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What payment details should be included in a contract of employment?

Should any benefits available to an employee be listed in the contract of employment?

Is it ever permissible for an employer to withhold bonus payments?

How should an employer go about setting up an employee share scheme?

When may an employer withdraw the use of a company car?

Are employee benefits taxable or non-taxable?

Is the company Christmas party a taxable benefit?

If an employer provides an employee's accommodation is it permissible to require the employee to leave the accommodation at the termination of employment?

What are an employer's duties regarding employee expenses?

If an employee abroad on a work-related trip is unable to return to the UK due to travel disruption, is the employer responsible for paying for his or her accommodation and food?

If an employee abroad on a work-related trip is affected by travel disruption, is the employer responsible for the cost of alternative travel arrangements for the employee to return home?

Are long-service awards incompatible with the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006?

Not necessarily. Service-related benefits - although not age-related benefits - are subject to a limited exemption contained in the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, regulation 32. The exemption means that long-service awards such as additional holiday or pay are allowed, provided that they are awarded on the basis of service of five years or less. If this is the case no further justification is required.

The five years of service can be either the length of time that the worker has worked at or above a particular level in the business, or the length of time the worker has been working for the employer in total. A different method can be adopted in relation to different benefits. In calculating the length of time that a worker has been working, the employer may discount any period during which the worker was absent, unless, in all the circumstances, it would not be reasonable to do so.

In addition, there is a general exception for all other service-related benefits, provided that it reasonably appears to the employer that the way in which it uses the criterion of length of service fulfils a business need of the undertaking, for example by encouraging the loyalty or motivation, or rewarding the experience, of some or all of its workers. In order to meet these requirements, the employer would need evidence from which it can conclude that there is a benefit to the business. This could include information gathered through monitoring or staff attitude surveys.

The service-related exception does not apply to service-related benefits arising as a result of termination of employment, for example redundancy pay.

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Is it still permissible to award greater holiday entitlement to employees who have, for example, 10 years' service?

Where it is a company's policy to give a small gift to employees who have completed periods of service of multiples of 10 years could this be discriminatory under the age discrimination regulations?

Is it permissible for a salary sacrifice arrangement to reduce an employee's pay to below the level of the national minimum wage?

Can employers use tips to count towards payment of the national minimum wage?

Under the 1 October 2009 changes to the national minimum wage legislation are employers obliged to pass on the full value of all tips to employees?

Are employers required to pay a premium to employees who work overtime?