Sickness absence increased last year following the end of the furlough scheme official figures show. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows the sickness absence rate in the UK in 2021 rose to 2.2%, from a record low of 1.8% in 2020; this is the highest it has been since 2010, when it … Read more
Presidential Guidance on employment tribunal awards for injury to feelings has been issued for claims presented on or after 6th April 2022. The Addendum outlines the following updates to Vento bands which have been adjusted to take account of the RPI measure of inflation: A lower band of £990 to £9,900 for less serious cases. … Read more
In White v HC-One Oval Ltd [2022] EAT 56, the EAT held that the employment tribunal was wrong to determine that a claim for unfair dismissal had no reasonable prospect of success because the employee had volunteered for redundancy. In September 2018, care home operator HC-One Oval Ltd announced it was reducing the number of … Read more
Background We have received a number of enquiries from clients regarding an issue that has arisen following the teachers pay freeze in September 2022. The issue relates to teachers’ pensions and, in particular, the calculation method for the ‘best consecutive three years in ten’ average salary. In cases where there is no change of pay, … Read more
The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal in unsuccessful proceedings for misuse of private information and breach of confidence which arose in relation to a former employee’s personal emails that were sent from a business email account. The email account was used to receive enquiries about the employer’s services. The judgment emphasised that the … Read more
Compensation limits for certain tribunal awards and other statutory payments will rise from 6 April 2022. In cases involving unfair dismissal, the new figures will apply where the effective date of termination falls on or after 6 April 2022. The increases are based on the September 2021 retail prices index (RPI) which increased by 4.9% … Read more
Agreement has been reached on rates of pay applicable from 1 April 2021. The new pay rates are uprated by 1.75% and this is backdated to 1 April 2021. The new pay rates are included in Annex 1 of the NJC letter. Please click HERE to view the letter.
The Court of Appeal has issued a revised judgment in Smith v Pimlico Plumbers Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 70, adding a postscript and an appendix. The earlier judgment of the EAT had included suggested wording to be read into the Working Time Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/1833) (WTR 1998) in order to reflect holiday pay case … Read more
The Department for Education is seeking views on proposed changes to the teacher misconduct arrangements operated by the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education. This was published on 1st February 2022 and states consultation will close at 11.45pm on 14th March 2022. To consultation itself is being held on … Read more
On 10 December we hosted a webinar and were joined by Helen Lumb and Arati Patel-Mistry from the DfE Engagement Team. If any school or college has a question about the RPA please contact or and they will be happy to assist. A link to the slides from the webinar is here:- RPA … Read more
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