Vento Bands – Annual Update

The 2024 annual update to the Vento guidelines (which give ranges for injury to feelings awards in discrimination cases, depending on severity) have been published. In respect of claims presented on or after 6 April 2024, the Vento bands are:   a lower band of...

Flexible Working – Commencement

The changes to the rules on flexible working have been confirmed to come into force on Saturday 6 April 2024. You will need to make sure your HR Policies are updated for it. By way of a reminder, the relevant changes are: 1. Employees will be able to make two (not...

National Minimum Wage

With Easter fast approaching, don’t forget that new rates of National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage (NMW) are coming into force from 1 April 2024. They are… National Living Wage (21 and over): £11.44 per hour 18-20 rate: £8.60 per hour 16-17...

Disability Discrimination: Reasonable Adjustments

Did an employer make reasonable adjustments when it dismissed a disabled employee rather than placing him in an alternative role on a trial basis? No, held the Employment Appeal Tribunal  (EAT) in the recent case of Miller v Rentokil. The Claimant worked as a...

Health and Safety Dismissals

Was a tribunal entitled to conclude that there were two ‘principal’ reasons for dismissal in a claim for automatic unfair dismissal on health and safety grounds under section 100(1)(e) Employment Rights Act 1996? No, decided the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT)...

Unfair Dismissal: Band of Reasonable Responses

Was an employment tribunal entitled to decide that a decision to dismiss an employee for posting a racist ‘joke’ on his employer’s intranet fell outside the band of reasonable responses? No, decided the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in the recent case of Vaultex v...

Employee Engagement and Change Management Program

Happy Saturday! Another really busy week has just come to an end. We are very excited at aiMac-hr to have been approached (this time by a rapidly expanding manufacturing company with UK and overseas markets) to lead their proposed employee engagement and change...

Agency Workers

Did an overarching agency agreement exist between an agency worker and a hirer, such that the agency worker was entitled to ‘suspension pay’ from the hirer during a nine-month period when she was not allowed to book shifts with them? No, decided the Employment Appeal...

Increase In Compensation Limits

The government has announced the annual increase in compensation limits for employment tribunal awards and other statutory payments. They are contained in The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2024. The two most important increases are: maximum compensatory...

Menopause For Thought

Menopause For Thought:- Given the guidance recently issued by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) clarifying the legal obligations to workers going through the menopause, it really is now essential to put in place a proper Menopause Policy (if you...