Topic: UK

Covert monitoring in the workplace – impact on an employee’s privacy

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has held that Spanish shop workers’ right to privacy under Article 8(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights was not violated when their employer obtained evidence of theft from covert CCTV footage of the employees. The case involved five employees who worked as … Continue reading

Legal advice privilege in employment

By Amanda Sanders (UK) and Nick Howard on October 25, 2019 Posted in General, UK, Uncategorized

A recent decision in the UK Court of Appeal has provided guidance in the area of privilege in employment claims. In Curless v Shell International Ltd, the Court of Appeal had to consider whether legal advice privilege should be disapplied to an email on the basis that the advice fell within the “iniquity principle”. Legal … Continue reading

UK Pensions – new criminal offences relating to corporate transactions under the Pension Schemes Bill 2019

By Lesley Harrold on October 24, 2019 Posted in UK

In its response to its June 2018 consultation on plans to improve the powers of the Pensions Regulator, the Government’s stated aim was to better protect members’ benefits in corporate deals. This was to be achieved by improving the ability of both the Regulator and scheme trustees to monitor relevant corporate transactions and other events … Continue reading

Extension of whistleblowing protection

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on October 18, 2019 Posted in UK, Whistleblowing

Workers in the UK are protected from suffering a detriment where they have made a protected disclosure under the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996). To be protected under section 47B ERA 1996 the individual must be a worker as defined by s203(3) of that Act. A recent decision of the Supreme Court considered whether … Continue reading

UK Pensions: Paying for the sins of the fathers – how far back must you make up pension underpayments?

By Giannis Waymouth on October 16, 2019 Posted in UK

Trustees of UK pension schemes which include old guaranteed minimum pensions have got a bit of a dilemma on their hands at the moment. They have to equalise benefits between men and women to paper over the inherent inequality in the GMPs themselves, which means correcting past underpayments. There are many questions raised by … Continue reading

New single enforcement body for employment rights

By Claire Darbourne (UK) on October 1, 2019 Posted in Europe, General, UK

As part of the UK’s Government’s “Good Work Plan” to ensure fair and decent work for all, transparency and clarity of workers’ rights and effective enforcement of those rights, proposals for a single enforcement body were published for consultation in July this year. Currently in the UK, the majority of employment rights are enforced by … Continue reading

Holidays for Term-Time only workers not subject to pro rata reduction

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on August 30, 2019 Posted in Contracts, UK

The law on holiday leave and pay in the UK is continually developing. The Court of Appeal has recently ruled on another holiday entitlement case, holding that permanent employees, who work for only part of the year, are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks and that employers cannot pro-rate their holiday entitlement to reflect … Continue reading

The End of Free Movement in the UK?

By Aida Geragusian on August 29, 2019 Posted in Europe, General, UK

The UK Government’s announcement, that free movement will end the day after a no deal Brexit on 31 October 2019, has left many wondering how the rights of EU citizens will be impacted in the days that follow. Whilst some have speculated that it is unlikely that this means anything different than the original ‘no … Continue reading

New fast track visa to cement the UK as a science superpower

By Lauren Pullen-Stanley (UK) and Aida Geragusian on August 14, 2019 Posted in UK, Uncategorized

The Home Office has announced a new fast-track immigration offer for individuals with skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects. The scheme will provide a three-year visa, during which the individual can come and go from the UK at will. Following the three year period, those on the scheme can apply for indefinite … Continue reading

UK Pensions – is the current annual allowance limit unfair and unworkable?

By Lesley Harrold and Lesley Browning on August 13, 2019 Posted in UK

UK Pensions – is the current annual allowance limit unfair and unworkable? The Revenue has been forced, finally, to face up to the fact that the annual allowance changes in relation to pensions contributions which attract tax relief, and which were brought into force in April 2016, are unfair and unworkable. The Treasury announced on … Continue reading

Good Work Plan: Government issues further response and consultation to support families and pregnant women

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on August 9, 2019 Posted in Discrimination and harassment, UK

As part of its Good Work Plan, the UK Government has recently published a response and a consultation paper on proposals which will protect and support families and pregnant women. The first Government paper considers extending redundancy protection for women and new parents. The second consultation looks at various proposals to support families, including a … Continue reading

UK Pensions: Regulator ramps up “green” investment guidance for revised SIPs

By Lesley Harrold on August 2, 2019 Posted in General, UK

New guidance from the Pensions Regulator reflects recent legislative changes requiring trustees of occupational pension schemes to set out their policies on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues which may influence their investment decisions. The new law From 1 October 2019, changes apply governing the way pension schemes prepare and revise their investment disclosure documents, including … Continue reading

In its first decision on restrictive covenants in more than a century, the UK Supreme Court upholds a 6-month non-compete covenant adopting the more liberal approach to the rules of severance

By Claire Darbourne (UK) on July 17, 2019 Posted in Contracts, Europe, UK

In the case of Tillman v Egon Zehnder Ltd [2019] UKSC 32, the Supreme Court has upheld a 6-month non-compete covenant, adopting the more liberal approach to the rules of severance. The Court ruled that on its proper construction, the covenant was unreasonably wide in that it restrained the employee from holding a minority shareholding … Continue reading

Migration Advisory Committee asked to review salary threshold by UK Government

By Amanda Sanders (UK), Lauren Pullen-Stanley (UK) and Aida Geragusian on July 4, 2019 Posted in General, UK, Uncategorized

The Home Secretary has asked the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to review future salary thresholds for the new immigration system which is due to come into force in January 2021. As we mentioned in our blog post- The immigration white paper – what will it mean for the UK’s future immigration system? December 2018 – … Continue reading

UK Pensions: beware inheritance tax on pension transfers made shortly before death

By Lesley Harrold on June 20, 2019 Posted in Europe, UK

UK Pensions: beware inheritance tax on pension transfers made shortly before death In a recent UK case (HMRC v Parry) the Court of Appeal found that inheritance tax was due on pension benefits which were transferred out of a defined benefits (or final salary) to a defined contribution (or money purchase) scheme shortly before a … Continue reading

UK Pensions: Are you sure you’re not a Professional Trustee?

By Sabrina English and Lesley Harrold on June 6, 2019 Posted in Europe, UK

If you are a pension scheme trustee, there is a risk that you might be considered a professional trustee without realising, and be subject to new standards for professional trustees that were published earlier this year. A new system of accreditation for professional trustees is also being introduced. Am I a professional trustee? A professional … Continue reading

Court holds that it’s not discriminatory to enhance pay during maternity leave, but to pay only statutory shared parental pay during shared parental leave.

By Claire Darbourne (UK) on May 29, 2019 Posted in Discrimination and harassment, Europe, UK

In the UK, only female employees are eligible for statutory maternity leave. They are also eligible for statutory maternity pay at a fixed rate during such leave subject to certain conditions – and it is common for employers to pay enhanced maternity pay during periods of maternity leave. Whilst many employers do not pay enhanced … Continue reading

UK Pensions Regulator: a new rule-making ability?

By Lesley Harrold on May 22, 2019 Posted in Europe, UK

On 16 May 2019, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) published a periodic, government-conducted review which examines the continuing need, efficiency and good governance of the Pensions Regulator (TPR). This tailored review was conducted between August and November 2018 and led by Jamey Johnson, the former Chief Officer for Pension Wise (which is now … Continue reading

What records must an employer keep to record working time?

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on May 21, 2019 Posted in Contracts, UK

A recent European Court of Justice decision has held that in order to comply with the provisions of the EU Working Time Directive (No. 2003/88), employers are obliged to set up a system for measuring actual daily working time for individual workers. What impact will this have on UK employers and their obligations to their … Continue reading

BIC UK Ltd v Burgess [2019] – employer appeal successful: retrospective amendment re-wrote history to an impermissible extent

By Lesley Harrold on May 13, 2019 Posted in Europe, UK

BIC UK Ltd v Burgess [2019] – employer appeal successful: retrospective amendment re-wrote history to an impermissible extent The Court of Appeal (CA) has unanimously ruled that a retrospective amendment to the deed and rules of the BIC UK Pension Scheme (the Scheme) was invalid. Last year, the High Court had ruled that whilst the … Continue reading

Changes to off payroll working rules from April 2020

By Amanda Sanders (UK) and Susie Brain (UK) on May 9, 2019 Posted in General, UK

HMRC has published its latest consultation on off payroll working rules. As we have previously discussed (Global Workplace insider post – June 2018), the reformed off payroll rules which have applied in the public sector since April 2017 will be extended to the private sector from 6 April 2020. The consultation has raised significant issues … Continue reading

UK pensions: Does an employer have a duty to advise a dying employee on the implications of taking ill-health benefits early?

By Lesley Harrold on May 8, 2019 Posted in Europe, General, UK

The smooth operation of a pension scheme depends on an efficient flow of information between the employer and the member. Frequently, the Pensions Ombudsman is asked to consider scheme trustees’ and employers’ duties on providing benefit information to members. Where the law is silent, this can be a tricky area to navigate and considerable uncertainty … Continue reading

Ethnicity pay gap reporting in the UK

By Claire Darbourne (UK) on April 30, 2019 Posted in Discrimination and harassment, Europe, UK

As reported in an earlier post, the UK Government introduced mandatory gender pay gap reporting in 2017. An independent review conducted in 2017, Race in the workplace, made a number of recommendations for removing the barriers to workplace progression faced by ethnic minorities including the introduction of mandatory reporting of ethnicity pay data. At that … Continue reading