Your self-employed shop assistant-Last week I was giving a talk to trainee golf club managers. And being the fun trainer I am, I decided to put together a quiz to see how employment law proficient they are. Don’t worry – they’re not meant to be experts; that’s why we exist, after all! Usually, they manage to get a ... Read more
They’re going to die anyway!-They’re going to die anyway! I saw the other day that Royal Dornoch Golf Club has installed defibrillators and first aid kits on six of its buggies. Five of them are hired out to golfers with pre-existing conditions; the other is for their “roving ranger”, who can help if someone has a problem. It seems ... Read more
No harm, no foul?-No harm, no foul? We’ve experienced a significant increase in sexual assault and harassment cases recently: • The member of a golf club committee that asked a waitress who was offering him a lift home if she was offering to give him a “little sex” • The bar manager that complained about female bra straps ... Read more
Zero hours = zero rights?-One of my friends got a new job the other day. She’s been unemployed since being made redundant last summer and jumped at the chance to do some casual work that used her admin skills. As you’d expect, I had my HR hat on, asking about her contract, sick pay and holiday and all that ... Read more
Zero hours = zero rights?-Zero hours zero rights One of my friends got a new job the other day. She’s been unemployed since being made redundant last summer and jumped at the chance to do some casual work that used her admin skills. As you’d expect, I had my HR hat on, asking about her contract, sick pay and ... Read more
Rounds are up, but people are down-Rounds are up, but people are down Last week’s BRS Golf figures made interesting reading. The number of rounds of golf so far this year is up 100% from the number played in the same period in 2019. But the number of members of golf clubs? Down 6,000 If you’re still a member somewhere, this ... Read more
Honesty is not the best policy…-Honesty is not the best policy… A client of ours had decided to terminate the employment of one their greenkeepers last week, but very nearly bungled the whole thing at the 11th hour. The greenkeeper in question had been there less than two years, had performed poorly for a long time, and had been called ... Read more
AWOL-One of our clients called us at 10:30am on Monday – an employee was 90 minutes late and counting. They’d heard nothing from him, no excuses or explanations, despite trying to call him. What they wanted to know was whether they could just fire him on the spot. The employee in question was a rather ... Read more
10 outrageous excuses for not paying National Minimum Wage-10 outrageous excuses for not paying National Minimum Wage WH Smith, Marks & Spencer and Argos are among more than 200 firms that have failed to pay workers legal national minimum wage (NMW). The employers were found to have failed to pay their workers almost £5 million in a clear breach of NMW law, leaving ... Read more
Bad news for this employer!-Bad news for this employer! Usually I spend my time helping employers to stay the right side of employment law. But this week I found myself helping an employee. Her employer had given her a contract last year, which is impressive in itself – many employers don’t even bother with that! Sadly, the contract was ... Read more
Dull as dishwater-I’m afraid it’s a slightly less whimsical note from me today, as I need to share something with you on whether employees should work their notice period. Yes, I agree, it’s dull as dishwater, but failure to do the right thing around notice periods can spell serious trouble. There are three options when notice has ... Read more
Written warning from ChatGPT-Chances are you might have heard of ChatGPT. It’s been the talk of the town recently, with thousands of words written about how it’s going to take all the white-collar jobs away. I’m a big fan of tech (anything that’ll do the same job better or faster is worth exploring), so I thought I’d have ... Read more
“How many bank holidays do I actually have to pay my staff for?”-We have another extra bank holiday this year for the coronation of King Charles. (It’s Monday 8 May, if you didn’t know). So I thought it would be a good time to brush up on what we do and don’t know about bank holidays. “How many bank holidays do I actually have to pay my staff ... Read more
Terrible holiday pictures-I’m in Miami this week. Yes, it is amazing, thanks for asking. Florida is my kind of holiday to a tee – sun, sea, sand and a good book. But everyone’s different – some are sun worshippers like me, some prefer snow and apres ski, others like a safari or a city break. There is ... Read more
The question on everyone’s lips-Now that everyone has stopped talking about the snow (it was lovely, but then, I didn’t need to go anywhere!), the next talking point at work is whether people are going to get paid for their “snow day”. The first place to look is your handbook, in your severe weather policy (you do have one, ... Read more
10 minutes with the house manager was all it took-We recently took on a client who’d been accused of discrimination in the past, long before our involvement. They’d gone through a redundancy process in which everyone in the F&B department was put “at risk”. They went through the consultation period, did it by the book, and made one person redundant. So far, so good, ... Read more
Settlement agreements and redundancy-A settlement agreement is where an employee gives up their right to bring legal action against their employer at the end of their employment, usually in exchange for payment. Once an agreement has been reached, the employee has officially given up their right to bring a case against you in an employment tribunal. It’s a ... Read more
Bob punched me-One of our clients told me that their house manager was a confirmed liar the other day. It seemed a trifle strange that they were saying it in such a matter-of-fact way, without having taken action on it, so I delved a little deeper. Their most recent lie went a little like this… There’d been ... Read more
Pearly whites-Pearly whites Watching American TV a lot, as I do (yes I know it’s trash, but entertaining trash!), you can’t help noticing the teeth. Most people in the UK don’t give teeth much thought. OK, we brush them in the morning and at night, but do we ever think of them as one of the ... Read more
Is football a belief system?-Is football a belief system? With the World Cup about to start, it’s worth remembering that – for some – football isn’t just a game. It’s a way of life. And as an employer that can present a bit of a problem, with staff claiming that it’s discrimination for you not to allow them to ... Read more
