Contact Us

Use the form on the right to contact us.

You can edit the text in this area, and change where the contact form on the right submits to, by entering edit mode using the modes on the bottom right. 

Pod 6, The Engine Rooms, Station Road
Chepstow
Monmouthshire

01633 730907

For more than 10 years we have provided companies of all sizes and in a variety of sectors with uncomplicated, innovative and affordable human resources advice and on-site support ensuring that your people are an asset to your company and not a liability.

News

With the National Minimum Wage (NMW) now almost fifteen years old, and with another increase pending on 1st April 2017 HMRC have issued a list of the most elaborate excuses they've been given by employers for not paying the appropriate rates:

Changes to Employment Law Under Consideration

Alan Kitto

April and October are generally the keynote months of the year for changes to employment law. With Brexit and then COVID, we haven’t seen any significant changes to employment law for several years, other than the following that we have reported on previously:

  • The annual increases to statutory payments (such as statutory sick pay, statutory maternity pay etc.)

  • The annual increases to employment tribunal compensation limits and the cap on a week’s pay for redundancy and compensation purposes

  • Additional public holidays for HM the Queen’s Jubilee and Final and HM the King’s Coronation.

The Government is however currently considering a number of Private Members’ Bills that relate to employment law.

The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Bill is backed by the Government and would allow parents whose babies need hospital neonatal care to take 12 weeks’ paid leave in addition to their statutory maternity or paternity leave. The right will:

  • Be available from day one of employment

  • Apply to parents whose babies are admitted to hospital up to the age of 28 days

  • Apply to babies who need to stay in hospital for 7 days continuously or more.

The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Bill is backed by the Government and would make it unlawful for employers to withhold tips from staff members.

The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill is backed by the Government and would start the protection from when an expectant mother, or those adopting a child or taking shared parental leave, notifies their employer of their pregnancy, match for adoption, intention to take shared parental leave and extends for 18 months from the start of that leave. Currently, this protection only applies to employees on maternity leave.

The Carer’s Leave Bill is backed by the Government and would give carers one week’s unpaid leave a year to care for a dependant with a long-term care need that is:

  • Likely to last more than three months

  • Is a disability under the Equality Act 2010

  • Connected to old age.

This will be a day one right for employees

The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill is backed by the Government and would :

  • Make flexible working requests a day one right for employees (thereby removing the current 26 weeks’ service requirement)

  • Allow employees to make two requests a year (currently only one request is possible)

  • Require employees to consult with the employee before rejecting a request

  • Shorten the time employers have to reply to a request from three to two months

  • Remove the requirement for employees to set out the likely effects on the business of the change.

The Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Bill is backed by the Government and would give all employees and workers (including agency and zero hours workers) the right to formally request a more stable working pattern. Subject to Parliamentary approval, the new right will be available to those who:

  • Have worked for the employer for 26 weeks (not necessarily continuously)

  • Are on work patterns that lack certainty in the hours and time they work

  • Are on fixed term contracts of fewer than 12 months’ duration.

Workers would be able to make two requests a year. Employers would be able to refuse requests on specific grounds, such as the additional costs involved or a lack of work at the times requested.

We’ll update you with more information on these as and when it becomes available; we may see some or all of these changes effective in October 2023.