HR Articles

Subject Access Requests (SARs) are on the rise as more and more data is collected for social, personal and work purposes. In particular, we have noticed a significant increase within the context of employment and/or workplace disputes.

Following the implementation of the new points-based system for UK sponsors, the Home Office has published a white paper detailing their proposed plan and timeline for the roll-out of the delivery of the forthcoming changes to the sponsorship process.

As the UK economy continues to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions of the last 18 months, the number of job vacancies are reaching record highs.

The pandemic has seen employees re-evaluate their working habits and some may try to change their working terms and conditions e.g., working one day less a week, changing their hours and/or place of work. Employees will need to seek approval from their employers. 

Speculators predicted a surge in redundancies this autumn as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme comes to an end on the 30th September. However, this surge doesn’t appear to be forthcoming.  

There were 835,000 job vacancies recorded by the Office of National Statistics between May and July 2021 and, this is good news as it shows the economy is recovering from the pandemic. However, organisations must review their recruitment procedures to ensure they are compliant with anti-discrimination laws.

Following positive feedback about the ability to conduct right to work checks remotely, the end date for the adjusted checks has been extended to 5 April 2022.

The latest round in a bitterly fought contest in California over employment status, could set the tone for the gig economy and beyond. 

Employees with two year’s continuous service have the right not to be unfairly dismissed (and no length of services is required in cases of ‘automatically unfair’ dismissals). But can a dismissal be deemed fair without an appeal hearing? 

Sexual harassment in the workplace has been against the law for decades, but the UK Government has confirmed it will take steps to introduce a new legal duty in this area ’when parliamentary time allows’.