Expert's Comments

Do you have any employees suffering from MS, Cancer or HIV? If so be aware that these individuals are now likely to fall within the scope of the DDA and therefore you must consider the question of reasonable adjustments in respect of these employees’ jobs.

With the introduction of a UK wide smoking ban expected in the near future, we examine the current position in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and consider the steps that employers should be taking now, to ensure compliance with the new legislation.

Many employers offer their employees benefits to reward loyalty. Common examples include giving employees additional holidays, or private healthcare, on the completion of a number of years of service.

New legislation comes into force next year which could show benefits to reward loyality as indirect age discrimination.

We all hire temps from time to time. But when it's time to say goodbye to a temp, you might be surprised to end up facing an unfair dismissal claim. However, employment tribunals are increasingly willing to imply that the end user is the real employer....

As parents of young children become more aware of their right to request a flexible working pattern, we consider whether the wide bases on which an employer can legitimately refuse an application really do make this a "toothless" law.

Today's news about Goverment's proposal to extend flexible working rights could change the way we work for good.

One of the main effects of the new Employment Act was to regulate the conduct of disciplinary hearings. In this month’s feature article, we consider the extent to which this will change employers’ approaches to employee discipline and lead to more uniformity of practice.

Update 66 - Just like flexible working, it should not normally be too difficult for an employer to identify a ‘permissible’ reason for refusing a ‘time off for training’ request.

We all know that workers must receive at least 4 weeks’ paid holiday each year. But working out how much to pay staff for holidays still causes confusion. Rolling up holiday pay into the hourly rate is a simple solution – but is it lawful?