The Shared Parental Leave Regulations 2014 only require that employees taking Shared Parental Leave (SPL) are paid at the statutory rate, which is currently £148.68 per week, or 90 per cent of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. There is no statutory requirement for employers that offer enhanced maternity rights to women on maternity leave to ‘mirror’ those arrangements for employees who opt to take SPL. This has resulted in claims by fathers that the provisions are discriminatory. The Court of Appeal has now brought clarity to the situation when considering the appeals in two such cases. Continue reading →

In June 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that the employment status of a plumbing and heating engineer, G Smith, who had worked for a reputable plumbing company between August 2005 and April 2011 was that of a worker, not a self-employed person in business on his own account, and he was thus entitled to paid holiday and the National Minimum Wage. However, Mr Smith has now lost his Employment Tribunal (ET) claim for £74,000 in backdated pay in accordance with his statutory annual leave entitlement. Continue reading →

A recent case concerning the amount of long-term disability benefit payable to an employee who was found to have been unfairly dismissed (ICTS (UK) Limited v Visram) illustrates the importance of making sure the terms of any employee contractual benefits are unambiguous. Continue reading →