What is a trigger point? Why are they important, and for what type of event should you have them?

Posted in: Seamus Says - Employment Law Discussion on 06/12/2021 So in your discussion, Seamus, you mentioned trigger points in your policy. What do you mean by that? What is a trigger point, why are t=importanr and for what type of event should they be used? Seamus: I think there was some confusion around that, but the triggers that I was focussing on during my...

Surveillance in the workplace, can we do it? Should we do it? And is it legal?

Posted in: Seamus Says - Employment Law Discussion on 11/11/2021 So many of the topics that we do on "Employment Law at 11" that are fuelled by what big American tech firms are doing, gig economy companies are doing, and this really is no exception. It's kind of born out of the reports on Amazon using extensive surveillance technology to monitor their employees....

What can employers do to retain and recruit staff during The Great Resignation?

Posted in: Seamus Says - Employment Law Discussion on 11/11/2021 . Far from the mass redundancies that were being predicted when furlough ended, we've seen an extremely buoyant jobs market, to say the least. Firms are expanding and recruiting in an unexpected way. There are staff shortages across some very key industries. We've got hospitality, retail, and of co...

Why is a home workplace assessment for remote workers so important?

Posted in: Seamus Says - Employment Law Discussion on 10/11/2021 I've been working from home throughout the pandemic and I'd have to say it has definitely had an impact on me. I mean, my step count is seriously reduced. I have a lot of bad habits sitting at my desk, slouching. I did have a workplace assessment when I started at Legal-Island, but I must admit tha...

How can employers overcome the potential discrimination issues related to hybrid working?

Posted in: Seamus Says - Employment Law Discussion on 10/11/2021 think one of the big things for me is, are people who are present in the office under the noses of the bosses going to get preferential treatment? The concern is working mothers, in particular, are going to . . . As one myself, I know I find working from home particularly attractive. It is much ea...

Do employers have to grant hybrid working requests in a post-pandemic world?

Posted in: Seamus Says - Employment Law Discussion on 10/11/2021 The emergence of hybrid working is allowing organisations to work in different ways. We're reaping the benefit of that. We can now meet again face to face and benefit from connections there, but then our productivity has gone up when we're working at home. So a mixture may be really the way forward...

What proof can an employer ask for if a worker says they've been pinged?

Posted in: Seamus Says - Employment Law Discussion on 10/11/2021 he media coined the term "ping-demic". It describes basically an outbreak of people being absent from work because they have to isolate because of close contact. They've had close contact with someone with COVID. I mean, from my perspective, I've had a couple of pings in one week, basically, off th...

Should workers who choose to remain working remotely have their pay cut?

Posted in: Seamus Says - Employment Law Discussion on 10/11/2021 We've got the Silicon Valley giants leading the charge here. Google, Twitter, Facebook, they're all tentatively saying they might cut the pay for people who decide to remain working at home. As I mentioned earlier, the newspaper "City A.M." reported last month, just in August, that two-thirds of m...

What are the implications of the EU Whistleblowing Directive in the UK?

Posted in: Seamus Says - Employment Law Discussion on 10/11/2021 A wee bit of background. 16 December 2019, the EU passed the Whistleblower Protection Directive. That started a two-year deadline clock, which member states have to transpose the directives into their national legislation. But why are we telling you this? Brexit has happened. We're out. We're not i...

Will employers be able to enforce mask wearing even if it is no longer legally mandatory?

Posted in: Seamus Says - Employment Law Discussion on 09/11/2021 This particular topic is born out of the decision in England to have their freedom day, and it's no longer a legal requirement to wear masks, but the government advice is you probably should. And we've seen some big names in England kind of breaking rank, not least the mayors in London and Manchest...