The coronavirus is giving rise to a variety of challenging issues for employers, particularly due to the ever changing national and regional laws and guidelines relating to lockdowns. At the time of writing (01/10/2020) a number of regions around the UK are in, or are embarking on imminent lockdowns with a number of further regions…

Today we are launching our new Redundancy Resource Hub for employers and HR professionals. Following the popularity of our Coronavirus Resource Hub over the last few months, and as we move forward into a period of change and uncertainty for many employers, we wanted to help as much as we can. So, we’ve been hard…

Updated: 27/07/2020 With effect from the 8th June, anyone who returned to the UK from being overseas who was not exempt due to their occupation or because they had travelled from the Common Travel Area, was required to self-isolate for 14 days. From 10 July 2020 individuals will not have to self-isolate when they arrive…

Back in December 2019 we spent some time looking at the legal responsibilities for employers when dealing with flexible working requests. Although this was written pre-Covid-19 pandemic, the legal framework remains the same. We look at who can submit a request, how employers should deal with requests, refusing a request if you need too and…

If it’s becoming apparent that your employees’ duties, work locations or times when work is done need to change when they return to work after a period of furlough leave, how do you achieve it? The first step is to identify whether you have the right to make the change in the contract, so start…

All employers are having to react to the challenges arising from the Coronavirus outbreak. For many, this means a switch to working from home for an extended period of time. Its unfamiliar territory for some, and can be especially tricky for managers with teams of people around them that they now need to manage remotely.…

Coronavirus is giving rise to a variety challenging employee relations issues. Whilst each case will need to be dealt with on its own merits, there are some common approaches that employers may wish to adopt as a framework to help make decisions when issues of a similar nature arise. We have put together a short…

All employers are having to react to the challenges arising from the Coronavirus outbreak. The welfare and protection of staff is paramount, coupled with the economic implications and consequent organisational changes. In particular, the advice around social distancing has resulted in many employers having to introduce measures for staff to work at home and stop…

We are being asked if the ability to access support via the Coronavirus Retention Scheme (furlough arrangements), or even just the urgency of the current situation overrides any collective consultation obligations. The answer is no. That said, you do not need to collectively consult if you simply agree any changes with employees directly. Where you…

In this extraordinarily challenging period, most employers are having to consider what changes they need to make to protect the business and to keep going (e.g. pay cuts; reduction in working hours; imposing lay-offs). Whilst such changes may need to be made as a matter of urgency to save the business, the law nonetheless requires…