By Anna Jordan on Small Business UK – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

UPDATED: The Labour government has added a new amendment to its upcoming Employment Rights Bill, with families who experience pregnancy loss before 24 weeks becoming entitled to bereavement leave from day one of employment.

The government also tabled amendments back in March with around 250 additions to the bill, which was announced back in October 2024.

The government has outlined that agency workers will need to be compensated if their shift is cancelled or changed at short notice (though ambiguity hangs around the term ‘short notice’). On top of that, employers will have to give agency workers new contracts outlining their fixed working hours per week.

Firing and rehiring practices and firing and replacing practices will be punished more harshly with a double penalty. Employers may also be forced to pay 180 days’ compensation rather than the current 90 days.

Day one rights for employees will progress further, with staff being entitled to parental leave, sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal from their first day. Plus, new mums will have protection from dismissal for their first six months after they return to work.

Probation is

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By Charlotte Geesin on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

Let’s start with the basics: any change to an employee’s rate of pay is likely to be a change to the terms of their employment contract. This means that the employer will need the employee’s authority to make such a change, or risk claims for breach of contract and – if the employee resigns because of it – constructive unfair dismissal. 

However, there are some instances where things will be easier to navigate.  If the proposal is to remove allowances or uplifts that are expressly paid because of an employee’s location of work, such as a London allowance, it might be easier for an employer to justify removal of that allowance for employees that are permanently based at a location outside the area that attracts the allowance; but it would need to be clear that these allowances are only paid during a period when the employee meets certain location criteria, and that they can be removed if that criterion is not met.

If a company is based in London (or another capital city), does it need to pay a London-weighted salary to its remote workers based elsewhere?

In

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By Charlotte Geesin on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

Let’s start with the basics: any change to an employee’s rate of pay is likely to be a change to the terms of their employment contract. This means that the employer will need the employee’s authority to make such a change, or risk claims for breach of contract and – if the employee resigns because of it – constructive unfair dismissal. 

However, there are some instances where things will be easier to navigate.  If the proposal is to remove allowances or uplifts that are expressly paid because of an employee’s location of work, such as a London allowance, it might be easier for an employer to justify removal of that allowance for employees that are permanently based at a location outside the area that attracts the allowance; but it would need to be clear that these allowances are only paid during a period when the employee meets certain location criteria, and that they can be removed if that criterion is not met.

If a company is based in London (or another capital city), does it need to pay a London-weighted salary to its remote workers based elsewhere?

In

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By Alan Finlay on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs
Here is what you need to know about notes for disciplinary or other formal employee meetings. 
Taking minutes
Minutes taken at a formal meeting with an employee can constitute important evidence in both your company’s internal proceedings and in any subsequent tribunal claims. Be it a disciplinary, capability, absence or grievance meeting, the minutes should be detailed and accurate and, if possible, agreed by both you and the employee.
You should also consider your company’s position on electronic recording and employees secretly record meetings. It is best to set out your position on this clearly in writing, usually in your company’s staff handbook.
Provisions for note or minute taking
If you are holding any kind of formal meeting with an employee, you should have a minute taker present since it can be difficult for the chair to run the meeting and also take minutes. The minute taker should be another employee and ideally, someone who is not involved with the employee or with any circumstances giving rise to the meeting. The minute taker should not actively participate in the meeting and will act only as a scribe to ensure everything

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