The government has announced that a £2m fund is to be spent on initiatives aimed at reducing the gender pay gap. The funding will go towards training, events and monitoring programmes for women to help them move from low paid, low skilled work to jobs that are high paid and high skilled. The measures will
The national minimum wage has risen by 19p to £6.50 per hour as of 1 October 2014. The rate applies to anyone aged 21 or over. All other rates have also risen, with workers aged 18-20 now earning at least £5.13 per hour, workers aged 16-17 on at least £3.79 per hour and apprentices on
The level of compensation a victim receives for hurt feelings in employment disputes is to be raised by 10%. Earlier in the year, the Court of Appeal decided that there should be a 10% rise in the monetary value placed on a victim’s hurt feelings in civil cases. The Employment Appeal Tribunal has now confirmed
Business secretary Vince Cable has launched a wide ranging employment review which could potentially benefit up to a million British workers. Many people on zero-hours contracts are on ‘worker’ employment contracts, as opposed to ‘employee’ contracts. That means they have fewer basic rights, such as maternity pay, the right to request flexible working hours or
Expectant fathers now have the right to take unpaid time off work to attend two ante-natal classes with their partners. The entitlement, which came into effect on 1 October, applies to all expectant partners including husbands, spouses, civil partners and anyone in a long-term relationship with the mother. Expectant fathers who are not in a
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Were you aware that employees with Breast Cancer and other Cancers have protection from disability discrimination from day 1 of their diagnosis even when their condition is in remission? You may be an employee working through your Cancer. You may be the employer trying to support your employee in
A manager of a golf club bar has won an unfair dismissal claim after his bosses said he had falsified weekly bar statements. The manager was suspended from his job when annual accounts showed a deficit of around £5,300. His bosses claimed that the deficit was due to him making handwritten alterations and deducting the
Two paramedics have won their claim that time spent on call away from the workplace should be classed as working time. The Working Time Regulations stipulate that employees are generally entitled to daily rest of 11 uninterrupted hours. The paramedics in this case were told they would have to provide cover on call at an
A personal assistant who was sacked after her affair with her boss was discovered has won her claim of unfair dismissal. The PA lost her job after the affair was discovered by the boss’s wife. The PA, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been in a relationship with her boss who was chief
A Sikh employee has been awarded £18,000 compensation after being racially abused by his Muslim boss. He had worked as a forecourt cleaner at a garage and was often given demeaning tasks and made to perform them repeatedly. His boss made him collect things from the cash and carry up to four times a week