Time off for expectant fathers

Did you know that from 1 October 2014, an expectant father will be entitled to unpaid time off for ante-natal appointments. 30% of fathers don’t take any time off before the birth of their child and the new legislation is aimed at encouraging fathers’ involvement with their children. Continue reading

Employment tribunal claims down drastically after fees were introduced

One year ago, in July 2013, the Government introduced fees for bringing a claim to employment tribunal. Sexual harassment, unfair dismissal and discrimination claims now cost claimants £1,200. Claims to recover unpaid wages or holiday pay cost the employees £390. This has, unsurprisingly, had a major impact on the number of claims processed by the tribunal courts. Continue reading

1 in 5 companies at risk of employment tribunal

As the economy struggles on and UK businesses have to continue making more hard decisions, it seems that the employees of the UK are feeling hard done by. Between the 1st April 2011 and the 31st March 2012, 186,000 tribunal claims were made against UK employers. A further 57,737 were made between January and March 2013. Continue reading

Truth or myth? The employee doesn’t have to be present at a capability meeting

Truth!

As you can read in the guidance for conducting a capability procedure from legal experts at Vista below, if the employee is fit to attend a capability meeting but refuses to do so the employer can proceed in the employee’s absence. Continue reading