Archive for the ‘Employment, General’ Category

Royal Wedding – Rates of Pay and Time Off in Lieu

The Royal wedding has already put an extra bank holiday into the calendar on the 29th of the month and the House of Lords has reacted by allowing pubs an extra two hours of drinking time on the 29th and 30th of the month, so it looks like being a lively weekend.

 
For employers, however, the question arises of what to do about the ‘extra’ bank holiday as regards the entitlements of their employees.
 
As regards payment for the holiday, the contract of employment of the employee will determine the need to pay. In most cases, employers will not be required to pay staff for the bank holiday.
 
The rate of pay which applies for staff who work on the bank holiday will also depend on the contract of employment. There is no statutory right to overtime rates of pay or to time off in lieu for working on the 29th.
 
However, employers will need to balance the strict letter of the law against the need to maintain employee goodwill.
 
If you have concerns about any employment law matter or wish to revise your contracts of employment in the light of the recent developments as regards the default retirement age or any other matter, contact  us for advice.

Posted April 14th, 2011 in Employment, General |

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Private Emails Lead to the Sack

A recent decision of the Employment Tribunal (ET) illustrates that care should be taken over any private communication made out of working hours if this contains material or expresses views that would fall foul of your employer’s equal opportunities policy and/or Internet policy. In certain circumstances, you could face disciplinary action should the communication end up in the public domain and reflect badly on your employer.

 
The case concerned a man who worked for the charity Lifeline Projects Ltd., which provides help to drug users and works closely with HM Prison Service (HMPS). Whilst working on assignment to HMPS, he forwarded a chain email to a colleague from his home computer outside working hours. The email, which contained racist remarks and images of naked women, was headed ‘It is your duty to pass this on’. The colleague in turn forwarded the offensive email to an HMPS employee at his work email address and it came to the attention of the management of the prison where he worked. The prison employee was offered early retirement and the charity worker was suspended from doing any further work for HMPS as a result.
Computer
Lifeline Projects Ltd. subsequently dismissed its worker for gross misconduct that had caused damage to the charity’s reputation. He claimed that he had been unfairly dismissed.
 
The ET ruled that the dismissal was fair, however. The fact that the offensive chain email stated, in a prominent position, that it should be passed on meant that the charity worker could not have expected it to remain private and it was through his actions that it had made its way onto the computer system of HMPS, one of Lifeline’s biggest clients.
 
Devotees of Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites take note!

Posted April 8th, 2011 in Employment, General |

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