All Tax and legislation articles
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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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OpinionKeely Rushmore: What can employers learn from the Next employment tribunal judgment?
Keely Rushmore Source: From Keystone Law Keely Rushmore, employment partner at Keystone Law The employment tribunal judgment in the case of high street retailer Next serves as a reminder that roles that may seem very different can be compared against each other under the equality legislation, to ...
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AnalysisHow to conduct an ethnicity pay review
Source: Shutterstock Mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting will be introduced in the future, along with the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill. Ethnicity data is a special category under GDPR, so employers must state what it will be used for and how it will ...
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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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OpinionAnn Frances Cooney: Potential impact of the draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill
The draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill was announced in the King’s Speech in July. The new Labour government confirmed that the draft bill delivers its manifesto commitments to enshrine in law the full right to equal pay for ethnic minorities and disabled people, and to introduce ...
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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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OpinionNick Le Riche: Flexible working changes and a four-day week
The Labour government’s planned changes to give employees the right to request a four-day working week under plans to increase flexible working have hit the headlines. According to reports, the government is proposing to make it easier for employees to request compressed hours, whereby employees work their ...
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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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OpinionElouisa Crichton: What to expect from a right to disconnect
The UK government is exploring how to implement the new right to disconnect in practice. This follows moves by countries including France, Spain and Australia where similar policies have already been introduced. This proposed right is unlikely to become law in the statutory sense, but rather a ...
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OpinionLouise Lawrence: Legal implications and requirements of managing sickness absence
Managing sickness absence can be a daunting task for many employers to handle, as it often requires striking a fine balance of having a delicate approach in supporting employees, while considering business needs of minimising business disruption and costs. An October 2023 report from the Chartered Institute ...
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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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OpinionThe Shared Parental Leave and Pay (Bereavement) Bill and the Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024
On 6 December 2023, the Shared Parental Leave and Pay (Bereavement) Bill was introduced to the House of Commons as a Private Member’s Bill by Chris Elmore, a Labour MP, with support from Darren Henry, a Conservative MP. It enjoyed the support of the government and across ...
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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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OpinionAmanda Glover: Impact of new flexible working laws on employees
The employment law changes that came into effect in April 2024 are likely to have been overshadowed for many by the general election and the multitude of proposed employment law changes that have been put on the table by the Labour party.The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023, which came ...
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AnalysisWhat could the Labour government mean for employers' reward and benefits strategies?
Credit: Mistervlad/Shutterstock Need to know: The Labour government’s Employment Rights Bill will enhance employee rights but there are concerns that proposals could have unintended consequences, adding cost, disadvantaging some businesses and their employees, and affecting recruitment strategies. Extending pay gap reporting to ethnicity and disability may ...
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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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OpinionSarah Tahamtani: Supporting and celebrating neurodiversity in the workplace
The Buckland Review of Autism Employment, published in February 2024, identified that autistic jobseekers often struggled due to generic job descriptions which they could not satisfy, interview questions and approaches which were not adapted to fit their needs and challenging sensory environments.What is clear, is that there is a significant ...