News & insights
Royal Assent for changes to flexible working legislation
Further to the CEFMinform article on flexible working, posted in December 2022, the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 received Royal Assent on 20 July 2023. The measures contained in the Act are expected to come into force in about a year’s time. What is changing? Under the Act, the following amendments have been made to the Employment Rights […]
Read MoreUpdated Burgundy Book – 2023 edition available
The conditions of service for school teachers in England and Wales, more commonly known as the Burgundy Book, have been updated for the first time since August 2000. The Burgundy Book represents the national agreement between the five teacher unions (NAHT, NASUWT, NEU, ASCL and Community) and the Local Government Association (LGA) and the National Employers’ […]
Read MoreDfE updates its statutory guidance on school suspensions and permanent exclusions
New guidance has been issued by the DfE to support schools and academies dealing with suspension and permanent exclusion. The main changes include: Guidance on a headteacher’s ability to cancel an exclusion before a governing board meeting to consider reinstatement. Allowing governing board reinstatement meetings and independent review panels (IRPs) to be held remotely (virtually) […]
Read MorePearson examiner and worker status
The National Education Union (NEU) recently brought a test case seeking worker status for one of its members, who works for the exam board Pearson Education Limited. During COVID-19, NEU members started contacting the union because Pearson had refused to furlough these individuals, stating that they were self-employed. However, HMRC believed they were employed and, […]
Read MoreRoyal Assent for ‘family friendly’ legislation
On 24 May 2023, three ‘family friendly’ Bills received Royal Assent, to become: The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act. The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act. The Carer’s Leave Act. The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act Under this Act, employed parents, whose baby has been admitted to neonatal care for a […]
Read MoreGovernment introduces policy paper ‘Smarter regulation to grow the economy’
On 10 May 2023, the Department for Business and Trade released its policy paper on regulatory reform in the post-Brexit era. Regulation can sometimes be viewed as a bar to business, but entirely doing away with regulations is not the government’s aim. Regulatory reform is seen as an opportunity to benefit business as well as to ensure […]
Read MoreReversal of proposed sunsetting of EU legislation
Those of you who attended one of our Management Updates in Autumn 2022 may recall the personnel update regarding the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill. This bill makes provision for significant changes to retained EU law. It also included a sunset clause, whereby all EU-derived subordinate legislation and retained direct EU legislation would be […]
Read MoreCan a rushed redundancy process to avoid additional pension costs amount to unfair dismissal and age discrimination?
Yes it can – held the tribunal in Mrs S Millar v The Oak Trust. Mrs Millar was a school business manager who worked at the Oak Trust until she was made redundant in August 2021. The Oak Trust was formed in 2017 and comprised three schools. Shortly after the trust’s formation, the trust began to […]
Read MoreNew Acas guidance on managing work-related stress
In November 2022, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) published its annual statistics. The figures revealed that there were around 914,000 cases of work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2021/2022, with an estimated 17 million working days lost. HSE’s Chief Executive, Sarah Albon, stated: “Stress and poor mental health is the number one cause of work-related ill […]
Read MoreNew Acas guidance on making reasonable adjustments for mental health
Acas has published new guidance and resources to help support both employers and employees in dealing with reasonable adjustments for mental health at work. The new Acas advice includes: An explanation of reasonable adjustments for mental health. Examples of reasonable adjustments in relation to mental health. Requesting reasonable adjustments for mental health. Responding to requests […]
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