Be Aware UK

Taylor Review report into employment practices in the modern economy published

12 July 2017 / employment law reforms, employment status / Employment

The Taylor Review’s final report on employment practices in the modern economy has been delivered to Government and published on 11 July 2017. The Review panel, chaired by Matthew Taylor, has made a number of recommendations for specific measures which the Review panel would like to see enacted as soon as possible, but also makes …

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Queen’s Speech unveils employment law changes

21 June 2017 / employment law reforms / Brexit, Employment, Reform

Today the Queen unveiled the Government’s legislative programme for the new two-year Parliament. This included a number of employment law reforms, aside from the impact of Brexit: There will be a new national policy on immigration. However, there is currently very little detail about what the new policy will be. The Conservative party manifesto included …

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How to prepare for GDPR: Implementing a compliance programme

25 May 2017 / data protection / Employment

In the latest in our series of briefings on preparing for GDPR, we focus on the steps necessary to implement a GDPR compliance programme. With only one year to go until GDPR comes into force on 25 May 2018, it is vital that organisations take action now to ensure that they are ready to comply …

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Practical impacts of GDPR on the employment relationship

10 May 2017 / data protection / Employment

In the next of our series of briefings on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) we focus on some more of the practical impacts of GDPR on the employment relationship and what businesses can do to manage these and prepare for implementation by May 2018. Data subject access requests Under the GDPR, employees will have …

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Preparing for the GDPR: New employee data subject rights could disrupt core HR procedures

18 April 2017 / data protection / Employment

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), due to come into force throughout the EU including the UK on 25 May 2018, will force through a culture change in terms of attitudes to data privacy, according to the Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham. Speaking at the Data Protection Practitioners’ Conference 2017, Denham warned that organisations risking damaging …

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Brexit: Impact on European nationals in your workforce

13 April 2017 / Brexit, EU nationals, immigration / Brexit

The rights of European nationals[1] currently living and working in the UK has been one of the most high profile aspects of the Brexit process, and it remains a hot topic. The consistent message from UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, has been that securing the status of, and giving certainty to, European nationals already in …

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The clock is now ticking for employers to publish their gender pay gaps

5 April 2017 / gender pay / Employment

Today marks the beginning of the one year gender pay gap reporting countdown for every employer with 250 or more employees. Within the next 12 months, each of these employers will have to wrestle with the Government’s new complex regulations, get to grips with the various calculations, and finally publish details of their gender pay …

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Gender pay gap reporting: The issues with bonuses

29 March 2017 / gender pay / Employment

One week from today, 5 April 2017, marks the ‘snapshot’ date on which employers who are in scope need to collect the raw data on which to calculate their mean and median gender pay and bonus gaps under the Equality Act (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017. We continue our countdown with a brief look …

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Gender pay gap reporting: what counts as ‘pay’?

22 March 2017 / employee pay and benefits, gender pay / Employment

Two weeks from today, 5 April 2017, marks the ‘snapshot’ date for which employers who are in scope need to collect the raw data on which to calculate their mean and median gender pay and bonus gaps. Employers will be required to publish information on their gender pay gap by 4 April 2018. The requirement …

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Scope for ban on Islamic headscarves in the workplace remains limited

16 March 2017 / discrimination, ECJ / Employment

The European Court of Justice has decided that an internal rule which prohibits the visible wearing of any religious sign does not constitute direct discrimination based on religion or belief. Although such a rule might constitute indirect discrimination, it may be objectively justified. Facts Ms Achbita (A) was employed, in Belgium, as a receptionist by …

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New apprenticeship levy applies from April 2017

9 March 2017 / Employment

This week (6 to 10 March 2017) marks the 10th National Apprenticeship Week. This is quite timely, as it precedes the introduction of the apprenticeship levy next month. The apprenticeship levy applies from 6 April 2017, and effectively shifts the cost of funding apprenticeships from the government to large employers. The levy will be collected …

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Collective Bargaining Stalemate? – Tribunal finds employer’s direct approach to employees unlawful

28 February 2017 / trade unions / Employment

Employers who recognise a trade union for the purposes of collective bargaining should be aware of a recent tribunal decision which may significantly impact on their ability to implement contract variations where union negotiations reach a stalemate. The s.145B conundrum This is due to a little-known section of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) …

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Trade Union Act 2016 major provisions coming into force 1 March

20 February 2017 / trade unions / Employment

The major provisions of the Trade Union Act 2016 will come into force on 1 March 2017. The Trade Union Act 2016 (Commencement No. 3 and Transitional) Regulations 2017 will bring into force the following provisions: The 50% turnout requirement for all industrial action ballots (section 2 of the 2016 Act which amends section 226 …

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Employment tribunal developments

15 February 2017 / employment tribunals / Employment

In the last week, we have seen a couple of developments relating to employment tribunals which will be of interest to employers. The first relates to a new online register of employment tribunal judgments; the second is the publication of the Government’s response to its consultation on transforming the justice system. Online employment tribunal judgments …

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Court of Appeal decides “self-employed” plumber has worker status

10 February 2017 / Employment

Employment status is shaping up to be one of the hot employment law topics for 2017. Early February and we already have a Court of Appeal judgment on the subject. Today, the Court of Appeal decided, in the case of Pimlico Plumbers Ltd v Smith, that a plumber, who was engaged as a “self-employed operative”, …

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