The Menopause Experts Group has found that there has been a 44% increase in Employment Tribunal claims citing the menopause. An analysis of court records revealed 23 cases cited the menopause in 2021, in contrast to 16 cases in 2020. In addition, referral to the word “menopause” increased by 75% in tribunal documents. Menopause Experts Group has suggested that employers should offer their workforce training about symptoms, signs and side-effects of the menopause.

These findings follow a report recently published by the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee titled “Menopause and the Workplace” which emphasises that there is much more that employers should do to help their workforce. They recommend solutions such as practical adjustments, additional flexibility, and fostering greater respect and understanding of the menopause within the workplace.

On a greater scale, the report calls on the government to appoint a Menopause Ambassador to champion good practice, produce model menopause policies and trial specific menopause leave with a large public sector employer.

Given the Football World Cup’s popularity as a global sporting event (and the involvement of the Wales and England national teams) it is advisable for employers to take time to prepare effective policies and procedures prior to its commencement. The competition is scheduled to take place between November 21 and December 18 this year.

Before the previous World Cup in 2018, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (‘Acas’) gave advice to employers on how they could approach the employment challenges that could arise in light of the competition. These guidelines remain relevant in 2022.

Pertinent advice for employers to bear in mind includes the following points:

• Time Off – It is suggested that employers, where possible, offer flexible working options around this period. There should also be acknowledgment that it may sometimes be difficult for staff to book time off in advance. Acas has previously suggested that employers may seek to allow staff to take their lunch breaks during match times. Taking this further, employers could choose to screen matches in the workplace.
  • Note that it is advisable that a consistent approach to other major sporting events should be taken when granting leave. Not everyone will be interested in the Football World Cup. Such persons may prefer other sports and are likely to expect similar treatment when their preferred sporting tournament appears on the sporting calendar.
  • Similarly, to ensure a harmonious working environment, it is important for management to set employees’ expectations as to whether they are likely to be allowed time off work or not. It may be pertinent to inform workers that there is no legal requirement for employers to give time off for any sporting fixture.
• Social Media – Employers may wish to remind their employees of their social media policies as there could be a spike in social media use throughout the World Cup period.
  • Additionally, employers may want to train and/or instruct their human resources teams on appropriate and effective employee monitoring and enforcement of the social media policy during this time.
  • Despite the above, businesses should remain mindful to avoid imposing unnecessary and disproportionate restrictions on social media usage. If disproportionate restrictions are imposed, this could weaken employee morale, without any benefit to the company in terms of protecting its productivity or reputation.
• Sickness Absence and Attendance – Employers should be aware that sickness absence and late attendance may increase throughout this period. It may therefore be advisable for absence and attendance to be more carefully monitored.
  • Employers should remind employees of their procedures for reporting sickness. If there is no set procedure for this, one should be put in place and communicated to employees.
  • Additionally, employers should remind their workforce of their policy on unauthorised absence. Normally this will mean that failing to turn up for work or leaving early without a reasonable explanation is a disciplinary matter.
• Alcohol and Substance Misuse – Employers should review their substance misuse policy and restate its provisions to employees. If there is no policy on substance misuse, one should be drafted and relayed to staff.
  • For example, if there is a policy on not drinking alcohol during office hours it would be good practice to remind staff of this so they are clear on the rules and are not tempted to breach them, whether intentionally or inadvertently.
• Employee Interactions – Employees may become emotionally invested in the competition. This could lead to verbal and/or physical altercations.
  • As employers are responsible for preventing bullying and harassment they should ensure they have an anti-bullying and harassment policy and that this is up-to-date. Its provisions, and the consequences of any breach of policy, should be clearly communicated to staff.
  • Furthermore, supposed ‘friendly’ banter can be perceived by some as discriminatory. An employee could feel harassed, especially if someone is making comments about people or players from a different nation. Again. increased awareness of the potential for this to cause issues in the workplace should be facilitated via communication of the business’ discrimination and harassment policy to staff.
• Optimism and Opportunity – Finally, employers should recognise that the Football World Cup, rather than representing a danger to effective workplace interactions, can be seen as an excellent opportunity for employees and colleagues to connect and for the business to facilitate and embed good working practices. It can provide the real prospect of enhancing teamwork and camaraderie by demonstrating an organisation’s flexibility and support for its employee’s interests, thereby improving worker morale and productivity.

Following the Jubilee weekend and the recent half term holidays, thousands of travellers are thought be stuck abroad due to cancelled flights and delays at airports. These travel disruptions are said to be caused by staff shortages in the industry, following staff cut-backs during the covid-19 pandemic. Below, we take a look at the employment law implications for employers and employees in the event that an employee is stranded abroad.

1. Check the employment contract and workplace policy 

If an employee is unable to come to work it is vital that the employer checks the employee’s employment contract.

2. Wages

Employees are only entitled to be paid wages for work they have done. If employees are unable to attend work and carry out their contractual duties, subject to their employment contract or any workplace policies, the employer is under no obligation to pay them.

3. Can employees request annual leave?

It may be possible to ask the employee to agree to take the time off as holiday (if they have any annual leave remaining).  Most employees would be happy to do this as it means they are still receiving some form of pay.

4. Can we force employees to take annual leave?

Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, employers requiring employees to take holiday must give them at least twice as much notice as the length of that holiday. For example, a requirement to take one week’s leave must be given with at least two weeks’ notice.

5. Remote working

As a result of the covid-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in employees who are able to work remotely. If the employee is able to work remotely during this period and you agree to this, then they should be paid for work done. Employers should take into account data protection issues should an employee work remotely from abroad. If the employee is working in a country outside the European Economic Area, special care will need to be taken to ensure data transfers are complaint with the General Data Protection Regulation.  

6. Disciplinary action

Failing to return from holiday on time may constitute an unauthorised absence.

As with any unauthorised absence, this a potential disciplinary matter and may be cause for an investigation. Following the investigation an employer may conclude that disciplinary action is warranted, however, if the employee has a genuine reason for the unauthorised absence – such as unforeseen travel disruption that is beyond their control, and they made effort to contact the employer to advise them of this, there is unlikely to be a disciplinary case to answer.

On 6 April 2022, new regulations came into force concerning right to work checks. These regulations amend the right to work check scheme which requires employers to ascertain whether they have the right to work in the UK by checking the immigration status of prospective employees.

Using identification document validation technology (IDVT) service providers.

As a result of these changes, employers may now use IDVT service providers to digitally verify the identity of British and Irish citizens with valid passports. This is an alternative to conducting a manual right to work check. If an employer decides to use an IDVT provider, in order to have a statutory excuse from paying a civil penalty for employing an illegal worker, they must:

• obtain a clear copy of the IDVT identity check and the document checked in a format that cannot be altered;
• reasonably believe that the IDVT service provider has complied with its obligations set out in the regulations;
• be satisfied that the photograph in the completed check is of the employee in question;
• retain a clear copy of the identity check and the document checked for at least 2 years following the end of their employment. 

Biometric Cards

The new regulations removes various documents from the lists of acceptable documents for right to work checks – this includes biometric cards.

Biometric cards must not be used to access the Home Office online right to work checking service to evidence their right to work in the UK.

Expired Passports

The new regulations allow British citizens to use expired passports to satisfy right to work checks.

Over 600 employers have signed the Menopause Workplace Pledge – a campaign led by Wellbeing of Women.

In signing the pledge, employers are recognising that menopause can be an issue in the workplace for which employees need support. Employers are pledging to ensure open, positive and respectful discussions about the menopause and to take active steps to support employees.

Examples of employers who have pledged include:

• Royal Mail;
• Tesco;
• The BBC;
• National Grid;
• M&S Bank;
• Co-op; and
• AstraZeneca.

Following their pledge, Royal Mail have started an internal campaign to normalise conversations about menopause, and Tesco plans to incorporate breathable fabric into its uniform to help with hot flushes.

The Agricultural Wages (Wales) Order 2022 came into force on 22 April 2022.

The order replaces and revokes the Agricultural Wages (Wales) Order 2020.

The changes consist of:

• A new grading structure – providing a genuine entry level grade and rewarding individuals who undertake an apprenticeship;
• Minimum hourly rates of pay for agricultural workers;
• New provisions in relation to daily rest and weekly rest in line with the Working Time Regulations 1998.

The Order can be viewed at: The Agricultural Wages (Wales) Order 2022 (legislation.gov.uk)

In a remedy judgement that took nearly 6 months to draft, BNP Paribas London Branch (the “Bank”) were ordered to pay £2 million in compensation to an employee, Ms Macken, following a successful equal pay, direct sex discrimination and victimisation claim.

At the remedy hearing, it was accepted that Ms Macken’s injury had been caused by the Bank’s discrimination. This injury will prevent her from returning to her previous role at the bank – or any role which will pay her more than the benefits she receives under the Bank’s permanent health insurance (PHI) scheme. Ms Macken’s prognosis means she will qualify for benefits under the PHI scheme until retirement.

The tribunal held that the best way for Ms Macken to mitigate her future losses was to remain employed by the Bank and to continue receiving PHI payments for 15 years, until retirement.

The compensation of £2,081,449.70 paid to Ms Macken included payments for:

• Past losses of £614,461.95, comprising £401,797.86 for equal pay and £212.664.09 for personal injury;
• Future losses of £860,120.11;
• Additional compensation of £124,315, including an injury to feelings award of £35,000 and aggravated damages of £15,000; and
• Adjustments of £479,789.57, including an Acas uplift of £317,016.34.

The Bank was also ordered to carry out an equal pay audit under regulation 2 of the Equal Pay Audit Regulations 2014, and this is believed to be the first case in which the tribunal has ordered such an audit.

On 6 April 2022, new regulations came into force concerning right to work checks. These regulations amend the right to work check scheme, which requires employers to ascertain whether employees have the right to work in the UK by checking the immigration status of prospective candidates. Revised codes of practice have also come into force.

Subject to certain requirement, employers may now use identification document validation technology (IDVT) service providers to digitally verify the identity of British and Irish citizens with valid passports. This is an alternative to conducting a manual right to work check.

The new regulations remove various documents from the lists of acceptable documents for right to work checks, including biometric cards and permit British citizens to use expired passports to satisfy right to work checks.

The new National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) rates have come into effect as of 1 April 2022.

The new rates are:

• NLW (ages 23+) – £9.50 up from £8.91
• NMW (21-22) – £9.18 up from £8.36
• NMW (18-20) – £6.83 up from £6.56
• NMW (16-17) – £4.81 up from £4.62
• Apprenticeship Wage – £4.81 up from £4.30

A higher proportion of black and ethnic minority workers (4.3%) are on zero-hours contracts than their white colleagues (3%) an analysis of data from the Office for National Statistics has shown.

The analysis also found that black women are almost twice as likely to be on zero-hours contracts when compared to white men. The authors of the analysis, the TUC, stated that these results show “structural racism in action”.

As a result of these findings, there have been increased demands to ban zero-hours contracts in the “Employment Bill” which is currently in its second reading in the House of Commons.

A recent report from the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales has recommended that a four-day working week should be trialled in Wales.

Key findings from the report, which was created alongside the think-tank Autonomy, included the fact that 76% of the Welsh public supported sharing work to create a good work/life balance and 62% of them would prefer a four-day week or less.

The report proposes that shorter working hours should be piloted in the public sector, with the private sector being encouraged to adopt shorter hours as well. Trade unions should also be supported to negotiate shorter hours.

According to the report, the shorter hours pilot will increase productivity and create 38,000 extra jobs in Wales.

As part of their plans to stop the “cycle of crime”, the Government will introduce regulations later this year to allow prisoners in open prisons (who are on day release or near to the end of their sentence) to access apprenticeships.

According to a Government survey undertaken last year, 9/10 businesses reported that ex-offenders they had hired were trustworthy and reliable. Prisoners can already study, train and work whilst serving their sentence, but latest Government proposals will allow them to apply from apprenticeship opportunities in “vital” sectors such as “hospitality and construction”.

The Government hopes that the apprenticeships scheme will allow prisoners to access top-quality training and increase the number of ex-offenders who leave prison with jobs.

Last year, the Government introduced a policy in which vaccinations against COVID-19 were made mandatory for health and social workers (unless exempt) who worked in regulated care homes in England. In April 2022, this mandatory requirement was broadened to also include those health and social care workers who meet with service users in person.

Since then, in light of changing medical guidance, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has voiced his desire to revoke the mandatory vaccination requirement for both sets of health and social care workers.

Despite their wish to revoke the mandatory vaccination requirement, the Government still believes that it is part of health and social care workers’ professional duty to be vaccinated. As such, the Government is reinforcing this duty in numerous ways, such as requesting that the NHS review its hiring policy so that it considers a candidate’s vaccination status. COVID-19 testing will also continue throughout the health and social care sector.

A recent High Court case granted the exceptional remedy of declaratory relief and prohibited Tesco from terminating and re-employing several of its warehouse workers.

The workers, through their union, brought a claim to the High Court to stop Tesco from terminating their current contracts and re-engaging them under new contracts which did not include an entitlement to increased pay. This entitlement formed part of their current contracts and had been introduced through a collective agreement as an incentive to retain employees when Tesco was substantially restructuring its warehouse operations.

Tesco had sought to avoid the workers’ entitlement to increased pay through terminating their current contracts and re-engaging the workers on new contracts which did not include this entitlement, however the collective agreement provided that the entitlement was permanent and could only be amended mutually or through promotion.

The workers’ claim was successful, with the High Court specifying the term of the contract regarding the entitlement and prohibiting Tesco from terminating the contract to avoid paying the employees the increased pay, as it would materially reduce the remuneration currently paid to the workers.

A report from the Institute for Public Policy Research and University College London published earlier this year has shown substantial differences amongst age groups, ethnicities and lower income earners in access to sick pay.

Key findings include that employees over 65 are substantially more likely to struggle to access sick pay as opposed to workers aged 25-44, as are South Asian workers when compared to white British workers.

Additionally, the report suggested that the statutory sick pay (SSP) system should be reformed, and it made recommendations such as the lower earnings limit threshold being abolished, SSP being payable from the first day of illness and the SSP rate being upgraded to up to £2,500 per month.

An international London law firm has introduced a policy which reduces the pay for those employees who decide to continue to work from home on a full-time and permanent basis by 20%.

Stephenson Harwood, a large law firm which employs 1100 people worldwide, has recently announced that those employees who continue to work from home will be paid 20% less than their colleagues who work on a hybrid basis between home and the office.

The policy does not mean that those working from home are exempt from attending the office, however with the firm requiring that they visit the office once a month (with their travel and accommodation expenses for doing so being covered by the firm). Associates have also been warned that they are unlikely to be promoted to “partner” should they adopt the full-time working from home practice.

Staff at the London firm may already work from home twice a week, so it is not anticipated that many will adopt the 20% pay reduction for a full-time basis.

With the Government also encouraging civil servants to return to the office, it will be interesting to see if any further organisations follow suit in trying to entice employees back into the office.