Section 230(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 defines the employment agreement as contract of service or apprenticeship. The line of demarcation between contract of service and contract for service is that: Contract of service: An employer – employee contract is called contract of service. Contract for service: A contractor – client contract is called contract for service. Employment agreement is made between employee and employer which contain their employment rights, duties and responsibilities. Employee [...]

On 6April 2009 the Employment Act 2008 has replaced the  widely criticised 3 step statutory disciplinary and grievance procedures implemented in 2004 with a new ACAS Code of Practice on handling discipline and grievances. Therefore from 6 April 2009 the important provisions governing discipline and grievances at work can be found in: the Employment Act 2008, and the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) (Amendment) Regulations 2008. The old procedure governing disciplinary and grievance [...]

As well as carrying out your normal duties, your working week includes: Job-related training Job-related travelling time, for example, if you are a sales rep Working lunches, for example business lunches Time spent working abroad, if you work for a uk-based company Paid and some unpaid overtime Time spent on-call at the workplace Adult workers cannot be forced to work more than 48 hours a week on average – this is normally averaged over 17 [...]

Reviewing employment law To make it easier for businesses to take on staff and grow, the government is reviewing employment laws and regulations and is seeking to cut as much red tape as possible. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is leading the review and is considering reforming: Compensation for discrimination – employers are concerned about the high levels of compensation sometimes awarded by Employment Tribunals in discrimination cases. This sometimes leads to [...]

HMRC are changing the way they deal with people who don’t send their tax returns on time or who pay their tax late. The new rules mean that the more you delay the more you will pay. The new rules will apply if, for example: you are late sending back your tax return for the year 2010-11 or any later tax year you pay the tax you owe for 2010-11 or a later year more [...]

To make it easier for businesses to take on staff and grow, the government is reviewing employment laws and regulations and is seeking to cut as much red tape as possible. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is leading the review and is considering reforming: Compensation for discrimination – employers are concerned about the high levels of compensation sometimes awarded by Employment Tribunals in discrimination cases. This sometimes leads to cases being settled [...]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Baroness Wilcox): My honorable friend the Minister for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs (Edward Davey) made the following Statement to the House on Friday 18 March 2011. I am announcing today that I intend to repeal shortly the regulations on extending the right to request flexible working to parents of 17 year-olds that were laid before Parliament on 16 December 2010 and that [...]

All workers have a right to work in places where risks to their health and safety are properly controlled. Health and safety is about stopping you getting hurt at work or ill through work. Your employer is responsible for health and safety, but you must help. Health and safety law states that organisations must: Provide a written health and safety policy (if they employ five or more people); Assess risks to employees, customers, partners and [...]

The Companies Act 2006 requires a private company to have at least one director. A company’s articles of association may impose a higher minimum requirement for the number of directors. At least one director must be an individual. A private company does not need to have a secretary unless the company’s articles of association require it. A public company must have at least two directors and a secretary. At least one director must be an [...]

The basic position is that with a few necessary exceptions Equality Act 2010 s.60 makes it inappropriate for an employer to ask a job applicant any health related questions before offering work to the job applicant. Merely asking questions about the job applicant’s health is not unlawful disability discrimination but anything the employer does in reliance on information given in response to such questions may be. While merely asking the question is not disability discrimination [...]