Zero and Irregular Hours Staff – Increased Costs?

The legal requirements for calculating holiday pay will lead to increased costs for some but not all employers. The Supreme Court has ruled [1] that the relevant law is strict as to the holiday entitlement and method of calculating holiday pay. The decision will only affect individuals who work part time, irregular hours. The decision […]

Employment Terms & Motivation

Welcoming New Staff [Editor’s note – updates to the content were made in October 2020} Most managers want new staff to have a positive experience of their recruitment and acceptance of the offer of a job. Employees will not resign usually from their current job until they receive a clear offer of the new job. […]

Termination Payments – New Liability for Tax and National Insurance

The exemptions from paying tax on termination payments, especially pay in lieu of notice, have been reduced significantly as of 6th April 2018 and made more complex in some instances. Take a quick quiz to see if you need to read more about the changes.  Are non contractual payments in lieu of notice taxable?  If […]

April 2018 – Increases in National Minimum Pay Rates

The new rates of pay have been published by the Government.  Those will come into effect from 1st April 2018. You can see the new rates at this link to one of our websites which publishes Key HR Facts. Free PDF Copy of Key HR Facts Key HR Facts provide a useful summary in one […]

Holiday Entitlement – Enhanced Protection in New Court Decision

The entitlement to holidays and pay has been given extended protection by the recent decision of the European Court of Justice.   The Court restated the basic principles and has made it clear that neither employers not States have authority to diminish the right to paid holidays. Which Employers Will Face Higher Costs? Many employers provide […]

Sports Direct – the Dilemma of Organisational Flexibility

[Text amended August 2018] Many organisations need flexibility in staffing to accommodate seasonal and other variations in workload, product launches, staff holidays and illness etc. To meet such needs, senior managers should be able to introduce a range of contracts such as variable hours, zero hours, temporary and/or fixed term contracts and/or use agency workers. […]

Results Based Commission to be Included in Holiday Pay

Posted on 25/02/2016 by HR Professional The Employment Appeal Decision in British Gas Trading v Lock means that results based commission must be paid during holiday periods.   You can read more about the implications of the court decision in this link to an earlier article. {Editor’s note – new link to be added]. Employers now […]

HR Policies – a Level Playing Field or a Competitive Field?

News broke this week that France will allow companies to re-negotiate a longer working week and overtime rates of pay thus starting to erode the 35 hour week for ‘blue collar’ staff.  That report made me smile as I recalled:   Advising a French service company on adopting the 35 hour week   and reducing employment […]

Zero Hours Contract Workers – New Rights

Posted on 13/01/2016 by HR Professional   [Link updated 06/09/2019]   Zero hours are defined broadly as being a contract or arrangement under which an employer may offer or provide work for an individual but there is no certainty that such work will be made available.  Such contracts are a useful means of covering seasonal […]