On 6 April, the Government is changing the way in which employers will check the right to work of both employees and potential new hires.  Here we discuss what those changes mean for employers. The move to digital identity certification only for foreign nationals  At the moment, foreign nationals who hold biometric cards can choose…
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– A lesson in how not to make redundancies Few of us can have failed to be horrified by last week’s news of P&O Ferries’ recent dismissing of their 800 strong sea-faring crew.  The scenes on Thursday were quite extraordinary, with employees being told to disembark all passenger and cargo and then wait for an…
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Our firm has increasingly been helping our employer clients defend disability discrimination claims in the Employment Tribunal for ‘hidden disabilities’. In this blog I discuss the risks for employers and my tips for avoiding them.  Me and my colleague Tamsin James will be expanding on this topic in our next employment law update event on…
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After a relatively quiet year for employment legislation in 2021, employers are likely to see several developments in 2022 alongside judgments in some key employment cases. 1. The Employment Bill – flexible working & the Good Work agenda Many employers have put environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues higher up their agenda, if not at…
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My third blog in the series about mediation was always going to be about conflict in the workplace – and where mediation fits in as a solution to such conflicts. And then, as if by magic, ACAS releases a fascinating report called ‘Estimating the costs of workplace conflict’  and it practically wrote my blog for me.…
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Following on from my earlier mediation blog, this time I looks at different types of mediation, their many benefits and possible outcomes. Mediation sits between negotiation at one end and litigation at the other end of the ‘dispute resolution spectrum’. My previous blog explained that mediation came to my attention initially as a means of…
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Rather like Luke, I have been on something of a journey over the past year. Whereas Luke’s route has been into executive coaching, mine has been into the fascinating world of workplace mediation. I have long-harboured an interest in mediation.  Does that sound rather contradictory coming from a lawyer who specialises in litigation?  I have always…
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The recent Uber judgment in the Supreme Court  (full judgement available here) has provided yet more confirmation – if any were needed – that if you have someone working for your organisation as part of your workforce, delivering your products or services to your customers, then they are going to be your employees, or at least…
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With a large number of people in the UK now vaccinated, employers are understandably keen that their staff should be part of that group.  With reports of individuals reluctant or refusing to have a vaccine and certain employers stating that they will make having a vaccine a condition of employment, we thought this was a…
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This is not an easy topic to discuss, but an important one nonetheless. Many of you will have also seen recent press coverage following Chrissy Teigen and husband John Legend’s miscarriage. It is a fact that 1 in 4 women experience miscarriage (in medical terms, the loss of a baby at any time before 24…
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