Royal Public Holiday - Are your staff entitled to the day off?

The world is currently fascinated with next year’s Royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton and Westminster and Holyrood governments have both declared that the big day planned for 29th April next year will be a national celebration and marked with a public holiday.

The announcements by Prime Minister David Cameron and First Minister Alex Salmond, means there will be two consecutive bank holiday weekends resulting in millions of employees working a three-day week. This substantial loss of working time will be costly for every business but it may prove to be particularly disruptive in the current economic climate when businesses are facing tougher times.

Mr Cameron and Mr Salmond’s declaration of an additional public holiday in 2011, may have given UK workers the impression that they are entitled to the day off to join in the Royal celebrations with the rest of the nation, however this is not the case.

Leading Aberdeen-based HR and employment law firm, Empire HR, is encouraging businesses to think ahead about how they wish to approach the forthcoming celebration in the workplace as it is not compulsory to shut up shop.

According to Empire HR, a national day will not automatically mean an extra days holiday. Companies do not have to honour the new holiday and employees should refer to their contract of employment to check their holiday entitlement. However, since the wedding will be an historic and momentous occasion, it may be mean spirited if a company doesn’t join in with the celebration and honour the public holiday.

A similar situation arose with the extra public holiday granted for the millennium. At the time a tribunal case considered contractual rights to holiday entitlement and ruled that unless it was clearly stated in the contract of employment, the employee would not be granted an additional day’s pay.

CEO of Empire HR, Steve Cook, is urging managers to examine the company approach to public holidays. He said; “Many contracts of employment state an employee is entitled to a fixed number of public holidays. Anyone who has a fixed number of public holidays written into their contract will not be entitled to the additional day off. As a result, anyone wishing to take the day off would have to book the day in accordance with their company annual leave policy. “Only employees whose contracts state the employee is entitled to all public holidays would be entitled to the extra day off. Of course it would be open to generous employers to give all employees an additional day off regardless of their contract terms.”

Empire HR provide commercially focused employment law and HR support service including a telephone advice line, HR Consultancy, employment tribunal insurance and health & safety support for businesses across Scotland. Empire HR can assist businesses on all aspects of holiday entitlement. For further information, please contact Empire HR on 01224 701383



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Winter safety checks for drivers

As winter draws ever nearer drivers are already starting to wake up to frost filled mornings and ice covered cars. The following acts as winter checklist for drivers wishing to stay safe and avoid a frosty morning drive.


It is always best to prepare your vehicle for winter as early as possible. As winter approaches give your car a pre-winter once over. Many garages will give your car a winter safety check for free. However if you can’t manage to make it to a garage here are a few tips to help you keep your car safe this winter.

• Firstly make sure that you allow yourself plenty of time in the morning to make sure that your car is defrosted properly so that it is therefore safe for you to drive away.
  


• Check your levels of anti freeze, replace any damaged wiper blades, stock-up on de-icer and buy a window scraper and some clothes: one to clear condensation from the inside windows and one to clean lights and exterior windows.
  


• Window wipers are usually forgotten about and they can be easily damaged in the frost. Turning on your wipers whilst they are frozen is one way to damage them as they may be frozen and turning them on may cause the motor to break or the wiper blade it’s self to snap or buckle. To avoid accidentally damaging them this way make sure you turn them off when leaving your vehicle parked over night. This will stop the wipers from coming on when you start the engine the next morning.
  


• If your windows are frosted over, start by starting your engine and leaving your car to run for a few minutes in order for it to heat up a little. If your windows are still frosty use some de-icer or a scraper. Never pour hot water over your windscreen as this can cause your windscreen to crack especially if your windscreen already has a small chip in it and this can then lead to further problems such as a cracked windscreen.
  


• Do not ignore your lights. Make sure the plastic light covers are also free of ice and frost and that your bulbs are in full working order.
  


• Make sure that your tires have plenty of tread and are the correct pressure. The minimum legal tread limit is 1.6mm but most manufacturers recommend 3mm.
  


• Also check your oil levels regularly. The oil mark should be between the two marks on the dipstick, but preferably nearer the minimum mark.
  


• In adverse weather conditions make sure to keep your distance from the car in front as the adverse weather conditions may affect your stopping distance.

Extention of flexible working hours

The Employment Relations Minister has confirmed the Government is likely to extend the right to request flexible working to all parents with a child under 18. Expected to be implemented in April 2011, the change will mean approximately 300,000 more employees could make a request. The Government is expected to announce a consultation on the extension of the right to request flexible working to all employees later this year.

Focus on ...Compensation

Recent tribunal statistics demonstrate the shocking amounts of compensation awarded in discrimination claims. The statistics reveal a 56% increase in accepted claims, obviously a cause for concern for businesses. Interestingly, compensation awards for Disability Discrimination claims are highest, resulting in an average award of £52,087!

Empire HR has drawn up a list of average compensation awards for each type of discrimination:

TYPE OF DISCRIMINATION	AVERAGE AWARD	BIGGEST AWARD
Disability	£52,087	£729,347
Sexual Orientation	£20,384	£163,725
Sex Discrimination	£19,449	£422,366
Race Discrimination	£18,584	£374,922
Age Discrimination	£10,931	£48,710
Religious Discrimination	£4,886	£9,500

When considering these figures it's important to bear in mind that a very high percentage of claims are actually settled before it gets to the tribunal stage. The figures also fail to take into account the legal fees incurred by businesses in defending the claims.

Employer Tribunal Nightmares

In the last year, there has been an increase of more than 50% in tribunal cases against employers with the economic downturn being blamed for the unprecedented rise.

Unfair dismissal is one of the most common type of claim but certainly the most expensive for an employer. Over 120,000 unfair dismissal claims were made in the last year, with average pay-outs of £8,000 up to a maximum of £76,700.

Leading Aberdeen-based employment law, HR and health & safety firm, Empire HR, is urging businesses to ensure there are certain procedures in place to avoid potential tribunal claims.

The firm says business leaders and managers should be taking a fresh look at their disciplinary policies and working practices to ensure that the risk of a claim is minimized.

Research has shown there is a increase in the willingness among employees to raise claims against their employer or former employer. Claims can now be made online making the process more accessible and with employees struggling to find another job they are much more likely to resort to litigation.

CEO of Empire HR, Steve Cook, said: “In the current economic climate, the effects of a successful claim could be disastrous for a business. It’s worth bearing in mind that it’s not just the actual compensation that costs the business money, as the time and resources spent on defending the claim can also severely affect the day-to-day running of a business.”

Mr Cook continued: “The rise in the number of dismissals over the past year, combined with the increasing awareness that employees have of their rights in the workplace have had a disastrous impact upon businesses.

“Factors such as the availability of legal information on the internet, the difficulty in finding new jobs, and the resulting poor financial situation of former employees means that people are more likely to file a claim than ever before.”

The good news, however, for employers is that statistics show employers with legal representation are more likely to be successful in defending any claims brought against them by former employees.

Here are ten employment tribunal stories that have been faced by some UK organisations:

Council facing potential pay out of £600m in equal pay case
Birmingham City Council is facing a hefty pay out after around 5,000 mainly female workers won their case for equal pay at a tribunal. Unions claim some female workers may be owed £30m in back-pay for bonuses paid only to their male counterparts. It is estimated the pay out could be up to £600m.

City lawyer awarded millions
A London lawyer who accused her bosses of destroying her career with a sexist bullying campaign accepted a secret pay-out of millions to drop her claim. She had been claiming a record £19million compensation deal over allegations that intimidation and sexual discrimination had left her 'mentally disabled'.

Hospital chief executive awarded £1.2m
The Royal Cornwall hospital had to pay-out £1.2 million to its former chief executive after he won a case claiming he was unfairly dismissed as a ‘whistle blower’.

Gay manager awarded £118,000 after only eight days of employment
A gay media sales manager was sacked after just eight days with a company because he was apparently not ‘psychologically balanced’. A tribunal heard the Glasgow man had been harassed and on one occasion been told he looked like a ‘cream puff’. He was awarded the compensation for discrimination on the grounds of his sexual orientation.

Company director awarded £68,000 for wrongful dismissal
A security company director was sacked under the grounds of the business’s financial difficulties. The director was apparently told by bosses he had to go due to lack of business, but when he was unable to find a new job the case was ruled as unfair dismissal and breach of contract, forcing the company to award him £68,000.

Teacher awarded £63,000 after unfair dismissal
A teacher in Blackpool won his case and was awarded £63,000 for unfair dismissal after imposing discipline on a disruptive pupil. The disciplined pupil claimed that she was unfairly treated which cost the science master his job leading to the unfair dismissal case.

£45,000 pay-out for cafe worker after being refused maternity pay
A cafe worker from Northern Ireland was awarded £45,000 for unfair dismissal. The woman
was working as a full time manager in the café for around 40–45 hours per week, however, the
owner had only been putting her down in the books for working 15 hours a week. When the
worker fell pregnant, the owner then claimed she didn’t qualify for maternity pay, prompting
the employee to raise a claim.

Accountant awarded almost £40,000 after unfair dismissal
An accountant from Perth was awarded £40,000 after being fired from his job accused of spending a “ridiculous amount of time” on the internet during working hours. It was later found that the management of the company had no idea how to interpret the internet usage reports and therefore the dismissal was treated as unfair.

Barmaid awarded more than £14,000 after text sacking
A Dundee barmaid who was sacked by text message by her boss was awarded more than
£14,000 at an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal. The barmaid, who had slept in for her
shift during the festive period, had previously worked 11 hours the day before her dismissal.
The barmaid was awarded a further £1,296 for breach of contract after being left alone in the
bar for more than two hours by her employee.

Wheelchair worker awarded £6,000 after being nicknamed by boss
A worker in a wheelchair who was nicknamed ‘Ironside’ after the disabled 1970s TV detective won a £6,000 payout for his ‘violated dignity’. Ironically, the ill-advised quip was made by a manager at a firm that helps people with disabilities return to work. The claimant took the company to a tribunal after finding out that he was being referred to as ‘Ironside’ behind his back.

Empire HR Ltd can assist businesses on all aspects of disciplinary action, from drafting the
disciplinary procedure to representation at tribunal.

For further information, please contact Steve Cook on 01224 701383 or email
s.cook@empirehr.com



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Winter blues in the workplace

As the winter months loom, the dark mornings and dark evenings leave many people feeling a little under the weather and not in the mood for work which leads to an increase in absence rates in the workplace.

Getting out of bed in the dark mornings can affect moral and have many people reaching for the duvet rather than the alarm clock. Low morale increases at this time of year leading to higher absences from work leaving employers with a costly problem.

The latest research by the CIPD reveals that, on average, sickness absence costs employers £692 per employee every year. Sickness absence also represents 3.1% of working time.

In 2009 absence levels stood at an average of 6.4 days per employee and research indicated that a staggering 180 million working days were lost to absence in 2009.

Leading Aberdeen-based employment law, HR and health & safety firm, Empire HR, is urging businesses to ensure they have the right procedures in place to handle absences at work as the winter months approach.

The current economic climate means that it is increasingly important to ensure that businesses are as efficient as possible. Successfully curbing absence costs could make a real difference to a business – potentially saving jobs.

Empire HR say the poor weather, post-summer and holiday blues along with the long wait for the next break from work creates a lack of enthusiasm for many employees who decide not to turn up for work in the morning.

Research found that two in five workers see less than half an hour of daylight during the winter working day and one in 10 sees no daylight at all, leading to slumps in productivity and motivation.

To combat this issue, some businesses introduce daylight initiatives in the winter months giving employees the option to attend work an hour later or finish an hour earlier and such schemes have seen an increase in staff morale.


Employees pulling sick days out of work are not just costly to the employer but also to their fellow work mates. Workload needs to be allocated to other employees leaving some overworked and this in turn can lead to further absences.

There is growing evidence that the longer the period of absence, the harder it is to return to work.
Most short term absence is self certified but there are a number of effective ways of managing this issue.

• Return to work interviews

• Disciplinary procedures for unacceptable absence

• Use of trigger mechanisms to review attendance

• Involvement of managers in absence management

• Provision of sickness absence information to line managers

• Restricting sick pay Training managers to handle absences

• Involvement of occupational health professionals

Return to work interviews can help ensure that short term absence problems are identified at an early stage. They also provide managers with an opportunity to start a dialogue with staff over underlying issues which might be causing the absence.

CEO of Empire HR, Steve Cook said: “Absences in the workplace is costly, and the use of disciplinary procedures leading to dismissal for unacceptable absence may be used if organisations wish to make it clear that unjustified absence will not be tolerated. Overall, employers must have a clear policy in place that spells out rights and obligations when taking time off work due to sickness.”

Sickie Facts:

One in three sick days falls on a Monday

More days are lost in January than any other month

Musculo-skeletal conditions are top cause of all absence

Sick leave amongst women is 24% higher than amongst men

If you need help on any absence management issues contact Empire HR on 01224 701383.

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Case Law: Employer liable for loss of earnings resulting from reference

The case of Bullimore v Pothecary Withan Weld Solicitors and another (UKEAT/0189/10) has highlighted the potential risks incurred by providing a bad reference.

Ms Bullimore placed a claim after discovering that her previous employer had provided a very poor reference to her new employer. The new employer withdrew the offer of employment after receiving the reference which informed them that Ms Bullimore had raised a sex discrimination claim against them, was inflexible and had a poor working relationship with the firm's partners.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal held that the previous employer was liable for Ms Bullimore's future loss of earnings.

This case highlights the importance of ensuring managers are aware of potential consequences of the references they provide. In most circumstances, the safest option is to provide factual reference which only confirms the dates they have been working for the company. The reference should also state that it is company policy to provide factual references (to prevent a future employer drawing negative conclusions).

Please contact Empire HR if you would like advice and support with writing a reference.

Too fat to drive?

A bus company in Lancashire has suspended two drivers because of their weight. They have been ordered to lose 7lbs in a month and then new targets will be set. The company claims the decision is justified on the grounds of health and safety but it has been criticised by some local politicians who point out that driving a bus is a sedentary role.

Case Law: Pregnancy gossip could amount to harassment

The case of Nixon v Ross Coates Solicitors and another (UKEAT/0108/10) has confirmed that gossip relating to a pregnancy can amount to harassment and discrimination. Ms Nixon was seen kissing a colleague at the work Christmas party and going into a hotel room with him. When she announced her pregnancy a few weeks later, the HR manager openly speculated and engaged in gossip about who the father might be.

Ms Nixon raised a grievance about the gossip and conduct of the HR manager, but it was not upheld and the time she took off work as a result of the issue was unpaid.

Ms Nixon subsequently won a claim for constructive dismissal and sex discrimination.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal held that since the gossip, conduct and unpaid time off work was related to her pregnancy it was covered by the Sex Discrimination Act and met the definition of Sexual Harassment.

Tribunal Case Horror Stories - Trick or Treat?

Over the past year, tribunal cases have more than doubled in the UK, with the economic downturn being blamed on the unprecedented rise.

Steve Cook, Chief Executive of Empire HR based in Aberdeen discusses this with the Press & Journal.

In this article you will see some case studies that are more of a trick than a treat to employers!

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Anticipated surge in discrimination claims

With The Equality Act coming into effect as of 1st October collating and replacing most existing discrimination legislation, the Act is likely to result in a surge of tribunal claims in the next few months. With the increase in protected characteristics from six to nine plus the introduction of protection from perceptive and associative discrimination it seems likely that employers are increasingly likely to be faced with a tribunal claim.

This is particularly worrying because the Tribunal Service has already reported a sharp increase in the number of claims placed, even before the introduction of the Act.

It is more important than ever to ensure policies covering equal opportunities and discrimination are up to date and to provide adequate training to managers on how to recognise and deal with potential issues before the escalate.

Richard Prentis, employment law consultant at Empire HR has been advising clients to be more alert than ever to the risk of a claim "The Equality Act obviously exposes employers to a greater risk of a claim because more people than ever will be protected by discrimination legislation. However, it is possibly to mitigate risks. Provided expert advice is sought, you should be well placed to defend such a claim".

Empire HR can provide support and assistance with managing employees who are protected by the Act. In the event that an employee does place a claim, the Empire HR Advocacy Unit can defend the claim and provide representation at tribunal.

Proposal to Increase Unfair Dismissal Qualifying Period to two years

At the moment the Government is actively considering an increase in the qualifying period for unfair dismissal from one year to two years.

The timetable for decision is yet to be announced and it is very likely that there will be a consultation period (about this and other employment law issues) first.


If the change in the qualifying period occurs, it will be moderately good news for employers but bad news for employees. In theory this would mean that employers would have an extra year to dismiss an employee unreasonably. But the employer could still face allegations of discrimenation or unfair dismissal claims where no qualifying period is required. This would include things such as whistle blowing and certain health & safety, maternity and trade union related dismissals. With these claims tending to be more expensive to defend than 'ordinary' unfair dismissal claims, it is unclear whether employers will find this proposal an entirely favourable change.