The moratorium on new employment laws for small firms has now come into effect but business groups say that EU regulations will remain a major burden. The moratorium was announced in the Budget and covers start-up businesses and small firms with fewer than 10 employees. HMRC is defining a start-up firm as a business that
The Government has shelved plans to extend the Time to Train regulations to smaller firms. Employees with organisations employing more than 250 people have had the right to request time for training since April 2010. The previous Labour Government had planned to extend that right to small and medium-sized businesses in April this year. However,
Unpaid volunteers are not ‘employees’ as far as anti-discrimination law is concerned and so they do not have the same protection as paid workers. That was the ruling of the Court of Appeal in the case of a volunteer who worked for the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB). When the CAB told her it no longer
The maximum limits for redundancy payments and awards for various employment rights cases have risen in line with the annual index-linked formula. The limits are linked to the Retail Prices Index, which rose by 4.6% during the qualifying period from September 2009 to September 2010. The maximum compensation that can be awarded for unfair dismissal
New rights providing additional paternity leave and pay for fathers have now come into effect. The new rights apply to fathers whose partners gave birth on or after 3rd April this year. They allow fathers to take up to 26 weeks leave to care for their child providing they fulfil certain conditions. The additional paternity
Employers now have new rights to take positive action when looking at candidates for recruitment and promotion. The aim is to help create a greater diversity in the workplace, but there are strict controls. The new rules, effective from 6th April, mean that if all else is equal, an employer can select a candidate who