News

It is that time of year again when the rates for various statutory pay elements increase, so don't forget to adjust the rates in your payroll - particularly given the change to the age bands for the National Minimum Wage. Other rates increase too - those for statutory maternity, paternity pay etc. as well as statutory sick pay and the cap on redundancy payment also go up. However, these all happen on different dates.

Some of you may have seen the film or the musical of “Made in Dagenham” – the story of the campaign which started at Ford's of Dagenham to bring in Equal Pay Legislation in the UK. I remember it specifically because it was enacted on my 13th birthday! However, we now have an update to the story.

It is well understood that men and women should be paid the same rate of pay for doing the same job, but the recent case brought by female retail workers against Asda looked at a comparison with male employees working in their distribution centres. This looked at jobs of equal value, not just similar jobs – which takes the principle further. The case has moved through the courts and recently the Supreme Court has handed down its decision on the matter.

Many people have been waiting for the outcome of the long-running Supreme Court case originally brought by two care workers – one against charity Mencap and the other one against Surrey care home, Clifton House. In both cases the employees were not allowed to count their sleep-in shifts as “time work” or as part of their salaried hours unless they were awake for the purposes of working.

The decision on this complex matter was handed down by the Supreme Court on 19th March 2021.

In a recent poll, it was found that only 44% of employers have a wellbeing strategy in place that tied together both the physical and mental wellbeing of staff. Given that we have now had a year when many people have either been furloughed or working from home, it is likely that some staff are now struggling – perhaps with the physical effects of not enough exercise (or an inappropriate diet); mental ill health issues relating to being isolated from friends and colleagues; or worrying about the safety of returning to work.

This might be a question you have asked yourself when faced with complaints from employees about others not complying with your Covid-Secure arrangements. But it was addressed by an employment tribunal recently.