SICKNESS AND HOLIDAY
Do workers have the right to carry
over statutory minimum annual holiday from one leave year to the next when they
have been unable to take leave due to sickness?
It may seem a simple question but
unfortunately it is anything but, as XpertHR's head of content Jo Stubbs
explains in this
month's Outlook video.
Until fairly recently the answer would
indeed have been easy enough. The Working Time Regulations 1998 are very clear
that the first four weeks of statutory minimum annual leave are to be taken in
the leave year in which they are due and may not be carried over.
However, this position has been thrown
into question by decisions of the European Court of Justice in the Stringer
and Pereda
cases. In the latter case, for example, the ECJ held that the Working Time
Directive provides a right to take statutory minimum annual leave at a time
other than that originally scheduled following a period of sickness absence.
The Working Time Regulations, which
transpose the Directive into UK law, will have to be amended to give effect to
the ECJ's rulings. In the meantime, employment tribunals have begun taking these
rulings into account in their own decisions.
In Shah v First
West Yorkshire Limited, the employment tribunal ruled that the Working
Time Regulations 1998 could be interpreted so as to give effect to
Pereda, meaning that the employer's refusal to allow the employee to
retake - in a new leave year - a period of holiday affected by a broken ankle
was a breach of the Regulations.
What does all of this mean for
employers and HR? As well as an explanation of the current legal position, our
video includes some practical suggestions.
David Shepherd, Editor
Outlook
video
Sickness and
holiday
XpertHR's head of content Jo Stubbs and group editor
David Shepherd ask whether or not workers have the right to carry over statutory
minimum annual leave where they have been unable to take leave due to sickness.
Research
request
Find out how other
employers train and develop line managers
Line managers take
lead or shared responsibility for people management in 90% of organisations, yet
IRS research has shown that line manager training in areas such as absence
management, appraisals and recruitment is often poorly attended and inadequate.
IRS is conducting a survey on line manager training and, if you take part, you
will get immediate access to a free copy of our previous survey on line
managers' role in people management and we will provide you with a free copy of
the new survey as soon as it is ready.
Employment
law
Implications of Agency
Workers' Regulations
The introduction of the Agency Workers'
Regulations will mean changes to working practices. Chris Welham, senior
associate, Lovells, considers the implications.
Employment law manual
updates: blacklisting
The XpertHR employment law manual has been
updated to reflect the coming into force of the Employment Relations Act 1999
(Blacklists) Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/493), which make it unlawful to blacklist
a person on the grounds of his or her current or past trade union membership or
activities.
In the employment
tribunals: this week's new cases
XpertHR provides summaries of
recent employment tribunal rulings, as well as the full transcripts of the
decisions. New cases added this week involve: an employer who fairly dismissed a
depressed and disabled employee; an employee who was fairly dismissed for
disclosing details of a job applicant to her mother; and a long-term sick
employee who, having been unable to take holiday, was on termination entitled to
be paid for more than a year's accrued leave.
Latest case reports
added to XpertHR
We provide a round-up of case reports added to
XpertHR this week, covering: harassment; TUPE consultation; legal representation
at disciplinary hearings; and religious discrimination.
Statutory right to be
accompanied at disciplinary and grievance hearings
This article
from the XpertHR "how to" section looks at the statutory right for workers to be
accompanied at disciplinary and grievance meetings. It explains when the
right applies and gives practical advice for employers on allowing workers to
exercise the right, while ensuring that disciplinary and grievance proceedings
are dealt with promptly and effectively. It also looks at the circumstances
in which employees may have the right to legal representation at a disciplinary
hearing.
Latest FAQs added to
XpertHR
Additions to the FAQs section cover disability
discrimination and the duty to make reasonable adjustments, and the right to be
accompanied at disciplinary and grievance hearings.
Topic of the week: Fit
notes overview
In this week's topic of the week article, Anna
Bridges of Addleshaw Goddard begins a series of articles on the new fit notes
system with an overview that looks at the options that will be available to
doctors who are certificating sickness absence. In addition, we pull together
some of the wealth of information on XpertHR on sickness absence, fit notes and
related topics.
Case reports: stop
press
XpertHR's case reports stop press service highlights
recent key cases including the Employment Appeal Tribunal decision in Darnton v
Bournemouth University setting the penalty for an employer's failure to comply
with the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004 (SI
2004/3426) at £10,000.
Right to request time
off for study or training
A model policy and accompanying
letters on the right to request time off for study or training have been added
to the XpertHR policies and documents section, in advance of the legislation
coming into effect on 6 April 2010. The accompanying letters include a letter
that can be circulated to employees explaining the new right.
Legal Q&A:
Discrimination laws for workers outside the UK
Lisa Mayhew,
partner, and Natalie Smith, associate, Jones Day, answer questions on
discrimination laws for workers outside the UK.
Weekly dilemma: Using
social media profiles when recruiting
Jonathan Maude, partner,
Hogan & Hartson, looks at the use of social media profiles in
recruitment.
Pay
and benefits
Managers' pay and
bonuses hit by recession
The recession has had a severe impact
on UK managers' pay packets, with executive pay showing its lowest rate of
growth in at least a decade, according to the latest pay benchmarking research
from XpertHR salary surveys.
Introducing more
creative employee benefits
The recession has forced employers to
take a closer look at reward and benefits. While hefty pay rises may be a thing
of the past, they still need to retain their best staff. Personnel Today looks
at some of the more creative benefits on offer.
HR
policy and strategy
Managing stress at
work: the 2010 IRS survey
Despite almost four-fifths of
employers taking steps to reduce work-related stress, only just over half
investigate its causes. But the majority of employers have introduced, on
average, at least six different measures to deal with stress at work, and at
least eight potential responses to manage stress-related absence.
Stress management
training: the 2010 IRS survey
In this year's survey, 44% of
employers have provided training relevant to stress management within the past
12 months. Ensuring that line managers have good people management skills is the
top type of training intervention delivered by employers.
XpertHR Benchmarking
update: stress management data added
XpertHR's new Benchmarking
service has been further enhanced by the addition of extensive new data on how
employers approach workplace stress management.
Bullying in the
workplace
Jane Hobson, partner, Weightmans, discusses bullying
in the workplace.
New approaches to
absence management
Phased return-to-work data management and
remote services are among the approaches employers are using to manage absence.
Occupational Health magazine reports.
Health
and safety
Benefits of online
mental health service
Web-based service Mindful Employer aims to
increase awareness of mental ill health and provide information and support to
employers. Occupational Health looks at the benefits.
Mental health at work:
new NHS Employers initiative
NHS Employers launched a national
campaign on 3 March 2010 to end stigma against NHS workers suffering from mental
ill health. The campaign, "Open your Mind", will also work to improve
employment rates for those with mental health conditions and help NHS trusts
create better working environments for all staff.
Employment
intelligence: from the blog
Training
and development of line managers
IRS research into line manager
responsibilities suggests that, although line managers take lead or shared
responsibility for people management in 90% of organisations, their training in
areas such as absence management, appraisals and recruitment is often
inadequate.
Pay
awards: has the "national minimum wage effect" gone into
reverse?
As well as a collapse in the headline pay award back to
the record low of zero, the latest data from reward specialists at IRS suggests
a change in the way the national minimum wage influences the headline pay
settlement.
"No
room for complacency" on economic recovery, BCC warns
"The
recession may have technically ended, but there is no room for complacency,"
according to British Chambers of Commerce director-general David Frost. Frost
argues that the Budget 2010 could prove critical in helping the UK avoid a
double-dip recession.
Guidance
on fit notes
On 6 April 2010, the new statement of fitness for
work, or "fit note", comes into effect. Doctors will be able to advise that an
employee "may be fit for work taking account of the following advice" and
suggest arrangements that could help the employee return to work.
Benchmarking
computer staff salaries with XpertHR
XpertHR's salary survey
unit will shortly be sending participation packs for the Computer Staff Salary
Survey to organisations that have previously taken part in this long-running
research.
News
from XpertHR
Coming soon to
XpertHR
Forthcoming additions to XpertHR include a good practice
guide on religion and a full case report of Eweida v British Airways
plc.
Latest additions to
XpertHR services
A number of enhancements have been made to
XpertHR's case reports stop press, FAQs, policies and documents and "how to"
services.
Save £50 on working
with trade unions masterclass and conference
XpertHR subscribers
are entitled to a £50 discount per delegate on the IRS working with trade unions
masterclass and conference on 16 and 17 June 2010.