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Employment Law News - February 2008 Newsletter |
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| THE BIG BIG CHARITY BASH, 2008. |
 The first Big Big Charity Bash in 2005 was an enormous success raising over £7000 for local charities. This year's bash promises to be even better - if that's possible!
An evening of fun and frivolity is planned for Friday 28th March, 2008 at the new MK Football Stadium. The evening kicks off at 7.30pm with a pre-dinner Cocktail reception, followed by a magnificent three course meal. During the meal, music is provided by ChristAL, followed by a night of dancing with King Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys as well as a disco. Fund raising activities will also make the night go with a bang - an auction, table raffle and a roll-a-dice to win a SMART car competition!
Tickets are available at £60 a head, or £575 for a table of ten. To book your place at this exciting event, then please email without delay!
Donations or auction and raffle prizes will also be gratefully received! |
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| MATERNITY AND RISK ASSESSMENTS |
Whether you have a member of staff pregnant or not, is immaterial when it comes to conducting a risk assessment of risks posed to new or expectant mothers. Under Regulation 16 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, all employers with female staff of child bearing age (rather than simply those with staff who are pregnant)are required to conduct such risk assessments.
Failing to comply with these regulations may indeed amount to sexual discrimination!
With reference to a recent case where the risk assessment for a pregnant staff member was carried out 13 days after she announced her pregnancy, the Employment Appeals Tribunal found that the woman had been discriminated against. They commented that "an employer should have such an assessment in place for each undertaking where workers include women of child rearing age."
Unless you wish to find yourself in such a predicament, may we suggest you carry out such risk assessments immediately. |
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| STATUTORY PAYMENTS |
From the 6 April 2008 the statutory payments for the following will increase.
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will increase from £72.55 to £75.40 per week
Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) and Statutory Adoptive Pay (SAP) will increase from £112.75 to £117.18 payable at the applicable rate for the qualifying weeks.
The weekly lower earnings threshold with be £90.00 per week. |
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| LATE NIGHT TAXIS FOR EMPLOYEES |
New guidance is now available on the tax implications where an employee is provided with a late-night taxi paid for by their employer for a journey home from work. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) states that this constitutes a benefit to the employee because a journey from an employee's home to their permanent place of work is a private journey.
However, it is possible to treat this benefit as being tax exempt if the number of taxi journeys is no more than 60 per year and specific late night conditions are met. However, HMRC stresses that it is not safe to assume that the first 60 journeys are tax exempt, regardless of the circumstances necessitating the taxi. For a journey to be tax exempt, the following conditions must be met:
the employee must have been required to work later than usual, and at least until 9pm.
this must be an irregular occurence
public transport must be unavailable or it must be unreasonable to expect the employee to use public transport
the transport must be by taxi or similar road transport
As an employer you are expected to keep sufficient records and have the necessary checks in place to show that the conditions set out above are met in all cases. It is worth noting that no tax charges arise where transport is laid on between home and work for a disabled employee. |
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| DID YOU KNOW? |
| Q:What are return-to-work interviews? |
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A: Such interviews are a very effective method of dealing with suspect sickness absence claims. They are held when the employee returns to work, but should be carried out for everyone returning to work after an absence that was not pre-arranged.
The interview is only an investigatory meeting and not disciplinary, so the employee is not entitled to bring a companion along. However, you are entitled to allow them to do is if you so wish. Do think carefully about who is permitted to hold the interview as you may be discussing intimate medical matters. It is wise to chose someone of an appropriate gender or ethnic group, and to ensure that they are fully trained.
Do ask questions politely, but directly and be sure to make a note of the employee's answers. Certain answers should be looked for:
date of absence
reason for absence
nature of the illness
what medical attention was sought
what remedies were applied
why proper reporting procedures were not followed (if appropriate)
If you are satisifed that the absence was genuine, then do offer sympathy and be understanding. Offering help in settling back in, perhaps with a lighter workload, or fewer hours, would certainly give out the message to other employees. that those with genuine absences will be well treated if they try to keep their absences to a minimum.
If you are satisfied that the claim is indeed false, then inform the employee that you will be taking the appropriate disciplinary action. As this is still an investigation at this point, do not give a warning there and then. |
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Crispin Rhodes, a UK based company that provides human resources and outsourced personnel services in Milton Keynes and surrounding areas. |
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