Newsletter
Hello, as it is the last day of the month it is time for our monthly employment law and HR update. Last week’s case law update looked at marriage/civil partnership discrimination and our December update included some interesting Christmas cases and a forecast for 2023.
Consultation on Holiday Pay
As many of you will have read. The judgment in Brazel v Harpur Trust has caused lots of issues for employers who engage casual or zero hours staff. For the uninitiated the judgment means that any holiday pay calculation should substitute non-working weeks with weeks with pay from the previous year when calculating holiday pay. This can potentially double the cost of holiday pay depending on the amount of work done in a particular year.
The judgment has had the inadvertent impact of deterring employers from engaging staff for fear of miscalculating holiday and facing tribunal claim. To address the issue the government has opened a consultation into the issue. We strongly recommend that employers take part in this consultation to address the issues created by the Brazel case and rectify the issue, particularly those who engage casual staff.
PJH Law Seminar
Following the feedback to last month’s update we have decided to hold our seminar face to face in March. We are currently confirming a venue and date but we are planning to host sessions on the following topics:
- Summary of April Employment Law Changes.
- Neurodiversity and HR.
- Holiday pay following Brazel v Harpur Trust.
- Collective redundancy and home workers.
- The dangers of not clearly defining reasons for dismissal.
We will send an invite round in due course and hope to see many of you attend after a near three year hiatus. As an added incentive every attendee will be entered into a draw to win a free HR audit and there will be a gift hamper for the attendee who refers the most friends to attend!
If you have any further queries about our seminar please contact emma@pjhlaw.co.uk
Teacher’s Strike – Impact on Employee Childcare
As any users of public services will have noticed, there has been a flurry of industrial action this winter. One sector striking is school teachers who have planned national strikes on 1 February, 15 March and 16 March with regional strikes expected on 14 February, 28 February, 1 March and 2 March. There are also ongoing strikes in Scotland up until 6 February and a half day’s strike in Northern Ireland on 21 February.
For most schools it remains unclear whether the strikes will result in school closures or certain classes being sent home. For parents these strikes pose quite the childcare conundrum as they probably will not find out whether the strike will change their childcare plans until short notice. In such circumstances employers should be reminded of time off for dependants leave, parental leave and also granting short notice holiday requests.
Statutory Pay Rates
Whilst the minimum wage rates have been announced we are still yet to hear what the statutory rates will be increasing by. However, given the minimum wage rates have risen by 10% I would not be surprising to see other rates rise by a similar amount. For redundancy pay this would likely take the cap for a week’s pay to over £620 rising by over £50.
As with minimum wage rates employers should note the new rates when they are announced to avoid the risk of any deductions claims for incorrect rates paid after April 2023. In the circumstances we forecast many employers will plan redundancies to take effect before the end of March to save thousands in redundancy pay.
Menopause Discrimination
This month the government rejected a recommendation by the Women and Equalities Committee to include menopause as a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. The reasons for this were that a women experiencing menopause could bring a claim under the protected characteristics of either age, sex or disability depending on the nature of how the menopause has impacted them and any detriment they may have been subjected to.
The suggestion of menopausal leave and a menopause policy was also rejected but the government will be appointing a menopause employment champion which sounds rather woolly and toothless if it is not a ministerial role. Whilst it is correct that many employees could theoretically bring claims under other protected characteristics the awareness of these issues is low in both employees and employers. However, many companies do now offer training which includes wearing heated vests to simulate what a hot flush feels like for non-menopausal colleagues.
Lighter Side of the News – Police Sex Scandal
We end the newsletter with another tale of scandalous and outrageous employment practices that find their way into the red tabs. This month saw a Police Department in Tennessee dismiss 20% of its officers after they were found to have engaged in sexual activity whilst on duty, including in the police station!
The sordid details include a female officer performing oral sex on six male colleagues and officers bedhopping at a boat party belonging to the department’s union representative. Unsurprisingly engaging in sexual activity during work time is grounds for dismissal. What is more surprising is that so many employees would engage in the activity and expect no one to find out.
