Update 23 December From 23 December the self-isolation period for positive Covid-19 cases has been reduced from 10 days to 7 days, where someone receives two negative lateral flow test results on day 6 and day 7 of the self-isolation period.  Thereafter they are advised to take greater precautions until day 11 (ie, to limit … Read more

On 16 December Parliament approved emergency legislation temporarily changing the statutory sick pay rules with effect from today, 17 December, in order to free up GP time for the vaccine booster programme. For any period of sickness starting on or after 10 December and up to the end of 26 January 2022, employees will not … Read more

In some cases it may be prudent for an employer contemplating dismissal to discuss with the employee whether they would abide by a final warning.  This will of course depend on the nature and seriousness of the original misconduct and the surrounding circumstances, but it is worth building a check into the disciplinary process at … Read more

Employers handling a statutory flexible work request should ensure that any extension to the three month period for deciding the request (including any appeal) is specifically agreed, preferably in writing.  They cannot rely on the fact that the employee has agreed to attend an appeal after the expiry of the period as implicitly extending the … Read more

There are many different rules and regulations governing how employees return to the physical workplace, following the upheaval of Covid-19, and how to ensure the health and safety of workforces. Do employees need to provide proof of a double vaccination, a negative test, or recent recovery from COVID-19?  The law is rapidly changing and varies … Read more

The Supreme Court has ruled that a unionised employer’s direct offer of new terms to workers will not be an unlawful inducement to opt out of collective bargaining, provided the collective bargaining process has been exhausted. In Kostal UK Ltd v Dunkley the employer made two separate offers directly to workers after its offer had been … Read more

Dismissal is automatically unfair where the principal reason for the dismissal is a protected disclosure.  Where employers take exception to the way in which a claimant makes their disclosure, or the surrounding conversations or conduct, the key issue becomes whether this can properly be separated, as the reason for dismissal, from the disclosure itself.  If … Read more

The statutory Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures requires employers to offer employees a right of appeal for misconduct or poor performance dismissals;  a failure to do so will render the dismissal unfair in addition to potentially increasing the compensation awarded.   The fact that the Code expressly does not apply to redundancy, … Read more