Breakfast seminar success

It was, as always, wonderful to see so many of you willing to suffer an extra early start in order to attend our annual employment law breakfast briefing.

It is testament to the quality of information passed on by the experts from our partners Hegarty LLP Solicitors that we, once again, scored a record attendance at the event at the East of England Showground.

I’m sure Martin Bloom, Tim Thompson and Emma Carter will forgive me for saying the subject matter can sometimes be a little dry, But, by using case law and their own experiences, they manage to make the information both accessible and incredibly useful.

One of the key points this time was the change in the qualifying period for unfair dismissal introduced in April this year. The government has been keen to reduce the amount of tax payers’ money spent on industrial tribunals. In a bid to do that, it has increased the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims from one year to two.

This means a company can dismiss an employee at any time during their first two years of employment without fear of comeback.

There are always exceptions of course. Under the Equality Act 2012 there is no qualifying period for claims of discrimination. So, someone dismissed within the two year qualifying period could still claim discrimination and that could still lead to a tribunal. For that reason, Tim believes the move may not necessarily make much of a dent in the volume of claims. I’m sure he’ll keep us posted in the effect the change has at future updates.

The presentations also covered bonuses, a contentious issue in many companies, and a case law update. 

These are particularly useful illustrating, as they do, the real life interpretation of important HR legislation we all make it our business to be aware of.

Do let us know by emailing info@annecorder.co.uk if you wish to be kept informed of future events – or if you’d like to suggest topics to be covered.