The UK government’s Employment Rights Bill is advancing through the parliamentary process quickly and is expected to become law in the next few weeks. One of the key changes to be implemented is an increase to the maximum financial penalty which can be imposed if an employer fails to comply with collective redundancy consultation rules.
Contracts
What is time work for the purposes of the National Minimum Wage?
In the recent case of Commissioners for HM Revenue and Customs v Taylors Services Ltd (dissolved) and ors, CA , the Court of Appeal has upheld the decision that time spent travelling from home to various locations is not ‘time work’ for the purposes of Reg 30 of the National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015 (NMW…
Changes announced to the Employment Rights Bill
On 7 July the UK government published significant amendments to the Employment Rights Bill (ERB) to be considered in the final stages of the ERBs parliamentary process. It is not clear which amendments will make their way into the final version of the Bill, but some have been proposed by Labour peers and are therefore…
Consultation on Ethnicity and Disability pay gap reporting.
In October 2024, the government released the draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, outlining its plan to implement mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for larger employers. On 18 March 2025, the government published a consultation document to gather feedback on the proposed mechanisms and to guide the subsequent development and drafting of the…
UK Supreme Court decision on the rights of third parties to bring claims
In Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs v Public and Commercial Services Union and two other cases [2024] UKSC 41, the Supreme Court overturned a Court of Appeal decision and held that a trade union was entitled, under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 (the 1999 Act…
Territorial Jurisdiction – where is the employee’s base?
In Yacht Management Company Ltd v Gordon the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has upheld a decision of the Employment Tribunal, that there were numerous factors to support the Tribunal’s conclusion that it had jurisdiction to hear a claim of unfair dismissal brought by the employee because the seafarer’s “base” was her home in Aberdeen…
The criminal offence of failing to comply with collective redundancy notification requirements; can an administrator be guilty?
The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULRCA) imposes duties on employers who are proposing to dismiss at least 20 employees as redundant at one establishment within 90 days or less. One such duty is to notify the Secretary of State at least 30 days before the first of those dismissals…
Removal of the bankers’ bonus cap
With effect from 31 October 2023 the “bonus cap”, which previously limited the variable remuneration of certain bank staff to 100% of their fixed pay (or 200% with shareholder approval) has been abolished. The FCA and PRA in their consultation paper on this change highlighted that the removal of the cap is intended to help…
Claims for holiday pay – Supreme Court holds worker can claim for historic underpayments which are part of a series of deductions
The Supreme Court has given its judgment in the case of Chief Constable of Northern Ireland v Agnew and ors and dismissed the appeal, holding that the workers could claim back for a whole series of unlawful deductions even where there was a gap of more than three months between those deductions.
In this case…
“Quiet quitting” has been included in Collins Dictionary’s top 10 words of the year for 2022 – but what is it?
For most, a contract of employment (or similar written terms of employment) and job description will set out the terms and conditions of the working relationship with their employer. Among other things, it will include the individual’s contractual hours of work and may include the scope of their duties. So what is the issue if…