Most charities rely heavily on voluntary workers but it should never be assumed that benevolence equates to honesty. In one case, the treasurer of a Women’s Institute branch fleeced the organisation of more than £17,000 over an eight-year period.
Multinational companies frequently move their operations between countries – but how do to the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) impact on their search for value? The issue was strikingly raised by a case in which a Yorkshire-based office worker offered to follow his job to the Philippines – but only if he continued to be paid his UK salary.
Employment tribunal judges should be allowed more leeway to hear disputes that are brought outside of the time limit for bringing a claim, an MP has suggested.
Conservative Mike Penning will use an adjournment debate in parliament today to call for more ‘autonomy’ for judges when they decide whether or not to hear a case.
Following a consultation, the Presidents of the Employment Tribunal have issued revised guidance on the amount of compensation payable for injury to feelings in discrimination cases (the ‘Vento’ bands).
When a compensation award is made to the victim of an accident, the actual amount of the settlement is adjusted to take into account the interest the claimant can expect to earn by investing it. This is achieved by applying a ‘discount rate’, or ‘Ogden rate’ to the sum awarded. Traditionally, the percentage rate applied has been linked to returns on lowest-risk investments – typically index-linked gilts. The lower the rate, the higher the compensation award.
Aldi Stores Ltd have been fined £1 million and ordered to pay £70,000 in cost after a delivery driver who had only worked for the firm for two weeks suffered severe injuries to his foot while operating an electric pallet truck at one of its stores.
It is described, perversely, as a team-building exercise; it is reported that, as a forfeit for missing their weekly sales targets, staff at Central Claims Group – a call centre – in Bury are made to lie down on the floor while a good-sized squid is placed, or dropped, on their faces. It could be worse – it’s not a live squid, so it can’t sucker itself on to your mouth and nose, and it’s raw, so at least you know it hasn’t been overcooked.
Call centre turnover, employee churn, agent attrition – it’s a big issue for any business. The call centre industry in particular has typically higher turnover rates than businesses in other industries. Life as a call centre agent or customer service representative tends to come with an infamous reputation. Typically high-stress, low-paying, and repetitive work means it’s difficult for call centres to retain their staff.
Paying the National Minimum Wage (NMW) is a strict legal requirement and employers that fail to do so can be hit with punitive penalties. In one case, an employment agency that laid on thousands of underpaid workers at a warehouse received a six-figure fine.
Some contracts are better drafted than others, but the courts are always keen to give effect to the intentions of the parties and are equally reluctant to find that provisions are void for uncertainty. Those points were clearly made in a case concerning a subcontract to install a new airport baggage handling facility.