When an employee appears to be incapable of performing during a probationary period or where the employee has less than two year’s service, the employer is able to dismiss relatively easily. Where the employee has more than two year’s service…

Checklist: sickness-related dismissals This checklist sets out the steps your business should take if you are contemplating dismissing an employee for a sickness absence-related reason. Although this can be a fair reason to dismiss an employee, it is important to…

Checklist: redundancy selection pools If your business is making redundancies, you must be very careful when drawing up the pool of employees from which you make your selection. Failure to consider the pool is likely to make a dismissal unfair…

Checklist: redundancy This checklist summarises the key issues that your business should be aware of when dealing with a redundancy situation. When can a redundancy situation arise? Redundancy encompasses three different types of situation:  Business closure.  Workplace closure.  Reduction of…

Making Staff Redundant Making staff redundant is never easy.  However, as the UK economy continues to struggle through the recession, more and more businesses are forced to make lay-offs. The process is potentially fraught with pitfalls.  We can help you…

Can Age Discrimination Ever be Lawful? Businesses are generally prohibited from discriminating against an employee on the basis of their age (for example, choosing not to interview a candidate because their application suggests they are nearing retirement age is discriminatory)…

This checklist highlights the risks that your business and your employees should be aware of when using the internet or sending e-mails and gives some practical suggestions of how to minimise those risks. Reputational risks Information that is written on…

Best practice for hiring an employee This checklist highlights the key legal issues your business should consider when recruiting a new employee. Before advertising Make sure all staff involved in the recruitment process have had equal opportunities training (and they…

Generally, an employer that uses clear words of dismissal will be taken to have dismissed the employee and the question of what a reasonable person might have understood does not arise.  Unless it can be shown that the termination represented…

Checklist: health and safety According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in 2009/10, 1,033 offences were prosecuted by the HSE (and the Office of Rail Regulation), with a further 287 offences prosecuted by local authorities. 15,881 enforcement notices were…