24/10/2009 by admin.
ACAS has published its Annual Report for 2008/9. Three pertinent points in this Report:
· The recession has stimulated a 22% rise in unfair dismissal cases
· Other Employment Tribunal cases have also increased
· Support on redundancy cases has risen dramatically. So too has the demand for redundancy training……………………
Written by Simone Greasley
Posted in Current Issues | No Comments »
10/10/2009 by admin.
The Government has published draft regulations to introduce Additional Paternity Leave (APL). Once approved the Regulations will come in to force on 6th April 2010.In essence it will enable Mothers of children due on or after 3rd April 2011 to transfer up to six months of their maternity leave to the Father, when they return to work. This may or may not be paid leave, depending on the amount of statutory maternity pay received already by the Mother. Similar provision will also apply to adoptive parents.
From Simone
Posted in Current Issues | No Comments »
06/10/2009 by admin.
At the end of September 2009, the High Court ruled on its judgment on the Heyday case. This centred around the charity Age Concern (now called Age UK), which was attempting to have the default retirement age (“DRA”) ruled as being unlawful.The High Court Judge decided that UK age discrimination law was valid and that the “default retirement age” of 65 is still lawful. .However, the Judge said that his decision might have been different if the Government had not recently announced it review of the DRA. It is therefore envisaged that the days of being able to retire employees at age 65 are likely to be numbered…………….
From Simone
Posted in Current Issues | No Comments »
01/10/2009 by admin.
In the 2009 budget the Government announced its intention to increase statutory redundancy pay from £350.00 to £380 per week. The increase becomes effective today (1st October 2009).The new figure will also apply to the basic award in unfair dismissal cases as well as other compensation payments based on weekly pay.The annual adjustment, which normally occurs each February, will not now take place until 2010. The limit will therefore remain at £380.00 until February 2011.
The cap on unfair dismissal compensatory awards (currently £66,200) is unaffected. The annual adjustment to this will still occur in February 2010.
Thanks again Simone
Posted in Current Issues | No Comments »
01/10/2009 by admin.
As of today, (1st October 2009), the National Minimum Wage (NMW) new hourly rates will take effect:-- Workers aged 22 and over: £5.80
- Workers aged 18-21: £4.83
- Workers aged 16 and 17: £3.57
There are certain exemptions from the above for Apprentices. The Minimum wage for workers starting an Apprenticeship is £95.00 per week (this came in to effect on 1st August 2009).
From 1st October 2010 the Government has announced that the full National Minimum Wage rate will be payable for those aged 21 and over.
Thanks to Simone for the update
Posted in Current Issues | No Comments »
19/09/2009 by admin.
I’ve just returned from attending and delivering to “The 14th International Conference on Thinking, 2009” in Malaysia. The conference was attended by over 1000 delegates from around the World and I was lucky to meet up with some old friends from the Theory of Constraints World. Now I have the problem of telling you about the Conference for this blog! Rather than rattle on about the speakers I heard I thought it would be more beneficial to give you a couple of little gems I heard:
1. Gandhi – developing wisdom
As a young man Gandhi was late for a train in India – he jumped on board as it was leaving and one of his sandals fell back on to the platform. What did he do? He immediately threw the other sandal back onto the platform. His reasoning being that one sandal was no use to him or to the person who picked up the sandal he had dropped. He could not have both sandals so he donated a usable pair to whoever found them. Many of us would eventually have thought to do this but probably 20 miles down the line. He demonstrated his innate/acquired ability to reason, solve a problem and still consider the needs of others. The later can often be forgotten in the hard nosed world of day to day business.
2. Cross the river
Edward De Bono gave an example of how important it is to see things from all sides and be aware of the perspective of others.
A man stands on one side of a stream and shouts to someone on the opposite bank. “How do I get to the other side? The reply? “You’re already there!
How often do we have conversations where we talk at cross purposes because we fail to take account of the viewpoint of others and build our solutions on assumptions that may or may not be valid?
3. EBNE
Edward De Bono also spoke about continuous improvement and not resting on laurels. He suggests a new word EBNE - Excellent but not enough
4. Intelligence Howard Gardner spoke of the different intelligences that people use and how we should recognise strengths in others and use their expertise and skills. Alongside the usually quoted 7 intelligences he speculated on adding another – Gut intelligence. This would resonate with many of us who sometimes just “feel” solutions/situations. To be used with caution but not ignored was his suggestion
I gave a presentation on motivating people for optimum achievement/results and the need to apply thought and intelligence to the handling of projects and personnel. There was a focus on managing conflict.
If you want any further information on the above, please contact EMS at enquiries@emseff.co.uk or email ltrapnell@hotmail.com Additional information on the Conference can be found on the following link http://www.14ththinkingconference.com/ The 2011 Conference is going to be held in Belfast – more detail later Written by Linda Trapnell
Posted in Company News | No Comments »
07/09/2009 by admin.
Last year there were 1700 claims to Employment Tribunals that involved Whistleblowing. This is where an Employee has been dismissed or suffered a detriment, which they allege results from making a protected disclosure, i.e. “blowing the whistle”.
The Government has recently revealed proposals for Employment Tribunals to be able to pass on details about Whistleblowing claims to an appropriate regulator.
Written by our HR specialist - Simone Greasley
Posted in Current Issues | No Comments »
24/08/2009 by admin.
Linda Trapnell, our leadership and team working specialist, was proud to deliver a session - Leading teams: an experts view - at the Inaugural Teach On Institute weekend.
The Institute forms part of Teach On and Teach First - Learning To Lead - providing a broad offer of support and training to increase skills and confidence to maximise impact on education by young leaders in teaching.
Well done Linda for this and your work in Malaysia
Posted in Company News | No Comments »
10/08/2009 by admin.
Doctors and Dentists employed by NHS bodies in England are entitled to legal representation at disciplinary hearings, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
It also states that employees of other public sector organisations should also be allowed representation, if they are facing allegations that, if proven, could result in the employee losing their right to practise their profession.
Written by our HR specialist Simone Greasley
Posted in Current Issues | No Comments »
27/07/2009 by admin.
EDT is “the effective date of termination of employment”. So why is it so important? ………….because it can determine whether someone has the right to bring a claim for unfair dismissal and the time limit within which the Claim must be brought. For an unfair dismissal claim, usually an employee should have been employed for a full year. The qualifying period of employment is calculated by the EDT and an employee can only bring an unfair dismissal claim within 3 months of it. So the EDT is important. The Court of Appeal has recently ruled on a case, in which the EDT was paramount to the claimant’s success. The claimant attended a disciplinary hearing on a Tuesday. She was told to go home and await a letter informing her of the outcome of the disciplinary hearing. A dismissal letter was posted (by recorded delivery) and arrived at the Claimant’s home on Thursday. But, the Claimant had gone away for a few days. She returned home on the Sunday night and opened the letter on the Monday morning.
The Court of Appeal ruled that the EDT is the date the dismissal is communicated. As the Claimant could not read the letter until the Monday, that was the date of her EDT. So, the Claimant’s unfair dismissal claim was valid, as the EDT was the date the letter was opened, not the date it was posted or delivered.
Written by our HR consultant Simone Greasley
Posted in Current Issues | No Comments »