Amanda Sanders (UK)

Subscribe to all posts by Amanda Sanders (UK)

Supreme Court decision in Uber v Aslam

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on February 19, 2021 Posted in Contracts, UK

The Supreme Court has today handed down its decision in Uber BV and others v Aslam and others, upholding the Employment Tribunal decision that the drivers are ‘workers’ within the meaning of S.230(3)(b) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996) and the equivalent definitions in the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 (NMWA 1998) and … Continue reading

The EU- UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement – implications for employment and immigration

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on January 6, 2021 Posted in Europe, General, UK

On 31 December the UK parliament implemented the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020. This makes provision to implement into UK law the three main future relationship agreements with the EU including the EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). What does the TCA mean for employment and immigration law? Employment A significant portion of UK … Continue reading

Government consultation on reform of post-termination non-compete clauses in employment

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on December 17, 2020 Posted in Contracts, UK

On 4 December 2020, the UK Government launched a consultation on reforming post-termination non-compete clauses in employment contracts. The consultation seeks views on proposals to require employers to pay employees for the period of the restriction; requiring employers to provide additional transparency by providing in writing the exact terms of the non-compete clause before their … Continue reading

Guidance published on the Extension of the UK Furlough Scheme

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on November 11, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, UK

Further to our blog post on 5 November, when the UK Government announced that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) will remain open until 31 March 2021, the Government has now published detailed guidance on the extension of the scheme. The guidance is comprised of a number of different documents covering such matters as which … Continue reading

UK Job Retention Scheme extended until 31 March 2021

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on November 5, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, UK

Further to our post about the extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), the Chancellor announced on 5 November that the CJRS (also known as the furlough scheme) will remain open until 31 March 2021. The Government also published a policy paper setting out further details of the CJRS, confirming that the scheme rules … Continue reading

Furlough Scheme extended and the Job Support Scheme postponed

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on November 2, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, UK

On 31 October 2020, the UK Government announced a the new national lockdown due to begin on Thursday 5 November. On the same day, the Government announced that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), which was due to come to an end on that day, would be extended to continue during the period of lockdown. … Continue reading

Chancellor announces amendments to the UK Job Support Scheme

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on October 26, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, UK

As we announced in our blog post here on 24 September the UK Chancellor outlined additional government support to help businesses and workers impacted by COVID-19, which would come into force once the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) ends on 31 October 2020. However, with further restrictions being placed on businesses and the introduction of … Continue reading

Job Support Scheme – Expansion for Closed Business Premises

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on October 12, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, UK

In our previous blog post here we told you about the Job Support Scheme (JSS), which is due to come into force on 1 November, and will provide support to employers where employees work reduced working hours. On 9 October, the Government announced an extension of the JSS to provide temporary support to businesses whose … Continue reading

Chancellor announces new Job Support Scheme

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on September 24, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, UK

The UK Chancellor has outlined additional government support to help businesses and workers impacted by COVID-19. There had been calls from businesses for the chancellor to help protect jobs once the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) ends on 31 October 2020. As a result the chancellor has announced the new Job Support Scheme which will … Continue reading

Testing employees for COVID-19, self-isolation and sick pay

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on September 22, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, Data privacy and GDPR, UK

On 10 September the Department of Health and Social Care published guidance for employers on the legal obligations and matters that they need to consider if planning to introduce their own testing for COVID-19. With current infection rates increasing this is ever more important for employers to help protect business continuity. In addition, employers need … Continue reading

Transfer of undertaking to multiple transferees

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on August 4, 2020 Posted in Contracts, General, UK

In a recent case, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has considered what happens to the employment contract of a transferring worker where there is a transfer of an undertaking to multiple transferees. The ECJ held that the contract should be split in proportion to the tasks performed by the worker of the time devoted … Continue reading

New law to ensure furloughed employees receive full redundancy payments

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on July 31, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, UK

The UK Government has published legislation, which will ensure that all furloughed employees receive statutory redundancy pay based on their normal wages, rather than a reduced furlough rate. The Employment Rights Act 1996 (Coronavirus, Calculation of a Week’s Pay) Regulations 2020 (the Regulations) ensure that various statutory entitlements based on a week’s pay and connected … Continue reading

Professional Cyclist held not to be an employee or a worker

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on July 17, 2020 Posted in Contracts, General, UK

The EAT has held that an employment tribunal was entitled to conclude that a professional cyclist was not an employee or a worker of the British Cycling Federation. In Varnish v British Cycling Federation (t/a British Cycling) the claimant had commenced proceedings before an employment tribunal claiming, amongst others, unfair dismissal and discrimination. The preliminary … Continue reading

UK Government: Plan for Jobs

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on July 13, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, General, UK

On 8 July, the UK Chancellor announced proposals to help UK businesses have the confidence to retain and hire staff. The Government announced that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has helped employers pay the wages of 9 million employees across the UK. However, the scheme will come to an end on 31 October 2020 and … Continue reading

New Guidance published for flexible furlough scheme

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on June 15, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, UK

On 12 June the UK Government issued details of the flexible furlough arrangement which will operate from 1 July 2020. The new scheme will allow employees to work for their employer during some of the period and the employer will still be able to claim under the scheme in respect of the time where employees … Continue reading

Furloughing new employees – deadline 10 June 2020

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on June 8, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, UK

As set out in our previous blog post here the UK: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) is changing. This means that the CJRS is closing to new entrants form 30 June. Any new employees who an employer may wish to furlough and who have not already been furloughed, must be placed on furlough on or … Continue reading

Flexible Furlough –Changes to the UK Job Retention Scheme

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on June 1, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, UK

On 29 May, the UK Chancellor provided details of the proposed changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). The changes require employers to start sharing the cost of the furlough arrangement and allow a more flexible approach to working while on furlough. New Flexibility The Government is introducing a more flexible furlough arrangement. Employers … Continue reading

UK: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme extended until end of October

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on May 14, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, UK

The Government has announced that by 12 May 7.5 million jobs in the UK have been furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (the Scheme). Previous briefings on the details of the Scheme can be found here. The Scheme was due to end on 30 June 2020. However, following the Government’s announcement regarding the phased … Continue reading

Preparing to return to the workplace – what should employers be doing?

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on May 12, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, UK

As the UK Government has published the Plan to Rebuild – the UK Government’s COVID-19 recovery strategy to transition England from lockdown, one of the key areas is how to get people back to the workplace safely. The Government has also published guidance covering eight workplace settings which are allowed to be open, intended to … Continue reading

Administrators – adoption of contracts and the Job Retention Scheme

By Catrina Smith (UK) and Amanda Sanders (UK) on April 27, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, General, UK

In two recent cases the High Court has considered the adoption of contracts by administrators in the context of applications under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). When an administrator is appointed to a company it is necessary to consider whether the administrator has adopted the contracts of employment under the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA … Continue reading

UK Job Retention Scheme open for applications

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on April 20, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, UK

The UK Job Retention Scheme (JRS) opened for online applications on 20 April 2020. Access to the online portal can be found here. The Government has also published a separate guidance note here which provides details of how to calculate 80% of the employee’s wages to claim through the JRS and some helpful worked examples … Continue reading

Vicarious Liability – the UK Supreme Court hands down two important decisions.

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on April 2, 2020 Posted in Data privacy and GDPR, UK

The Supreme Court has now delivered its judgements on two important cases involving the concept of vicarious liability. In both it has upheld the appeals holding that the employer was not vicariously liable. The first case is WM Morrison Supermarkets plc v Various Claimants. The case concerned a data breach by a disgruntled employee of … Continue reading

The UK Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – An Update

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on March 27, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, UK

As we noted in our previous blog post here the UK Government announced the new Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme by which employers can apply to HMRC for a grant to cover most of the wage costs (up to 80%) of salary of workers who are temporarily not working but kept on the payroll (furloughed workers) … Continue reading

UK Government support to self-employed individuals

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on March 27, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, UK

On 26 March the UK Government announced a package of support to self-employed individuals. The main points of the proposal are: Self-employed individuals can apply for grants of up to 80% of their profits up to £2,500 per month The level will be calculated on the basis of the average monthly trading profit over the … Continue reading