An exploration of key aspects of the Employment Rights Bill which will impact living sector employers; day 1 right to claim unfair dismissal, changes to the use of zero hour contracts and the extension of the duty to protect employees from harassment. Employment Rights Bill – A Shake Up for the Living Sector The Employment Rights Bill (“ERB”) is poised to introduce significant change to the UK’s workforce ...
A federal judge in Texas has struck down the recently implemented United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) federal overtime salary threshold rule. This 2024 rule raised the minimum salary level for certain employees to be exempt from overtime pay requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Generally, the FLSA requires employers to pay non-exempt employees 1.5x their regular rate for hours worked in excess of 40 in a work week ...
Our final article in this series discussing different protected characteristics and the discrimination claims they give rise to, focuses on age, how employers can fall foul of the law and the steps they need to take to avoid age discrimination claims. What is age discrimination? The Equality Act 2010 prohibits both direct and indirect age discrimination, as well as age related harassment and victimisation ...
HSE involvement The Bill (if granted Royal Assent) will require the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to publish a Health and Safety Framework on violence and harassment in the workplace, including violence against women and girls and gender-based violence. Employer duties Emphasis is placed on preventative measures which should be taken by employers ...
What are single-use vapes and why are they being banned? Single-use vapes are vapes which are not designed or intended to be re-used and are not refillable and/or not rechargeable. They are being banned for both health reasons and environmental reasons. As regards the environmental reasons, they pose a major waste problem in the UK, as they are often thrown away in general waste or littered, instead of being recycled ...
Corporate Power Purchase Agreements, or CPPAs, are long-term electricity supply agreements between two parties and are a valuable catalyst for the green energy transition. Currently, only around a very small proportion of UK businesses have the financial capacity and energy demand to use larger scale CPPAs, but as a firm we are working with clients to find innovative ways to democratise the procurement of renewable energy ...
The published findings of the FCA's recent survey on culture and non-financial misconduct demonstrates how financial services firms have been responding to Employment issues and what might be on the horizon ...
Remuneration and governance The Bill inserts provisions into the Water Industry Act 1991 to enable Ofwat to make rules about pay and governance in the water industry ...
Employers in California, and others with California employees and worksites, should take note of new laws set to take effect on January 1, 2025, as well as laws that have recently gone into effect that may impact their operations. Understanding the changes is essential for compliance, and Dinsmore’s labor and employment attorneys are available to assist with navigating these regulatory changes to ensure your organization remains compliant ...
Integrating AI tools at work is not without danger. Three experts from the independent Belgian law firm, ALTIUS, explain how companies should best guard against ethical risks, data protection, intellectual property rights, and trade secrets. “It is essential that organisations teach their people to work with AI safely and responsibly ...
In the past month, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has launched a voluntary I-9 verification process called “E-Verify+” aimed at improving the I-9 and E-Verify processes and streamlining employer workflows. E-Verify+, which was originally referred to as “E-Verify NextGen,” has been in the works for several years ...
The latest report from techUK, which Shoosmiths has sponsored, shows the economic impact, as well as the potential to boost the positive impact, of data centres on the UK economy. The main economic value of data centres is their role in enabling digital transformation across all sectors of the economy, allowing businesses to benefit from digital products and services that allow them to operate and be more efficient and productive ...
How far can employers search for personal data to answer an access request? Can they check personal mobiles or laptops - or personal emails on a work device? Here we look at invading staff privacy to respect someone else's data protection rights. In this series we have already looked at taking control of data subject access requests (DSARs) through data protection by design, and understanding when you can refuse to comply with a DSAR ...
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has approved a new credentialing organization for certain healthcare workers for immigration purposes. USCIS approved the application from International Education Evaluations, LLC (IEE), which went into effect October 25, 2024 ...
The EU Data Act will apply from 12 September 2025. Thus far, much of the attention has focused on the IoT side of the regulation, specifically on data holder obligations and data sharing. Discussion around Chapter VI of the Act concerning switching between data processing services (such as IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS) and its implications for such services has been relatively sparse ...
By the end of this year, the Home Office is transitioning to an entirely digital UK immigration system. This means that all physical immigration status documents will be replaced with digital immigration status, referred to as eVisas, and this includes any BRP’s, BRC’s or passport vignettes. The eVisa will be the only way to prove your immigration status once this transition is complete. The Home Office aim to complete the transition by 31 December 2024 ...
Here's a refresher: Discriminating against a subclass of a sex — e.g., older women or black women — may still be discrimination. In a Sept. 19 opinion in McCreight v. AuburnBank, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit clarified a few things for the summary judgment standard and provided a good refresher on "sex-plus" discrimination, or discrimination based on a subclass of sex ...
From 26 October 2024, employers will be required to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Employers must ensure they understand the parameters of this new duty and have implemented the measures needed to comply with it. What the Act says The Act requires employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their workers in the course of their employment ...
The new Network and Information Systems Directive (NIS2) came into effect on 18 October 2024 and with it comes an overhaul of the way in which cybersecurity risk management is regulated in Europe ...
Stress and burnout at work is becoming an increasingly spoken about topic, particularly in high pressure roles and sectors such as cyber security professionals within the tech sector. How can employers help to prevent their employees from experiencing it? What is stress and burnout? There is no doubt that employee stress levels have risen as the demands of the workplace have increased ...
Working time’ for National Minimum Wage (NMW) purposes can cause a real headache for employers and the case law in this area continues to develop as (travel) time moves on. The National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/621) (NMW Regulations 2015) define various types of ‘work’ which includes ‘time work’ ...
Data subject access requests can be a compliance headache for businesses. The first of our series on DSARs looked at how data protection “by design” can make the job easier. But what about deciding whether or not to resist a DSAR when it actually lands? Dealing with data subject rights requests, or DSARs, is one of the biggest compliance headaches for many businesses ...
The Employment Rights Bill 2024 promises to bring substantial change to employment law across Great Britain, designed to enhance worker protections and promote fair employment practices. We consider the key changes and their implications for employers. Key changes Day-one rights for unfair dismissal One of the most significant changes is the introduction of day-one rights for unfair dismissal ...
In our eighth article in the series focusing on the risk of discrimination in the workplace, we consider the protected characteristic of disability, the common issues that arise and what employers can do to avoid discrimination claims. What is disability discrimination? Disability discrimination occurs where a job applicant or employee is treated less favourably because of their disability ...
