Employment Affairs

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Anew edition of the CIJC Working Rule Agreement is in preparation, for availability in September. It incorporates all changes since the previous August 2018 edition. The NASC will provide a courtesy hard copy to Members and an electronic copy will be available via the Members’ area of the website. Hard & electronic copies will be available for purchase from Construction Industry Publications Ltd, (www.cip-books.com).

From the start of July there have been changes to the authorisation and format of Fit Notes, (formally Medical Certificates). Nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and pharmacists as well as doctors can now certify Fit Notes. Additionally, since last April, it has not been a requirement for Fit Notes to be signed in ink, this enabled the introduction of digital Fit Notes.

The intention of these changes is to better support people to remain at work by a range of healthcare professionals being able to transmit relevant information about a particular condition direct to an employer. Also, to reduce the necessity to see a doctor to obtain a Fit Note and thereby reduce the pressure on doctors’ time, (www.gov.uk/government/collections/fit-note ).

The Government had indicated, pre pandemic, that legislation would be enacted to improve the clarity of employment status, which is between directly employed, workers and self-employed. This is a particularly confusing area as there are differences in the ‘tests’ used to determine status for employment purposes and the status for tax purposes. The Government now say other matters will have priority.

What the Government has done is sought to expand the previous guidance on employment status and employment rights. The new guidance looks to explain the differences in employment status in more detail. A useful new addition is a checklist, (Employment status and rights: checklist for employers and other engagers), of the day one employment rights for the three categories and the subsequent additional rights by service and category. (www.gov.uk/ government/publications/ employment-status-and-employment-rights ).

As a reminder, new employees, (and workers) should now have their Written Statement of Main Terms of Service issued before or on the first day of employment.

Employment Tribunals are now catching up with the backlog of outstanding claims. Cases with wider interest are reported. An element of a recent unfair dismissal case included that during an aggressive and foul-mouthed exchange of words, a Supervisor called a fellow employee ‘a bald ****,’ which upset the recipient. The Tribunal found that there was a connection between ‘bald’ and the protected characteristic, (see Equality Act 2010), of a person’s sex, because baldness affects predominantly males. The Tribunal decided that the comment was a demeaning violation of dignity and was sex harassment. Compensation will be awarded from the Vento Scale.

The Vento Scale is guidance to judges on the level of compensation to award. It has three bands; the circumstances of the matter, for example whether an isolated incident or repeated actions, will determine which band is appropriate to apply. Since April, the band values are: less serious £990 to £9,900: serious but not upper band £9,900 to £29,600: most serious £29,600 to £49,300.

In the case reported the remark made was part of an argument. Claims have succeeded, and awards been made, when a remark was intended as a joke. Harassment, which can include demeaning actions or offensive or intimidating comments, is determined from the viewpoint of the recipient.