Insights & News

Remuneration codes - For banks, building societies and investment firms

Inbrief

31 January 2019

The financial services industry has been the focus of wide-ranging reform over the past few years as a result of both UK Government and European initiatives.

Disability discrimination

Inbrief

20 December 2018

The main provisions of the Equality Act 2010 (“the Act”) came into force on 1 October 2010. The Act attempts to harmonise and consolidate diversity law across all strands of discrimination. With regards to disability discrimination, the Act is mainly a restatement of the law found in the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (“the DDA”), which it has replaced. However, it also made some significant changes and additions to the law.

GDPR: 11 steps to take

Inbrief

26 July 2018

The data protection landscape has changed. The EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) came into force on 25 May 2018.

Protecting your business

Inbrief

20 July 2018

Protecting your business from competitive threats is vital. Losing a team or a key employee to a competitor can be extremely damaging. You may lose clients, prospects, and other staff. Your valuable confidential information may be put at risk.

The General Data Protection Regulation for employers

Inbrief

06 July 2018

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is European legislation affecting all organisations that hold personal data on living individuals. It aims to ensure that organisations using and processing personal data do so fairly and lawfully and gives a number of rights to individuals in terms of how they can access their data and influence its use.

Frequently asked questions on termination payments

Inbrief

25 May 2018

Our FAQs Inbrief looks at some of the common tax questions that arise on termination of employment.

Reducing business costs - alternatives to redundancy

Inbrief

25 May 2018

When businesses run into financial difficulties and need to reduce costs, the knee-jerk reaction is often to consider the scope for job cuts.

Dismissals for “some other substantial reason”

Inbrief

25 May 2018

“Some other substantial reason” (“SOSR”) is one of the potentially fair reasons for dismissing an employee. It can cover a wide variety of situations and can be a very useful tool for employers in unusual situations, although there are some limits on when it can be used.

Taxation of payments in lieu of notice

Inbrief

25 May 2018

From 6 April 2018 new rules took effect to ensure that all payments in lieu of notice (PILONs) are subject to income tax and NICs in full. The rules emerged from a Government consultation on the simplification of the tax treatment of termination payments which was first launched in 2012. Far from simplifying the taxation, the rules are complex and, in many cases, will increase the costs of both employers and employees.

The apprenticeship levy

Inbrief

25 May 2018

The Government has committed to boost productivity by increasing the quantity and quality of apprenticeships. 

Settlement agreements

Inbrief

25 May 2018

First introduced by statute in 1993, settlement agreements (previously known as compromise agreements) have become increasingly common as a means for an employer and employee to settle claims and/or effect a clean break from the employment relationship.

Redundancy

Inbrief

25 May 2018

This inbrief looks at how employers can minimise the risk of legal claims when dismissing employees by reason of redundancy.

EU Social Security Rules

Inbrief

08 May 2018

If you have employees who are sent on secondment to work in other countries and/or employees who work in two or more countries simultaneously, you need to ensure that you and your employees are complying with your social security contributions obligations.

Senior Managers Regime, Certification Regime and Conduct Rules

Inbrief

29 March 2018

Banks and other financial institutions are seeing some of the most significant regulatory changes affecting staff in many years.

Agency workers

Inbrief

06 March 2018

The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (“the Regulations”) have had a significant impact on the temporary working industry in the UK .

Zero hours contracts

Inbrief

27 February 2018

Zero hours contracts allow organisations to hire individuals without guaranteeing them any work.

Contingent working

Inbrief

13 February 2018

Globalisation, rapid technological advances and changing demographics all mean that many organisations are under growing pressure to become more agile in order to be in the best position to respond quickly to market changes.

Tax rules for employment intermediaries - what this means for agencies and employment businesses

Inbrief

08 February 2018

Anti-avoidance measures came into effect on 6 April 2014 in response to the increasing number of businesses using employment intermediaries to disguise employees or workers as self-employed, primarily to avoid paying employer’s National Insurance Contributions (NIC).

Employment status

Inbrief

02 February 2018

Employment status is important because an individual’s legal rights, protections and obligations will depend upon which class he or she falls into.

Using individuals via a services company: tax considerations

Inbrief

19 January 2018

The labour market has become more complex in recent years, with many individuals choosing to go into business on their own account and sell their services to clients either directly, as a sole trader, or through a variety of intermediaries, such as partnerships or services companies.