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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:

National Minimum and Living Wage

Alan Kitto

It has been reported that earlier today, the Low Pay Commission, the body that makes recommendations to the UK Government in regard to both the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates, is likely to recommend an increase in the National Living Wage rage (currently applicable to those aged 23 and above), from £9.50 per hour, to £10.32 per hour in 2023 and £10.95 per hour in 2024.

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Employer/Employee Taxation Changes

Alan Kitto

At the end of September 2022 the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a number of taxation changes that relate to employment, including the repeal of reforms to the Off-Payroll Working (OPW) rules introduced in the public sector in 2017 and extended to medium and large-sized organisations in the private and voluntary sectors in 2021 (often referred to as IR35)

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Retained EU Law

Alan Kitto

At the end of last week the UK Government published the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill; it’s not the snappiest title for a Government Bill but it could be the most significant piece of legislation we’ve seen in recent memory.

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Queen Elizabeth's Funeral

Alan Kitto

Following the recent passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the Government has announced that the day of her funeral, September 19th 2022, will be a public holiday.

This raises a number of questions for employers.

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Are Probation Periods De-Motivating?

Alan Kitto

Many employers use probationary periods within their employment contracts as a means of assessing an employee’s suitability and capability and where the employee falls short in either, they dismiss the employee …. But is the very existence of the probationary period preventing employees from doing as well as they might in this initial period.

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Myth-Busting Probationary Periods

Alan Kitto

It’s fairly common in most employment contracts for the first few months of a new starter’s employment to be a probationary period, the premise being that if the employee’s conduct or performance doesn't meet the required standard within this period, their employment can be terminated, or the probationary period extended.

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Successfully Onboarding Senior Recruits

Alan Kitto

I was delighted to be asked recently by a colleague for my thoughts and tips on how to successfully onboard and integrate senior appointees. In most companies, senior appointments are a rarity and even where companies have established processes for onboarding staff, these are often considered overbearing for those in senior positions.

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COVID 19 Dismissal Was Fair

Alan Kitto

In a previous article we’ve discussed the fact that where an employee is dismissed for refusing to attend work or carry out duties because they believe their health and safety is at serious and imminent risk, the dismissal would be automatically unfair.

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HR/Employment Law Update

Alan Kitto

The beginning of April and October are the two dates each year where changes to employment law take place although with the Government having been focused on Brexit and latterly COVID-19, there have been no major changes to report. What changes are on the horizon though?

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P+O Dismissals Explained

Alan Kitto

Over the course of the last few weeks, there’s been a good deal of news coverage and commentary about P+O Ferries decision to dismiss around eight hundred employees and replace them with overseas agency workers, without any prior notice.

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The End of Advice to Work from Home

Alan Kitto

With Government COVID advice changing to longer require employees to work from home if they can, we’ve received an increasing number of enquiries as to whether employers can insist that employees return to work from their offices.

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Some Interesting Employment Tribunal Cases

Alan Kitto

It’s been eighteen months now since COVID-19 hit the UK and within the last few weeks, we’ve seen the first of what are likely to be a number of Employment Tribunal decisions relating to both employees and employers actions during the pandemic.

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