Almost one in five adults works for a company where not a single fire drill has been carried out in the last 12 months, despite this being a requirement for workplace health and safety regulations, a new study by law firm Hugh James has revealed. The poll of 2,000 full- and part-time employees working in the UK revealed that almost half haven’t received workplace training on what to do in the event of a fire, or any health and safety policies at all. The findings also revealed that many couldn’t recall when the fire doors or fire extingui... Continue reading

The introduction of gender pay gap reporting regulations has seen the BBC thrown into the spotlight since considerable gaps between male and female earnings were revealed. Published in the BBC’s Annual Report and Accounts, the statistics revealed that while the highest paid male, DJ Chris Evans, is earning between £2.2m and £2.25m, the highest paid female, Claudia Winkleman, earned considerably less last year, at between £450,000 and £500,000. On top of this, the BBC has also received criticism after it was found that only ten people on... Continue reading

A Court of Appeal ruling has ordered that, for the first time, employers will be obliged to consult with unions around any workplace issues that affect their members. Until now, unions only had the right to be consulted where the law required this, for example in TUPE Regulations where employees transfer from one employer to another, and in redundancy cases. The ruling means employers will also have to involve unions in issues such as those around working hours and holiday pay. It will benefit thousands of employees whose rights at work are ... Continue reading

Voluntary overtime should be treated in the same way as other forms of paid overtime and must be included in the first four weeks of workers’ holiday pay, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled. This decision is extremely important and will benefit thousands of workers. Many employers have adopted a ‘wait and see’ approach and, so far, have not included regularly worked voluntary overtime in holiday pay. Thousands of cases dealing with the same issue have been brought in employment tribunals and this decision provides much needed... Continue reading

In a landmark ruling from the Supreme Court, fees for those bringing Employment Tribunal claims have been ruled unlawful, and the Government will now have to repay up to £32m to claimants who have had been charged to take their case to court. July 2013 saw the introduction of a fees system regarding any claim made to an Employment Tribunal, this fiercely fought at the time by a variety of unions across the UK. Anyone in England, Scotland and Wales wanting to pursue a case against their employer has had to pay as much as £1,200. Four years o... Continue reading