The Government has confirmed that the Code of Practice on Workforce Matters in Local Authority Service Contracts is to be withdrawn. It is not yet clear when the withdrawal will take effect. The Code applies in England and Wales to local authority ...

It has been reported that on 27 June 2019, the Supreme Court denied the Government’s request for permission to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision in the cases of McCloud and Sargeant regardi...

Eighteen months ago, the Government published a white paper on protecting DB pension schemes.  This was followed by consultations on a variety of matters, including a stronger Pensions Regulator, the introduction of collective defined contribut...

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How important is public procurement to the public sector? Many contracting bodies incur more expenditure each year on externally provided works, services and supplies than they do on their own workforce, but focus typicall...

As part of the State opening of Parliament, the Queen today set out the government’s plans for legislation over the course of the new parliamentary session.  Disappointingly, however, the Queen’s Speech contained...

  1. Brexit Implications for Social Security Contributions 1.1 If the UK leaves the EU there may be social security implications for UK employers who have employees working in the EU, EEA or Switzerland. If there is a no deal Brexit then action...

The European Parliament agreed to a new 'recast' version of the European Works Council (EWC) Directive on Monday 15 December and this was confirmed when MEPs voted in favour on Tuesday 16 December. The recast EWC Directive is now expected to be...

The Government has today implemented new regulations (The Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010) to outlaw the compiling and use of trade union blacklists. The regulations also aim to stop trade union...

A growing number of successful injunctions against trade unions to halt strikes is attracting increasing media attention. Arguments will undoubtedly continue about whether such injunctions are undemocratic, or simply reflec...

On Monday, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, launched the consultation document for the proposed permanent annual limit on non-EU economic migration. At the same time, details of a temporary limit to operate in the interim period until April 2011 wer...

The law relating to industrial action is complicated and many aspects are unclear, mainly because of conflicting court decisions, complex statutory rules or because of the absence of judicial interpretation. In particular, uncertainty exists over th...

The law relating to industrial action is complicated and many aspects are unclear, mainly because of conflicting court decisions, complex statutory rules or because of the absence of judicial interpretation. In particular, uncertainty exists over th...

The annual report published by BIS on trade union membership has just been published and contains new statistics for 2010. As in previous years, it tracks an ongoing decline in trade union membership levels and, similarly, a fall in the number of em...

There are over 900 European Works Councils (EWCs) providing for pan-European workplace consultation involving cross-border restructuring, mergers and transfers. While employers with EWCs have differing views on their success and relevance to date, l...

Welcome to our June UK labour law update. This edition contains the following content: UK labour law news Trade union membership rises to 6.5 million reversing recent falling trends PCS and TSSA unions move closer towards mergers with Unite  ...

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EU appears open-minded about pay between assignment contracts Having inherited the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 on taking office, the UK Government had p...

Court of Appeal upholds single collective bargaining unit for only 1.2% of employees in an otherwise non-unionised employer In a significant development for employers, particularly those without recognised trade unions and those with dispersed busin...

Employers are being urged to do more to look after the mental health of their workforce with the publication today of the outcome of the Stevenson/Farmer review of mental health and employers. Estimating that poor mental health costs employers betwe...

The Government has now responded fully to the 290 recommendations made by the Francis Inquiry earlier in the year. Since the publication of the report in February of this year, members of our team who acted as a part of the team acting as Solicitors...

Guru Update – Mitchell – where we have all been getting it wrong! The Court of Appeal on Friday afternoon, handed down judgment in a series of appeals arising out of applications for Relief from sanctions, Denton & Ors v TH Whit...

With increasing numbers of working parents comes a sharper focus on employer support for childcare arrangements.  On 6 April 2005, the Government is to introduce new tax incentives in relation to childcare arrangements which are intended t...

After nine years pursuing her claim against her employer, Michelle Alabaster walked away with an award of just £204.53.  However, the impact of the decisions of the ECJ, and now the Court of Appeal in the maternity pay case of Ala...

Employers, the leasing industry, professional advisers and many government departments including the DTI, were taken by surprise when withdrawal of the tax relief on computers supplied to employees was announced in the recent Budget. Numerous re...

December to April is bonus season. According to the latest annual report from the Office for National Statistics, bonuses for UK staff have reached a record £19 billion, a rise of £2.5 billion since last year. The forthcoming months will...

In a somewhat timely judgment, bearing in mind the May bank holidays, the Court of Session (the Scottish Court of Appeal) has clarified that it is not necessarily unlawful for an employer to not provide alternative leave days for part-time workers w...

Many employers offer flexible benefits packages to their workforce. But the Age Discrimination Regulations have cast a shadow over some schemes, leaving employers and providers unsure as to how benefits such as private medical insurance should be ac...

Gordon Brown has announced that the Government plans to introduce legislation giving new rights to agency workers and working parents in the next parliamentary session.  In addition, all workers are to be given the right to ask for time off wor...

The Government has today announced that from next April, the right to request flexible working will be extended to all parents of children aged up to 16 years. It is estimated that an additional 4.5 million parents will benefit from the right. Sinc...

If you have not yet responded to the Eversheds survey as to the likely impact of the changes to agency worker rights upon your business and would like to do so by 13 June, please click here.   Main body The topics of equal rights for age...

After what has already proved a busy week for employment law news, the Government has published its consultation response to the second round of consultation on Agency Worker Regulations, which closed in December last year. The...

VAT treatment of vouchers provided to employees under salary sacrifice You will no doubt have been made aware of the recent CJEU (formerly European Court of Justice) ruling in AstraZeneca. The case involved AstraZeneca and the retail vouchers that ...

Pensions Regulator publishes details of first enforcement action for auto-enrolment non-compliance The Pensions Regulator has published its first section 89 report relating to breaches of the aut...

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Expert evidence in procurement claims – no general admission On 28 September 2012 the High Court rejected an application under...

Fair Deal: the latest developments On 19 November 2012 HM Treasury published its response to the March 2011 consultation on the future of the Fair Deal for Staff Pensions guidance. The Fair Deal review is part of the Government’s broader revi...

Registered Providers to face longer, more complicated and more expensive claims? The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 ("LAPSO") LAPSO received Royal Assent on 1 May 2012 and will come into force on 1 April 2013. It will hav...

The Charities Act 2006 (now the Charities Act 2011) introduced a new form of incorporated charitable entity, the CIO.  There has been a long delay in making CIOs available but their imminent arrival has been heralded by a recent government anno...

Many in local government will already be familiar with the CRC Scheme. This is the UK’s mandatory emissions trading scheme aimed at improving energy efficiency and cutting carbon dioxide emissions in large public and privat...

The European Commission has announced proposals to amend the Enabling Regulation adopted in 1998. This forms part of the EC’s State Aid Modernisation Initiative. It will allow the EC to focus on larger more...

? The European Commission has announced proposals to amend the Procedural Regulation adopted in 1999. This forms part of the EC’s State Aid Modernisation Initiative and will support quicker decision making and ensure a focus...

? Recently, the Equality and Human Rights Commission EHRC published detailed technical guidance for those public sector bodies seeking to comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). There is separate guidance for Scotland, England and Wales....

The European Commission (the "EC") presented two proposals on 5 December 2012, as part of its State Aid Modernisation initiative. The proposals will include amendments to two key State aid instruments, the Enabling Regulation and...

? The Solicitors Regulation Authority has undertaken consultation on proposed changes to the rules for solicitors employed by local authorities.  The SRA is proposing to amend rule 4.15(e) of the Practice Framework Rules, to ...