Latest on the Trade Union BillAs the Trade Union Bill makes its way through the House of Lords, the Government has published its response to the consultation about more stringent ballot thresholds for workers in “important public services”. Under the new Bill, a union will only be able to call a strike where at least 50% of those members eligible to vote participate in the ballot and a majority of those participants vote in favour of strike action.  However in “important public services”, in addition to the requirement of a 50% plus turnout, at least 40% of eligible members must vote in…

Increase of limits on tribunal compensatory awardsIncreased compensation limits will apply to cases where the effective date of termination is on or after 6 April 2016.  In particular, the maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal has increased to  £78,962, and the maximum limit on a week’s pay £for the purposes of calculating the basic award has increased to £479.  Note that the increase in the limit on a week’s pay also applies to the calculation of statutory redundancy payments. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/288/contents/madePostponements for employment tribunal cases brought after 5 April 2016As anyone who has had experience of the employment tribunal system is…

It seems that client generation websites are multiplying faster than a boat full of rabbit sailors enjoying a period of extended shore leave. Notwithstanding the significant doubt surrounding whether leporine society actually boasts a merchant navy, it does seem that these types of websites are launching with greater regularity. They all promise to attract pretty much the same thing: sensible clients with the ability to pay for legal services.The problem these sites are facing in persuading lawyers aboard in significant numbers, however, is that previous versions have been spectacularly unsuccessful. Unless the current models represent a significant departure from the…

The gender pay gap. Three little words with very big meaning and although it’s not immediately obvious which is the most contentious, when you look at the allusion as a whole, it’s a sad and sorry affair that we are still talking about it in the 21st Century.And so, the entire corporate world is waiting, eagle-eyed, for all companies with more than 250 employees, whether private or third sector, to be required to publish the difference between what they pay their male employees and what they pay their female employees. Employment lawyers may be expecting a potential slew of equal…

Over the past few years so much has happened to alter the shape of the legal industry – cloud-based technologies, mobile apps, advanced analytics, IBM Watson, Oratto – yet, despite this, too many law firms remain resistant or worse, oblivious, to the impact legal technologies are having on the provision and quality of legal services.Perhaps it is because of the resistance and naivety of some firms that it is only when you scratch the service that you begin to get a feel for just how much things are changing. In fact, they may even take reassurance from the fact that…

National living wageOn 1 April the National Living Wage will become law.Employees aged 25 or over, who are not in the first year of an apprenticeship, will be legally entitled to be paid at least £7.20 per hour – an extra fifty pence per hour more than the National Minimum Wage. The Government is committed to increasing this every year, so by 2020 the rate will be more than £9 per hour. Anyone under the age of 25 will continue to be paid the National Minimum Wage.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-living-wage-nlw/national-living-wage-nlwExclusivity in zero hours contracts New regulations came into force on 11 January 2016 which…

The March 2016 BudgetGeorge Osbourne presented his latest budget last Wednesday and whilst most of the media coverage focussed on proposals to cut welfare benefits, the budget contained a number of changes and proposals relating to employment law.   • Draft legislation has already been published for the introduction in April 2017 of an apprenticeship levy whereby a contribution equating to 0.5% of total payroll will be collected from larger employers to fund a system of digital vouchers available to all employers to pay for the cost of apprenticeships (see below for more detail).  It was announced last Wednesday that employers who…

The 1960’s US rock band Spirit is suing members of the seminal British rock band Led Zeppelin for copyright infringement of their most famous hit “Stairway to Heaven” and an injunction against the release of album Led Zeppelin IV which features the track.It is alleged that the opening instrumental of “Stairway to Heaven” was incorporated into the song after Led Zeppelin heard Spirit’s song “Taurus” whilst the bands toured together between 1968 and 1969. In its defence Led Zeppelin have argued that the composition in question is a “descending chromatic scale of pitches” so conventional that it does not warrant…

Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2016The Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2016 (SI 2016/510) came into effect on 8 May 2016.Key amendments to the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations 2003 are: Recruiters are no longer prohibited from entering into contracts on behalf of their clients; Regulation 17, which requires businesses or employment agencies to agree terms prior to providing any services to hirers has been removed; Businesses and employment agencies are prohibited from publishing a recruitment advertisement in an EEA state unless this advertisement is also published in Great…

On Thursday 23 June, the eight-day trial concerning the alleged copyright infringement by Led Zeppelin concluded as the jury ruled that the iconic guitar riff intro of the band’s classic track “Stairway to Heaven” was their own composition and not taken from the song “Taurus” by Spirit, released four years beforehand. Although it was acknowledged that both Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, lead singer and guitarist of Led Zeppelin respectively, had access to the lesser known song before writing Stairway, the jury failed to see enough similarities between the two compositions to justify the charge of plagiarism. The suit against…