When a business is transferred from one owner to another, the rights of employees are protected by the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE). This means the employees of the previous owner become employees of the new owner on the same terms and conditions. But what happens when the services provided by the
The overall number of employment cases being brought to tribunals has fallen by 8%, but the number of age related claims has continued to rise. The latest figures from the Tribunals Service cover the period from 1st April 2010 to 31st March 2011. There were a total of 218,100 claims during that period, a fall
The right to request time off for training will not be extended to SME employees for at least four years. The Government made the announcement after studying the responses to a public consultation which began last year. Staff at firms employing 250 people or more were given the right to request time off for training
A company director has been held personally liable for the discriminatory dismissal of a pregnant employee. The director owned and ran an estate agency. He was the sole shareholder. One of his employees gave him a letter confirming that she was pregnant. Within minutes of reading the letter, he told her that she was being
The Government’s Red Tape challenge website has put the spotlight on the Equality Act which came into effect last year. The Act replaced nine major pieces of legislation and scrapped 100 sets of regulations relating to equality and discrimination. Now ministers are asking businesses and voluntary organisations for ideas on what more can be done
A tribunal has held that a company did not discriminate against a Muslim security guard when it refused to allow him time off to attend Friday lunchtime prayers at a local mosque. The guard was employed by the company to provide security services at a site belonging to one of its clients. The client required
Businesses need to ensure they follow the correct procedures when making redundancies. Otherwise mistakes can lead to claims of unfair dismissal, as happened in a recent case involving a company that needed to lay off a number of staff. The company had selection procedures in place and used them to assess which employees should be
Employment claims look set to continue rising, according to an official report by the Tribunal Service. This is in spite of the fact that claims are already at record levels. Judge David Latham, who is president of the employment section of the Tribunal Service, says there have been several new employment laws over the last
The moratorium on new employment laws for small firms has now come into effect but business groups say that EU regulations will remain a major burden. The moratorium was announced in the Budget and covers start-up businesses and small firms with fewer than 10 employees. HMRC is defining a start-up firm as a business that
The Government has shelved plans to extend the Time to Train regulations to smaller firms. Employees with organisations employing more than 250 people have had the right to request time for training since April 2010. The previous Labour Government had planned to extend that right to small and medium-sized businesses in April this year. However,