Month: May 2019

How to check if someone has the right to work in the UK

How to check if someone has the right to work in the UK

When checking someone’s right to work in the UK, you’ll need to view valid documentation and make and save a copy of these. Failing to do so for everyone you employ is breaking the law, so you need to ensure it’s a routine part of your recruitment process. Why is...

11 things you must do to recruit legally

11 things you must do to recruit legally

Looking to recruit but are unsure what you should be considering? Do not worry, a lot of people we speak to everyday ask similar questions. There are a number of steps employers must take to stay on the right side of the law when it comes to recruiting employees. Much...

How many days unpaid leave is an employee entitled to?

How many days unpaid leave is an employee entitled to?

Unpaid leave in the UK is when an employee takes time off and has no legal right to be paid for it. An employer’s obligations to agree to unpaid leave and how much to give are quite blurry and can cause some confusion. Reasons for taking unpaid leave The reasons for...

Time off for dependants

Time off for dependants

All employees have a legal right to a reasonable amount of unpaid time off work to deal with emergency situations affecting their dependants. This is typically known as 'time off for dependants' or 'dependant leave'. But what is a ‘reasonable amount’ of time? And what...

Managing HR in retirement planning services

Managing HR in retirement planning services

Anna Hall is Practice Manager for Retirement Planning Specialists, Sound Financial Planning. On taking over as Practice Manager, Anna wanted to make sure internal issues were correctly dealt with in line with current employment law. And with the business looking to...

When does paternity leave start?

When does paternity leave start?

Paternity Leave - unlike Shared Parental leave, which can be taken in blocks - must be taken in one go. The maximum leave available is two consecutive weeks, but some employees opt to only take one week. So far, so simple. Where the most confusion occurs is around...

What is Shared Parental Leave?

What is Shared Parental Leave?

Shared Parental Leave (SPL) is an entitlement of up to 50 weeks of leave that can be shared between two parents in place of Maternity Leave. If you’re not familiar with Shared Parental Leave, you’re definitely not alone! Despite the government’s ‘Share the Joy’...

Employee off sick after annual leave refused

Employee off sick after annual leave refused

It’s a tricky one; you’ve refused annual leave for an employee, and when the requested day arrives, they call in sick. Of course, they could genuinely be ill, but you’re suspicious. What can you do? Take great care when addressing this with your employee, as you don’t...

Bank holiday entitlement for part time workers

Bank holiday entitlement for part time workers

Take one part-time employee who always works on Monday, and another who never does. Does only the Monday worker benefit from paid leave for the bank holiday Mondays? In short, no. Employees should be treated equally, and this includes bank holiday entitlement too....

What to include in an annual leave policy

What to include in an annual leave policy

A robust, legally compliant annual leave policy, setting out how your business manages requests for annual leave, is something all organisations should have. A good policy will let your employees know everything they need to do and can expect around requesting annual...

Holiday pay: When to include overtime in calculations?

Holiday pay: When to include overtime in calculations?

New holiday pay ruling around overtime indicates that when voluntary overtime has been carried out with a degree of regularity, it should be included in the holiday pay calculation. But what does a regular pattern look like? In this post, we’ll explore what the recent...