Category: Policies and procedures

Q. How do we manage bank holiday entitlement for the King’s Coronation?

The Government has announced an additional bank holiday on 8 May 2023, to celebrate the King’s Coronation. This means that there will be three bank holidays in May 2023. Employers need to look at how they will approach the additional bank holiday. This will be determined to some extent by the wording in employees’ contracts of employment. For example, where the contract entitles employees to take leave on “all bank and public holidays”, the employer will be required to grant the extra day as leave. Even if the employer is…

25th April 2023

Q. How to deal with inappropriate behaviour that could be linked to a disability.

In McQueen v General Optical Council, the EAT explored an issue that is familiar to a number of employers: the difficult question as to when misbehaviour/poor conduct is claimed to be linked to a disability. The Claimant had a number of conditions amounting to disabilities (described by the EAT as dyslexia, symptoms of Asperger’s syndrome, neurodiversity and left-sided hearing loss). It was accepted that he was a disabled person within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010. The appeal issue revolved around two “meltdown” incidents. In the first, the Claimant…

25th April 2023

Q. Someone told me that all EU law could be thrown out at the end of 2023 – this can’t be right?

This is more commonly referred to as the revocation of retained EU law and this applies to EU law that was incorporated into UK law as a result of Brexit. If the proposal goes ahead as planned, government departments will have until the end of the year to decide which EU retained laws should expire and which should be kept. This has a potential impact on areas including working time, TUPE, agency workers and fixed-term contract, and much more, so watch this space! Logic tells me that surely, we wouldn’t…

25th April 2023

Q. How do I calculate a part time workers holiday allowance?

This is a question we are asked all of the time! Ultimately, this is a basic maths question and if you want to find out what holiday a part time worker is entitled to, the first thing that you need to be able to work out is the % of their hours versus a full time worker. So, if someone is working 20 hours a week and your full time working hours are 37.5 hours per week, its 20/37.5 * 100 = their pro rata % which in this case…

25th April 2023

Q. Should I deal with my employee’s poor performance via the disciplinary procedure or the capability procedure?

When deciding whether performance issues should be dealt with through a capability procedure or a disciplinary procedure, you need to decide whether the poor performance amounts to misconduct or is indeed best placed as capability matter. There is a difference between a capability procedure and a disciplinary procedure, and both capability and conduct are potentially fair reasons for dismissing an employee. However, whether it’s a disciplinary or a capability matter, it’s important that a fair procedure is followed for those with over 2 years’ service to reduce the risk of…

25th April 2023

Q. There is an extra Bank Holiday in May for the Kings Coronation – do we have to allow people the day off, and do we have to pay them for it?

The additional bank holiday has been permitted by the UK Government, and under UK employment law, employers therefore do not have to grant the day as annual leave. It does not form an additional holiday entitlement to the 5.6 weeks’ annual leave awarded to employees under the Working Time Regulations 1998 The wording of employees’ contracts of employment will determine whether employers should allow staff to take an additional day off. Contracts which refer to the right to take “all public or bank holidays”, for example, may mean you have…

4th April 2023

Q. What are the new minimum wage payments?

The minimum wage rates for all age groups have increased significantly this year, so please make sure that you have implemented these changes from 1st April and don’t have anyone that falls below these rates on your payroll. Get in touch to see how we can help you. You can book your FREE 15 minute consultation with a member of the Meraki HR team here.…

4th April 2023

Q. Can I retract an offer of employment based on the outcome of a DBS check?

Yes you can, as long as you have made it clear that the offer of employment was “conditional” to them having a DBS check that you deem to be satisfactory. This really depends on how your offer of employment is made to your prospective employee, and one of the key reasons we suggest a formal offer letter is used when making an offer of employment. However, you should only request information about an applicant’s criminal convictions if the information can be justified in terms of the role being offered. If…

4th April 2023

Q. Does a former employee have the right to see a reference we have provided for them?

You are not required to provide a reference for employees unless there is an express term in their contract of employment stating that you will do so. If you decide to provide a reference, you must take reasonable care to ensure that the information you provide is accurate and fair without being misleading. If an employee wishes to see a copy of a reference that has been provided to their prospective employer, they could make a Data Subject Access Request, often known as a Subject Access Request (SAR) in accordance…

4th April 2023

Culture and change

Four-day-week trial proves a huge success as organisers hail ‘breakthrough moment’

It seems that it’s not just Meraki HR who are adopting a 4 day working week – as most of the companies taking part in the UK’s recent four-day-week trial, plan to continue with the new working arrangement, citing improvements to productivity, work/life balance and recruitment. Between June and December last year, around 2,900 workers enjoyed an extra day off every week as part of the biggest trial of the four-day-work week in the UK. The test saw 61 companies adopt a ‘100-80-100’ model, where employees would work 80% of…

4th April 2023

Category: Policies and procedures

Q. How do we manage bank holiday entitlement for the King’s Coronation?

Q. How to deal with inappropriate behaviour that could be linked to a disability.

Q. Someone told me that all EU law could be thrown out at the end of 2023 – this can’t be right?

Q. How do I calculate a part time workers holiday allowance?

Q. Should I deal with my employee’s poor performance via the disciplinary procedure or the capability procedure?

Q. There is an extra Bank Holiday in May for the Kings Coronation – do we have to allow people the day off, and do we have to pay them for it?

Q. What are the new minimum wage payments?

Q. Can I retract an offer of employment based on the outcome of a DBS check?

Q. Does a former employee have the right to see a reference we have provided for them?

Four-day-week trial proves a huge success as organisers hail ‘breakthrough moment’

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Meraki HR South:
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Swindon
SN1 5DG

Meraki HR North:
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South Lakeland House,
Angel Yard, 21-23 Highgate,
Kendal, LA9 4DY

Meraki HR South:
Unit 5 - The Workshed,
London Street,
Swindon
SN1 5DG

Meraki HR North:
Suite 4, Kendal Business Hub,
South Lakeland House,
Angel Yard, 21-23 Highgate,
Kendal, LA9 4DY

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Category: Policies and procedures

Filter by

Services

Resources

About

Connect

Meraki HR South:Registered Address:Unit 5 - The Workshed, London Street, SwindonSN1 5DG

Meraki HR North:Office Location:Suite 4, Kendal Business Hub, South Lakeland House, Angel Yard, 21-23 Highgate, Kendal, LA9 4DY

Meraki HR South: Unit 5 - The Workshed, London Street, SwindonSN1 5DG

Meraki HR North: Suite 4, Kendal Business Hub, South Lakeland House, Angel Yard, 21-23 Highgate, Kendal, LA9 4DY

Your people | our passion | your success

© 2022 Meraki HR Solutions Ltd, Terms & Conditions | Privacy & Cookies | Sitemap

Meraki HR South:
Registered Address:
Unit 5 - The Workshed,
London Street,
Swindon
SN1 5DG

Meraki HR North:
Office Location:
Suite 4, Kendal Business Hub,
South Lakeland House,
Angel Yard, 21-23 Highgate,
Kendal, LA9 4DY

Meraki HR South:
Unit 5 - The Workshed,
London Street,
Swindon
SN1 5DG

Meraki HR North:
Suite 4, Kendal Business Hub,
South Lakeland House,
Angel Yard, 21-23 Highgate,
Kendal, LA9 4DY