Employment Law Help & Advice

There are many aspects to consider relating to Employment Law when you run your own business and we aim to provide you with authorative information without providing advice.

We have appointed ELAS (Employment Law Advisory Service) to provide expert advice should you need it. ELAS can be contacted on 0161 785 2000.

As an employer, are there any issues regarding religion or belief that I should be careful of?

The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations came into force on 2nd December 2003.

It is now unlawful to discriminate directly or indirectly against workers or subject someone to harassment because of their religion or similar belief.

The Regulations apply to all areas of employment including terms and conditions of employment, promotion and transfers of employment, training and recruitment and also to any provision or practice, which indirectly disadvantages people of a particular religion or belief, unless it can be objectively justified.

With the changes in April 09 is there anything I need to be aware of in respect of redundancy?

In short, no!

Employers still have to follow established law when dealing with redundancies. This means warning staff as to the possibility of redundancies, prior to the commencement of any action and dealing with selection on a fair basis, which in a larger organisation might mean agreeing pools of workers for selection.

Where 20 or more employees are to be made redundant, the collective redundancy rules have to be followed. Where a union is not recognised, this will mean arranging for the election of worker representatives. There is a fixed consultation period, which is 30 days before the first dismissal can take effect. Where 100 or more employees are to be made redundant, the fixed consultation period is 90 days.

I have heard that there is a points based system to track absenteeism within my company. What is this?

It may be the Bradford Factor that you are referring to. This is a points based system where it is the frequency of absences that increases the number of points. When the points reach a particular number this will trigger a disciplinary hearing and the employee should be taken through the process. If necessary to the point of dismissal.

Of course in all this the person who is genuinely ill or those who are disabled need not worry. Effective management of absence is designed to kerb persistent short-term absences, which are so damaging to business.

Some 15% of absences are thought not to be genuine.

I have heard that despite the current economic climate the Government are intending to increase the National Minimum Wage this year. Is this correct?

The Government have announced an increase in the National Minimum Wage from 1st October 2009.

The adult rate for those 22 and over will rise by 7p to £5.80 an hour. The rate for 18-21 year olds will increase by 6p to £4.83 per hour.

The rate for 16 and 17 year olds will go up by 4p to £3.57 per hour.

The Government has stated that nearly 1,000,000 people will benefit from this increase.

The Government have also announced that from October 2010 the adult statutory minimum rate would apply to 21 year olds.

Also from 1st October 2009 employers will be banned from using tips and service charges to top up staff pay to meet the National Minimum Wage.

I am due to have my baby at the end of October 2008 what will happen to my company car whilst I am on maternity leave?

Currently, for those in receipt of non-cash benefits e.g. Company Car would have to hand the car back at the conclusion of ordinary maternity leave i.e. the first 26 weeks. For those whose babies are due on or after the 5th October 2008, women in receipt of non-cash benefits will be able to retain them for the whole of the maternity leave period of 52 weeks

What can I do if an employee uses swine flu as a reason for not coming to work?

Employees that state that they are afraid of contracting an illness is not a sufficient reason for not attending work. The employer would be justified in considering taking disciplinary action. Merely staying at home because of such a fear will be unauthorised absence. Therefore the employee would not be paid for taking that time off.

However, if that employee has expressed the fear because of contact with an infected person, employers should be aware of the Statutory Sick Pay Regulations which provide that if an employee is excluded or is prevented from working by reason of their being a carrier or having been in contact with a case of a relevant disease they are deemed incapable of working for the purposes for the payment of Statutory Sick Pay. Employers should establish whether or not swine flu is counted as a relevant disease.