The Home Office recently updated the ‘reporting duties’ section of its guidance for sponsor licence holders. In particular, the Home Office has added new detail to the ‘change of work location’ section and clarified (to some extent) when a report needs to be made where a sponsored worker undertakes their work either remotely or through a hybrid working pattern ...
“If climate change is a shark, then water is its teeth”. This quote from James P. Bruce, a Canadian hydrogeologist, has never seemed more relevant to the South African context than today in light of recent extreme flooding and drought events. A warmer atmosphere holds more water vapour and when that water is released it can have devastating effects, as parts of Kwa-Zulu Natal experienced in 2022 ...
Recently published government guidance on reporting ethnicity pay data will assist those employers who voluntarily choose to report their data. We highlight the key messages from the guidance and the challenges employers need to address when reporting. It is a statutory requirement for employers with 250 or more employees to measure and report gender pay gaps ...
Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs) are increasing in popularity with many entrepreneurs and business owners now looking at this alternative structure of exit. EOTs were introduced through the Finance Act of 2014 to encourage founders and other shareholders to pass ownership of their company on for the benefit of its employees. The John Lewis Partnership, a long-established brand, is well recognised for employee engagement, however EOTs were relatively slow to take off in the UK ...
We highlight the most significant employment law cases since January 2023 and the lessons that employers should take from them. Without prejudice correspondence It is common for employers to use ‘without prejudice’ correspondence when negotiating with an employee on the termination of their employment ...
Report of the Department of Environmental Law and Climate Change The human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment A/HRC/52/L.7 (un.org) The Human Rights Council of the United Nations General Assembly, at its 52nd session held between February 27 and April 4, 2023, through this document, urged States to: to ...
On April 24, 2023, the Chamber of Representatives received bulletin No. 15864-13, containing the bill that proposes the adjustment of the minimum monthly income (i.e. minimum salary), which immediately passed to the Labor and Social Security and the Finance Committees of said Chamber. Currently, the bill of law has an urgency status for immediate discussion ...
The right to be accompanied by a colleague or trade union official at disciplinary and grievance hearings is likely to be a familiar concept to employers. Here we discuss the nuances of that right and what could happen if there is a breach. What are the worker’s rights? The statutory right to be accompanied is set out in the Employment Relations Act 1999. The right is not limited to employees and applies irrespective of length of service ...
Last month we saw Endometriosis Awareness Month come and go and with it, the question of whether endometriosis is fully recognised in the workplace yet. Last year, in February 2022, support for individuals who suffer from endometriosis was debated in the House of Commons. The key takeaway was that endometriosis affects so many women, yet is still largely unrecognised within the workplace ...
On the 30th of March 2023, as part of its efforts to address the gender pay gap phenomenon and promote the equal pay principle, the European Parliament widely approved the EU Pay Transparency Directive. In 2021, the gender pay gap stood at 12.7% in the EU, with no minimal changes in the last ten years ...
Introduction An EU Regulation on the making available on the Union market as well as export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation (“Deforestation Regulation”) was agreed upon by the EU legislators in December 2022. The European Parliament has now green-lighted the Provisional Agreement at this month’s plenary session ...
Our working worlds were rocked by the global pandemic in 2020. Working from home was compulsory for all bar key workers, whilst the country grappled with the pandemic, furlough and trying to make it all work. Many employees now work remotely or on a hybrid basis as employers review their working policies with an increased focus on productivity, as the outlook for the UK economy remains hard to accurately predict ...
Part of the fall-out of the COVID-19 pandemic is the condition labelled ‘long-covid’. This is still a relatively new condition that remains under study, but symptoms include extreme tiredness, shortness of breath, loss of smell and muscle aches. Some people experience further complications and suffer memory problems known as ‘brain fog,’ difficulty sleeping, dizziness, depression and anxiety ...
“I’ve been involved in ESG and sustainability for over 20 years and in the last few years the focus has increased significantly,” says Rich Hall, Head of Sustainability at leading accountancy and professional services firm RSM, on the shift in perception of ESG-related risk within corporate organisations. “Even before the pandemic, we were beginning to see more commentary on ESG issues, mainly centred around the environmental side ...
Shoosmiths has launched ESG 360, a free online compliance audit tool to enable organisations to understand their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance. ESG 360 users receive a personalised report providing red, amber or green ratings in relation to various elements of ESG compliance performance, alongside commentary and suggestions for improvement. Built around an online questionnaire, ESG 360 allows users to assess their general ESG performance or focus on specific aspects ...
The Chilean Institute of Industrial Property (INAPI) has recently announced the possibility to apply to a program for fast-tracking patent’s and utility model’s applications, provided that said applications relate to technical solutions capable of impacting the environment positively ...
On April 10th, 2023, the Congress approved a bill that reduces the workday weekly limit from 45 to 40 hours (Bill N°11.179-13). This bill, however, includes multiple and important amendments to the working hour and rest regimes, amongst which we can highlight the following: Reduction of the ordinary working hours limit The duration of the ordinary working hours will be reduced from 45 to 40 hours ...
What can employers say in a job advertisement? How to verify the legality of a worker’s stay in Poland? What are the steps for legally hiring Ukrainians in Poland? What formalities are required when amending their terms of employment? How to delegate Ukrainian citizens to work elsewhere in the EU? How to end cooperation with foreign workers? Lawyers from the firm’s Employment & Global Mobility practice write about the rules for employing Ukrainians in Poland ...
The rise of ChatGPT and other large language models has been well-documented, although the technology underpinning it has been developing for several years ...
In the fourth of our HR Improve articles, we consider the importance of effective absence management and what steps employers should take to support employees whilst minimising the impact of sickness absence on the organisation. All organisations will experience employees taking sickness absence at one time or another. The Office for National Statistics found that 149 million days of work were lost in 2021 due to sickness absence ...
Earlier this year, the government announced its support for the passing of the Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Bill. Should it become law, the Bill is set to bring huge change for tens of millions of employees in the UK who do not currently have a statutory right to request a predictable working pattern ...
