Further to the Employment Rights Bill that was published on 10 October 2024, the government has launched a consultation on strengthening statutory sick pay. The consultation seeks views on the amount of statutory sick pay that employees earning less than the current eligibility threshold should receive as part of the amendments to the Employment Rights Bill.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has upheld an employment tribunal’s decision that an employee was precluded from bringing disability discrimination claims against his employer as they had been validly waived under a prior settlement agreement. The decision confirms the Court of Session’s decision in Bathgate v. Technip Singapore PTE Ltd that unknown future claims can be validly waived under a settlement agreement although the drafting will need to be absolutely clear in this respect.

We are delighted to share our Diving into Diversity Vlog Series. Our Baker McKenzie Employment team will be diving into Inclusion, Diversity & Equity topics throughout this series to bring your attention to upcoming changes, interesting developments and key employment law takeaways. This 10-minute watch deals with the increasing cost of the UK visa process and the impact these changes will have on employers.

In the past few years, enforcement against restrictive labor market agreements has become a priority for many competition authorities worldwide. As a result, certain HR practices are in the spotlight of antitrust enforcers and may result in significant fines or even criminal liability. For more information, please read our briefing document, International Antitrust Onslaught against HR practices: Act now to stay ahead of the game.

The UK will have a general election on 4 July 2024, which will decide who the next government will be. The political parties have been publishing their employment and HR-related proposals, which we summarize in this article. We have limited ourselves to Labour, the Conservatives, Reform, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party, as the current top-polling parties fielding candidates throughout Great Britain.

The recruitment process stands as a critical juncture in shaping the workforce of any organization. As organizations scale, the influx of job applications creates a complex balancing act. In an article, Morven Ross explores the risks to organizations of disability discrimination in the recruitment process and the correct management of AI in this context.

Discussion of AI adoption in the workplace seems to have reached fever pitch in recent months – with good reason. In this article for IEL, we summarize the current legal framework and regulatory attitudes, and venture our insights into what employers can realistically do now to mitigate legal risk and put them in the best position with respect to future developments.

Contingent workforce and flexible working continue to be a dominant issue in the current employment landscape. The laws in this area are still evolving, as governments adapt to modern workforce models, which companies are increasingly engaging with in order to help “futureproof” their businesses.
Recognizing this issue, our multipractice team of industry specialists have come together to provide resources that guide organizations through essential considerations and risks that come with these flexible working models and less traditional forms of worker engagement.

The Presidents of the Employment Tribunals (England & Wales and Scotland) have issued Presidential Guidance updating the Vento bands for damages for injury to feelings and psychiatric injury in discrimination claims.

The government has announced the annual increases to tribunal compensation awards and statutory redundancy payments from 6 April 2024.