HR Tips and Advice

In a recent judgment, the Tribunal awarded a substantial £357,000 to a 22-year-old trainee Project Supervisor from the National Grid, for 26 acts of sexual harassment and 8 acts of victimisation at the hands of her manager, who was also her mentor.

Not every infringement of the EU GDPR automatically grants data subjects the right to compensation under Article 82. That is the key takeaway of a decision dated 4 May 2023 of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) (Österreichische Post case, C-300/21).

A case on manifestation of religion and belief in the workplace has recently concluded in the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). The Claimant in this case, Mrs Higgs, was a school administrator and work experience manager at a secondary school with academy status in Gloucestershire. She was dismissed from the school after some of her social media posts on Facebook relating to relationship education in schools and religion led to complaints from parents.

The new law makes it unlawful for an employer to withhold tips, gratuities, and service charges (‘tips’) that are paid by its customers and requires employers to allocate tips to their hospitality and leisure workers in a fair and transparent manner.

More than 200 companies have been named by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) for failing to pay the minimum wage. They include WH Smith Retail Holdings Ltd which failed to pay over £1 million to 17,607 workers and Lloyds Pharmacy Ltd for failing to pay £903,307 to 7916 workers.

An IT worker who has been on sick leave since 2008 sued IBM for not giving him a pay raise during the time he was off work. But an employment judge struck down the case, saying the claims did not amount to disability discrimination and that, if anything, the worker had received more favorable treatment, according to a ruling published last month.

On 10 May 2023, Department for Business and Trade policy paper outlines a number of employment-related reforms, including proposed changes affecting non-compete agreements, Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) requirements, the Working Time Regulations 1998, and retained EU law.

The amendment to the Equality Act 2010, in the form of the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill, looks like it will pass through Parliament and bring new responsibilities for employers. So, what could these responsibilities look like and how do you prepare?

ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot developed by OpenAI, designed to provide users with instant, automated responses to their questions. Its capability and potential for broad application means people in many disciplines are finding uses for this technology tool.