All Tax and legislation articles – Page 5
-
OpinionKevin Gude: Why should employers consider a corporate healthcare trust?
Employer-funded healthcare trusts are an established, tax-efficient way to deliver the benefit of medical treatment to employees without having to buy employer-paid health insurance.Traditional insurance involves paying an insurance firm a premium, including 12% in tax, that reflects the insurer’s prediction that claims will be made by employees, as well ...
-
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 ...
-
OpinionDebbie Coyne: Managing Euro 2024 and staff leave
With Euro 2024 football fever sweeping the country, employers are once again facing the age-old conundrum of balancing productivity and business operations with giving their staff the chance to watch their nation at a major summer tournament.Legally, employers are not obliged to provide time off for employees to watch Euro ...
-
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 ...
-
OpinionDeborah Warren: Supporting employees' mental health in the workplace
Employers have not only recognised the importance of employee wellbeing and mental health, but have begun to put it at the top of their people priorities list.All employers have a general, common-law duty to take reasonable care for the safety of their employees, including providing a safe place of work, ...
-
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 ...
-
OpinionAndrew Rhodes: How to establish policies on belief and expression to avoid claims
With general election campaigning getting underway in the UK and US, as well as the continued culture wars all feeding into increased political polarisation, there is a considerable risk of disagreements spilling into the workplace.In response to this risk, employers should establish or review their internal policies on political beliefs ...
-
ArticleTribunal finds Scottish teacher with menopause symptoms was unfairly dismissed
An employment tribunal has found that Scottish teacher whose menopause symptoms worsened during a dispute about moving to a different school was unfairly dismissed.Allison Shearer had worked at the Clydesdale Secondary Support Base between 2015 and 2022, teaching English, maths and health and wellbeing. She was taking prescribed medication for ...
-
OpinionVicky Schollar: What is the potential impact of changes to the fit note system?
It was announced in April that GPs may no longer be required to sign off fit notes and that responsibility will be passed to an unspecified healthcare specialist. What do the possible legal implications of this look like and what will be the impact on employees?A sick note, or fitness ...
-
ArticleTribunal finds account manager was subject to pregnancy and maternity discrimination
A former business account manager at 52 Street Event Supplies in Barnsley has been awarded £37,310.05 for pregnancy and maternity discrimination, unfair dismissal and arrears of wages.Heather Todd started working for the organisation in 2003. In 2022 she became pregnant with her second child and informed her company director, Shaun ...
-
AnalysisHow effective is strike action in pay and benefits disputes?
Employees often take strike action over issues such as pay, health and safety, pensions, benefits, changes to terms and conditions, and union recognition. The UK has strict laws regarding strike action and it cannot take place if certain requirements have not been met. Employers should consider ...
-
ArticleFormer sports centre director receives fine for withholding pensions information
A former director of 1066 Target Sports in St Leonards, East Sussex, has received a £15,000 fine for withholding legally-required pensions information.The Pensions Regulator formally requested information from Lee Bartholomew on 10 June 2020 as part of an investigation into allegations of fraudulent evasion relating to employee pension contributions. It ...
-
ArticleDetective pressured back to office wins reasonable adjustments case
A Metropolitan Police officer who was forced to return to the office despite a heart condition has won his disability discrimination and harassment case at the employment tribunal. Tarik Ahmed, who has worked for the Met Police for more than 22 years, has ischaemic heart disease, having ...
-
OpinionHelen Watson: BBC equal pay case: implications for settlement agreements and discrimination claims
The BBC once again made the HR headlines following the news that four female presenters have lost their bid to take legal action against the corporation on grounds of equal pay. For employment law professionals, the case certainly poses an interesting challenge, with it being revealed that equal pay issues ...
-
ArticlePaternity leave for bereaved partners bill passed into law
The Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024 has been passed into law to give working fathers and non-birthing partners automatic rights to immediate paternity leave if the mother dies. The Act, which received Royal Assent on the last day of the current Parliament on Friday 24 May, ensures that bereaved fathers ...
-
ArticleGravity Supply Chain Solutions employee awarded £90,000 for associative discrimination
A former software executive at Gravity Supply Chain Solutions has been awarded £89,900 after an employment tribunal ruled that his employer had discriminated against him in association with his wife’s cancer treatment and that associative discrimination took place due to an underlying insensitivity around her terminal condition.Graham began working for ...
-
OpinionRena Magdani: How does flexibility help with recruitment and retention in a challenging climate?
With recruitment difficulties set to continue, businesses need to attract applicants and retain staff as best they can. Embracing flexible working could make a business more attractive in a difficult climate. Flexible working is one element employers can control in terms of the talent pool; the time to act is ...
-
ArticleEmployment appeal tribunal upholds decision to hear unfair dismissal claim
A UK employment appeal tribunal (EAT) has upheld a tribunal’s decision that it had jurisdiction to hear the unfair dismissal claim brought by an employee who worked on a superyacht which had not entered UK waters.Lindsay Gordon, originally from Aberdeen, was a stewardess working on a superyacht managed by the ...
-
OpinionAndy Williams and Chelsea Feeney: Looking after employees’ mental wellbeing at work
The turbulence of the last four years has caused an increase in mental health issues. This has translated into employers seeing rising numbers of employee absences due to poor mental health. This is why it is more important than ever for employers to not only recognise when an employee is ...
-
ArticleTribunal rules disabled Scottish government social care worker was discriminated against
An employment tribunal has found that a disabled team leader within the social care division of the Scottish government was discriminated against due to not receiving the necessary equipment to work.James Blair, who uses a wheelchair due to spondylitis, a degenerative spinal cord disease, joint condition Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and dyslexia, ...