I recently recorded a podcast with Alex Wilson-Campbell, Manager of a company that specialises in CV Writing Services, on the Birmingham City Council v Abdulla equal pay case. I wrote about it previously here.
In the podcast we talk about the Abdulla case and what it might mean for equal pay disputes in this country. We also discuss some of the wider issues surrounding gender pay inequality. You can listen to it by clicking here.
Guest Post by The Accountancy Partnership
IR35 has been a thorn in the side of many independent contractors since its inception in 1999. By attempting to stop people from impersonating independent contractors for tax benefits, IR35 had fair enough intentions but it has provided many people who work on a contract-to-contract basis genuine problems when it comes to paying their taxes.
Chancellor George Osborne mentioned IR35 in his recent autumn statement and confirmed that it was here to stay albeit with a few alterations that would make it easier to understand; though this may come as scant conciliation to a number of people involved in contracting that wished to see the legislation abolished. So what is it about IR35 that causes so much hassle?
From 1st February 2013 an Employment Tribunal will be able to award no more than £74,200 (currently £72,300) by way of a compensatory award in unfair dismissal cases. In discrimination and whistleblowing cases there is no cap on the maximum amount of the award.
The maximum amount of a week’s pay, used to calculate the statutory redundancy payment and also the Basic and Additional Awards will also increase from £430 to £450 per week.
Photoshop Politics by Dylan Jeavons
On Wednesday the Chancellor of the Exchequer confirmed, in what was misleadingly called the “Autumn” rather than the more appropriate “Bleak Midwinter” statement, that the plan for employee owners will go ahead, repeating what the government had said the day before in its “Implementing Employee Owner Status” response to consultation.
The detail has been well reported and discussed elsewhere – see for instance HR Bullet’s excellent and succinct summary by clicking here
Contractually Bound?
The simple answer is when they say they are. Probably. What if the payments are said to be discretionary or nothing at all is said about their status? Why does it matter anyway?
Statutory Redundancy Pay (SRP) is not especially generous: up to £430 per complete year of service up to a maximum of twenty years employment for most people. For those over 41 years of age they are entitled to a maximum of £645 per year. This means that the theoretical maximum amount of SRP is £12,900, plus whatever notice pay the employee may be contractually entitled to.
Guest Post by Joshua Butler of YouthNet
In this Current Climate am I Employable?
TheSite.org says – Employability is a widely used word, but what does it mean? – in short, it means finding and maintaining a job that utilises ALL of your skills - not just what you’ve learnt to pass exams. It is about how you can make yourself stand out and be a competitive applicant.
Can a redundancy without any warning or consultation ever be a fair dismissal?
In most cases the result will be an unfair dismissal. However, in the case of Ashby v JJB Sports PLC the employer was held to have acted fairly in not warning or consulting Mr Ashby about his redundancy.
The facts were fairly specific so most employers would be well advised not to try and rely on this case.
Should George Entwhistle, the recently departed Director General of the BBC have been paid £450,000 upon resigning from the corporation? The figure is said to represent one year’s salary and seems extraordinarily generous for someone who had been in post for 54 days (although he has had a long career at the BBC in other roles) and has hardly shone in the role.
Bloomberg reported the other day that Judges had tired of hearing claims over bankers’ bonuses and provided a brief summary of recent high profile litigation. Bankers are said to have been turning to the courts and tribunals to challenge bonus decisions as job cuts start to bite. It’s not a particularly helpful article because it doesn’t bring out the distinction between contractual and discretionary bonuses.
Employment lawyers often have to struggle with deciding the legal status of an individual. It is often of fundamental importance because only employees can claim unfair dismissal. Workers, which are a different category have narrower rights, mainly to do with not being discriminated against. Finally, there is a third category, that of independent contractor, who have very limited rights. However, sometimes telling the difference in practice between the different types can be difficult and there have been many cases and tests devised over the years on how to distinguish between them.
A “Worker” is defined at s.230(3) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 thus