The latest figures on the gender pay gap in large businesses show a slight reduction on last year. Legislation introduced in 2017 means that every employer with 250 or more employees has to publish the differences between what they pay their male and female staff in average salaries and bonuses. This is the second year
The Court of Appeal has ruled that an NHS Trust had not been entitled to withhold the salary of a doctor who was suspended from duty while police carried out an investigation into patient deaths. The doctor began working for the trust in 2003. In 2016, the trust became concerned that he had hastened the
The government says it’s committed to maintaining workers’ rights after the UK leaves the European Union. It says it will not reduce the standards of protection in EU laws retained in UK law and will ensure that new legislation changing those laws will be assessed as to whether they uphold this commitment. It says parliament,
A female economist has been awarded £19,000 after she was overlooked for promotion by her employer who instead gave the job to a less qualified male colleague. Olwen Renowden joined the Office for National Statistics in August 2016 as a grade 7 economist. In February 2017, she applied for an advertised grade 6 economist role
The new National Minimum and Living Wage rates came into effect on 1 April. The new rates are: £8.21 per hour for ages 25 and over £7.70 per hour for ages 21 to 24 £6.15 per hour for ages 18 to 20 £4.35 per hour for school leaving age to 17 £3.90 per hour for
An employer must provide workers with a “compensatory” rest period when it’s not possible to offer the standard breaks as required by law. However, the compensatory period doesn’t have be identical to the standard break; it just has to be of equal value in contributing to the worker’s well-being. That was the decision of the
A man who suffered from depression was discriminated against by his employers when his request for flexible working hours was denied. That was the decision of the Employment Tribunal in a case involving the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and one of its case workers, Mr Chris Hargreaves. Mr Hargreaves had been on flexible
All private rented property agents must now sign up to a scheme protecting renters’ and landlords’ money. Under the new regulations that took effect on 1 April, all agents in the private rented sector are required to join a government-approved scheme to protect their clients’ money while it is in their possession – with fines
A husband and wife who tried to buy a business have lost their £40,000 deposit after the High Court ruled they could not claim a refund when the deal fell through. The couple wanted to buy a waste collection company. They were introduced to the sole shareholder and a tentative agreement was made that they
The number of businesses in ‘significant’ financial distress jumped by 15,000 to a total of 481,000 in the final quarter of last year, according to the latest Red Flag Alert research from Begbies Traynor, the independent insolvency firm. The hardest hit sector was real estate and property, which not only saw a 7% (3,134) increase