TUPE Regulations and Maternity Rights

Posted in: How do I handle it NI on 18/08/2016 We’ve just bought the business and assets of a company, and its employees have transferred to us under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006. We’ve only been responsible for these new employees for a short period of time, and now one of them has given notice of ma...

Do we have to interview a candidate that has disclosed a conviction for murder?

Posted in: How do I handle it NI on 14/07/2016 We are a small organisation and currently advertising for a role within the Company. Due to the nature of our operations it is likely that the successful post holder will interact with children. One of the applicants has disclosed a conviction for murder and we would not want this person represen...

Employees Who Send Offensive Tweets about Managers

Posted in: How do I handle it NI on 14/06/2016 Rachel Richardson from the Employment Team in Tughans writes: Twitter is one of the biggest social media applications to impact on the workplace and more and more often, employers are facing issues arising from employee misuse. This then calls into question the grey lines which separate an employee...

Can we insist that an employee on long-term sickness returns a company car?

Posted in: How do I handle it NI on 09/05/2016 We have an employee absent due to long term sickness. The employee has been absent for over 6 months and we have now received a sick line for another 2 month period. He has the use of a Company car. Can I recover the Company vehicle whilst he remains on sick leave? I would suggest you look first...

Covert Recording of Disciplinary Hearings

Posted in: How do I handle it NI on 12/04/2016 'I am an employer and recently held a disciplinary hearing with an employee. I suspect they were covertly recording the meeting on their phone. If this is correct and clearly they did this without our consent then presumably such evidence could not be relied on by the employee in later tribunal pro...

The impact of the arrest of an employee on the workforce

Posted in: How do I handle it NI on 15/03/2016 'The PSNI have arrived at our office and arrested a member of staff. I understand the allegations concern a matter outside work. There are rumblings from other staff however that they will not continue to work with the employee who has been arrested. What can we do?'If you have not done so already,...

Workplace Investigations

Posted in: How do I handle it NI on 15/02/2016 I am an HR manager and I have been investigating an allegation that one of our employees has been sending our confidential information to a competitor without any prior authorisation. I have taken several witness statements as part of my investigation, but given the gravity of the allegations, I do...

Difficulties in Paying the National Living Wage

Posted in: How do I handle it NI on 22/01/2016 'I have become aware of an increase in the minimum wage which is to come into force in April 2016. We are a small business and do not think we will be able to afford to pay this to our workers. What can I do?'Rachel Richardson from the Employment Team in Tughans writes:The National Living Wage come...

Managing Sickness and Absence

Posted in: How do I handle it NI on 08/12/2015 'One of our employees is currently signed off work with a medical condition which does not reflect the condition which the employee has informed us in emails that he is suffering from, being severe depression. What are our options – can we rely on the sick-lines, or do we need to seek a medical rep...

Workplace Pensions in Small Businesses

Posted in: How do I handle it NI on 10/11/2015 We operate a small local company. I have heard a lot about auto enrolment and staging dates and requirement to provide a pension for our employees. Some of the staff are already members of an occupational pension scheme but I am confused as to what I need to do. How do I handle it? The obligation f...