Employment Law advice

To avoid an unfair dismissal, it is important that you can identify a fair reason for the dismissal (there are 5 potentially fair reasons which you may rely on) and that you acted reasonably in dismissing the employee for that reason. A dismissal of an employee who is not up to the job may potentially be fair on the grounds of either conduct or capability, depending on the circumstances. It would be important to ensure that you follow a fair procedure prior to dismissal, to help evidence that you have acted reasonably and in line with the legal requirements. Employees who have less than two years service are unable to bring a basic unfair dismissal claim, making dismissal much easier when this is the case. However, there are still a number of other claims an employee can bring at any stage of their employment (and in some cases, before their employment has even commenced). As such, we would always suggest seeking advice prior to dismissing an employee.

A qualifying employee (that is an employee who has 26 weeks continuous employment) is entitled to make a request for flexible working. Only one request can be made in any 12 month period. Although there is no requirement to accept their request, there is a requirement to deal with the request in a reasonable manner and the employer must notify the outcome to the employee within a three-month decision period. The employer must be able to rely on at least one of eight specific business reasons should they wish to refuse the request. Whilst a failure to do so may result in a possible claim for a breach of the right to request flexible working, employers should also be mindful that it is open to women whose requests for flexible working are rejected to seek redress by making a sex discrimination claim. We would suggest having a clearly worded flexible working policy in place so that all employees are clear as to the procedure to be followed when making a request, and to always seek advice.

Entitlement to annual leave is calculated in accordance with the Working Time Regulations 1998, which specifies that workers are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks annual leave.

Holiday pay should be based on an employee’s normal remuneration. All types of overtime, including voluntary, must be included when calculating a worker's statutory holiday pay entitlement, apart from overtime that is only worked on a genuinely occasional and infrequent basis. Commission and certain other types of payments should be included.

We can advise and calculate (providing practical examples) the entitlement for your employees or workers and, subject to the appropriate earnings information, the amount of holiday which should be paid.

There are statutory requirements as to what information should be given to an employee in relation to terms of employment. As an employer, you are legally obliged to provide a basic written statement of the main terms and conditions, also known as the particulars of employment, within the first two months of an employee’s start date. That said, many employers tend to include additional clauses to help support the growth of the business and provide necessary clarity and consistency for both parties. It is also important to comply with the minimum statutory requirements in terms of pay, hours of work, annual leave etc.

We would suggest reviewing your employment contracts and handbook every 12 months, to ensure that they remain up to date and in line with the relevant legislation.

We can draft, review and update employee contracts and an employee handbook, tailoring this documentation to meet the needs of the business. We can also provide advice and assistance in relation to contractual changes and how to implement these within your business, helping to reduce the risk of potential claims.