Is It Legal To Monitor Employee Behaviour?

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In a recent case, it was held that the covert surveillance of employees by their employer, who set up CCTV cameras to monitor suspected thefts, was an infringement of those employee’s rights to privacy.

Employers looking to monitor the conduct of their employees – particularly those using covert recording – should consider their actions carefully, particularly in light of the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which becomes law on 25 May 2018.

Read the full article by Mark Stevens, VWV

Narrow Quay HR are specialists in advising HR Directors, Managers and Business Leaders in all forms of employee rights, engagement and management. Contact us to discuss your needs.

What’s New In Employment in 2018

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Employment : What’s new in 2018, after 2017, a significant year for employers and employees, with the Taylor Review and the Supreme Court’s ruling on tribunal fees taking centre stage.

Employment status will continue to be a hot topic in 2018, with individuals designated as self-employed by their employer seeking the protections offered by worker or employment status. We expect the Government to provide a response to the Taylor Review on modern employment practices and this is likely to impact those working in a gig economy industry.

The ECJ’s decision that workers who are wrongly informed they are not entitled to holiday pay can carry holiday rights over indefinitely and also be paid in lieu for any untaken holiday during their entire period of employment on termination. A Court of Appeal decision will be highly relevant to those who have been classified as self-employed during a contract but are then subsequently shown to be workers or employees.

In April, the first of the mandatory gender pay gap reports for large private and voluntary sector employers will be due. This follows the obligation on large employers to publish an annual report containing data on their gender pay gap, which was introduced last year. Public sector employers that fall within the remit must report by 30 March 2018.

Of course we will also see the introduction on 25 May 2018 of the new EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which covers a host of changes in regulations regarding the collection and holding of personal data. Some of the considerations include, but are not limited to:

  • greater penalties for non-compliance
  • increased requirements around record keeping and reporting
  • the requirement to include additional information in privacy notices and contracts with data processors
  • increased information security
  • a far narrower definition of consent
  • changes to the rules around the handling of subject access requests
  • new rights for individuals in relation to their data

Get in touch with us to discuss your current and future employment challenges. We’d be delighted to help.

Acas New Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination Guidance

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Acas has published guidance for employers on how to prevent pregnancy and maternity discrimination at work. Several measures are recommended, including:

•          Developing a policy that outlines the responsibilities and rights of pregnant employees (or those on maternity leave), including assurances that they will not be dismissed or made redundant as a result.
•          Ensuring that employees on maternity leave are aware of all promotion and training opportunities.
•          Making reasonable adjustments to protect the health and safety of a pregnant employee and their unborn child.
Acas published its new guidance after receiving 14,000 calls about pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the last year (a 10% increase compared to the previous year).
Get in touch for more assistance and guidance that compliments this article.

Autumn Budget 2017 : Key Points For Employers

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The Autumn Budget 2017 has highlighted a number of key points that Employers need to consider for their organisations and people.

Wages

The Government has confirmed that it has accepted the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission (LPC) for increases to the national living wage (NLW) and the national minimum wage (NMW). Accordingly, from April 2018 the Government will increase the NLW, which applies to workers aged 25 and over, by 4.4% from £7.50 to £7.83. The LPC has estimated that this will benefit over 2 million workers. At the same time, the NMW rates will be increased as follows:

  • from £7.05 to £7.38 for 21 to 24 year olds;
  • from £5.60 to £5.90 for 18 to 20 year olds;
  • from £4.05 to £4.20 for 16 and 17 year olds; and
  • from £3.50 to £3.70 for apprentices.

Taxation

In accordance with its commitment to raise the personal allowance (PA) to £12,500 and the higher rate threshold (HRT) to £50,000 by 2020, the Government has announced that in the 2018/19 tax year the PA and HRT will be increased to £11,850 and £46,350 respectively. The Government has also announced that, with effect from April 2018, there will be no benefit in kind charges on electricity that employers provide to charge employees’ electric vehicles. The report further details a number of changes the Government will make to the taxation of employee expenses following a call for evidence that was published in March 2017.

Employment Status

The Government has stated that it will publish a discussion paper as part of its response to the Taylor review of employment practices, which will explore the case and options for longer-term reform to make employment status tests for both employment rights and tax clearer. It has acknowledged that this is an important and complex issue, and it will therefore work with stakeholders to ensure that any potential changes are considered carefully.

Source: UK Government

The Chancellor of the Exchequer delivered his 2017 Autumn Budget speech to the House of Commons on Wednesday 22 November. On the same day, the full Budget report was published by the Government.

Please contact us for help with understanding and implementing any of the key points above.

The Rise of the Gig Economy and the Impact on HR Practice

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The Gig Economy is a labour market characterised by the prevalence of short-term contracts and freelance work as opposed to permanent jobs. A Gig is a job that is temporary or has an uncertain future.

The Taylor Review, published in July and the more recent Work and Pensions & BEIS Committees report ‘A Framework for Modern Employment’ published this November, have identified within the Gig Economy, that there needs to be clear definition of a contractor and a review of employment status with primary legislation to set out key principles and secondary legislation to provide guidance.

The Taylor Review has looked at wider worker status including that of agency workers and recommended flexibility, being able to earn the national minimum wage and less emphasis on the requirement to perform work personally. Importantly there should now be a written statement of terms and conditions, extended to workers as well as employees, and an introduction of higher national minimum wage for hours that are not guaranteed as part of the contract. It is advisable now to record periods of continuous employment, despite breaks in service and improve the transparency of information given to agency workers more generally.

Further implications on HR practice include the right to ask for the agency worker to request a direct contract of employment after 12 months of engagement with the same hirer and the right to request a contract that guarantees hours, reflecting actual hours worked, for those who have been in post on a zero hours contract for 12 months.

Employers should be required to report on their employment practices, including their model of employment and their use of agency workers.

A Framework for Modern Employment has sought clarity in primary legislation of the key principles:

  • Legislation to introduce greater clarity on definitions of employment status, emphasising the importance of control and supervision of workers and not as focused on the right of substitution.
  • Legislation to implement a worker by default model to apply to companies who have a self employed workforce above a certain size.
  • Low Pay Commission pilot for workers who work non-contracted hours to receive a pay premium on the NMW and NLW.
  • Continuous service preserved for breaks in employment of up to one month.
  • Higher, punitive fines and costs orders on employers if they have already lost a similar case.
  • Great use of class actions in tribunals in disputes over wages, status and working time.
  • Government rules out introducing any legislation that would undermine the NMW/NLW.

And also clarity in secondary legislation to provide guidance:

  • Extension of duty to provide written statement of terms and conditions to cover workers as well as employees from day one of the job.
  • Lower the ICE threshold.
  • End the Swedish derogation for agency workers.
  • Deterrent penalties, including punitive fines, for repeat or serious breaches of employment legislation and naming and shaming for all non-accidental breaches of employment rights by business and supply chains.
  • Increased resources for the Director of labour Market Enforcement to be both reactive and proactive funded through higher fines on non-compliant organisations.

For more information and support in developing appropriate policies and practice for hiring workers within the Gig Economy, please contact us.

Barristers HR Support

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Barristers HR Support is a hot topic and in its latest move to align the chambers model with current employment practices, the Bar Council is making available, external HR support for barristers.

We have been retained to help chambers and barristers manage their concerns and create robust and sustainable solutions to their HR challenges.

HR matters in chambers are traditionally dealt with by barristers’ clerks. However, Isabel DiVanna, commercial director at the Bar Council, said chambers often need additional insight on HR matters as ‘it’s easy to get things wrong – and costly when this happens’.

Read More in the Law Society Gazette

We are delighted to be offering HR consultancy services to barristers and look forward to sharing some interesting and insightful case studies with you very soon.

Narrow Quay HR has been appointed by The Bar Council

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Narrow Quay HR has been appointed by The Bar Council to provide HR expertise to its members, including all barristers and chambers in England and Wales.

Founded in 1894, The Bar Council is the representative body of the Bar of England and Wales. It has 16,000 members.

 

Dr Isabel DiVanna, Commercial Director at The Bar Council, commented:

“Chambers often tell us that HR is one area where they feel additional insight is needed, as it’s easy to get things wrong – and costly when this happens. VWV is a reputable firm and trusted Bar Council partner, so we anticipate this additional provision being of particular value to our colleagues in chambers’ management.”

Caitlin Anniss, HR Consultant at Narrow Quay HR, said:

“Providing HR support to Bar Council members will enable us to offer access to experienced HR consultants who are on hand to help with both day to day queries and larger projects, where there may not be the HR resource in Chambers to deal with these issues.

We look forward to providing this HR support to our professional colleagues, and to helping them manage their day to day HR challenges in a cost effective and flexible way.”

 

New Leave Allowance For Grieving Parents

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The Parental Bereavement (Pay and Leave Bill) was published by the government on 13 October 2017 and aims to grant bereaved parents, who have lost a child under the age of 18, two weeks’ paid leave.

The Bill will entitle all employees to parental bereavement leave, regardless of their length of service. In addition, employees with over 26 weeks’ continuous service will be entitled to statutory parental bereavement pay. Employers will be able to recover the cost of this payment from the Government.

>>> read more

Narrow Quay HR Website Launch

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Narrow Quay HR website will be live on 31 October 2017.

Cost Effective Employment Law Support

We offer accessible and cost effective employment law support to businesses in a number of ways, including:

  • Lifeline – a telephone and email employment helpline with rates to suit all budgets.
  • Toolkits – easy to use guidance and templates, for everyday HR issues such as absence management, flexible working or retirement.
  • Legal Representation – in any employment case an employer is involved in, be that Tribunal, Appeal Courts or Civil Courts (with discount rates for multiple claims).
  • Employment Law Training – bespoke, practical and interactive for all levels of management and staff.
  • HR Consultancy – to dovetail with the employers’ internal HR function, or as a means of an external resource.
  • Peace of mind – combining all of the above with an insurance policy to create a risk-free employment and HR service.

Our employment lawyers provide specialist legal advice across a wide range of HR and employment law issues.

In the meantime please contact us to discuss your HR challenges.