^{UK Employment Law and Health & Safety News}

At present, employees need to have completed one year’s continuous service in order to qualify for the right to claim “Unfair Dismissal”

Many employers worry about the pitfalls when dealing with absence through sickness

The Government has confirmed two key employment law changes, announcing that the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims will increase from one year to two

From October 1st 2011, there are two important changes to legislation that you should be aware of:

Jonathan Jones, a branch manager in Wales for builders' merchant Jewson, was dismissed on the grounds of incapacity five months after he suffered a stroke.

The case concerned a teaching assistant who was alleged to have acted inappropriately towards a pupil at the school at which he worked.

The adult rate rises by 2.5%, which bucks the trend for current salary increases. It will rise to £6.08 per hour

The limits on payouts for unfair dismissal reflect the rise in the Retail Prices Index for the previous year

A new corporate offence introduced

From 1 October 2011, agency workers will be entitled to equal treatment on basic employment conditions

In April there will be two changes to maternity and paternity leave provisions

The Government is pushing ahead with plans to force small firms to auto-enrol all employees into a pension scheme, but only those employees earning more than £7,500 will be included

The number of employment tribunal cases rocketed by more than 50% last year as workers reacted to redundancies, pay cuts and short-time working

How can you tell if an employee is not genuinely sick when fake Fit-Notes, claiming to be authentic-looking replicas

It does not automatically follow that an employee who has been signed off work by his or her GP cannot be disciplined or dismissed

Unauthorised - employee just does not turn up for work & Short-term absence

Single Equality Act introduced, Increase of National Minimum Wage to £5.93 per hour, Maternity Pay is extended to 12 months

The Apprenticeship Skills, Children and Learning Act, implemented on 6 April, provides employees with a statutory right to request time off for training, but employment lawyers have warned the new law

The first employment tribunal to test paid holiday and sick leave, following two major court rulings last year, has held that an employee should be allowed to carry over his annual leave entitlement

Under s.10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999, workers have the right to be accompanied at a disciplinary or grievance hearing

The draft Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (AWR/Regulation) have now been published by the government. They are set to increase employment rights for up to 1.3 million agency workers

Employees and workers are entitled to take time off work for a number of statutory reasons

A victim of workplace bullying and harassment has received a payout of nearly £800,000 after an Employment Tribunal ruled against his employer

From 6 April 2010, the Information Commissioner may impose a civil monetary penalty of up to £500,000 for serious contraventions of the data protection principles

The government has pledged to conclude consultation this year on the possibility of extending the eligibility for parental leave to those with children aged over five

A redundant employee has received about £35,000 for unfair dismissal following flaws in her employer’s redundancy selection procedure

We thought clients might be interested in this point of view, published in various HR trade magazines

The EAT held that a worker who fails to comply with statutory or contractual notice requirements for taking holiday can lose annual leave at the end of the leave year if not taken

There will be an extra bank holiday (creating 9) in 2012 to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee that year

Here is a brief guide to what to look out for when checking documents

A senior manager who has alleged that he was unfairly dismissed on the basis of his views on climate change, when he was made redundant by his employer, can take his employer to a Tribunal

Figures published by the Tribunals Service recently revealed that claims for unfair dismissal were the most common by type in the period 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009

There is concern about the increasing number of false tribunal claims from serial litigants

An investigation by the UK Border Agency confirmed that Loloahi Tapui-Zivancevic, who was employed by the Attorney General, Baroness Scotland, for six months, did not have the right to work in the UK

Agency Workers directive must be implemented – 5 December 2011

Fathers will be able to benefit from up to 26 weeks' additional paternity leave

A Chinese traditional medicine shop has lost its appeal against a tribunal judgment

A director of Maureen O’Brien Ltd (in administration) – has been ordered to pay over £5,500 in fines and costs after pleading guilty to breaches of fire safety legislation

A firm of solicitors based in Birkenhead that carried out conveyancing work for Britannia Building Society (Britannia).

Two firms have been fined a total of £200,000 over the death of a telescopic forklift truck driver who was crushed by the vehicle’s arm.

This case concerns the meaning of disability under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and potentially widens the definition to make it easier for employees to argue they are covered.

Written disciplinary procedures save employers time and money.132,577claims were made to Employment Tribunals...

A former employee threw himself from the top of a multi-storey car park six years after suffering a serious workplace accident.

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill received Royal Assent on 26 July 2007 and is law from 6 April 2008.

Following the death of a 28-year-old man at a concrete plant in 2005, Area manager Roy William Burrows, 48, and managing director Timothy Edward Dighton, 45, were both jailed for manslaughter.

Employers face bigger fines at employment tribunals......

Redundancy is likely to be an issue for many employers in 2008

The Governments has plans to extend the right to request flexible employment for employees with children up to the age of 17,

At last some good news for employers.

The Cooperative Group was fined £250,00 for breaches of fire safety regulations...

The Employment Laws considered most problematic by most small businesses are the Statutory Grievance Procedures..

Statutory Rights of workers are misunderstood by employers

Employers held responsible for accident

A Redhead was awarded £18000 compensation for insults and innuendo

From October 1st 2007...

new legislation will be enforced