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“Quiet quitting” has been included in Collins Dictionary’s top 10 words of the year for 2022 – but what is it?

Global Workplace InsiderBy Safwan Afridi on Posted in Contracts, UK
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 … Continue reading

EAT decision reminds employers of the need for genuine consultation and reasonable selection criteria when carrying out redundancies 

Photo of Joanna MacKenzieBy Joanna MacKenzie on Posted in General, UK
In the recent case of Mogane v Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2022] UKEAT 139, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) found that the redundancy dismissal of a fixed term employee was unfair due to a lack of genuine consultation and the use of arbitrary selection criteria.   The Claimant, Ms Mogane, was employed as … Continue reading

Can an employer settle future statutory claims in a settlement agreement?

Photo of Amanda Sanders (UK)By Amanda Sanders (UK) and Safwan Afridi on Posted in General, UK
Employees may have claims against their employer that can arise during the recruitment process, the employment or on termination.  In this case, the parties may enter into a formal settlement agreement to settle most statutory employment claims.  In order for any such agreement to be binding it must satisfy certain conditions.  The extent of these … Continue reading

UK Government to reform or revoke retained EU law

Photo of Amanda Sanders (UK)Photo of Joanna MacKenzieBy Amanda Sanders (UK) and Joanna MacKenzie on Posted in UK
On 22 September 2022, the UK Government introduced the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, pursuant to which all EU law introduced into the UK legal system following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union on 31 January 2020 (Retained EU Law) must be reviewed and either replaced with new domestic legislation or automatically … Continue reading

Italy’s Jobs Act under scrutiny: Are critics missing the big picture?

Photo of Attilio PavoneBy Attilio Pavone on Posted in Europe, General, Italy
In the final days of the particularly tense campaign leading up to the parliamentary election in Italy, politicians from all sides of the political spectrum made bold proclamations on a variety of topics; for the most part, this was predictable and inevitable. Nevertheless, it was surprising to read the statements made by two former labour … Continue reading

Part Year workers holiday not pro-rated

Photo of Amanda Sanders (UK)By Amanda Sanders (UK) on Posted in Contracts, UK
The UK Supreme Court has unanimously dismissed the appeal in the case of Harpur Trust v Brazel which considered the holiday entitlement of those workers who are on permanent contracts but only work for part of the year (part year workers). The claimant was a part-time music teacher who worked variable number of hours during … Continue reading

Philosophical and religious beliefs: Balancing the issues

Photo of Amanda Sanders (UK)By Amanda Sanders (UK) on Posted in General, UK
Two recent employment cases regarding “gender critical” beliefs have highlighted the difficulties in this area and whether such beliefs are capable of protection under the Equality Act 2010. Religion or belief is one of the nine protected characteristics covered by the Equality Act 2010.  The Act prohibits direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation in … Continue reading

Necessary contents of employment contracts – change in law as of August 1, 2022

Photo of Frank WeberndörferPhoto of Claudia PosluschnyBy Frank Weberndörfer and Claudia Posluschny on Posted in Contracts, Europe, Germany
The “Act on Proof of the Existence of an Employment Relationship” (Nachweisgesetz – NachwG) requires employers to set out the essential contractual terms of the employment in writing to their employees. The German legislature has now passed an amendment to the Nachweisgesetz, which comes into force on August 1, 2022, and has the effect of … Continue reading

Global Employment Law – Work from Anywhere: Leadership Challenges – Transforming Workplace -#17

Photo of Jason NoakesBy Jason Noakes on Posted in Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, France, General, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Luxembourg, Middle East, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, The Netherlands, UK, United States, Venezuela
This is the 17th paper in our Transforming Workplace series. In our earlier article, we explored why employees’ expectations of their leaders have changed and why organisations need to upgrade leaders’ skills and behaviours.   In this paper we now examine ow organisations can upskill their leaders to meet the specific leadership challenges arising from ‘work … Continue reading

Calling a man “bald” can amount to harassment related to sex

Global Workplace InsiderBy Safwan Afridi on Posted in General, UK
The Employment Tribunal (ET) has found that an employee that was called “a bald ****” by a fellow male colleague was harassed based on his sex. The Claimant presented a number of other claims against the Respondent, including unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal, victimisation and health and safety detriments; however, this post focuses on the Claimant’s … Continue reading

The High Potential Individual visa is now live

Photo of Charlotte EmmersonBy Charlotte Emmerson on Posted in UK, Uncategorized
As of 30 May 2022, a new immigration route into the UK is now available via the “High Potential Individual” (HPI) visa. This route is aimed at attracting highly skilled foreign graduates who have obtained an eligible university degree within the last 5 years, with the intention to grow the UK as a leading international … Continue reading

Global Employment Law – Work from Anywhere: The end of the office? – Transforming Workplace – #16

Photo of Jason NoakesBy Jason Noakes on Posted in Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, Europe, France, General, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Luxembourg, Middle East, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, The Netherlands, UK, United States, Venezuela
This is the 16th paper in our Transforming Workplace series. In our previous paper, we discussed how to make ‘work from anywhere’ work better.  In this paper we now examine whether the day of the office, as we know it, has ended Work from Anywhere:  The end of the office? – Transforming Workplace – #16 This … Continue reading

Global Employment Law- Work From Anywhere: Make it work better – Transforming Workplace -#15

Photo of Jason NoakesBy Jason Noakes on Posted in Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, Europe, France, General, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Luxembourg, Middle East, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, The Netherlands, UK, United States, Venezuela
This is the 15th paper in our Transforming Workplace series. In this paper we examine how ‘work from anywhere’ can be made to work better. Work From Anywhere: Make it work better -Transforming Workplace – #15 This article is part of our Transforming Workplace series.  Other articles exploring the opportunities, challenges and risk of the transforming … Continue reading

UK Pensions: Use of reasonable [en]force[ment] – unnerving for those on the receiving end?

Global Workplace InsiderBy Julia Chirnside on Posted in General, UK
Speaking to banking colleagues recently about what the Pensions Regulator’s stronger powers mean for them reminded me just how much turns on the Regulator’s view of what is reasonable. There has been a great deal of discussion about the wide range of circumstances in which the Regulator could use its various powers (what the Regulator … Continue reading

La Cour de cassation valide le barème Macron : fin de la fronde ?

Photo of Laure JoncourBy Laure Joncour on Posted in Europe, France
Pour mémoire, avant l’entrée en vigueur du « barème Macron », en cas de licenciement sans cause réelle et sérieuse, il appartenait au juge de fixer l’indemnisation visant à réparer le préjudice du salarié et la loi n’avait fixé aucun maximum.  Ainsi le juge fixait le montant des dommages-intérêts avec une grande latitude et sans … Continue reading

The Employment proposals in the Queen’s Speech: Absence of the Employment Bill

Photo of Amanda Sanders (UK)By Amanda Sanders (UK) on Posted in General, UK, Uncategorized
On 10 May at the State Opening of Parliament, the legislative intention of the Government for the next parliamentary session was set out in the Queen’s Speech.  Despite the speech containing proposals for 38 new laws, the long awaited Employment Bill was omitted. The Employment  Bill, which was first proposed in 2019, was intended to … Continue reading

Employee data compliance: Data minimization and deletion obligation

Photo of Frank WeberndörferPhoto of Claudia PosluschnyBy Frank Weberndörfer and Claudia Posluschny on Posted in Data privacy and GDPR, Europe, General, Germany
To avoid fines, the lawful processing of employee data must respect the principle regarding data retention. Employers are obliged to erase data that is no longer required, in particular regarding the publication of employee profiles or data processed in connection with COVID-19. A recent decision (Neuruppin Labor Court, December 14, 2021 – ref. 2 Ca … Continue reading

UK: New guidance for employers on living safely with respiratory infections, including COVID-19.

Photo of Amanda Sanders (UK)By Amanda Sanders (UK) on Posted in Coronavirus, UK
On April 1st, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issued guidance for employers on living safely and reducing the spread of respiratory diseases such as COVID-19 to replace the previous ‘Working Safely Guidance’ after the relaxing of COVID-19 measures in the UK. The guidance outlines ways employers can aim to reduce the spread of respiratory … Continue reading

Global Employment Law – The Decline (and Fall?) of the Five-Day Workweek – Transforming Workplace -#14

Photo of Jason NoakesBy Jason Noakes on Posted in Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, France, General, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Luxembourg, Middle East, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, The Netherlands, UK, United States, Venezuela
In our previous article in the Transforming Workplace series we outlined the benefits of short-term “work from anywhere”.  In this article, we focus on the advantages of introducing flexible hours and days. The Decline (and Fall?) of the Five-Day Workweek   This article is part of our Transforming Workplace series.  Other articles exploring the opportunities, … Continue reading
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