LEARN WHILE YOU LUNCH!

As the reader’s of this blog will probably know, we enjoy a good working partnership with Hegarty LLP Solicitors, with whom we host our annual employment law seminar (see posts below for my write up on last month’s briefing).

In response to the success of these yearly updates, together we have decided to launch a series of workshops to give people the chance to learn more about a particular topic in a relaxed environment.

The Lunch and Learn sessions will be held at our Lynch Wood offices, where there will be an opportunity to network with other delegates as well.

We have been busy liaising with clients and other interested parties to find out what subjects they would like to learn more about.

Most requested was social media, which take the spotlight at the next two sessions to be held on Tuesday 26^th November and Wednesday 4th December.

The workshops will be headed up by Martin Bloom, who will bring delegates right up to speed with the latest updates and legislation.

To register your interest call us on  01733 235298 or email us. 

BREAKFAST SEMINAR A SUCCESS

More than 150 of Peterborough’s HR professionals and business people attended last week’s employment law seminar, which we hosted in conjunction with Hegarty LLP Solicitors.

I was delighted to see so many familiar faces, as well as some new ones. This year’s update focused on newly renamed settlement agreements, early conciliation and the latest changes to employment tribunals.

Despite the early morning start, speakers Tim Thompson, Emma Carter and Martin Bloom kept delegates alert and engaged throughout the seminar with their insightful knowledge and expertise on the subjects covered.

One of the key points this year was the introduction of employment tribunal fees, which were brought in at the end of July. All claimants are now required to pay both an issue fee and hearing fee in order to present and see a claim through to conclusion.

Fees of £390 and £1200 are now payable for unpaid wage claims and unfair dismissal cases respectively. This is forecast to reduce the number of claims being brought against employers, yet how severe the impact will be is still up for debate. It is certainly one to watch and listen out for at future updates. 

We will be continuing to work with Hegarty LLP over the coming months in putting together a series of smaller, ‘Lunch & Learn’ briefings. Each session will be assigned an individual topic for more in-depth discussion.

To register your interest please email us info@annecorder.co.uk

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.

Employment Law Briefing -Social Networking and the Workplace

I’m just back in the office following our Employment Law Briefing and I’m half way through drawing up a list of action points on the back of it!

The briefing, organised in partnership with Hegarty LLP Solicitors, was on the subject of Social Networking and the Workplace.

We know this is an area of concern for many employers in the city by the huge response we had to invitations.

From my point of view, it is the pace of change on the internet and of social networking platforms that creates so many challenges. And that was echoed by our speaker Martin Bloom, a very experienced employment law expert.

As he said, five years ago, the kind of cases tribunals are dealing with now were unthinkable. People dismissed for posting comments about clients on Facebook, issues over ownership of connections on LinkedIn, cyber bullying of former colleagues on Twitter… even that sentence would have meant very little a decade ago!

Martin touched a chord with many delegates – myself included – when he mentioned the importance of a company having a social networking policy. An internet usage policy isn’t enough.

Every employer needs to have a well thought out, detailed and regularly reviewed policy governing the use of social media at work. This needs to be written into contracts and – vitally – employees need to be trained in it.

The easiest solution may be to ban the use of social networking in work time on work equipment completely. You may also need to consider the rules you wish to set governing people using their personal mobile phones to access Facebook or Twitter, for instance, during their working day.

Of course, in some sectors, the use of such websites is necessary. In those cases, policies need to be even more specific. And again, training needs to reflect that.

Martin discussed a number of cases of inappropriate use of Facebook and emails out of hours – employees discussing clients, employees emailing former colleagues – which had resulted in employment tribunals.

Again, these issues are all relatively new and the law, courts and tribunals are having to evolve around them. Many employers are playing catch up with their staff on this but thought must be given to getting ahead.

I’d be interested to hear the stance other employers take on the use of social networking. Feel free to leave a comment.

Shocking statistics woke up Peterborough’s HR world

Around 200 HR professionals from Peterborough received a shock over their breakfast coffee on Tuesday morning!

At the annual Employment Law Briefing we organise with Hegarty LLP Solicitors, Martin Bloom – the employment partner there - warned the amount of discrimination claims could double from 285,000 this year.

That’s an expert saying there could be half a million disgruntled employees bringing claims against the companies they work for – that’s not only a big number that’s also a substantial increase.

Much of that rise will come as a result of the new strands of discrimination brought in by last year’s Equality Act. It’s only now that the effects of the act are starting to be felt.

The main change is all to do with associative and perceptive discrimination rules. The Equality Acts names ‘protected characteristics’ – these include race, sex, religion, sexual orientation and age. It is against the law to discriminate against someone for any of these characteristics. It is now also against the law to discriminate against someone ‘on the grounds of the protected characteristic’ but not necessarily that person’s own protected characteristic. Thankfully Martin’s real life example explained it more clearly than the law does! A woman was the victim of disability discrimination when she was treated less favourably because she cared for her disabled son.

Similarly, a case of perceived discrimination: a man who wasn’t either gay or believed to be gay but who was subjected to ‘banter and innuendo’ on the grounds he went to public school and lived in Brighton successfully brought an harassment case.

This widens the net for victims of discrimination and is something all HR professionals need to be aware of.

Also discussed during the seminar were statutory sick pay and case law.
As always the seminar was fascinating and we are delighted to be able to continue our association with Hegartys in organising it.

AWR podcast part 2

The Guidelines for the AWR, drawn up by the Government, run to 49 pages. Employment law expert Martin Bloom talked through those guidelines and gave further examples of how the Regulations may be interpreted at our employment law briefing.

He made the point that there are many caveats, inclusions and exclusions and that, in some cases, definitive answers will only emerge when the regulations are tested at tribunal level.

This podcast was recorded during Martin’s presentation at the employment law seminar and gives further information on calculating the 12 week qualifying period, the definitions of pay and compliance information.

CLICK TO LISTEN TO PODCAST

Will the AWR affect your business?

The Agency Workers Regulations will affect your business if you have a tripart arrangement with an agency to supply temporary staff. If that three-way agreement - where a worker is hired through an agency by a business – isn’t in place then the Regulations won’t affect your business.

If that agreement does exist, the Regulations WILL affect your business and you need to ensure you are up to speed with exactly what that will mean when they come into force on October 1.

In this podcast – recorded at our employment law briefing - employment law expert Martin Bloom of Hegarty LLP Solicitors explains the importance of comparable employees, the rights the Regulations will give temporary staff and from when, and where the liability lies.

CLICK TO LISTEN TO PODCAST

Breakfast Seminar - AWR

There was a barrage of questions at the end of this morning’s Employment Law Briefing – always a good sign I think!

The topic was the Agency Workers Regulations with the presentation delivered by the incredibly knowledgeable Martin Bloom, employment law partner at Hegarty’s, our joint hosts of the briefing.

He covered the main points of the Regulations which sparked interesting discussions during the break and very pertinent questions at the end of the session.

The Regulations are aimed at bringing the terms of basic working and employment conditions for temporary agency workers in line with comparable permanent members of staff. But there are many caveats, inclusions and exclusions and very little in the way of definitive answers – many of which will only come when the regulations are tested at tribunal level.

Martin has studied the 49 page Government guidelines document at length and, using his experience as an employment tribunal judge, interpreted the regulations both legally – and morally – for delegates.

For instance: after 12 weeks in the same temporary role, working through an agency, a worker will be entitled to the same basic working and employment conditions.
However – from day one they are entitled to access collective facilities and amenities including things like canteens, child care facilities or transport services.

One delegate raised the question of gym membership – offered to all employees. Martin was clear that the Regulations state gym membership should, in that instance, be offered to temporary agency workers. However, the company could argue that the cost of doing that for workers who may only be in post for a matter of days or weeks is an ‘objective justification’ not to.

On the other hand, there was the delegate whose employees are always given a Christmas gift. Although this isn’t in their contract, because it has happened for a number of years it has become a recognised ‘benefit’. Therefore, Martin explained, temporary agency staff would also be entitled to a gift.

We have been working with our trade association and experts like Martin for around two years to ensure we are not only fully briefed and prepared to implement the Regulations but also in a position to discuss compliance with our clients. The process is continuing with us working closely with businesses, on site, to deliver free Impact Assessments – feel free to contact us to find out more about that service.

We’ll be uploading podcasts of Martin’s presentations and more information over the coming weeks so keep in touch.

The Equality Act 2010 – don’t get caught out

The introduction, at the beginning of October, of the new Equality Act 2010 neatly wraps up in one package much of the legislation previously covered by a host of different anti-discriminatory legislation.

But, HR professionals shouldn’t assume that’s all it does. The Act tweaks a few issues – and ones which it would be easy to trip up on without a spot of insight and forethought.

During the Employment Law Breakfast Briefing we staged in conjunction with Hegarty LLP Solicitors, their employment law expert Martin Bloom talked about some of these tweaks in more detail including the legality of pre-employment health enquiries, secrecy clauses and genuine occupational requirements.

You can listen to his thoughts by clicking here.

And now you can listen too….

We’ve worked with Martin Bloom from Hegarty LLP Solicitors over a number of years. He’s incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to employment law and a popular presenter at our regular Employment Law Briefings.

Martin was one of the key speakers at our latest Seminar on the subject of the Agency Workers Regulations, giving an in depth look at the way the Regulations are likely to be interpreted on a legal platform.

Martin’s insight was, as ever, thought provoking and invaluable.

For those who couldn’t write quickly enough to take note of everything Martin said, and those who weren’t able to attend, please click here to listen to the podcast of Martin’s speech.

Agency Workers Regulations

The Agency Workers Regulations have been on our radar for well over 18 months.

We’ve been working closely with our industry regulator the Recruitment and Employment Confederation to ensure we are fully versed with the regulations, what it’s going to mean for us and our clients and how we can remain compliant and help clients to be as well.

As a result of the relationship we have built up, the REC’s director of external relations Tom Hadley has agreed to come and speak at a special employment law briefing we’ve arranged with Hegarty LLP Solicitors.

This is a fantastic opportunity for HR professionals from Greater Peterborough to engage with a heavy weight industry expert – Tom is well known and respected across the country.

He’s going to discuss the practical and legal implications of the introduction of the regulations on employers and, hopefully, will have time to take some questions too.

Hegarty’s employment expert Martin Bloom will also be presenting at the event later this month, offering a legal spin on the introduction of the regulations.

We’ve always taken the REC stand – that these regulations, which will be enforced from October 2011, are likely to have far reaching implications on the demand for temporary workers. Our objective now is to help make their introduction as smooth as possible for clients.