4 summer employment issues

Here are some tips for employers dealing with summer employment issues: Office temperatures The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 state that the temperature in the workplace needs to be “reasonable”. Reasonableness will depend on the nature of the workplace. Time off Where a holiday request is denied and an employee fails to turn up to work, an employer should investigate the matter and determine whether the employee has a genuine reason for failing to show up to work before jumping to any conclusions. Following the investigation, if it becomes apparent that the employee had…

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How employers should approach Ramadan in the workplace

Ramadan is a period of religious observance for Muslims, which includes fasting from sunrise to sunset. Here are some tips on how employers can support those employees observing Ramadan: Policy Employers should ensure that a policy on religious observance is in place as the absence of such a policy could lead to allegations of religious discrimination.  By having a policy employee will become familiar with what the business is trying to achieve and should have a positive effect on employees. Productivity levels Employers should be aware that the productivity level of those employees fasting from sunrise…

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Menopause and the workplace

We understand menopause has been a long-ignored issue in the workplace and it may not be a comfortable topic to discuss with a manager. It’s surprising in today’s day and age, menopause is overlooked in the workplace. Here we highlight two cases where women have been discriminated against as a result of their menopausal transition. In Merchant vs BT plc, Ms Merchant was dismissed for poor performance, even though, she had given her manager a doctor’s letter explaining that she was “going through menopause which can affect her level of concentration at times”. BT’s performance management policy required investigations to…

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Legislative reform following Supreme Court decision in Pimlico Plumbers?

The Supreme Court recently found in favour of Gary Smith, a self-employed plumber and heating engineer who worked for Pimlico Plumbers for six years. But in doing so, did it make new law? The Supreme Court ruling in this case may have significant ramifications for self-employed workers, especially those in the gig economy, such as Deliveroo and Uber. The Supreme Court ruled that despite being VAT-registered and paying tax as a self-employed individual, the claimant was entitled to employment rights, such as holiday and sick pay. The Court took into account certain factors in rejecting Pimlico Plumber’s argument that Smith…

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Primark’s transgender discrimination case

A Primark employee was constructively dismissed after being harassed for being transgender. An employment tribunal told Primark to adopt a policy on how to deal with transgender staff after it found an employee was discriminated against for being transgender. The employment tribunal held that this was a case of direct gender reassignments discrimination as the store failed to handle the matter appropriately. The employee was awarded £47,433.03 in compensation to cover injury to feelings and loss of pay and pension contributions.  Contact Partners Employment Lawyers in London Today Our Employment Lawyers are based in London and work with business clients…

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