It has been reported that draft legislation has been passed by a committee of the European Parliament, which extends maternity leave across Europe from 14 weeks to 20 weeks on full pay. In the UK women get 52 weeks statutory maternity leave (26 weeks Ordinary Maternity Leave and 26 Additional... read more

This week (1st to 5th February 2010) is National Apprenticeship Week.The week, which is organised by the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS), aims to celebrate the talents and skills of apprentices and recognise their employers. The Government aims to increase the number of apprenticeships... read more

Plans to change paternity leave entitlement were unveiled by Gordon Brown last year and this week the government has announced proposals to increase paternity leave from two weeks to six months. The plans could come into force from April next year and will allow mothers to transfer... read more

Following a campaign by civil liberty groups and unions the government have agreed to introduce new legislation outlawing forced labour and modern-day slavery in the UK. According to Anti-Slavery International and Liberty hundreds of people in the UK are subjected to a form of slavery and... read more

The employment appeal tribunal (EAT) has upheld an employment tribunal’s decision that an individual's belief in man-made climate change and the existence of a moral duty to live in a way that mitigates or avoids it, was capable of being a "philosophical belief" for the purposes of... read more

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has issued its judgment on the case of Coleman v Attridge regarding the issue of associative discrimination. The EAT has upheld the tribunal's decision to reinterpret the Disability Discrimination Act to prevent discrimination and harassment on the grounds of... read more

Yvette Cooper, work and pensions secretary has announced that she wants employers to offer better part-time jobs. In addition, job applicants would be able to request flexible working when applying for a job, rather than have to wait 6 months to make such an application, as provided for in... read more

There have been comments recently that increasing rights and additional legislative protection for women are having the opposite result to the one wanted. In a bid to address inequality the government has improved maternity rights i.e. by ensuring women are entitled to the same benefits whilst... read more

It has recently been reported that teachers often find themselves falsely accused of violence or even indecent behaviour towards their students, by their students! Motive for such accusations appears to be malice or even a form of ‘pay back’ for disciplining these students. The irony being that... read more

On 1 October 2009 the cap on a week's pay for calculating statutory redundancy payments and unfair dismissal compensation will increase from £350 to £380. The increase was announced in the 2009 Budget. The weekly cap is usually increased in line with the retail prices index in February each... read more