Revised rates for statutory pay issues

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Honley Law Practice

Both employees and employers should take note that the government have advised of  changes to rates for certain statutory payments and benefits.  These rates are subject to Parliamentary approval. 

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Unfair Dismissal: increase in the qualifying period

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Honley Law Practice

The Government plans to shake up employment law in the UK. One of the important changes is the increased qualifying period for unfair dismissal.

At present, an employee with one year’s continuous employment has the right to claim unfair dismissal. From April 2012, an employee must have two years’ continuous employment to bring an unfair dismissal claim.

How does this change affect employers and employees?

Employees will be disgruntled to hear that they will need an extra year’s service before they can bring a claim for unfair dismissal. Injustices may arise if an employee is dismissed by the employer before accruing two year’s service. Unscrupulous employers could hire and retain staff for just short of a two year period and then terminate their employment. In cases where an individual has no redress other than an unfair dismissal claim, the change in the law may well work against employees.

While the increased qualifying period may well be welcomed by employers it should be noted that employees can still pursue discrimination claims. Further, they may still be able to pursue an unfair dismissal claim in certain circumstances where no qualifying period of service with the employer is needed. This includes whistle blowing and maternity related claims, amongst others. Such claims may be even more expensive for an employer to defend than the ordinary unfair dismissal claims.

If you are an employer or employee and have queries relating to this matter, contact us for further information.

FOZIA AHMAD
The Honley Law Practice

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Buyers Beware: The Case of Kernott v Jones

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Honley Law Practice

After buying jointly in equal shares and then separating, the Court awarded Mr Kernott only a 10 per cent share of the property that he owned jointly with his former partner, Miss Jones.

The Supreme Court agreed with the trial judge saying that, “if the parties don’t spell it out what they intend, the courts can do it for them”. Continue reading →

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Pension Scheme Not Obliged to Award Discretionary Increases

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Honley Law Practice

The High Court recently ruled in favour of a pension scheme which decided to stop awarding pension increases which, though discretionary, had in practice been regularly given in the past.

The Prudential’s pension trustees had for many years followed a policy of uplifting pensions for pensioner members of the scheme, so that the pensions maintained their real value based on the Retail Prices Index. According to the trust deed of the pension scheme, this power was discretionary.

The trustees changed the policy and no longer awarded the discretionary element of pension increases as before, but instead applied a 2.5 per cent ‘cap’ on pension uplifts.

This raised the question of whether, given that members of the scheme had become accustomed to the increases, the change in policy could be regarded as a breach of its implied obligation to them.

Despite the ‘very strong’ expectation of the scheme members, the Court ruled that there was no obligation to uplift pensions according to the prior policy.

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ACAS Issues Advice on Dealing With Effects of Riots

Posted on August 11, 2011 by Honley Law Practice

The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) has issued guidance for employers and employees on coping with the effects of the riots which have recently erupted in London and in other major cities across the UK.

The focus of the advice is on minimising the disruption to business activity. The principal points are that employers and employees should:

  • keep in touch with each other – if you can’t get to work, try to get in touch with your employer to let them know. If your business has been damaged, contact your employees to discuss work arrangements;
  • be flexible about working hours and location, perhaps using smartphones and laptops to help you keep working where possible; and
  • be fair – as an employer, try to take into account the circumstances surrounding absence or timekeeping issues before deciding on the action you might take in terms of leave and pay.

Although many people may not be aware of this, employees are not entitled to be paid for time they are unable to work because of travel disruptions. Employers also have the right to decide when an employee must take statutory holiday entitlement, although they must give the employee notice of at least twice the length of holiday the employee is expected to take.

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Misplaced Fence Leads to £20,000 Bill

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Honley Law Practice

A fence put up by a Devon couple will cost them more than £20,000 in legal fees and re-erection costs after the court decided that it was built a few inches the wrong side of their boundary with their next-door neighbours.

The court case was necessary because the neighbours objected to the fence, which was erected whilst they were on holiday, and claimed that it had been built on their land. They considered the fence to be unsightly and complained that it blocked the view from their drive.

Photographic evidence of the position of an earlier wall was important in determining the line of the boundary, after an expert had given evidence that the boundary line could not be determined exactly.

The judge ordered the fence to be removed and issued an injunction prohibiting the couple from erecting further fencing on their neighbour’s land.

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Unfair Trading Legislation Stops Bogus Prize Draws

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Honley Law Practice

Not many prosecutions are brought under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, which are designed to protect consumers from the activities of unscrupulous traders.

Recently, however, several companies were taken to court by the Office of Fair Trading for breaches of the Regulations.

One of the companies offered invitations to claim ‘prizes’ by sending unsolicited letters to people. The ‘prizes’ that were the subject of the prosecution were either an LCD TV, which was allocated to less than 1 per cent of the applicants, or a ‘Zurich watch’, which was allocated to more than 99 per cent of them. The Zurich watch actually contained a movement made in Japan.

To acquire the prize, it was necessary to obtain a ‘prize code’. This was done by the ‘prize’ recipient telephoning a premium-rate number – which cost £8.95. They then had to send a further £8.50 because the watch was an ‘electrical item’. The total cost to the consumer was therefore £17.45 and the supplier made a profit of approximately £7 on each ‘prize’.

The court concluded that there was, in reality, no prize and that the claimant had effectively bought the watch.

In each case, the OFT found that the Regulations had been breached and that the ‘prize’ element of the promotion was a sham.

There are many unscrupulous traders in the market and promotions that offer ‘free prizes’ are seldom genuine. There are also examples of companies that deliberately target vulnerable people (i.e. the recently bereaved).

Click here for more information on the rights of consumers.

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Further Steps in the Government Review of Employment Law

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Honley Law Practice

The Government has announced that as part of its ongoing review of employment law, aimed at eliminating unnecessary ‘red tape’, it will consider in detail the case for reforming:

Compensation for Discrimination 
Whilst there need to be remedies for discrimination, employers have expressed concern regarding the high levels of compensation sometimes awarded by Employment Tribunals (ET) in cases of discrimination – and the lack of certainty as to the level of award they may be required to pay. The amount of compensation payable in discrimination cases is unlimited and employers worry that high awards may encourage people to bring weak, speculative or vexatious claims in the hope of a large payout. This can lead to employers opting to settle such cases before they reach the ET;

The Collective Redundancy Rules
Employers are concerned that the current requirements regarding consultation when an employer proposes to make collective redundancies are hindering their ability to restructure efficiently and retain a flexible workforce. Employers in financial difficulty worry about how long they need to keep paying staff after it has become clear that they need to let them go. They also claim that it is not clear from the legislation at what point consultation on redundancies should start or end; and

TUPE
The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) implement the European Directive on Acquired Rights and protect employees’ terms and conditions of employment when there is a relevant transfer of a business, a part of a business or a service provision change from one owner to another. These rules offer important protections but some businesses believe that they are ‘gold plated’ and overly bureaucratic.

The review of these areas of employment law will commence this year.

Employment Relations Minister Edward Davey said, “The areas we are reviewing are priorities for employers. We want to make it easier for businesses to take on staff and grow.”

“We will be looking carefully at the arguments for reform. Fairness for individuals will not be compromised – but where we can make legislation easier to understand, improve efficiency and reduce unnecessary bureaucracy we will.”

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