but to do something about it, and many employers are now having to turn their attention to the employees still furloughed, because government funding is due to stop at the end of […]
Time to downsize your workforce?
We’re increasingly having conversations with employers who are looking to downsize their workforce, go it alone or merge with other businesses to reduce the burden of employing people. We spend our days helping employers navigate the minefield of laws and HR best practice, and so we know that employing people can be challenging. Yes, there […]
Expensive lesson for DWP!
The DWP have been landed with a tax bill of £87.9 million as a result of incorrectly determining the status of its contractors. This is despite their reliance on HMRC’s Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) tool. From 2017 the responsibility for making the relevant status determinations was transferred from contractors to end hirers in […]
Not all furloughed workers accrue holiday!
An Employment Tribunal has decided that a contractor did not accrue holidays during periods of furlough. In the case the Claimant was engaged by an employment agency, under a contract for services which was only in existence when the Claimant was on an assignment with a client and not between assignments. The Respondent argued that […]
FACT: Your ET Claim could have been avoided
You’ll always have the employees that want their day in Court no matter what you do, but for the majority, they just want you to have a fair reason for what you’re doing, follow a fair process and treat them with dignity. It’s not really too much to ask! And guess what the primary drivers […]
Right to work checks – Top tips for Employers
Employers in the UK have a responsibility to conduct right to work checks on new employees before they start work to ensure that they prevent illegal working. As a result of Brexit, a new immigration system was introduced called the Settlement Scheme. EU nationals currently have until the 30th June 2021 to apply for settlement […]
No problem, I’LL just get my magic HR wand out!
Are you frustrated by your business leaders setting unrealistic expectations for their latest harebrained plan? People management takes exactly that; management of people. Why do leaders frequently abdicate from that responsibility and expect you to do their dirty work for them? You know that making any changes that might unsettle your staff takes careful planning. […]