Main points from today Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, lead the briefing again today. 4,244 new cases down slightly from 4,324 yesterday. 3,605 total deaths with 684 new deaths. 26 million pieces of PPE delivered yesterday. Nightingale hospital in London completed in 9 days, 4,000 beds. 2,000 critical care beds available (not including the new nightingale hospital). Latest Guidance (employment and business) Claim for wage costs through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Claim a grant through the coronavirus (COVID-19) Self-employment Income Support Scheme No further guidance today. Latest Guidance (health) Nothing new today online. A question came up today.  An employee with symptoms self-isolates for 7 days and their family self-isolate for 14 days.  The employee returns to work after 7 days and their partner goes to work after 14 days.  – Read More…

Main points from today Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, returned from self-isolation to lead the briefing today. 33,718 confirmed cases, 12,949 admitted to hospital, 2,921 deaths with 569 new deaths. Rate of infection is doubling every 3 to 4 days. 45 million pieces of PPE delivered yesterday. £300 million announced for community pharmacies. £13.4 billion of NHS debt written off. Tests to increase from 10,000 at end March to 25,000 by end April. 100,000 anti-body tests (to test if a person has had the virus) by end of April. Latest Guidance (employment and business) Claim for wage costs through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Claim a grant through the coronavirus (COVID-19) Self-employment Income Support Scheme No further guidance today. Latest Guidance (health) Nothing new today. Schools Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance on vulnerable – Read More…

Main points from today Business Secretary, Alok Sharma, led the briefing and said the Government was taking unprecedented steps to expand capacity in the NHS. He went on to say ‘Businesses are doing all they can to support people and the Government will do all it can to support them.’ PHE Medical Director said that the tens of thousands daily test for frontline staff would increase to hundreds of thousands in weeks. Latest Guidance (employment and business) Claim for wage costs through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Claim a grant through the coronavirus (COVID-19) Self-employment Income Support Scheme No further guidance today. Increasing confusion on whether an employee can furlough an employee on sick leave.  The guidance states:-     If your employee is on Statutory Sick Pay Employees on – Read More…

Main points from today Cabinet Minister, Michael Gove announced that 1000’s of new ventilators are being manufactured in the UK and will be delivered to the NHS next week. RAF helicopters are standing by to assist the NHS. NHS Medical Director, Stephen Powis, said it was ‘early days’ but there had been a plateau in the number of new cases. ‘Green shoots’ that social distancing was reducing the spread but ‘not out the woods’ at all. Latest Guidance (employment and business) Claim for wage costs through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Claim a grant through the coronavirus (COVID-19) Self-employment Income Support Scheme The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Guidance states as follows:- Once HMRC have received your claim and you are eligible for the grant, they will pay it via BACS – Read More…

Main points from today •Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, announced a new Government partnership with airlines to fly back more tourists stranded abroad. •Government chartered flights from priority countries to UK over the weekend and more to take place this week. •Up to £75m Government funding pledged to bring UK travellers back home. Latest Guidance (employment and business) Claim for wage costs through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Claim a grant through the coronavirus (COVID-19) Self-employment Income Support Scheme Some points to highlight:- •The minimum length of time an employee can be furloughed is 3 weeks. If the furlough period ends prior to this an employer cannot claim the grant. •Furloughed employees must have been on your PAYE payroll on 28 February 2020, and can be on any type of contract, – Read More…

These details are from a FAQ document released by Dr Luke Evans MP for Bosworth, who is a backbench MP.  This is NOT an official government document but gives more detail about what to expect. Any large or small employer can apply to put workers on temporary leave or “furloughed” status. The government will then pay them cash grants of 80 per cent of their wages up to a cap of £2,500, providing they keep the worker employed. They will receive the grant from HMRC. All UK organisations can self-certify that it has furloughed employees. The scheme will cover the cost of wages backdated to March 1. All UK-wide employers with a PAYE scheme will be eligible, including the public sector, local authorities and charities. The scheme will be open – Read More…

Agency Workers The basic position is that under the Agency Work Regulations 2010, after 12 weeks, an Agency worker is entitled to “the same basic working and employment conditions” as an employee.  Pay is included for these purposes but occupational sick pay is excluded.  If the Agency worker is off sick (and this would include if they were self-isolating) then they would be entitled to SSP only and, whether you paid this or the Agency (usually the Agency as they operate the PAYE payroll), it is recoverable for the first two weeks.  Obviously, SSP is just under £95 per week. Agency workers who are employees will be regarded as unfairly dismissed if the reason is a breach of the AWR i.e. by not providing them with pay that an employee – Read More…

The government has released new guidance on calculating statutory holiday pay for workers without fixed hours or pay in anticipation of changes coming into effect on 6th April 2020. The guidance is focussed on the legal minimum entitlement of 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday. Many individuals will have contracts entitling them to additional paid holiday beyond the statutory minimum. The guidance has also not been updated to take into account the Court of Appeal’s decision in Harpur Trust v Brazel [2019] EWCA Civ 1402 so the guidance should not be relied upon for holiday pay calculations for term-time only workers. The majority of the UK’s workforce are full-time employees on fixed hours and fixed pay. For these workers, typically on a fixed monthly salary, if they take a week’s holiday, they – Read More…

In Uddin v London Borough of Ealing UKEAT/0165/19, the EAT decided that an employee had been unfairly dismissed when the investigating officer failed to inform the dismissing manager that the alleged victim of a sexual assault by the employee had withdrawn her complaint to the police. Background The dismissal of an employee for a reason which “relates to the conduct of the employee” is potentially fair (section 98(2)(b), Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996)). The starting point for determining whether a dismissal is fair is the test set out in section 98(4) of ERA 1996 which provides that: ”The determination of the question whether the dismissal is fair or unfair (having regard to the reason shown by the employer): depends on whether in the circumstances (including the size and administrative – Read More…

ACAS has published new guidance on the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). This is intended to help employers and workers understand exactly what an NDA is and when it may be appropriate or inappropriate to use one. It is relevant to any type of case, and not limited to those involving discrimination or harassment. The guidance, published on 12th February 2020, confirms that an NDA cannot prevent whistleblowing, nor the reporting of a crime to police. Further examples given of situations in which NDAs should not be used include to cover up misconduct, to avoid addressing workplace issues or to mislead individuals. ACAS urges employers to consider NDAs on a case-by-case basis to determine if they are definitely needed and whether they would cause any serious moral or ethical issues – Read More…