KateRussell

Grasping the Nettle of Employment Issues

It is well-established that the Government is seeking to support employers and take steps to encourage them to employ more people. What is a continuing mystery is why it repeatedly ignores the areas of greatest concern (the extremely high costs of employm... Read >

Deciding to Dismiss – The Action of Last Resort

Employing people can be hard work, especially those who put in a grievance on the grounds that you're bullying them and go off sick with stress as soon as you tell them that they are falling below the standards required by the organization.Managers have a... Read >

Permanent Health Insurance and Holiday Pay

Permanent health insurance (PHI) is designed to provide incomes for an employee if he is are unable to work because of ill health.  Typically a PHI policy will pay 75% of an individual's salary until retirement.The decision of the House of Lords in String... Read >

Taming the Tribunals?

In 2010-2011 there were 218,100 claims to employment tribunals, an increase of 44% on the previous year. According to Government figures, the cost to the taxpayer increased from £77.8 million to £84 million in the same period.On 23rd November the Governme... Read >

Employment Law Update - Something for Nothing

My partner tells me I was born in the wrong era. I am old fashioned, he says, and yearn for old fashioned values and hand written notes carefully crafted with a fountain pen, not carelessly dashed off in" orfl txt spk LOL". He may be right. In one way at ... Read >

When an ET1 Arrives; Preparing to Defend an Employment Tribunal Claim

Unless you’re a solicitor, the arrival of an ET1 (tribunal claim) does tend to cast a gloom over the morning ….Employment tribunal claims have risen considerably in recent years. In the current climate contractual variations and redundancy dismissals are ... Read >

Problematic Pensions

The Pensions Act 2008 introduced measures aimed at encouraging greater private saving which includes workplace pension reforms due to come into effect in 2012. The reforms include new legal duties that require employers to automatically enroll eligible em... Read >

Employment law update - Comic Relief and Fit Notes

Aiming to raise money for Comic Relief, 'Little Britain' star David Walliams has been swimming the Thames from Gloucestershire to Big Ben in London. He wanted to complete the challenge in eight days. Unfortunately, the experience has led to him becoming u... Read >

Employment Law Update – Let the Punishment Fit the Crime

After he has heard all the evidence at a disciplinary hearing, the disciplining officer must decide whether it is appropriate to award a disciplinary sanction. It is important that any disciplinary action taken is proportionate to the misconduct which ... Read >

Making Sure That The Olympic Flame Doesn’t Burn Employers

Just a year to go to the London Olympics……. It’s an exciting time and things seems to be going well, though transport and security arrangements have yet to be finalised. This week David Cameron, Boris Johnson et al, all turned out to the Olympic site at S... Read >

Employers, Employees and Friendship: Can Managers be Friends With Employees?

The release of the new film Horrible Bosses prompted 5Live to set up a discussion about whether employers can be friends with their employees and I was invited to the studio to comment. The role of managers is to get work done through their teams. As a... Read >

How do I prepare for an employment tribunal?

Employers these days all face the very real prospect of tribunal claims. Although employment tribunals were originally supposed to be quick, cheap and informal, they have evolved into almost the complete opposite. Most claims are settled or withdrawn befo... Read >

Work Placements That Work

Over the last few weeks my team and I have been trying to get local sixth formers to grasp the concept of work and what is involved in getting a job. As I presented the recruitment workshop, number two in our programme Build and Fly Your Own Rocket (www.f... Read >

Workplace grievances – a waste of time?

For my sins, I have had to chair a number of grievance and grievance appeal meetings recently. It has been a draining and depressing experience. It is quite right that employees should be able to raise a genuine concern about work and breaches of stat... Read >

How to manage poor work performance

For employers, managing work performance efficiently is absolutely critical. Do all your employees meet all or most of your work standards most of the time? If the answer is “No” (and it usually is), there is work to do. Identifying and tackling poor w... Read >