Employer`s Guide To Self Employed Status Following The Supreme Court Decision In Pimlico Plumbers

If you use self-employed contractors to deliver services for your business, then you need to familiarise yourself with the Supreme Court's decision in the Pimlico Plumbers case. In a stark warning to employers to get their contracts in order, and to ensure they reflect the reality of agreed working arrangements, the court ruled that a plumber who had been labelled as a self-employment contractor with no employment law rights was in fact a 'worker' with entitlement to a range of benefits, including paid annual leave and the right not to be discriminated against. Gillian Reid, employment law specialist at Ware & Kay in York, Wetherby & Malton explains the reasoning behind the decision and its implications for employers. Worker status - what the court decided To be a worker under employment legislation, the plumber needed…

Reprieve For Care Sector After Verdict On Workers Who Sleep In

The financial pressures on the care sector are never out of the news for long. However, employers providing round-the-clock supervision or care to the elderly and infirm, vulnerable adults and young people are breathing a sigh of relief following a recent judgment on entitlement to the national minimum wage. Gillian Reid, employment law expert with Ware & Kay Solicitors in York, Wetherby & Malton , explains that most workers who sleep during a 'sleep-in' shift are not entitled to the national minimum wage while asleep. Why is this significant? Employers in the care sector may need staff such as nurses and care assistants at night to be awake and active on the job as if it were a day shift.  This is known as working a 'waking night'.  Depending on the staffing requirements, employers may…

Top Tips For Employee References

References are a delicate area for employers; you want to be helpful to staff by providing references for them but you do not want to be held liable if you get it wrong.  Gillian Reid, employment law solicitor at Ware & Kay in York, Wetherby & Malton clarifies whether you have to give a reference, your liability as an employer, what you can and cannot say and what to do when requesting a reference. Do you have to provide a reference? There is no legal obligation to provide a reference unless an employee's contract of employment states that they are entitled to one or the employee is employed in a regulated industry, such as the financial services sector.  You can refuse, but a refusal could be seen as discrimination if you normally give references and…

Settlement Agreement Lawyers' Guide - Using Settlement Agreements To Resolve Employment Issues

Settlement agreements are legally binding contracts in which one person, usually an employee, agrees to waive their rights to bring a claim in the employment tribunal or a court in return for another person, typically their employer, agreeing to do something, such as paying them a sum of money and agreeing to give them a reference. As Kalpesh Nakeshree, employment lawyer at Ware & Kay in York, Wetherby & Malton explains, used properly settlement agreements can be an effective tool for dealing with workplace problems in a discrete and controlled way: 'If you have an issue with an employee or someone else who works for you, negotiating a mutually acceptable resolution is often the best way to deal with things.  Recording the terms of that resolution in a settlement agreement ensures there can be no…