Employer protection policy

The minimum wage rates are currently:

·         NLW (age 23 and over) - £8.91

·         Age 21 and 22 - £8.36

·         Age 18 to 20 - £6.56

·         Age 16 and 17 - £4.62

·         Apprentice rate - £4.30

Yes, absolutely, but EU nationals will no longer have the automatic right to check by virtue of the freedom of movement. If staff are being recruited from the EU and are arriving in the UK after the end of the transition period (1 January 2021) they are subject to the same immigration rules as everyone else.

Employers are under a legal duty with civil and criminal penalties for employing someone without the right to work in the UK.

Yes, absolutely. While there is no legal obligation to have a policy concerning working from home, any issues arising from employees working at home will be much easier to address if there is a policy in place. This also helps requests to be dealt with consistently and fairly.

If your business does not have a policy, we would strongly advise that one is drafted and implemented as soon as possible and ideally before any permanent homeworking arrangements are put into place.

A repudiatory breach of contract is a breach which is so serious that it effectively renders the contract useless and therefore gives the innocent party the option to terminate. An obvious example of this would be an employer preventing a contractor from entering the site.

However, identifying a repudiatory breach of contract can often very difficult. For example, a generally poor standard of workmanship might have serious consequences, but it is unlikely to be classed as a repudiatory breach.

Occasional late payments could cause major cash-flow problems for the payee, but they will probably not amount to repudiatory breaches, particularly if past experience shows that payment is always made eventually.

A dismissal for redundancy is likely to be unfair unless the employer has considered whether there is suitable alternative employment within the business (or group). If suitable alternative employment is offered, it might be subject to a statutory 4 week trial period if the role, place of work or other terms and conditions are different from the previous job.

Read more here.

Introducing monitoring software could damage employee trust and confidence, especially during coronavirus. Surveillance software isn’t fool proof – it can’t record thinking time or the creative process in any meaningful way.

Employers need to be mindful of employee rights in these situations. Many employees object to being so closely monitored in this way and capturing screenshots carries the real risk of the employer ending up as a data processor for what could be highly confidential information.

Employees might not be allowed to be using business IT equipment to access their private email or medical records, but that is unlikely to protect the business if that data is accidentally disseminated.

Settlement Agreements are legally binding contracts which are signed between an employee and employer. They settle claims which an employee may have arising from their employment such as pay claims or discrimination, or claims following termination of employment such as unfair dismissal.

Usually but not always, settlement agreements will involve a payment by the employer in exchange for the employee agreeing not to bring proceed with any legal claims they may have.

Compromise agreements is just an older name for what was basically the same thing until 2012. There were some slight differences in the regulations which mean that some (increasingly rare) claims still have to be dealt with under the old compromise regime.

Read more here.

S109(4) of the Equality Act introduced the so-called ‘statutory defence’ to discrimination claims. If an employer ‘took all reasonable steps to prevent’ the discriminatory conduct they will not be liable for the offending behaviour.

Reasonable steps are likely to include:

·         Appropriate and up-to-date polices in relation to harassment and bullying, communications and diversity and equal opportunities;

·         Ensuring staff are aware of those policies and receive relevant training;

·         Effective management of grievance and disciplinary processes where unlawful conduct occurs

Problems will arise where businesses may have such policies and training in place but there it is outdated or ineffectual. 

For further guidance, please contact our experienced Employment Team here.

The potential advantages of flexible working are as follows:

·         Employees are generally more productive working remotely than in-office workers

·         In-office workers are generally distracted more times a day than remote workers

·         Flexible working can increase retention and morale amongst employees

·         Flexible working improves employment prospects for women, who are twice as likely to work flexibly whilst juggling childcare responsibilities

There is no prescribed size of company that the protection policy works best for. The monthly retainer price is calculated to be based on the wage roll and history of Employment Tribunal claims of the company. This includes a legal advice fee and also the insurance premium. So, for a smaller company, employing only a few people, the monthly retainer would likely be cheaper than a larger company, with more staff. However, the policy is designed to protect large and small companies, at a price which is applicable to their specific circumstances.