#JustSaying.  They say that less is more. Res ipsa loquitur... “The thing speaks for itself”. Or, as the hashtag goes on Twitter: “Just Saying”. Could you sum up your career in 140 characters?  That’s what I’ve tried to do over the last two years – posting employment law tips on Twitter in 140 characters or fewer, using the hashtag #EmploymentLawTip. Forget the Latin maxims and legal prose ... just punchy tips on HR and employment law in bite-size chunks.  140 of them, no…

Lanyon Bowdler is delighted to announce the appointment of a new partner; employment solicitor Christopher Piggott.  



Joining the firm from national firm Irwin Mitchell, Christopher has specialised in employment law since qualifying as a solicitor in 1995.  He advises corporate plcs, national commercial clients and local SMEs on employment related issues and is the business…

Monitoring employees for potential disciplinary reasons is a standard part of the HR role, however a lack of awareness of how to do this within ICO guidelines and Data Protection best practice could end up in a costly tribunal for employers.

Do you monitor your employees? At a recent Employment Law Seminar¹, I asked that question and hardly anyone showed hands. So I asked if anyone used CCTV, indoors or outdoors. I asked if…

6^th March 2013

Stella English, the 2010 winner of BBC One’s hit show The Apprentice, is suing her ex-boss Lord Alan Sugar for constructive unfair dismissal claiming that she was forced to resign after being told that her contract with his company would not be renewed.

She claims that the job was a “sham” from the start and that she was nothing more than an “overpaid lackey” in the £100,000 a year role.

Ms English, 34, was crowned the winner of the sixth…

The European Court of Human Rights (“ECHR”) has today (15 January 2012) handed down its decision in Eweida and Others -v- the UK (please see our previous blog here for further information). The ECHR hearing took place on 4 September 2012.

The applicants in these four cases complained that domestic law had failed adequately to protect their rights to manifest their religion…

Laura Hillman, Digital Marketing Strategist, Speaker and Trainer, says that having the right Online Reputation Management Strategy (ORMS) in place is a ‘win-win’ for both your employees and your customers.

Reputation is everything. In today’s business world where clients have a seemingly limitless choice, their recommendation or condemnation can make or break your business. With over 1 billion Facebook users, 181…

Christmas presents: what's the worst that could happen? A novelty tie? Even more sinister than that...



Accepting a gift from a business contact could land you in hot water at work.  Since the Bribery Act came into force in 2011, companies have become more aware of the possibility of prosecution. Employers are keeping a closer eye than ever before on the giving and receiving of corporate gifts and hospitality.  



Before you discreetly edge that branded mousemat into a drawer;…

There are two sides to the employment relationship - employee and employer.  That much is clear.  What about an employment dispute?  When things go wrong in the workplace and it escalates into dispute, there may be a multitude of different positions and principles at play, but generally it will still boil down to those same two sides - employee and employer.

Despite the Government’s continued attempts over the years to improve procedures to resolve workplace disputes, conflict is…

1.       What is the minimum amount of annual holiday which an employer must provide to all workers?

a)       20 days per annum

b)       24 days per annum

c)       28 days per annum

2.       Can an employer refuse a request for annual holiday under the Working Time Regulations?

a)       Yes

b)       No

3.       How much notice of holiday do employees have to give…

Many employers are finding they need to change their employees Contracts of Employment. Usually this involves reduced hours of work appropriate to their Company’s changed circumstances.

The golden rule is that employers cannot impose changes on existing employees Contracts of Employment without individual staff agreement. Any changes made to contracts must be agreed with the individual staff member (or their representative).

Once agreed, the changes must be recorded in writing…

The latest in the on-going swathe of employment law reforms (see blog on the earlier proposed reforms here) was announced by Nick Clegg this week, who plans to introduce changes in how shared parental leave and flexible working are managed by 2015. Clegg is aiming to bring the rules on flexible working into the 21^st century, recognising that the needs of…

Yesterday Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister has announced that, from 2015 the government will introduce a new system of flexible parental leave and they will legislate to extend the right to request flexible working to all employees from 2014.

Nick Clegg stated that the current system of maternity leave is antiquated and “reform is long overdue and the changes we are making will shatter the perception that women have to be the primary care-givers. In future, both mothers and…

Women who worked at Birmingham City authority have won their fight for equal pay in the Supreme Court. The ruling which is already regarded as the biggest change to equal pay legislation since it was introduced in 1970 will have serious consequences for many employers, and pave the way for more claims in the private sector.

The judgement extends the time for workers to bring equal pay compensation claims from six months to six years, which could make claims more rewarding and…

At a recent business lunch, my interest was piqued by an unusual presentation. I am no technology wizard and the presentation started off in a technical direction, but soon drew my attention as an employment solicitor. The speaker in question was discussing the merits of an innovative (and cost-effective) new technology which offers options for employers to have a facility on their employees’ mobile phones that automatically sets off a ‘red alert’, in certain situations.

Suddenly, it…

Bethan Jones, a solicitor in the Lanyon Bowdler employment department summarises this recent case:

The Equality Act 2010, which came into force on 1 October 2010, combined and re-stated the previous legislation governing discrimination. One form of discrimination covered by both the Equality Act 2010 and the previous legislation is victimisation.…

Is the lure of owning an amount of shares, and not paying capital gains tax on the profit that those shares make (if any) a fair exchange for surrendering  some of your employment rights?

The Chancellor’s proposal as set out in his conference speech has about as much detail as a child’s sketch of a cloud so let’s consider the following scenario. You are invited to an interview for a new job. You are nervous.  Your interviewer explains that the company will give you some shares in…

Since 1 October 2011, agency workers have enjoyed equal treatment rights under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (AWR), the most significant of which – relating to basic working and employment conditions, including pay - accrue after 12 weeks in the same role, regardless of the number of different individual assignments.

It has now been a year since the much anticipated AWR came into force; so how have they impacted relevant businesses to date?

The CBI/Harvey Nash Employment…

As the seemingly never-ending wave of employment law reforms continue, the latest update from Vince Cable was released on 14 September 2012.

Key points to come out of this update are:

Idea of no-fault dismissal dropped and scope of protected conversations narrowed

As had been widely anticipated, these concepts have now been abandoned. No-fault dismissal did not receive positive feedback from employers or employees, and this is hardly surprising.…

On 4 September 2012 the European Court of Human Rights heard the combined appeals of Ladele and McFarlane v the United Kingdom [2011] ECHR 737 and Eweida and Chaplin v the United Kingdom [2011] ECHR 738. The Court considered whether the right to manifest religion or belief, as protected by Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, was breached when:

• Ms Ladele was disciplined for refusing to carry out civil partnership ceremonies;

• Mr McFarlane was dismissed for…