In my previous blog I concentrated on the decision to abandon Tribunal fees following the Supreme Court ruling as a quick note.   Now I have had a chance to look at the ruling in more detail, this email re-iterates some of the last and adds in more tips for you on how to proceed with an employee’s claim.

Since 2013, employees have had to pay a fee of up to £1,200 to take their employer to a tribunal.  This led to a drop of around 70% in the number of claims, enabling some employers to take a robust approach to employee relations because of the heavily reduced risk of a claim.

Summer has now arrived universities are out and schools are about to break up. Young people are looking for jobs or even work experience as interns to get a foot on the employment ladder.

Equal opportunities and more – there’s probably never been a month like it for employers. Although April has always denoted the implementation date for new legislative changes in the UK, 2017 sees a record-breaking array of far-reaching initiatives.

The Court of Appeal on March 1st  refused British Gas permission to appeal to the Supreme Court in the holiday pay case of British Gas v Mr Lock. "The Working Time Regulations  are properly to be read purposively to give effect to the CJEU ruling in Lock which means holiday pay must take into account overtime and commission earnings."

Recently two cases occurred where “employees” have sought clarification from employment tribunals of their actual status. In both cases, based on the facts not the paperwork, the tribunals have found the claimants were workers not subcontractors.

Is this holiday entitlement? What should employers do if their employees can’t get into work because of transport disruptions?

As you are employers, with the Christmas season now upon us I thought it would be a good time to reissue the normal precautionary advice to you.

Now for Christmas presents for suppliers. Where’s last year’s list?

In relation to staff used for freelance jobs, a specialist HMRC team will target employers suspected of avoiding national insurance.