Settlement Agreements
Even those of you that aren’t fans of football may have heard the excuse Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho gave for drawing to Swansea. He believed his medical staff were impulsive, naïve and did not understand football. The backlash from such an unforgiving and public telling off has been critical. Whilst others have been placing bets […]
A McDonalds branch in Birmingham has had to have its burger and eat it after the manger was caught on video discriminating against black employees. The manager, Mr Khela, cut the hours of the branch’s 20 black employees due to apparent underperformance. When confronted by an employee he insisted this was store policy. Mr Khela […]
Changes are being proposed by HMRC to the £30k tax free allowance on termination payments. If these proposals are implemented we will end up with Employees paying more tax on their termination payments and Employers paying more Employer’s NICS on termination payments. I would urge anyone with an interest in this topic to respond to […]
In our previous post ( http://pjhlawupdates.co.uk/t/2DH3-9N3S-KJ9GP-3Q8R8-0/c.aspx ) we looked at some of the pre-election promises. Following the Conservatives winning a majority these promises are now being rolled out, firstly banning exclusive zero-hours contracts. Exclusivity clauses in zero hours contracts are an employer preventing casual staff working for another employer, even though they are not guaranteed […]
In case you have been living under a rock divisive Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has been suspended by the BBC. Whilst journalists have been investigating what a fracas actually is, (and how to pronounce it) the BBC has been trying to get to bottom of the incident in which Clarkson reportedly punched a […]
It is very standard practice (although strictly not a legal requirement) for an employer to pay the employee’s legal costs in relation to legal advice about a Settlement Agreement. If the employer pays the legal costs directly to the employee who then pays his solicitors, the payment is subject to tax as it is treated […]
The EAT case of Linda McWilliam & Others is a useful decision for any employers facing mass claims (in this case in respect of equal pay but could apply equally to redundancy etc) when they wish to direct employees to specific adviser(s) to sign off on the compromise agreements. In this scenario, is the adviser […]
With the end of the 2010/2011 tax year drawing to a close in the next few days, some higher rate tax paying employees may find it beneficial to agree with their employers to extend their employment in to the next tax year. Whether this trick will work will depend on individual circumstances. PJH Law provide […]
The government have published their response to consultation on ending the employment relationship and the cap on unfair dismissal awards:- “Businesses were generally supportive of the aim to facilitate the increased use of settlement agreements, and their concerns centred on seeking clarity and certainty about how the measure would work in practice, and guidance for […]
The government have said that they intend to appeal through the Supreme Courts against a Court of Appeal ruling that it is a breach of human rights to require employees to disclose criminal convictions to employers. In the COA cases it is understandable why this conclusion was reached. By way of illustration, one case concerned […]
Tribunals are increasingly a battle of nerves for all parties. The facts of Konczak v BAE Operations illustrate that. Mrs Konczak brought a claim. She was offered £75k before the liability hearing. She turned it down. Her Solicitors then withdrew and she faced going into the hearing fighting the case herself against the employer who […]
The BBC reports here that David Cameron has pledged to make it more difficult for executives to effectively award themselves disproportionately high pay rises. He has also promised to tackle large payouts for executives dismissed for poor performance. The latter posses an interesting question as often the reason executives receive large payouts is because that […]
There are some limited circumstances where even though you have signed a compromise agreement you can still bring a claim against your employer. These are generally where the type of claim you have brought is not actually compromised within the greement (rare but possible), where the employer has misrepresented the position and you have a […]
Some employers try to save money when producing compromise agreements by re-using one a lawyer drafted for them in the past. This can lead to an embarrassing situation where it’s not proof read properly and the name of the former employee from the original Compromise Agreement is left in the new Compromise Agreement when it’s […]
