27 January 2012
The expected increase in parental leave from 3 months to 4 months, which was to be introduced in March 2012, has been delayed by BIS because of their review of parental leave which will be undertaken as part of the Consultation in Modern Workplaces. BIS intends to use the additional year provided by the Parental Leave Directive and will now implement the Directive in March 2013.
By Gail Escolme, 27 January 2012 –
26 January 2012
Suzie Fisher writes:
One question often asked by clients, is how long their case is going to take to get to Court. But the fact is that in most cases they never get to Court because the vast majority of claim settle.
To help answer this question, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has published a new online tool on the Open Justice website that allows the public to view the length of time to trial for cases in the county courts (seeOpen Justice: The truth about civil cases ).
The tool, which is part of the MoJ's drive to improve the transparency of the justice system by increasing accessibility to information, provides statistics for individual county courts, as well as the national average for England and Wales, allowing the public to make comparisons between different areas. It also confirms that typically only about 3-4% of civil claims brought to the county courts require a hearing.
Locally, Kendal is quickest at getting Small Claims Hearings dealt with at 26 weeks, compared to Carlisle (34) and Lancaster (31). However Kendal is the slowest for Fast Track and Multi Track cases at 93 weeks, compared to Carlisle (73) and Lancaster (60).
By Alison Hine, 26 January 2012 –
18 January 2012
On 6 April 2012 the qualifying period for unfair dismissal will increase from one to two years. BIS has now confirmed that, subject to Parliamentary approval, the new two-year qualifying period will only apply to employees whose employment begins on or after 6 April 2012. Those who are already in employment before that date will retain the current one-year qualifying period. The Conservative government adopted the same approach in 1985 when increasing the qualifying period to two years.
By Gail Escolme, 18 January 2012 –
26 October 2011
Reaction to a report commissioned by the Government in which it is suggested that unfair dismissal should be scrapped will certainly divide opinion. The unions are, unsurprisingly, furious, whereas employers who have felt trapped within the huge amount of legislation regarding the employment relationship are likely to welcome such a move.
However, before hysteria sets in, let’s look at what we have currently. Employers can, until April next year, terminate the employment of any employee, up to a year’s service, (as long as it is not for a discriminatory reason, or for an automatically unfair reason, in which case no length of service is required to bring a claim) without fear of facing an unfair dismissal claim. From April 2012 employers will have 2 years in which to terminate employment without fear of unfair dismissal claims being brought.
Whilst it is true that there is a significant amount of employment law legislation, if the employer at least familiarises itself with disciplinary and grievance procedures, and monitors the conduct and capability of its employees sufficiently to spot an employee that is unwilling or unable to do the job (for non-discriminatory reasons of course) then the employer can terminate the employment without fear of reprisals before the current one year service requirement (2 years from April) for the employee to be able to claim unfair dismissal.
However in many cases the employer does not monitor employees sufficiently at the beginning of their employment. It is often obvious very quickly whether an employee “fits” within the business and if they do not, then steps should be taken quickly to terminate their employment, ideally after they have been given the opportunity to improve but still before the service requirement is reached. If an employee suddenly becomes less efficient after some years of service, there is usually a reason for it, which if investigated can usually be overcome. Otherwise disciplinary procedures can be implemented to give warnings and ultimately dismiss if warranted. Ultimately good management goes a long way to having a good workforce.
I do agree that the employment legislation burden should be lessened for small employers who are genuinely finding it difficult to deal with it, however I am concerned that the baby may be thrown out with the bath water. Interesting times ahead I think!
By Gail Escolme, 26 October 2011 –
06 October 2011
Today marks the opening up of the provision of legal services to other providers who may not be lawyers.
Naomi Fell says “Whilst we at Hayton Winkley acknowledge the fact that people are free to choose where they obtain their legal services, we do pride ourselves on offering a competitive quality service provided by specialist lawyers who have trained for many years. We urge people to look closely at what they get for their money if they go to providers who are not solicitors. We believe that some providers are not being transparent regarding hidden costs and may not be qualified to give the advice offered. Ultimately in life, you get what you pay for!”
By Alison Hine, 06 October 2011 –