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Eversheds' HR e-briefing 545: Government reveals employment law changes in Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill

The Government has this afternoon published the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill which will, if passed, introduce some of the tribunal and dispute resolution measures previously announced (see HR ...




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UK HR ebrief: Employment tribunal claims continue on a downward trend

Employment tribunal claims continue on a downward trend At the start of the year, interim figures released regarding the number of employment tribunal claims already indicated a further drop when ...




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UK HR e-briefing: Strike changes: 1 March 2017 implementation confirmed

Regulations have confirmed that changes to industrial action law introduced by the Trade Union Act 2016 (‘Act’) will be implemented on 1 March 2017. The changes include introducing: a 50% ballot threshold for voter turnout, a 40% ballot ...




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UK HR E-briefing: Holiday pay uncertainty ended in employeesÂ’ favour

The Supreme Court yesterday refused British Gas permission to appeal in the holiday pay case of Lock: the Working Time Regulations are properly to be read purposively to give effect to the CJEU ruling in Lock. Crucially, we now know that repres...




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IHC e-briefing 48: The Working Time Directive - European Parliament vote on opt-out and on-call time

The 1993 Working Time Directive lays down basic principles concerning maximum weekly working hours, amongst other things. For some time now, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament have been debating whether the directive should be revised...




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HR e-briefing 398 - The Working Time Directive - European Parliament vote on opt-out and on-call time

The 1993 Working Time Directive lays down, amongst other things, basic principles concerning maximum weekly working hours. For some time now, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament have been debating whether the directive should be revise...




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HR e-briefing 404 - TUPE and collective agreements

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has issued a judgment that confirms that TUPE can, in some cases, bind incoming employers to pay increases negotiated by the outgoing employer under a collective agreement after the date of the TUPE transfer.  Ba...




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HR e-briefing 411 - 48 hour opt-out preserved

Despite a last ditch attempt to reach agreement to change the current rules, the 'opt–out' has survived the latest round of European discussions, namely conciliation talks between the European Council and the European Parliament. The opt&ndash...




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HR e-briefing 412 - the role of HR in responding to the threat of a pandemic

While the recent media reporting of swine flu has dwelt on the obvious health and safety issues, the threat of a pandemic, whether now or in the next few months, also raises some practical challenges for HR departments across the country. Necessary...




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HR e-briefing 414 - National Minimum Wage increases

After a delay of some two months from the usual release date, the National Minimum Wage (NMW) hourly rates that will apply from 1 October 2009, have been announced today, as follows: Workers aged 22 and over: £5.80 (up from the current &pou...




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HR e-briefing 416 - fit notes - the new sick notes

The Department for Work and Pensions has today published further details of its proposal to replace GP sick notes with 'fit notes' with effect from April 2010 and has launched a public consultation on the design and content of the new medical certif...




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HR e-briefing 418 - sickness and annual leave

This morning the House of Lords has handed down its judgment in the case of HMRC v Stringer and others, so concluding the long running saga of how employers should deal with holiday entitlement for those workers who are off sick. The House of Lords&...




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HR e-briefing no 424 - swine flu - work in progress?

We received an excellent response to our recent survey concerning employer reaction to swine flu (Full Article



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HR e-briefing - Review of the default retirement age

25 August 2009 Review of age discrimination laws – what will the impact be on employers? Last month, the Government announced its intention to bring forward a review of the law around forced retirement. The review concerns the ‘default...




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HR e-briefing no 425 - sickness and holidays - new European ruling could cause problems for employers

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that workers who go on sick leave during a period that has been scheduled as annual leave for the purposes of the Working Time Directive should be allowed to reschedule their holidays, even if that means...




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HR e-briefing 427 - Fathers are to have longer paternity leave from 2011

After the recent flurry of headlines announcing that long-standing uncertainty surrounding the extension of maternity pay and paternity rights was over, the Government has this week published details of its plans in the form of draft regulations. T...




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HR e-briefing 430 - The vetting and barring scheme - the facts

The recruitment practices of many employers stand to be significantly affected by the introduction, from October 12 this year, of the new vetting and barring scheme for those working with children or vulnerable adults. The scheme will apply in Engla...




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HR e-briefing 434 - The right to request time off to train

Today, the Government’s proposals regarding apprenticeships and training have received Royal Assent in the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009. One of the Act’s provisions in particular is of relevance to all employer...




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HR e-brief 438 - Employees to get longer parental leave rights

At a meeting this week the European Council agreed to extend the existing right for parents to take leave from work from three to four months per parent, per child. The European Council's decision comes as no surprise as t...




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HR e-briefing 443 - some clarification from the EAT on holidays

Today, the EAT has handed down its decision in the case of Lyons v Mitie Security Limited, which involved a claim for holiday pay from an employee whose request to take annual leave did not comply with notice requireme...




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HR briefing 449 - fit notes to replace sick notes in April 2010

The Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed that GP sick notes are to be replaced by 'fit notes' with effect from 6 April 2010. The Government consulted on the design and content of the new medical certificate last ...




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HR e-briefing 454: EU prompts complete rethink of Working Time Directive

The EU Commission has today taken the first step towards a comprehensive review of the Working Time Directive (WTD). This is despite last year's failure to agree changes to the treatment of on-call time or amendments to the 48 hou...




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Eversheds' HR e-briefing 478 - European case set to boost paternity rights

A new ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) suggests fathers who take advantage of new rights to extended paternity leave from April next year could be entitled to the same rights and benefits from their employer as women who...




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HR e-briefing 482 - Scottish appeal court ruling on annual leave

The Scottish Court of Session has ruled that employers are permitted to schedule leave under the Working Time Regulations (WTR) and Working Time Directive (WTD) so that it falls at a time an employee would not otherwise be working...




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HR e-briefing 484 - Data protection: ICO flexes muscles with first use of new fines power

The ICO has announced its first use of its recent power to issue fines or monetary penalties for serious breaches of the data protection legislation. The power became effective in April 2010 (see Full Article



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HR e-briefing - 497 Red tape cuts

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has revealed that the right to request flexible work arrangements will not be extended to parents of 17 year olds in April as previously announced. Contrary to some reports, the existing law p...




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Eversheds' HR e-briefing 503: July 2011 Implementation of the Bribery Act confirmed

After many months of speculation and delay, the Ministry of Justice published Government Guidance in respect of the Bribery Act 2010 last week, paving the way for the Act coming in to force on 1 July. Although, as the name suggests, the Act is aime...




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Eversheds' HR e-briefing 507: Flexible parental leave, working time, equal pay and flexible working - more changes afoot

Today, a consultation has been launched on government plans to: Full Article



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Eversheds' HR e-briefing 511: Bribery Act in force

The Bribery Act 2010 will come in to force this Friday, 1 July 2011. Much has been written about its likely implications. At the start of the debate, it would even be fair to say there was a degree...




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HR e-briefing 520: Changing terms and conditions; a question of balance

In difficult economic times employers will inevitably look to reduce the costs of employment. However, achieving this in practice can be fraught with legal, practical and also emotive issues. In some circumstances contractual change may be achieved ...




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HR e-briefing 525: Holidays and sickness – latest ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has confirmed that workers are only entitled to holiday pay under regulation 16 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR) when they actually exercise their right to take the leave in question.  The EAT made...




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HR e-briefing 526: CJEU rules on right to carry over holiday accrued whilst on long term sick

Today, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has handed down its decision in the case of  KHS AG v Winfried Schulte, an important case about whether a worker on long term sick leave has the right to carry forward annual leave accrue...




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E-briefing - New China franchise regulations: replacement of approvals by registration?

Introduction The long-awaited regulations on the Administration of Commercial Franchise Operations (the 'New Regulations') were promulgated by the State Council of the PRC on 6 February 2007, and will take effect on 1 May 2007. They apply equally t...




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E-briefing - China in Focus

New filing and information disclosure rules relating to franchising regimes in China came into effect on 1 May 2007. Following the implementation of these rules  a clearer franchise regime has come into shape in China. The Filing Rules The Fi...




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HR e-briefing 298 - Agency workers: past, present and future

The Dti has, this week, announced plans to introduce a series of measures designed to give greater protection to certain agency workers. The proposals follow the publication of a green paper by the European Commission, in which it vows to look again...




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HR e-briefing 360 - Equality for agency workers - how will this affect your business? (Survey)

Reaction to last week’s announcement that agency workers are to be given equal employment rights to comparable permanent employees after 12 weeks service, has been swift but also mixed (see Full Article



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HR e-briefing 367 - Agency workers to receive sick pay

The statutory sick pay scheme has historically excluded individuals who work under a contract of three months or less duration. This exclusion from qualification for statutory sick pay (SSP) was removed for fixed term employees in 2002 when employme...




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HR e-briefing no 376 - Agency workers survey - are we facing 'all change' on the agency front?

News of a revised Agency Workers Directive is still awaited from Europe and is unlikely to emerge before early 2009. For the time being, employers and agency workers alike are in the dark as to how equality of employment rights for agency worke...




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HR e-briefing 384 - The Agency Workers Directive is adopted without controversy but not so the amended Working Time Directive it would seem...

The rocky road travelled by the Agency Workers Directive since 2002 is nearing its end as a final version has been approved in Europe. After six years on the back burner, a slightly revised version of the Directive has been adopted. It is no longer ...




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HR e-briefing 413 - questions remain as the government publishes consultation paper on equality for agency workers

Since Europe reached agreement on the Agency Workers Directive in October 2008, considerable flexibility has been left to individual Member States as to how they interpret and apply its framework of legal protection for agency workers by 5 December ...




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HR e-briefing 431 - Agency worker Regulations - implementation delayed until 2011

Rarely has a single piece of legislation been as keenly debated as the Regulations to implement the Agency Workers Directive in the UK. Against a background of increasingly politicised and opposing views, draft Regulations have today been published b...




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HR e-briefing 481 - No changes to be made to the Agency Worker Regulations 2010

In a short announcement to the House of Commons this morning, Ed Davey, Minister for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs confirmed that the Government's much awaited review of the Agency Worker Regulations 2010 is concluded. No changes...




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HR e-briefing 500: Agency Worker Regulations -True or False?

The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 will come in to force in October this year. As with many new laws, guidance from the government as to intended application and meaning is frequently helpful. This is no less so for these Regulations and the compl...




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Eversheds' HR e-briefing 502: Guidance to the Agency Workers Regulations finally published

The Government has published its much-awaited Guidance to the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 in draft today. A final version is expected shortly, once further comment has been collated. The Regulations themselves are due to come in to force on 1 Oc...




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HR e-briefing 509: Agency workers - the lead up to October 2011

The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (the Regulations) will come in to force on 1 October this year. Earlier this month, the Government published its guidance to the Regulations. At the beginning of last month, we asked recipients of our e-briefings...




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Eversheds' HR e-briefing 517: Still time to get ready for AWR

The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 will come in to force on 1 October 2011 and in to full effect from 25 December, as workers begin to satisfy the 12 week qualifying period. Many agencies and hirers have b...




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XLE Weekly: Re-Test Of Key Resistance Holds As Relief Rally Stalls




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XLF Weekly: Balance Above Key Support Following Last Week's Relief Rally High




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Eversheds' HR e-briefing 518: Count to the Olympics starts now.. Twelve months to go

A year away but the anticipation and, for some, apprehension over the 2012 Olympics is already building. Tickets are allocated and we are told the key structures are in place, ready for 27 July 2012. The Games will then run until 12 August 2012, sho...




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HR e-briefing 523: Countdown to the Olympics.. Nine months to go

Countdown to the Olympics.. Nine months to go Over the summer we encouraged organisations to start preparing ahead for holiday leave requests for the 2012 Olympics (Full Article