HR information solutions for employers of all sizes

The latest XpertHR Benchmarking research looks at how HR departments are changing in terms of size, influence and effectiveness. 

On this week's XpertHR Weekly, we discuss some of the circumstances in which a dismissed employee does not require a period of qualifying service in order to claim unfair dismissal. We also discuss the employment tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal decisions in Prior v City Plumbing Supplies Ltd EAT/0535/11, in which an employee was dismissed after being sent to prison for breaking a restraining order. 

Updates to XpertHR's international section this month include changes to the Belgium and Greece guides. 

Our 2012 calendar covers: forthcoming legislation and cases on appeal; XpertHR surveys, conferences and events; religious festivals; bank/public holidays; training dates; and much more.

The XpertHR employment law manual has been enhanced by the addition of a new chapter on family-friendly rights. 

XpertHR's head of content Jo Stubbs and senior employment law editor Clio Springer discuss the temporary change to the rules on opting out of Sunday working over the period of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

To help employers deal with any issues that arise in the run-up to, and during, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, we have gathered together information from XpertHR on the subject, along with links to external resources for employers. 

The Government is consulting on proposals to repeal the third-party harassment provisions in the Equality Act 2010. 

The Government is consulting on the repeal of provisions in the Equality Act 2010 that prescribe questionnaires for an individual who thinks that he or she has been discriminated against to gather information from an employer, and those that give employment tribunals the power to make wider recommendations in discrimination cases. 

We look at some of the reasons for dismissal that do not require a period of qualifying service for the dismissed employee to be able to lodge an unfair dismissal claim. 

XpertHR is conducting a survey of overtime, looking primarily at arrangements and pay rates. Take part and you will be entitled to a complimentary copy of our findings as soon as our research has been completed. 

The XpertHR staff absence and labour turnover survey is your chance to benchmark your organisation's figures against those of other employers. 

On this week's XpertHR Weekly, we discuss employment tribunal decisions concerning disputes in the NHS relating to: a trust's decision to link pay progression to employees' sickness absence levels; an employee's breach of patient confidentiality; and the provision of rest breaks for a diabetic employee. We also discuss the findings of the XpertHR 2012 survey on using market-pay comparisons. 

Comparing reward packages against competitors is almost universal among the organisations responding to our survey, with market comparisons most commonly used to provide a spot check on current salaries and to support the annual pay review process. 

Regularly consulting and communicating with employees during a year-long exercise to change the pay and grading structure at the Scout Association helped ensure a smooth transition to the new arrangements. 

Reward specialists at XpertHR present their pay settlement summary table. 

The Government believes that the differential between public- and private-sector pay may distort local labour markets and harm private-sector businesses, and has asked four of the independent pay review bodies to consider how public-sector pay might be made more market-facing. We look at evidence for and against a move away from national pay scales. 

We provide a summary and the full transcript of an interesting recent employment tribunal ruling involving an NHS trust's decision to withhold pay progression for staff who reached a sickness absence trigger, which was ruled unlawful. 

The Court of Appeal held that a reference that raised unsubstantiated concerns about an ex-employee's performance was not unfair, in one of the latest case reports added to XpertHR. 

A new model letter, FAQ and quick reference dealing with opt-out notices relating to Sunday working during the Olympics have been added to XpertHR. 

Laws aimed at restoring economic stability and reducing the budget deficit feature in the Queen's Speech, which sets out the Government's legislative agenda for the coming year. The Queen's Speech also confirms the Government's commitment to reform the employment tribunal system and extend family-friendly rights by making parental leave more flexible.

Employees who come into work when feeling ill will not be able to perform to the best of their ability, which has a knock-on effect on productivity. Occupational health can help to manage this situation.

In the wake of two employment tribunal decisions in which former NHS employees were awarded compensation of nearly £4.5 million and £1 million, we report five cases addressing various employment disputes that arose in the NHS. 

The European Court of Justice has held that German legislation allowing for a carry-over period for untaken holiday of nine months, with the result that public servants forfeit their leave if it has not been taken within the period of nine months after the end of the leave year because of sickness, is unlawful. 

We explain the effect of the recent change in the unfair dismissal qualifying period. 

Consultant editor Darren Newman argues that the significance of the Supreme Court decision in the Seldon retirement case lies in the wider implications of the fact that justification of direct age discrimination must be based on social policy objectives.

New documents to complement the XpertHR Liveflo on electing representatives for TUPE consultation include a model letter to affected employees confirming details of the forthcoming election of employee representatives and an example ballot paper to send to affected employees to vote for their favoured candidates. 

How do organisations link HR strategy with business need? XpertHR is currently investigating the relationships between an organisation's business and HR strategies and would be very grateful if you could spare a few minutes to complete our survey. 

The EAT held that the employer's second notice of dismissal to a redundant employee constituted a new notice rather than a unilateral variation of the first, with the result that the employee did not have the required one year's service to claim unfair dismissal, in the latest case report added to XpertHR.