http://www.xperthr.co.uk/default.aspx Latest articles added to the XpertHR home page. ©2010 - www.xperthr.co.uk http://www.xperthr.co.uk/app_themes/default/images/logo.gif http://www.xperthr.co.uk/default.aspx We provide summaries of recent employment tribunal rulings, including an employer that deafeated a holiday pay claim, made by an employee who had been on long-term sick leave, by breaking the chain of unauthorised deductions.  http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104131/tribunal-update--employer-defeats-holiday-claim-from-long-term-sick-employee.aspx Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104131tribunalupdateemployerdefeatsholidayclaimfromlongtermsickemployeeaspx/tribunalupdateemployerdefeatsholidayclaimfromlongtermsickemployee The Court of Appeal held that an employee was guilty of gross misconduct in failing to report a serious financial risk faced by his employer to its parent company, in one of the case reports added to XpertHR this week.  http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104145/case-report-round-up--failure-to-report-potential-fraud-to-parent-company-was-fundamental-breach.aspx Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104145casereportroundupfailuretoreportpotentialfraudtoparentcompanywasfundamentalbreachaspx/casereportroundupfailuretoreportpotentialfraudtoparentcompanywasfundamentalbreach On this week's XpertHR Weekly, we discuss: the employment tribunal decision in Khan v Martin McColl, which considered whether or not an unlawful deduction from wages claim, for holiday pay covering more than one leave year, can be defeated by the employer’s payment of the employee's final holiday year entitlement; and the findings of the 2010 IRS survey on working with trade unions.   http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104157/podcast--holiday-pay-working-with-trade-unions-survey.aspx Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104157podcastholidaypayworkingwithtradeunionssurveyaspx/podcastholidaypayworkingwithtradeunionssurvey The Government consults on proposals to phase out the default retirement age by 1 October 2011.  http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104159/government-consults-on-removal-of-default-retirement-age.aspx Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104159governmentconsultsonremovalofdefaultretirementageaspx/governmentconsultsonremovalofdefaultretirementage The Court of Appeal has held that it could be legitimate for a law firm to have a cut-off age after which partners are required to retire to avoid forcing an assessment of their drop in performance, thus maintaining a confrontation-free workplace.  http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104156/compulsory-retirement--court-of-appeal-dismisses-law-firm-partners-age-discrimination-appeal.aspx Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104156compulsoryretirementcourtofappealdismisseslawfirmpartnersagediscriminationappealaspx/compulsoryretirementcourtofappealdismisseslawfirmpartnersagediscriminationappeal The Government is showing signs that it may accede to calls to revoke and replace the Agency Workers Regulations 2010, but consultant editor Darren Newman thinks that we should learn to live with them in their current form.  http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104133/why-we-should-leave-the-agency-workers-regulations-alone.aspx Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104133whyweshouldleavetheagencyworkersregulationsaloneaspx/whyweshouldleavetheagencyworkersregulationsalone More than half of the employers taking part in this IRS survey set collective targets for absence levels. The total number of days of sickness absence per employee is the most common target, followed by the number of separate episodes of sickness absence.  http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104123/are-collective-targets-for-absence-levels-being-met-by-employers.aspx Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104123arecollectivetargetsforabsencelevelsbeingmetbyemployersaspx/arecollectivetargetsforabsencelevelsbeingmetbyemployers Trade union membership levels fell by 2.4% to 6.7 million employees compared with 2008, finds latest IRS research. It also reveals that 31% of employers recognise more than three unions, with Unite the most commonly recognised. http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104090/is-uk-trade-union-membership-still-on-the-decline.aspx Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104090isuktradeunionmembershipstillonthedeclineaspx/isuktradeunionmembershipstillonthedecline New model policies covering working hours and overtime have been added to the XpertHR policies and documents section. http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104053/new-model-policies-on-working-hours-and-overtime.aspx Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104053newmodelpoliciesonworkinghoursandovertimeaspx/newmodelpoliciesonworkinghoursandovertime Take part in IRS research about effective recruitment and selection and receive a complimentary copy of the 2010 IRS survey on labour turnover on completing the survey.  http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104080/survey--tell-us-how-you-recruit-and-select-staff.aspx Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104080surveytellushowyourecruitandselectstaffaspx/surveytellushowyourecruitandselectstaff We provide a checklist to help employers meet the obligation to make reasonable adjustments in relation to disabled employees and job applicants.  http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104063/reasonable-adjustments-in-relation-to-disability--checklist.aspx Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104063reasonableadjustmentsinrelationtodisabilitychecklistaspx/reasonableadjustmentsinrelationtodisabilitychecklist The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held that, in the context of costs applications, it is unreasonable behaviour for a claimant to pursue an unfair dismissal claim purely for the purpose of obtaining a declaration that he or she was unfairly dismissed.  http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104077/costs--pursuing-claim-purely-for-declaration-of-unfair-dismissal-is-unreasonable-behaviour.aspx Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104077costspursuingclaimpurelyfordeclarationofunfairdismissalisunreasonablebehaviouraspx/costspursuingclaimpurelyfordeclarationofunfairdismissalisunreasonablebehaviour The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held that an employer can retract unambiguous words of dismissal only in exceptional circumstances. http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104047/employers-unambiguous-words-of-dismissal-can-rarely-be-retracted.aspx Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104047employersunambiguouswordsofdismissalcanrarelyberetractedaspx/employersunambiguouswordsofdismissalcanrarelyberetracted Welcome to XpertHR's pay review resources including IRS data on pay awards, economic indicators, forecasts and analysis.  http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104050/pay-trends-july-2010--awards-flat-at-1percent.aspx Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104050paytrendsjuly2010awardsflatat1percentaspx/paytrendsjuly2010awardsflatat1 From cash to champagne, awards for long service are a popular way of showing employees that they are valued. The latest instalment of our employee benefits survey also covers staff discounts and childcare support.  http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104017/six-in-ten-employers-offer-long-service-awards,-survey-finds.aspx Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104017sixintenemployersofferlongserviceawardssurveyfindsaspx/sixintenemployersofferlongserviceawardssurveyfinds Reward specialists at IRS present their twice monthly settlement summary table, together with detailed reports of recent pay reviews. http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104015/latest-on-pay-awards,-wages-and-salary-levels.aspx Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104015latestonpayawardswagesandsalarylevelsaspx/latestonpayawardswagesandsalarylevels  On this week's XpertHR Weekly: practical advice on the use and extension of probation periods in relation to new and transferred employees; and discussion of the Employment Appeal Tribunal decision in Nicolson Highlandwear Ltd v Nicolson, which dealt with what constitutes unreasonable behaviour on the part of an employee in the context of an application by an employer to recover legal costs from that employee.  http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104055/podcast--probation-periods-costs-in-the-employment-tribunal.aspx Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104055podcastprobationperiodscostsintheemploymenttribunalaspx/podcastprobationperiodscostsintheemploymenttribunal We provide summaries of recent employment tribunal rulings, including an employer that discriminated against an employee by including disability-related absences in a redundancy scoring process.  http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104042/tribunal-update--inclusion-of-disability-related-absences-in-redundancy-scoring-was-discriminatory.aspx Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104042tribunalupdateinclusionofdisabilityrelatedabsencesinredundancyscoringwasdiscriminatoryaspx/tribunalupdateinclusionofdisabilityrelatedabsencesinredundancyscoringwasdiscriminatory The first half of 2010 saw the approval of EU Directives on parental leave, equal treatment in self-employment and preventing sharps injuries, while consultations began again on review of the Working Time Directive.  http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104045/eu--social-policy-state-of-play,-july-2010.aspx Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104045eusocialpolicystateofplayjuly2010aspx/eusocialpolicystateofplayjuly2010 We report on the creation of a world works council at a French telecoms multinational, the introduction of a quota for women in management at a major German firm and important new employment legislation in Spain.  http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104041/latest-developments-from-across-europe.aspx Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104041latestdevelopmentsfromacrosseuropeaspx/latestdevelopmentsfromacrosseurope The XpertHR policies and documents section has been enhanced by the addition of a model notice periods policy and a probation policy. http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104025/latest-model-policies--notice-periods-and-probation.aspx Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104025latestmodelpoliciesnoticeperiodsandprobationaspx/latestmodelpoliciesnoticeperiodsandprobation Additions to the FAQs section cover pay for redundant employees during a trial period, and time off for employees adopting a child.  http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104037/faqs-on-redundancy-trial-periods-and-time-off-for-adoption-meetings.aspx Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104037faqsonredundancytrialperiodsandtimeoffforadoptionmeetingsaspx/faqsonredundancytrialperiodsandtimeoffforadoptionmeetings The Government has confirmed that the Bribery Act 2010 will come into force in April 2011. The Act, which received Royal Assent on 8 April 2010, aims to promote anti-bribery practices among businesses.  http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104048/bribery-act-to-come-into-force-in-april-2011.aspx Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104048briberyacttocomeintoforceinapril2011aspx/briberyacttocomeintoforceinapril2011 Internal communications are more likely to be successful and effective if supported by a formal communications strategy, according to 2010 benchmarking research from IRS for XpertHR. http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/103984/benchmarking-internal-communications--formal-strategies-are-key.aspx Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article103984benchmarkinginternalcommunicationsformalstrategiesarekeyaspx/benchmarkinginternalcommunicationsformalstrategiesarekey It is advisable to introduce a policy that clearly sets out how sickness during leave will be dealt with, or amend existing annual leave policies to that effect, according to this "weekly dilemma". http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104028/postponing-leave-due-to-sickness.aspx Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104028postponingleaveduetosicknessaspx/postponingleaveduetosickness The majority (89%) of UK companies are failing to meet their legal obligations to protect their employees' sight, according to a survey of 255 HR professionals published in June 2010 by national sight charity the Eyecare Trust and healthcare provider Simplyhealth.  http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/103695/complying-with-eye-care-regulations.aspx Tue, 20 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article103695complyingwitheyecareregulationsaspx/complyingwitheyecareregulations Our case study demonstrates how an employer should consider reasonable adjustments to try to accommodate an employee with a disability.  http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/104013/reasonable-adjustments-in-relation-to-disability--case-study-2.aspx Mon, 19 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article104013reasonableadjustmentsinrelationtodisabilitycasestudy2aspx/reasonableadjustmentsinrelationtodisabilitycasestudy2 The case of De Belin v Eversheds Legal Services Ltd highlights the tension between the principle of equal treatment between men and women and ensuring pregnant women and those on maternity leave are protected from unlawful discrimination.   http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/103980/avoiding-discrimination-in-redundancy.aspx Mon, 19 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article103980avoidingdiscriminationinredundancyaspx/avoidingdiscriminationinredundancy On this week's XpertHR Weekly: the IRS internal communications survey 2010, focusing on social media and how employers use communication to manage change; and the implications of an Employment Appeal Tribunal ruling that an age-related cap in an enhanced redundancy scheme was not discriminatory on the grounds of age, because it was a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/103969/podcast--internal-communications-age-discrimination.aspx Fri, 16 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article103969podcastinternalcommunicationsagediscriminationaspx/podcastinternalcommunicationsagediscrimination The Court of Appeal held that an employee unable to obtain a degree necessary to proceed to a higher grade before retirement was not subjected to indirect age discrimination, in one of the case reports added to XpertHR this week. http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/103914/case-report-round-up--degree-requirement-for-promotion-was-not-age-discrimination.aspx Fri, 16 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article103914casereportroundupdegreerequirementforpromotionwasnotagediscriminationaspx/casereportroundupdegreerequirementforpromotionwasnotagediscrimination We provide summaries of recent employment tribunal rulings, including a Sikh employee who was harassed and victimised by her employer.  http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/103918/tribunal-update--sikh-employee-was-harassed-and-victimised.aspx Fri, 16 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article103918tribunalupdatesikhemployeewasharassedandvictimisedaspx/tribunalupdatesikhemployeewasharassedandvictimised The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held that a redundancy scheme that incorporated an age-related cap on payments was a proportionate means of achieving the legitimate aim of preventing employees from receiving a "windfall" and was not age discriminatory.  http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/103964/eat-finds-age-related-cap-on-redundancy-payments-not-discriminatory.aspx Thu, 15 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article103964eatfindsagerelatedcaponredundancypaymentsnotdiscriminatoryaspx/eatfindsagerelatedcaponredundancypaymentsnotdiscriminatory XpertHR's benchmarking service has been enhanced with the addition of a new "Key Benchmark" feature. http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/103860/xperthr-benchmarking--key-benchmark-feature-added.aspx Thu, 15 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article103860xperthrbenchmarkingkeybenchmarkfeatureaddedaspx/xperthrbenchmarkingkeybenchmarkfeatureadded New model documents include letters informing an employee that a trial period of flexible working is being extended or cut short and a letter asking an employee to resubmit an invalid request for flexible working. http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/103552/new-model-letters-on-right-to-request-flexible-working.aspx Thu, 15 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT xperthr/homepage/article103552newmodellettersonrighttorequestflexibleworkingaspx/newmodellettersonrighttorequestflexibleworking