Month: March 2021

Royal Mencap Society -v- Tomlinson-Blake ‘sleep-in’ wage case

19 March 2021

This morning the Supreme Court delivered its long-awaited landmark decision as to the pay entitlement for care workers who ‘sleep in’ as part of their shift. The unanimous decision confirmed that there is no requirement for an employer to pay the National Minimum Wage for the whole period where the care worker is sleeping-in at […]

New changes to IR35 Legislation coming into force next month

18 March 2021

The IR35 legislation ensures that independent contractors pay the same tax and National Insurance contributions as an equivalent employee.  New changes to IR35 legislation will be implemented next month – 6 April 2021 – for private sector contractors, meaning that the responsibility to assess IR35 will pass from the independent contractor to large and medium […]

can a worker claim that they have been subjected to a health and safety detriment?

17 March 2021

Section 44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 has been a hot topic for the past year. This statutory provision provides protection to employees from being subjected to a health and safety detriment, or failure to act, by their employer on the basis that the employee left or refused to return to work or took […]

Was it religious discrimination to remove a magistrate who declined to order a same-sex adoption due to his Christian beliefs?

16 March 2021

No, held the Court of Appeal in Page v Lord Chancellor. The case concerned a lay magistrate in Kent who is also a Christian and has a strong belief that it is in the best interests of every child to be brought up by a mother and a father. Mr Page had opposed an adoption application […]

April 2021: Three dates for every employer’s diary

15 March 2021

Employers should take note of the forthcoming increases to rates and limits and ensure they are prepared. These dates should be noted in every employer’s diary, so they are ready for the changes to take effect.  Next month from 1 April the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage will increase.  The new rates can […]

ACAS early conciliation & tribunal time limits

12 March 2021

The latest blog article from didlaw examines early conciliation and tribunal time limits. For those of us used to dealing with employment tribunal matters, working out the limitation date is arguably the most important task. Why? It dictates the date that a person must contact ACAS and (once the ACAS certificate is issued) the date […]

ACAS Guidance on COVID Testing and Vaccination

11 March 2021

The ACAS website acas.org.uk is a useful starting point for employers and employees seeking to navigate the choppy waters around workplace testing and vaccination. The webpage on testing sets out suggested good practice in relation to workplace testing. ACAS recommend that employers should agree a testing policy with staff. They flag potential discussion issues including […]

“No Jab, No Job – the dilemma with the covid vaccine and pregnancy”

10 March 2021

In this article we will look into the dilemma concerning the covid vaccine and pregnancy. Just last week, a New York waitress was fired from her job days after she told her manager that she was concerned about whether the Covid-19 vaccine affects fertility and wanted to wait to have the vaccine as she and […]

Menopause in the workplace

9 March 2021

A few years ago the words ‘menopause’ and ‘workplace’ were hardly found or spoken in the same sentence, however menopause in the workplace is an important issue.  This was still a taboo subject and something a woman experienced alone.  Employers were blind to this as an occupational issue and women were reluctant to raise their […]