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In This Issue:
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Welcome |
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Weirdest Employment Disputes |
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Annual leave increase |
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Minimum wage |
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Commercial Agents |
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Age discrimination studies |
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And some snippets... |
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Featured Links:
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Welcome
As we head towards high summer, there is confirmation of
the new statutory holiday entitlements taking effect
later this year, and yet another increase in minimum
wage.
But for some rather more amusing reading, we thought we
would recommend a collection by The Times of some of the
weirdest employment disputes in recent years.
There's no update in August - the next one is in
September.
Enjoy your break!
Malcolm Davies
Andersons Solicitors
Weirdest Employment Disputes
To celebrate the Employment Appeal Tribunal's 30th
anniversary, journalists at The Times trawled the
archives and dusted off some of the weirdest employment
disputes of recent years. Have a look
here.
Annual leave increase
The government's plans to finalise the increase in
minimum annual leave are now finalised, giving employees
a right to eight days' bank holidays on top of
the 20 days' leave they currently receive (at present,
employers who give their staff a paid day off on bank
holidays can require them to take these days from their
four week entitlement).
Minimum annual holiday entitlement will therefore
increase from 20 days to 28 days per year. Employers
remain entitled to set the dates on which employees take
leave, meaning that there remains no legal right to have
a paid day off on bank holidays.
The first four days extra paid leave will be introduced
from 1 October 2007 and the next four days from 1 April
2009.
Minimum wage
The National Minimum Wage for those aged 22 or more is
due to go up from £5.35 to £5.52 on 1 October 2007.
There will also be increases from £4.45 to £4.60 for
18-21 year-olds and from £3.30 to £3.40 for 16-17
year-olds.
Meanwhile, consultation is under way on proposed changes
to how the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 relates to
voluntary workers — those who receive no monetary
payment or benefits in kind, other than expenses,
subsistence or accommodation, and relevant training. At
present, they are not entitled to the minimum wage – but
this might change.
Commercial Agents
Many employers are unaware of an obscure European law,
which gives certain categories of self-employed workers
significant rights if they are dismissed.
Any 'commercial agent', meaning a self-employed
intermediary who has authority to negotiate and conclude
sales for the 'employer', is normally entitled to a
large lump-sum payment reflecting the future value of
their business if their position is terminated. The most
common type of commercial agent is a self-employed
travelling salesman.
Upon termination of their contract, they are entitled to
a lump sum reflecting the value of their business,
territory or client-base. This month, the House of Lords
has stated that the value of their claim (which they
bring in the county court) is equivalent to the resale
value of their territory, i.e. how much another
travelling salesman might pay to take over the territory
and become entitled to the future commission or income
stream. Unlike unfair dismissal claims, entitlement to
this sum is (almost) automatic – no unfairness in the
dismissal needs to be shown.
Anybody who engages the services of self-employed
salesmen should seek advice before terminating such
contracts.
Age discrimination studies
The age discrimination regulations are the subject of a
number of new surveys and studies, among them one
produced by the Chartered Institute of Personnel
Development examining the legislation's impact on
recruitment.
The study found that some employers remain confused
about whether they need to close graduate recruitment
schemes or discard advertising language like
'experienced', 'young', or 'dynamic'.
Another study of 50 businesses with a combined workforce
of more than 78,000 found only 11 per cent of employers
felt the age regulations had had a negative impact on
their business. However, one in ten had already received
an age-related claim, more than 40 per cent had received
requests to work beyond retirement age and 70 per cent
felt they needed further guidance on what constitutes
justifiable discriminatory treatment.
And some snippets...
Acas to cover appeal cases
Acas is extending its conciliation provision to cover
cases referred to it by the Employment Appeal Tribunal.
This may help avoid costly appeals over relatively small
sums of money.
European consultation
A Europe-wide consultation exercise is under way aimed
at informing the European Commission in formulating new
measures — scheduled for next year — to tackle
discrimination on the basis of gender, religion, belief,
disability, age or sexual orientation in areas beyond
the workplace.
Migrant workers
The TUC has produced a new 12-page guide targeted at
both employers and unions, stating that migrants tend to
be more vulnerable to illness, injury or even death at
work because of a lack of safety training, inadequate
clothing and equipment, and poor language skills. It is
available at
http://www.tuc.org.uk/extras/safetymw.pdf
Mediation overview
A revamped Acas mediation FAQ section uses video clips
to offer an overview of the process as well as the usual
question-and-answer format. More information
here.
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About Andersons
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Andersons offer a comprehensive employment law service
to a broad client base comprised mainly of quoted and
private companies, public authorities, charities and
private individuals, many of whom are household names.
Our expertise covers all aspects of employment law and
in particular matters relating to litigation,
re-organisations, severance, training and general HR
advice. We act for clients on a nationwide basis and
represent clients all over the country in Employment
Tribunals, the Employment Appeal Tribunals and other
courts.
If you require advice or assistance in respect of any
particular matter, please contact Malcolm Davies on
Malcolm Davies . For more information about
Andersons, please see our website
http://www.andersonssolicitors.co.uk .
Disclaimer
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The information and any commentary contained in these
bulletins is for general information purposes only and
does not constitute legal or any other type of
professional advice. Andersons Solicitors do not accept
and, to the extent permitted by law, exclude liability
to any person for any loss which may arise from relying
upon or otherwise using the information contained in
these bulletins.
If you have a particular query or issue you are strongly
advised to obtain specific, personal advice about your
case or matter and not to rely on the information or
comments in this bulletin.
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