Employment Law: the constant challenge
Unfair Dismissal
Mr George Osborne has announced that the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims is to be raised to two years and that a fee structure is going to be introduced. The hope being that this will deter the number of potential claimants.
However, most business owners should be wary on relying on this protection as the unemployed are likely to be receiving income benefits and therefore fall into the fee exemption.
Liability for an agent's acts of discrimination
In a recent case, the Employment Appeals Tribunal held that a business can be vicariously liable for acts of discrimination under the regulations now codified in the Equality Act 2010 even where such discrimination was not directly authorised by the business.
In this particular case, the board of a religious centre unfairly dismissed the claimants due to their own religious views. The defendant business did not condone the discriminatory behaviour. However, the Tribunal held that the discrimatory acts were in effect carried out by the centre.
As such, it is extremely important that you as an employer have very tight policies, handbooks and contracts in place with staff and agents. You need to govern what they are doing and ensure that their actions are fair and lawful otherwise it will become your liability. Regular legal health checks are advised.
Social Media
The advent of social media has been accepted into most people’s personal and professional lives as a tool which can be utilised and in fact benefit many businesses. However, it is also poses a number of problems between employees regarding defamation, cyber bullying, freedom of speech and invasion of privacy. For example, managers may comment on posts by employees and inadvertently side-step normal disciplinary procedures, or there may be a blurring of lines between when a post is made in a personal capacity or when the statements are representing a business.
ACAS has given some very good guidance on this matter but ,in summary, every business must have a clear and unequivocal set of guidelines on when an individual is to be seen as representing the business and when or what personal views can be expressed at this time, if any. Also, social media should be expressly included in your grievance and disciplinary policy, giving examples of what would be treated as gross misconduct and how the use of such social media can still constitute bullying in the work environment. Again, you should make sure regular health checks are carried out on your policies.
Human Resource/Legal Advice Schemes
New schemes, such as A City Law Firm LLP HR Protect, are recommended. Here, employers for a relatively small fixed annual fee (determined on turnover and staff numbers) are given unlimited legal telephone support and if a claim is issued legal costs will be covered by the insurance policy.
Considering an average claim can cost £10,000-25,0000 in legal costs an annual fee of £3000-6000 for example protects you even if you face only 1 claim in a three year period. Worth considering!!!