Monthly HR blog Newsletter – March 2024 | Consensus HR, Herts, Beds
Welcome
In this months blogs recap from a selection of our February 2024, blogs we discuss:
- Determining an Individuals Employment Status | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds
- Proposal to bring back fees in Employment Tribunals and the EAT | Consensus HR – Herts Beds
- Britain has a bigger but sicker workforce than previously thought | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds
- Government takes action against ‘fire and rehire’ practices | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds
- Manual handling at work: guidance on the law | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds
- More than 500 businesses fail to pay minimum wage | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds
Determining an Individuals Employment Status | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds
Summary:
When determining an individual’s employment status, it is always important to return to the tests set down in the law as shown in Plastic Omnium Automotive Ltd v Horton.
Law:
Employment status has been the subject of much debate over the years, and a number of significant cases have been brought in an effort to determine where the line lies when it comes to employees, workers, and those not in an employment relationship.
The legal definition of the various status’ can be found in the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996). Section 230. Under this, an “employee” means an individual who has entered into or works under a contract of employment.
A “contract of employment” means a contract of service or apprenticeship, whether express or implied, and (if it is express) whether oral or in writing.
Proposal to bring back fees in Employment Tribunals and the EAT | Consensus HR – Herts Beds:
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has launched a consultation into the proposed reintroduction of modest fees in the Employment Tribunals (ET) and Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT).
With full details available at https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/introducing-fees-employment-tribunals-eat, it states that the aim is to contribute to the continuous improvement of the Courts and Tribunals Service and to reduce the cost to the taxpayer to fund these services.
The proposal is to introduce “modest fees” for claimants to bring a claim in the ET and appellants bringing an appeal in the EAT.
Britain has a bigger but sicker workforce than previously thought | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds:
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revised its estimates of the size and shape of the UK labour market showing that it has a bigger workforce, with employment up 170,000 compared to previous estimates.
However, the ONS has also highlighted that the number of people economically inactive due to long-term sickness has been revised up from its previous record high of 2.6 million to 2.8 million.
Independent think tank, the Resolution Foundation, explained that ONS’ reweighting of the labour force survey was to reflect the UK population growing faster than previously thought and it confirms that the labour market is bigger but weaker than previous estimates.
Government takes action against ‘fire and rehire’ practices | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds:
A new statutory Code of Practice concerning certain controversial dismissal tactics will, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) argues, protect workers’ rights whilst respecting business flexibility.
Dismissal and re-engagement, also known as ‘fire and rehire’, refers to when an employer sacks an employee and then offers them a new contract on new, often less favourable, terms.
Business Minister Kevin Hollinrake said: “Our new Code will crack down on employers mistreating employees and sets out how they should behave when changing an employee’s contract.”
It will, he went on, make clear how employers must behave in this area and help to preserve security and opportunity for those in work.
Manual handling at work: guidance on the law | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds:
As an employer, you must protect your workers from the risks of manual handling injuries in the workplace.
You can find help with preventing these sort of risks in your workplace on the HSE manual handling website pages.
There is a range of information and advice for employers, including sections on assessing manual handling and training for workers.
More than 500 businesses fail to pay minimum wage | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds:
More than 500 businesses, including Greggs and Harrods, failed to pay some of their employees the minimum wage, according to a list released by the Department for Business and Trade. The analysis, which covers breaches between 2015 and 2023, shows that recruitment agency Staffline topped the list for failing to pay 36,767 workers correctly, while Estée Lauder failed to pay £894,980 to almost 6,000 workers. The report shows that 524 employers have repaid more than 172,000 workers almost £16m, plus an additional penalty, for breaches in paying the statutory national minimum wage. Kevin Hollinrake, the minister for enterprise, markets and small businesses, said: “Employees deserve to get paid properly for the hard work they put in.” Caroline Harwood, an employer tax partner at BDO, said: “It’s always a bit of a shock to see so many well-known names appearing on HMRC’s list of employers who have been found to be in breach of national minimum wage rules.”
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In our current Monthly recap HR blog Newsletter – February 2024 we have:
- Determining an Individuals Employment Status | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds
- Proposal to bring back fees in Employment Tribunals and the EAT | Consensus HR – Herts Beds
- Britain has a bigger but sicker workforce than previously thought | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds
- Government takes action against ‘fire and rehire’ practices | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds
- Manual handling at work: guidance on the law | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds
- More than 500 businesses fail to pay minimum wage | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds
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