HR Articles

Mental health first aid bill (MHFA) presented to parliament may not become law, but HR would likely welcome the change. Giving Mental Health First Aid and Physical First Aid recognition in the eyes of the law would be an important demonstration of employers taking account of their peoples’ physical and mental health. 

In recent years, there has been a very significant movement from office-based to remote working, driven initially by the increasing attraction as an employee retention tool of flexible working and, of course, accelerated in a truly unforeseeable way by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year we witnessed various cases and important decisions affecting the employment legal landscape, including, Rodgers v Leeds Laser Cutting Limited (the first COVID-19-related unfair dismissal case to go to the Court of Appeal); Harpur Trust v Brazel (the Supreme Court case relating to holiday pay for part-time workers); and Tesco Stores Limited v USDAW and Ors (relating to firing and rehiring practices), to name a few.

2022 was quite the tumultuous year, with the UK and many in the wider world facing food and fuel shortages, political change, extreme weather, significant inflation, mass redundancies and widespread industrial action at levels not seen for a considerable amount of time.

The controversial practice of ‘quiet quitting’ in the workplace hit the headlines last year, with ‘loud quitting’ being the latest trend, but what do these mean, and will they have long-lasting effects?

On the heels of another year of major changes within the UK immigration system, we anticipate yet even more change in 2023. This is in large part due to the Home Office’s overarching plan to fully digitise the UK immigration system by the end of 2024.

This article starts with a confession! It is not actually about love. That was merely a hook to grab your attention. Hopefully you are not too disappointed, but this is an Employment Relations article after all. The article is very much about first sight and first impressions though.

There have been many factors at play which have shaped this year’s developments in data protection, in particular stemming from Brexit, Covid-19 pandemic, inflation and the war in Ukraine. We review the key developments of 2022 and what you should look out for in the New Year.

The Government has announced that employees will receive a day one right to request flexible working as part of plans to make flexible working the default position.

The UK immigration system has incurred major changes this year. These changes aim to transform and simplify the immigration rules, system and policies.