News
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ArticleFather awarded £20,000 after gossip about his flexible working
A man has won more than £20,000 in a claim for sex-based harassment after his colleagues ‘gossiped’ about him working flexible hours. Courtney Rawlins worked for parcel delivery service DPD as a driver, and made a request for flexible working ahead of the birth of his daughter, ...
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ArticleReal living wage rate to increase to £12.60
Source: Shutterstock The Living Wage Foundation has announced an increase in its real living wage rate to £12.60 across the UK, and £13.85 in London. More than 15,000 employers across the UK are signed up to pay the new rates for almost half a million employees. The ...
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ArticleFormer pregnant Mitie account manager sees discrimination award increased
A pregnant account manager, who was found to have been discriminated against, has had her total award increased from £37,000 to more than £350,000.
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ArticleTPR and FCA given regulatory powers to enforce Value for Money framework
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will have a full range of regulatory powers
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ArticleTesco loses Supreme Court case over fire and rehire proposals
Supermarket Tesco has lost its Supreme Court case against Usdaw over what the trade union called proposals to fire and rehire workers on less favourable terms. In 2007, Tesco planned to close some of its distribution centres and offered staff retained pay for them to relocate. It ...
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ArticleEHRC publishes hybrid working guidance for disabled staff
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has published guidance to highlight legal obligations and practical steps for employers to best support disabled employees with hybrid working. The guidance has been designed for small and medium sized employers to support disabled staff with reasonable adjustments and help them ...
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ArticleGovernment rolls out health check programme to workplaces
The government has rolled out a health check programme to workplaces across the country, aiming to better protect more than 130,000 people across the country from heart disease, kidney disease and diabetes. The checks, which employees can complete at work, record information which is used to determine ...
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ArticleNext workers win equal pay claim
More than 3,500 workers and former employees of Next have won a six-year equal pay claim. An employment tribunal ruled that Next failed to demonstrate that paying sales consultants, who are mostly women, lower hourly pay rates than warehouse operatives, who tend to be men, was not ...
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ArticleChancellor launches pensions system review
Chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves has launched a review to boost investment, increase saver returns and tackle waste in the pensions system. The review will be led by minister for pensions Emma Reynolds and will focus on defined contribution workplace schemes and the Local Government Pension ...
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ArticleReservist wins landmark Territorial Army pensions case
A retired major has won a landmark case against the Ministry of Defence (MoD) that could mean thousands of reservists will receive army pensions for the first time. Major Charles Milroy took the MoD to the employment tribunal in Glasgow, claiming that he should have been enrolled ...
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ArticleEquality watchdog names six employers that have not reported gender pay gap data
Defence and security technology firm Ultra Electronics and Norchem Healthcare have been named as some of the employers that have missed deadlines to report their 2023-2024 gender pay gap data.Private sector organisations across Britain and English public bodies with 250 or more employees are legally required to publish their gender ...
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ArticleCourt of Appeal upholds High Court ruling on Virgin Media pension scheme
The Court of Appeal has upheld the High Court’s ruling that a written actuarial confirmation was required where an alteration to the Virgin Media scheme’s rules affected pension benefits for past or future service benefits.This was in relation to section 9(2B) contracted-out rights and was based on the relevant legislation ...
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ArticleGovernment launches pensions review to boost investment and outcomes
Rachel Reeves, chancellor of the exchequer, has announced a pensions review as part of the government’s aim to boost growth and productive investment into the UK economy. The chancellor’s plans include looking at how broader investment strategies could potentially deliver higher pensions returns and how to unlock ...
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ArticleKing's Speech introduces Employment Rights Bill
Credit: Muhammad Aamir Sumsum / Shutterstock.comThe new Labour government is to introduce an Employment Rights Bill within its first 100 days as part of its plan to make work pay.Announced in the King’s Speech on Wednesday 17 July, the plan will create a new partnership between business, trade unions and ...
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ArticleKing's Speech introduces mandatory ethnicity and disability pay reporting
The government is set to bring in legislation to introduce mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for organisations with more than 250 employees.It is planned that the measure will be brought in under the draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill announced in the 2024 King’s Speech at the State ...
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ArticlePension Schemes Bill announced in King’s Speech
The new Labour government will introduce a Pension Schemes Bill to improve outcomes for savers in private sector pension schemes.In the State Opening of Parliament, His Majesty King Charles introduced plans for the Pension Schemes Bill to strengthen pension investment.The bill is designed to help people get more from their ...
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ArticleEmma Reynolds named pensions minister
Credit: UK government, under Attribution 3.0 Unported Deed, resizedEmma Reynolds, the elected Labour MP for Wycombe, has been appointed parliamentary secretary for both the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and HM Treasury.The new joint role is part of the new government's recognition that pensions are the responsibilities of both ...
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ArticleLiz Kendall named secretary of state for work and pensions
Credit: UK government, under Attribution 3.0 Unported Deed, resizedLiz Kendall, the re-elected MP for Leicester West, has been appointed as the secretary of state for work and pensions as part of the new Labour government established last week.In her new role, she will have overall responsibility for the Department for ...
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ArticleTaylors Poultry Services wins appeal in travel time minimum wage case
An employment appeal tribunal (EAT) has ruled that Taylors Poultry Services, which provides labour to farms, did not have to pay workers the national minimum wage while they were travelling to work.The organisation, which employs workers on zero-hours contracts to work on poultry farms, provides minibuses to take staff to ...
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ArticleTribunal rules Wrexham bakery did not make reasonable adjustments for blind employee
An employment tribunal has ruled that a Wrexham bakery did not do enough to make reasonable adjustments for a man registered as blind before dismissing him during his probation period.Ian Stanley is registered as legally blind and was diagnosed with Bardet Biedl syndrome in 2010. He was employed as a ...