Proposed restrictions on non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in the Employment Rights Bill could change how UK employers handle discrimination and harassment claims. Here is what Human Resources (HR) needs to know. What is happening? A government-backed amendment to the Employment Rights Bill would make certain confidentiality clauses void. Specifically, those that attempt to prevent workers from…
[ READ MORE ] from Is this the end of confidential settlements for harassment?
You have rolled out a new productivity tool to your customer service teams. It logs keystrokes, flags long idle times, and uses webcam verification to confirm who is at the desk. It is billed as ‘smart management’. Then someone notices a pattern. The system alerts seem to cluster around a small group of employees, many…
[ READ MORE ] from Surveillance at work: who is watching and who is watched more?
How should you handle redeployment in a redundancy? You are managing a redundancy process. One employee, well-liked, long-serving, clearly capable, is at risk. There are other vacancies around the business, but you tell him to check the internal jobs board and wish him luck. He is not offered help, no one tells the hiring managers…
How should you manage self-employed contractors without drifting into worker status? If you hire casual staff – drivers, delivery couriers, hospitality workers – you might be relying on a substitution clause in their contracts to argue they are not workers. They can send someone else, the clause says. So, they are not personally obliged. So…
[ READ MORE ] from If no one has ever used a substitute, do you really have a substitution clause?
The Employment Rights Bill is in the final stages of its journey through Parliament and the Government has published a roadmap setting out when its provisions are expected to come into force. This is good news for employers, as many of the bigger changes in the bill are delayed, which will give them more time…
Scenario Let us imagine a scenario. Victoria, a senior recruiter at a healthcare charity, is proud of her organisation’s progressive values. Pressed for time, she signs off on a new AI-powered tool that screens CVs and ranks candidates by ‘fit’. The provider says it uses anonymised data and ‘learns’ from successful hires. So far, so…
[ READ MORE ] from Bias in, bias out: how artificial intelligence (AI) recruitment can cost you
You have serious misconduct allegations. The employee in question is signed off with stress and depression. What now? Do you push on, pause, or tweak the process? The recent High Court decision in Woodhead v WTTV Ltd is a cautionary tale for HR. While unusual (it was a personal injury claim, not a Tribunal case),…
[ READ MORE ] from How should you run a disciplinary process when the employee is clearly unwell?
You have to make cuts. The restructuring is happening. The selection criteria are ready, complete with performance, conduct, and… qualifications. One person does not have a degree. They are also the oldest in the team. You score them lower, they are selected for redundancy, and you move on. Or so you think. What happened? That…
[ READ MORE ] from How should you avoid age discrimination when selecting for redundancy?
Scenario Imagine this: Geri works in a mid-sized professional services firm. She is a mid-career project manager with two young children, a solid performance record and a hybrid working policy that allows staff to work from home two days a week. She puts in a formal request to work from home four days a week….
[ READ MORE ] from Hybrid working: Who gets it? Who does not? What if they want more?
Case: Campbell v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2025] EAT 42 This case provides a rare example of an employer successfully relying on the ‘all reasonable steps’ defence against a discrimination claim. What happened? During a workplace dispute, a white employee made a racially abusive comment to a black union representative. The representative claimed…
[ READ MORE ] from The ‘all reasonable steps’ defence – it can be done!
Case: De Bank Haycocks v ADP RPO UK Ltd [2024] EWCA Civ 1291 This case clarifies a critical issue for HR professionals: What does a ‘fair’ consultation look like in small-scale redundancy exercises? What happened A recruitment consultant, Mr De Bank Haycocks, was part of a 16-person team serving one client. Following a 50% reduction…
What is new? Under the proposed Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, employers with 250 or more employees will be legally required to publish: Ethnicity and disability pay gaps (mean and median hourly pay). Bonus differentials. Proportion of employees receiving bonuses. Workforce composition by ethnicity and disability. This marks a significant evolution from gender pay gap…
[ READ MORE ] from Closing the gaps: ethnicity and disability pay reporting ahead
