Do you have a claim for age discrimination?

By Rehana Hussain of Charles Gregory Solicitors Limited posted in Employment on Tuesday, April 26, 2016.

What is age discrimination?

Age discrimination can occur in a number of ways namely direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment and victimization. Direct discrimination is when you are treated less favorably because of your age. An example would be if your employer promotes another employee ahead of you because he/she is younger than you. Indirect discrimination is when your employer imposes a rule, provision or criterion which applies equally to all persons but put you at a disadvantage because of your age. For example, your employer decided that only 'recently graduated' employees can attend training courses, it is likely that very few older employees will be able to attend the training and so they are discriminate against.

Harassment occurs when you experience offensive, intimidating or distressing behavior which is based on your age and this behavior violates your dignity or creates a working environment which is hostile, intimidating or degrading. An example would be comments are made about your baldness or even wrinkles. Another kind of intimidating behavior can be when you are ignored for after work activities organized by your employer because of your age. For example, your employer organized an after work drinking party but you are not invited because he thought that drinking party atmosphere is not suitable for someone of your age. Finally, victimization is when you are treated less favorably as a result of you making a complaint to your employer that you were discriminated against on grounds of your age. Click here for more details..

Contact Details:
Charles Gregory Solicitors
2 Hammersmith Broadway
London, Greater London, W6 7AL
Phone no: 2033933219
Mail id: info@charlesgregory.co.uk
Web: http://www.cgslaw.co.uk/

Employment law - Redundancy

By Rehana Hussain of Charles Gregory Solicitors Limited posted in Employment on Tuesday, May 3, 2016.

Unfortunately redundancy is back in the news. We hear that many BHS employees may lose their jobs if a buyer is not found soon. In this article we advise on how you can identify if a redundancy situation is genuine or not.

Redundancy occurs where the employer's business, or part of the business, has ceased to operate, the employer's business has moved to a different place; and/or the business' need for work of a particular type has ceased or diminished.

Please note, in redundancy situations, it is the role, not the person, who is made redundant.

Is the redundancy genuine?

Genuine redundancy can occur, for example, when the work a person does is no longer needed due to a downturn in business, a new line of work which requires a different skill set, or a new process being introduced. Click here for more details..

Contact Details:

Charles Gregory Solicitors

2 Hammersmith Broadway

London, Greater London, W6 7AL

Phone no: 2033933219

Mail id: info@charlesgregory.co.uk

Web: http://www.cgslaw.co.uk/

Redundancy Process

By Rehana Hussain of Charles Gregory Solicitors Limited posted in Employment on Wednesday, May 4, 2016.

In our previous article we helped you identify whether your dismissal for redundancy was genuine or not. We also advised you that if the redundancy situation was genuine your employer still must follow the correct procedures or your dismissal may be unfair.

What is the correct procedure? We provide you here with a brief review of the law.

Selection criteria

Your employer must first identify his selection criteria. Examples of selection criteria which are usually adopted by employers include:

attendance record (you should ensure this is fully accurate and that reasons for and the extent of any absences are known);
disciplinary record (you should ensure this is fully accurate);
skills or experience;
standard of work performance;
Aptitude for work.

It is unlawful to have redundancy selection criteria or a redundancy procedure which involves discrimination on the basis of disability, sex, race, religion or sexuality. It is also unlawful to have criteria based on whether employees chosen to be made redundant are part-time or pregnant, as this would be sex discrimination. If you have been unfairly selected for redundancy, you may be able to claim compensation for unfair dismissal or discrimination. Click here for more details..

Contact Details:
Charles Gregory Solicitors
2 Hammersmith Broadway
London, Greater London, W6 7AL
Phone no: 2033933219
Mail id: info@charlesgregory.co.uk
Web: http://www.cgslaw.co.uk/

Self-employment in the construction industry

By Rehana Hussain of Charles Gregory Solicitors Limited posted in Employment on Monday, May 16, 2016.

The question of whether someone is employed or self-employed is an important one, both in relation to tax and to individual's rights under employment law. For some years there have been concerns about the scale of 'false self-employment' in the Construction sector, individuals engaged on the basis that they are self-employed, but who are working under employment terms. Employers classifying workers this way do so to avoid being charged National Insurance Contributions (NICS) on the wages they pay.

More recently there have been also concerns about intermediary companies exploiting these rules, disguising the nature of the contract for workers they place with employers, and in some cases, sharing most if not all of the financial benefits with the employer, with little benefit for the individual worker. One related issue to employment status for business and individuals in the construction industry is the operation of the 'Construction Industry Tax Deduction Scheme', or CIS for short, whereby contractors make a fixed deduction from payments made to self-employed subcontractors to be set against the subcontractor's liability to tax and NIC. One part of the scheme is that contractors must make a formal declaration that anyone they pay under this scheme is indeed self employment. Click here for more details..

Contact Details:
Charles Gregory Solicitors
2 Hammersmith Broadway
London, Greater London, W6 7AL
Phone no: 2033933219
Mail id: info@charlesgregory.co.uk
Web: http://www.cgslaw.co.uk/

Who should I make redundant the 100 site managers or only the 9 site managers?

By Rehana Hussain of Charles Gregory Solicitors Limited posted in Employment on Wednesday, May 18, 2016.

I have been asked to advise one of the big construction companies based in the UK, in relation to a redundancy situation arose as a result of closure of one of their sites. The question was: Who should be in the pool for redundancy: all of the Company's site managers or only the site managers who worked at the site that was closing down?

If they are to consult only the 9 site managers the Company will save great deal of money by avoiding consulting 100 site managers for redundancy, on the other hand, consulting all 100 site managers will give the Company the opportunity to get rid of some of the under performing site managers.

What are they to do? What the law expects from them? and how they can save money in the circumstances? Read the advice by our Employment law specialist Mali Smith. Mali Smith can be contacted directly on 0208 7419883 or on ms@charlesgregory.co.uk. Click here for more details..

Contact Details:
Charles Gregory Solicitors
2 Hammersmith Broadway
London, Greater London, W6 7AL
Phone no: 2033933219
Mail id: info@charlesgregory.co.uk
Web: http://www.cgslaw.co.uk/

UK votes Brexit: What happens now?

By Rehana Hussain of Charles Gregory Solicitors Limited posted in Immigration on Monday, June 27, 2016.
How long would it take to leave the EU?

It would take a minimum of two years for the UK to leave the EU. During that time Britain would continue to abide by EU treaties and laws - however it would not take part in any decision making.

What will happen during that time?

The UK would have to thrash out the terms of its departure. Issues would include what financial regulations would still apply to the City of London, trade tariffs and movement rights of EU citizens and UK nationals.

The agreement would have to be ratified both by the European council and the parliament in Strasbourg.

There has been very little discussion about what will happen to EU citizens if the UK leaves the union. Will they suddenly need a visa? Will there be considerations made for people who have been settled here for many years? Will citizens of affluent nations such as Germany, Belgium and France receive preferential treatment over those from other EU nations? There are a lot of unanswered questions. Click here for more details..

Contact Details:
Charles Gregory Solicitors
2 Hammersmith Broadway
London, Greater London, W6 7AL
Phone no: 2033933219
Mail id: info@charlesgregory.co.uk
Web: http://www.cgslaw.co.uk/