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Employment Law August 2019
Welcome to our August 2019 e-bulletin. This month we are delighted to launch our new rolling employment law training programme covering key employment law and related HR issues. See below for further details and how to register. We have also included details of our free essential employment law seminars taking place in early October on the topic Upcoming legal challenges for employers - what you need to know.
Innes Clark
This month we are also looking at:Whether an employee covertly recording a disciplinary hearing was misconduct Extension of redundancy protection for pregnant women Whether the posting of an offensive image on Facebook was done in the course of employment An important Court of Appeal decision on voluntary overtime and holiday pay Ethnicity pay gap statistics published by the ONS New legislation, consultations and guidance - Gender Equality Roadmap, sexual harassment in the workplace, non-disclosure agreements and the Good Work plan Podcasts: Immigration & Brexit A Supreme Court decision on the enforceability of restrictive covenants Workplace wellbeing Our regular look at employment law in the news In our Blog of the Month, Innes Clark asks - is climate change the stick we need to make us truly embrace more agile ways of working? You can download our free Employment Law App MF HR Mobile for both Android and iPhone. This includes calculators for unfair dismissal awards, maternity pay and statutory
redundancy payments, as well as key employment law facts, figures and fingertip guides. It also includes this monthly eBulletin. If you have any questions on the content of this ebulletin or if you would like to discuss any other employment issue then please contact innes.clark@morton-fraser.com on 0131 247 1181 or lindsey.cartwright@morton-fraser.com on 0141 274 1141.
Essential Employment Law Seminars We will be running our latest essential employment law seminars in both our Edinburgh and Glasgow offices in October - "Upcoming legal challenges for employers - what you need to know". There are some significant employment law developments coming up, as well as consultations about potential new legislation, including:a new right to request workplace modifications on health grounds for all employees (not just employees who are "disabled" under the Equality Act) enhanced redundancy protection for pregnant employees and those on family leave changes to the law on harassment changes to gagging clauses update on Brexit and existing employees changes to IR35 This seminar will explain what these changes and proposals might mean for your business, enabling you to be one step ahead in preparing for any potential consequences and allowing you to assess any potential risk areas before they arise. The dates for the seminars are:8 October at 5.30pm in our Edinburgh Office, and 9 October at 8.30am in our Glasgow Office The seminars will last approximately one hour, including questions and answers, with an opportunity for networking before and after. Registration will take place from 5:00pm for a 5:30pm start for the evening seminar in Edinburgh and 8:00am for an 8:30am start for the breakfast seminar in Glasgow. Please click on the links above to book Read More
Morton Fraser - Employment Law Training We are delighted to launch our new rolling employment law training programme covering key employment law and related HR issues. Read More
Covert recording of disciplinary hearing is misconduct Covert recording of a disciplinary hearing will
usually amount to misconduct but it may not stop the recordings being used as evidence before a tribunal. Read More
Redundancy protection for pregnant women and new parents to be extended Legislation to be implemented when parliamentary time allows. Read More
Posting on personal Facebook page not "in course of employment" Anything done by an employee in the course of their employment (including an act of harassment) is treated as having also been done by the employer. Read More
Holiday pay should include voluntary overtime The case of East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust v Flowers and others reemphasises the need to focus on an employee's regular pay when calculating holiday pay. Read More
ONS publishes first official ethnicity pay gap statistics The statistics show that employees of Chinese, Indian and Mixed or Multiple ethnicity had the highest median hourly pay. Read More
New Legislation, Guidance & Consultations We look this month at consultations relating to the Gender Equality Roadmap, sexual harassment in the workplace, nondisclosure agreements and the Good Work plan. Read More
Podcasts: Immigration & Brexit This month we have two podcasts from our immigration team relating to the immigration challenges thrown up by Brexit. In the first podcast, Stuart McWilliams and David Hossack discuss what practical steps employers should be taking now to prepare their existing staff for Brexit. In the second podcast, they then go on to look at the role of businesses in supporting, keeping and attracting EU citizens in their workforce. Using Brexit downtime wisely - advice for employers The role of businesses in supporting, keeping and attracting EU citizens to their workforce
Words preventing enforcement of non-competition clause severed by Supreme Court
The Supreme Court provides guidance on when words can be severed from restrictive covenants. Read More
Workplace wellbeing Our regular look at mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. Read More
Employment law in the news In our regular slot we look at the employment law issues that have made the news headlines over the past few weeks. Read More
Blog of the Month Don't forget, you can keep up to date with all our blogs and content in the Knowledge hub. In our blog of the month, Innes Clark asks is climate change the stick we need to make us truly embrace more agile ways of working? You can also follow Innes on Twitter.
Employment Law Guide & Employment Timeline
To see our Brief Guide to Employment Law in Scotland, England and Wales, click here. For details of upcoming changes in employment law, see our Updated Employment Law Reform Timeline.
Welcome to the big days and the day-to-day - How we help businesses Our clients range from start-ups through SMEs to large corporations. Click on the image below to find out how we can support your organisation.
Employment Law Fact Card
Our Employment Law Fact Card is full of useful information for employers including disciplinary
and redundancy checklists, Employment Tribunal award limits, family friendly leave entitlements and national minimum wage rates. If you would like a hard copy of our free Fact Card please email us at employment@mortonfraser.com with your name and postal address and we will send it on to you. Alternatively, you can access an electronic version here. You can also find lots of useful employment law information on our free iPhone app which is available to download from the App Store. For further details and a link to the download see: MF HR Mobile - Our Employment Law App "...the app is gorgeous, very well designed with great functionality and looks." - Legal IT insider (ww.legaltechnology.com)
Employment Law Support for your Organisation How we can help Clear employment law advice from one of the leading employment teams in Scotland. More Law Society accredited specialists than any other team in Scotland Clear, pragmatic, cost effective, legally privileged advice Fixed fee packages available (including Tribunal awards insurance, if required) A highly professional and responsive service‌very approachable and always easily contactable Chambers and Partners. Contact innes.clark@morton-fraser.com to find out more. Employment law training We offer a practical series of employment law courses covering key employment law and related HR issues including:Disciplinary and grievance issues training Managing employees (Performance) training Managing employees (Sickness Absence) training Discrimination and harassment training Employment Tribunal Procedure and Witness Familiarisation training Immigration & Employment training GDPR: the practical day to day skills you need to know in the workplace For further information please contact Innes Clark on 0131 247 1181 or at innes.clark@mortonfraser.com A little more help The information contained in our Factcard, and much more, can also be accessed via our Employment Law app. Search for MFHRMobile at the App store or Google Play. If you don't already subscribe then contact us at employment@morton-fraser.com to receive our monthly employment law updates. As well as providing updates on key employment law developments, our monthly e-news also provides details of free employment law seminars that we run throughout the year. For further information please contact Innes Clark on 0131 247 1181 or at innes.clark@mortonfraser.com.
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