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A contented workforce will ensure that your clients and customers receive a better service and your business will run more efficiently because employment disputes threaten harmony, profits and livelihood. It is vital that any dispute is carefully handled and advice obtained from a professional at an early opportunity, to minimise any legal liability and disruption within your business.
Our aim at Veitch Penny is to offer comprehensive practical advice on all aspects of employment law and practice, and in the event that a dispute arises, to reach the best settlement possible for our client. Listed below are just a few areas we can advise on. For further information email: businesslaw@veitchpenny.co.uk
Contracts of Employment, Policies and Procedures The first step any employer must take in protecting their business is to ensure that their employees are issued with up to date contracts of employment, because the contract is the document a Tribunal will consider when considering an employees claim. Employers should also adopt and implement a series of policies and procedures which detail how certain situations will be dealt with. Using these procedures when problems arise will help an employer demonstrate to a tribunal that fair and consistent measures have been used to deal with any problems. We can advise on the best polices to adopt in light of the size and type of business you run. Unfair Dismissal As from October 2004, employers and employees are obliged to use the new statutory dispute resolution procedures; the Dismissal and Disciplinary Procedure and Grievance Procedure. Failure to use these procedures may mean that a dismissal will be found to be automatically unfair, and any award increased by up to 50%. Whether or not a dismissal is fair or unfair will depend on the employer being able to successfully demonstrate that there was a "fair reason" for the dismissal, and that they acted reasonably towards the employee. The maximum award is £55,000, where the dismissal took place after February 2004, and £56,800 after where the dismissal took place after 1st February 2005. This is just one of the changes happening in employment law, so it is more important than ever that employers take advice at an early stage. Redundancy If a business changes the way in which it operates, or the level of business reduces and every other option has been considered, then a business may have no alternative but to consider redundancies. It is a distressing process for employees, so it is important that redundancies are handled properly to minimise job losses and the disruption to business. Redundancy payments are dependent on the employee's age, pay and length of continuous service, subject to statutory capping. The current maximum statutory redundancy payment is £8,400. Capability Issues Dealing with employees who have been off on long term sick, or alternatively, are frequently taking short periods of sick leave, needs to be dealt with sensitively and transparently in order to ensure minimum disruption to your business and to minimise the risk of litigation. A variety of flexible options can be utilised leaving termination of employment as a last resort. Employers are potentially at risk of a variety of claims including disability discrimination, breach of contract and unfair dismissal. Discrimination Discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, disability, religion or belief, or sexual orientation is prohibited. The most common remedy for a successful complaint is compensation, and there is no cap on the amount that may be awarded where the worker has been dismissed due to discrimination. We can advise on the implementation of procedures and codes of conduct, in order to avoid allegations of discrimination, and we act on behalf of both employers and employees regarding claims of discrimination seeking mutual rather than disputed solutions. Rights for Part-Timers and Fixed-Term Workers Employers must ensure that any part time workers they employ are not treated less favourably than full time employees. Part-timers must have the same contract and benefits as comparable full time employees, unless there is an objective reason for a difference. As well as potentially being in breach of these Regulations, employers may also be liable for indirect sex discrimination because most part-time work is undertaken by women. Fixed term workers are also protected from less favourable treatment. In addition, they have all the main statutory rights including unfair dismissal and the right to a statutory redundancy payment. Employers must look at the reasons for employing staff on fixed term contracts because successive use of such contracts can mean that the contract becomes permanent. Maternity Rights According to government statistics, there are 7.29 million families in Britain with at least one dependent child under 18. Of those families, nearly 70% of mothers in them choose to work. The greatest increase in the employment rate over the last 10 years has been among mothers with children aged up to 4. This means it is increasingly important for employers to take care when dealing with employees who are pregnant or who are on maternity leave. All women are entitled to paid time off for antenatal care and may take up to 26 weeks Ordinary Maternity Leave regardless of the time they have worked. This period includes two weeks Compulsory Maternity Leave to be taken directly after the birth of the child. Women who have completed 26 weeks' continuous service may also be entitled to take 26 weeks additional maternity leave, which is normally unpaid. A woman who returns to work after Ordinary Maternity Leave is entitled to return to the same job on the same terms and conditions of employment as if she had not been absent, unless a redundancy situation has arisen. She is also entitled to benefit from any general improvements to the rate of pay or other terms and conditions that may have been introduced while she has been away. Paternity Leave On the birth of a child, an employee may be entitled to paternity leave if he has, or expects to have, responsibility for the child's upbringing, is the biological father of the child or the mother's husband or partner, and has worked continuously for their employer for 26 weeks ending with the 15th week before the baby is due. The employee can take one week or two consecutive weeks leave, and is protected from dismissal and detriment. Work Life Balance Parental Leave A parent, with 1 year's continuous employment, having parental responsibility for a child, has a right to take unpaid parental leave of up to 13 weeks, to be exercised before the child's fifth birthday. Parents of disabled children have a right to take off 18 weeks parental leave. Adoptive parents also have the right to take parental leave, and employees using this right are protected from changes to their terms and conditions, etc. We can advise you on how to deal with an application, and in what circumstances an application can be refused. We can also advise you whether a Parental Leave Policy would be appropriate for your business, which allows greater flexibility from the fallback scheme the Regulations give. Flexible Working A recent DTI survey shows that nearly a quarter of working parents with young children have asked to work flexibly over the past two years. Parents with children under 6, or disabled children under the age of 18, have the right to request a flexible working pattern from their employer. Employers have a duty to consider their applications seriously. We can advise you on how to deal with an application in the most effective way for your business and for the employee. The flexible working right does not provide an automatic right to work flexibly; sometimes there will be circumstances when an employee cannot be accommodated. Working Time Regulations These regulations protect workers from being forced to work excessive hours, make the provision of paid annual leave mandatory, and include rights to uninterrupted rest breaks. Employers may be able to mitigate the effects by written agreement. Equal Pay The law states that women and men have the right to claim equal pay for like work, work rated as equivalent, or work of equal value. Pay includes all aspects of wages and salaries and also includes pensions. The equal pay laws apply to all workers, including those working on a part-time, casual or temporary basis. Free Initial Employer/Employee Advice Are you an employer or employee currently involved in a dispute? Would you like the advice of a professional before taking any action? Please complete the relevant form to receive free initial advice; we could put your mind at ease. |
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