The Government introduced the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill into Parliament on 10 January 2023. If brought into force, the bill will impose further restrictions on workers and unions in certain sectors intending to strike.
The bill requires a “minimum level of service” whereby employers can issue a “work notice” stating which workforce they need. The effect of this is that employees named on the work notice lose their right to protection from unfair dismissal if they go on strike.
The aim of the bill is to help reduce the amount of disruption to the public caused by staff striking. However, the bill has been criticised as significantly curtailing the right of workers to strike, and Labour have already indicated that, if the bill is made into law, they will repeal the new measures if they are elected into government.
The bill will impact the NHS, transport, education, fire and rescue, nuclear decommissioning and border security sectors and comes following the recent increase in industrial action taken.
The proposed “anti-strike laws” are in the early stages; the bill has only just been introduced into Parliament to be debated. However, if introduced, the proposed laws would significantly reduce the right of workers to strike in the impacted sectors and provide greater control to employers. The measures would likely reduce the number of strikes that take place in future in the affected sectors but exacerbate already strained employee relations.
Official statistics show that 15,336 claims which included a complaint of age discrimination were received at the Employment Tribunals between March 2020 and March 2021.
The outcome of the Employment Tribunal claim brought by Gulnaz Raja against Starling Bank Limited (1) (Starling), and Matthew Newman (2) was reported last month.
The BMA is advising all NHS / HSCNI consultants to ensure extra-contractual work is paid at the BMA minimum recommended rate and to decline offers of extra-contractual work that doesn't value them appropriately.
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The World Cup kicks off in Qatar on Sunday 20 November 2022, with the final taking place on Sunday 18 December 2022. Undoubtedly, this is a huge sporting event, and many employees will be keen to show their support for their favourite teams. However, due to the time difference, start times for the matches are between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. UK time, which could have an impact on employers if employees who wish to watch the matches are scheduled to work.
Settlement agreements are commonplace in an employment context and are ordinarily used to provide the parties to the agreement with certainty following the conclusion of an employment relationship.
