Furloughing staff who are unable to go into workplace or work from home while work is available

Posted in: Seamus Says - Employment Law Discussion on 05/02/2021 Can employers furlough employees who are unable to work from home, but need to stay home for childcare reasons, or because they are vulnerable, even though there is work available for them? Seamus: Yes, an employer can, employers can furlough employees on that basis. The only caveat is within the g...

Payment for Covid-related Absence

Posted in: Seamus Says - Employment Law Discussion on 05/02/2021 Payment for Covid-related Absence Scott: We had another question, Seamus, that came in now. The person who sent it in yesterday would know, it's too long to read out, and it came from an employee but it was a case of somebody who is so stressed about the situation and COVID, and the dangers of goin...

Can employers force employees to attend the workplace if they have or have not had the vaccine?

Posted in: Seamus Says - Employment Law Discussion on 05/02/2021 Can employers force employees to attend the workplace if they have or have not had the vaccine?We have one employee who is stating that he will not return to the workplace despite safety measures being in place. Can we take action now? If not, can we insist that vaccinated employees return to the w...

Multiple self-isolation periods by employee suspected of flouting Coronavirus rules

Posted in: Seamus Says - Employment Law Discussion on 08/01/2021 "We have an employee whom we suspect of flouting coronavirus rules, as she's had to self-isolate for coming into contact with someone infected with COVID-19 on four occasions so far". So she keeps meeting people that have the virus. "Do we have to discount this absence or can we include it for abse...

How best to approach a possible dismissal due to long-term sickness and ill health of an employee

Posted in: Seamus Says - Employment Law Discussion on 08/01/2021 "Could you outline how best to approach a possible dismissal due to long-term sickness and ill health of an employee?"Scott: What are the things to keep in mind on how to ensure the dismissal is fair? Clearly, Jaguar didn't get it right in their particular case. Seamus: So the Rumbold/Jaguar Land ...

What do you need to include in your statement telling somebody their IR35 status has changed or applies?

Posted in: Seamus Says - Employment Law Discussion on 08/01/2021 What do you need to include in your statement telling somebody their IR35 status has changed or applies? Is there any kind of template? Seamus: I haven't come across any templates as yet. It's just not something that I've had to deal with. But I would imagine that there are templates out there in r...

Impact of Brexit on TUPE Regulations and Issues

Posted in: Seamus Says - Employment Law Discussion on 08/01/2021 What sort of TUPE changes are speculated, if any? If a company has an upcoming TUPE situation in Northern Ireland, are there any watch-outs? Seamus: Well, TUPE is very complex. There's no doubt about it. I don't think that I've ever had had a TUPE scenario that has been straightforward. As regards...

Can an employer make or force a staff member to come into work if their job allows them to work from home?

Posted in: Seamus Says - Employment Law Discussion on 08/01/2021 Can an employer make or force a staff member to come into work if their job allows them to work from home? Seamus: Well, my reason of the regulations and the guidance is that the employer shouldn't be requiring anyone to come in to the workplace if they can in fact do that job from home. So, if the...

Who is responsible for determining whether an individual comes under the IR35 regime?

Posted in: Seamus Says - Employment Law Discussion on 08/01/2021 Who is responsible for determining whether an individual comes under the IR35 regime? Seamus: This is a broad question. IR35, we can see from the poll there that there remains confusion in relation to the change in the legislation. And that probably has come about from the fact that the proposals w...

Do workers as opposed to employees qualify under the Job Support Scheme?

Posted in: Seamus Says - Employment Law Discussion on 08/01/2021 As organisations may have no option but to put employees on furlough as a result of lockdown, do workers as opposed to employees qualify under the JSS? Seamus: So the JSS was the planned replacement scheme for the coronavirus job retention scheme that was due to end in November time. Obviously, the...