The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has announced that revisions to the existing Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations are now likely to come into force in January 2014; the amendments were originally intended to be implemented in October 2013.
Read MoreArticles
Here you will find all the latest news from the SCE team. In this section we will feature news about what we have been up to, recent mentions in the press, information about the work we do in the community and lots more.
Monthly Archive August 2013
Disciplinary and Grievance hearings and the right to be accompanied
A common topic that is consistently put to employment lawyers, both by employers and employees, is who can attend a disciplinary or grievance hearing as an employee companion?
This question is generally then followed by a description of an unusual request for an employee’s neighbour, mother, long-lost cousin or dog-walker to accompany them to their hearing. An employer is free to concede to such requests if they are ‘reasonable’ and most commonly where it is likely to aid in the smooth running of the hearing.
Read MoreZero Hour Contracts: Menace of the worker or just practical?
The wider media has been abuzz recently over a survey conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, which indicated that the number of individuals working under zero hours contracts is roughly four times the official estimates previously calculated by the Office of National Statistics.
The wildly differing figures have lit a fire under the government which has called for a review of the contracts, while union lobbies are seeking for them to be banned outright. So why then are these divisive contracts so prevalent in our society?
Read MoreCovert Surveillance at Work: Should Big Brother be Watching?
I have had a busy week this week so John Dickens has kindly stepped in and produced this article about the topical issue ‘covert surveillance’ (as some of you may have read about poor Anthea Orchard).
Most of the time, in a public environment, most of us are aware (or should be aware) that we are being watched; this is now a generally accepted fact of modern life. However being watched in the course of one’s employment can raise a number of cutting issues and cause disagreement as to whether such surveillance infringes too much on the civil liberties of the relevant employees.
Read More