On 17 December 2013, BIS published its seventh statement of new regulation, which confirms that the new TUPE regulations (so far only published in draft – see here) will come into force on 31 January 2014.  The final regulations are to be laid before Parliament in January 2014. Read more

Australia’s recently-elected Federal Coalition Government has begun implementing its pre-election policy relating to employment and workplace relations. Two bills recently released by the Coalition Government seek to increase regulation and accountability in the building and construction industry and within registered organisations. A third bill recently introduced to the Federal Parliament seeks to legislate the Coalition’s proposed … Read more

Executives are sometimes offered retention arrangements if a change of control is on the cards. Sometimes this leads to criticism, as in Billabong’s case. Despite that, these arrangements can be essential for a company facing a takeover bid. When Billabong International released its annual report in August, it was criticised for entering into retention arrangements … Read more

New Government guidance for employers and interns about their right to fair pay Read more

The appeal in the case of USDAW v Woolworths on the trigger for collective redundancy consultation obligations for multi-site employers has been listed to be heard by the Court of Appeal on 21-22 January 2014. In a case due to be heard by the ECJ, the Advocate-General has published his opinion that sales commission should … Read more

The service provision change clauses in TUPE exclude from its scope changes of contractor where the client intends the activities to be carried out in connection with ‘a single specific event or task of short term duration’. The EAT in Swanbridge Hire v Butler has given its view that this exclusion should be read as … Read more

It is unlawful for an employer to make deductions from wages pursuant to a clause providing for the repayment of recruitment and training expenses (should the employee leave within a defined period) if the repayment clause is a penalty. A clause will be an unlawful penalty if the difference between the amount to be repaid … Read more

Where an employer has offered a fixed period of reduced hours as a reasonable adjustment for a disabled employee on their return from long-term sickness absence, the employer is not always required up front to give an explicit guarantee to extend the period where necessary. At the end of the agreed period, the employer will … Read more