Cleardocs Employment Documents Updates

Default Retirement age to be scrapped

2010-07-29

After months of speculation, the government have announced plans to scrap the default retirement age in the UK from October 2011. This means that employers will no longer be able to dismiss staff without compensation, once they reach 65.
<...

British staff pull the most sickies in Europe

2010-07-26

Do you ever wonder whether your employee is actually ill when they call in sick? You could have reason to be doubtful as new research shows that one in five employees in the UK say that they have taken sick days for personal reasons in the past, r...

New copy and paste functionality

2010-07-12

Those of you who regularly follow the Cleardocs blog will know that we’re always looking to make life easier for employers. We’ve now put our money where our mouth is by launching our new ‘copy and paste’ functionality t...

The Equality Bill will come into effect in October 2010

2010-07-08

After many months of uncertainty, and a general election in the middle, the government have finally confirmed that the Equality Bill will be...

Cost of the new Budget: 1.3 million jobs

2010-07-05

According to Treasury data, leaked last week, the coalition government’s new Budget will result in up to 1.3 million job losses before 2015. The data, which was picked up by the Guardian, reveals that the government expect to see 100-120,...

The Emergency Budget and what it means for small businesses

2010-06-23

The government announced its emergency budget yesterday and it proved to be mostly positive for small and medium sized businesses in the UK.

To summarise, the main changes impacting businesses include:

VAT will rise fro...

World Cup Special Offer: win a copy of The Employers Handbook

2010-06-18

In case you hadn’t noticed, the World Cup started last week. For those of you wishing to escape the non-stop football related advertising campaigns, the interrupted TV schedules or the tedious hum of vuvuzelas, we’re afraid that eve...

Employers beware: Fake fit notes available online

2010-06-10

News that an employee can purchase a fake fit note online for as little as £10 will set alarm bells ringing for employers who may still be coming to grips with the new system. The website selling the dodgy forms is known to have provided ...

Employers guide to the World cup

2010-06-04

The 2010 World Cup will be upon us very shortly: it is likely that many employees will be looking forward to it and starting to think about how - and where - they will be watching matches. Most companies in the UK have a diverse workforce and as such...

Claimants get fast track to tribunal compensation

2010-05-24

This time last year, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) revealed that as many as 39% of successful claims at employment tribunals had not been paid and that only 53% of claims had been paid in full. Since then, the former government created new meas...

The new coalition government and what this will mean for small businesses

2010-05-12

It is an historic day for Britain today as the first coalition government for 70 years sets to work. After 5 days of negotiations, The Conservative party, who were unable to get a majority in last week’s election, have come together with the...

Unfair dismissal compensation may go through the roof pending outcome of landmark case

2010-04-26

Employers are currently waiting with baited breath to see the outcome of the current Edwards Vs. Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust case that began last week. The Court of Appeal will hear the case in which Edwards, a hospital con...

Workers unsure about their redundancy rights

2010-04-21

In a survey of over 4,000 members of the public, consumer rights group Which? has found that over a quarter (27%) of adults are worried about being made redundant and that a similar amount (24%) are concerned that their employers may freeze or reduce...

90% of Small businesses unhappy with Budget 2010

2010-03-30

The highly anticipated Budget was announced last week and small business owners were as keen as ever to find out how it would affect them and their business. However, having digested the Chancellor’s proposed measures, it would seem that ...

Business groups say no to proposed National Insurance increases

2010-03-19

The proposed 1% increase in National Insurance Contributions has met some stiff opposition in the form of some of Britain’s major business groups. The coalition, formed to prevent the increase, boasts the leaders from groups such as th...

Small businesses struggling with employment law

2010-03-01

According to new research from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), many SMEs in the UK are struggling with both keeping up to date with employment law and having confidence in implementing policies and procedures.

...

Employment tribunal ruling; employees can carry holiday over to the following year if leave lost due to illness

2010-02-22

A couple of weeks ago, we posted news of an EAT ruling stating that employees must comply with their employer’s annual holiday policy - or run the risk of losing their holiday entitlement altogether. While this appeared to be very good ne...

Employers and staff disagree on the success of cost-cutting techniques

2010-02-15

Whilst the UK’s chance of further economic growth looks strong, many businesses have needed to make cost-cutting measures over the past year and it is likely that some will need to continue to do so. Whilst staff and their employers have ...

EAT Holiday ruling: more good news for employers

2010-02-09

With news this week that the UK is crawling its way out of recession, there is another story, this time employment related, that will please employers. According to a new ruling from the Employment Appeals Tribunal...

SMEs in favour of no default retirement age

2010-01-20

According to new research by the Federation of Small Business (FSB), two thirds of small businesses are in favour of removing the default retirement age. Currently, 85% of the FSB’s members do not use the default retirement age for their ...

What to expect in 2010

2010-01-13

Happy New Year from all of us here at Cleardocs.

In 2010 we’re all hoping that we can leave behind the economic troubles of 2009 and that we can all look forward to a prosperous twelve months.

As promised las...

"Promotion? No thanks, give me an iPod"

2009-12-23

Recent research from PricewaterhouseCoopers reveals that most employees would rather be given a free MP3 player, camera or a similar gadget than to be fast-tracked for promotion. 950 employees were asked w...

Legislation update - December

2009-12-09

The following is an update on what’s happened employment-legislation-wise in the past month:

The Queen’s speech and potential reform

On 18th November, the government outli...

ACAS helps businesses avoid over 2000 tribunal claims

2009-12-03

In just seven months since the introduction of their Pre-Claim Conciliation (PCC) service, ACAS have reported that it has helped organisations avoid over 2,000 employment tribunal claims.

ACAS&rsq...

Pre-Christmas special offers

2009-11-26

You may have noticed that Cleardocs have introduced some very special offers this week with massive reductions of up to 65% on our contracts and staff handbooks. These prices come after a great year for us and as a thank you to our customers&rs...

Gender pay gap narrows - but are businesses measuring theirs?

2009-11-18

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal that the gender pay gap has narrowed in the past year for employees who work full-time on an hourly rate.

The current mean hourly full-time gender pay gap has narrowed from ...

Unemployment still high but rising slower

2009-11-13

The figures released this week show that UK unemployment is now at 2.46 million - but that the rise of 30,000 in three months is the smallest rise since May 2008. Unemployment is now at 7.8% according to the stats released by the Office for Nat...

46% employees seek additional employment for extra cash

2009-11-09

A recent survey conducted by Hirescores.co.uk reveals that just under half of workers in specialist industries had earned extra money outside of work. It appears that ‘moonlighting’ as it is...

Christopher Balmford in the UK

2009-10-20

Cleardocs founder Christopher Balmford will be in the UK next week - so we thought we'd take the opportunity to invite you to ask Christopher any questions you may have relating to the role plain English plays in the law, in your business or i...

All eyes on MPs

2009-10-19

There were a couple of highlights for employers in the news over the past week; following months-worth of debate surrounding the MPs expenses scandal and the retirement age debate.

Employers warned to tighten expenses policies

Employees understanding of cost cuts

2009-10-12

Recent research from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) suggests that employees are understanding when it comes to employers needing to cut costs; with just under half (49%) stating that they understand their employers’ decisions over reward and work...

Fewer employment tribunals but unfair dismissal claims continue to rise

2009-10-05

The latest statistics released by the Tribunals Service reveal that although the number of employment tribunals fell by 20% in the period of 2008-09, unfair dismissal claims are up by 29% – with the number of claims totalling 52,711.

October 2009 legislation changes

2009-10-01

Today sees several new pieces of employment legislation take effect. The changes are the second round of legislation updates this year, with the last set being in April. You can read more about the changes below – and naturally, Cle...

Default Retirement Age to remain unchanged - for the time being...

2009-09-28

Friday saw the long awaited ruling from the High Court regarding the Default Retirement Age (DRA) of 65; with Mr Justice Blake ruling that it is still legal for an employer to force an employee to retire at...

Illness during annual leave: will it be the employers who are left sick?

2009-09-25

The European Court of Justice has ruled that employees who are sick during their annual leave should be allowed to reschedule their holiday – even if it carries over into the following year.

The announcement, which is bound to aggrie...

Can you trust your staff?

2009-09-04

Can you trust your staff?

According to research by the CIFAS, dishonesty and fraudulent acts from workers is on the rise: dishonest actions by employees to obtain benefits by theft and dece...

SME survey - the results so far

2009-08-20

Over the last few weeks, we’ve asked Cleardocs customers for their views on the recession, the impact it has had on your business and the role of the media. Here’s what we’ve been told s...

In the news

2009-08-10

In the news

There have been some news stories of interest for SMEs in the past week:

Over half of UK businesses considering redundancy according to British Chamber of Commerce

The British Chamber of Commerce (B...

Employment Legislation Update

2009-08-03

Equality bill developments

Last month, we gave you an update on the Equality bill and since then, it has completed the committee stage:

The Equality Bill 2008-09, which i...

22% rise in unfair dismissal claims

2009-07-27

ACAS has reported that it has received 55,000 unfair dismissal claims in the past year – a significant increase of almost 12,000 (22%) from the same period last year.

This 22% rise has been accredited to the current economic c...

Cost-cutting now, long-term damage later?

2009-07-14

In times like these, running a small business can be hard. Trying to balance the budget with potentially lower profits can be a minefield and there is always a tendency to try and cut costs, cut-corners a...

Flexible Working proves popular

2009-06-23

According to recent research carried out by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), flexible working, extra holiday allowance, shutdown periods and cuts in paid overtime have become more popular, largely due to the current economic climate.

Employment Legislation Update

2009-06-09

There’s been some developments in employment legislation in the past month:

Equality Bill: Second Reading in House of Commons

Last month, we told you about The Equality Bill 2008-2009 and in the past fe...

Cleardocs launches Consultancy Agreements - reflecting customer demand in the global financial crisis

2009-05-27

When speaking to our customers over the last 6 months, they have given us valuable input as to which documents they would like us to develop. Combined with that and the expertise at Ashfords solicitors, we’ve been able to create our la...

RSM Bentley Jennison teams up with Cleardocs to launch 4staffhandbooks

2009-05-19

Employment Tribunal cases have increased by almost 50% in the last three years - and small to medium businesses face potential difficulties if they don’t pay enough attention to employee and workplace regulations.

Business service...

UK to retain opt-out from 48-hour week Working Time Directive

2009-05-12

A couple of weeks ago, we reported that the right to allow EU member states to opt-out of the Working Time Directive was under review in Brussels. However, since then:

negotiations at the European Parliament have broken down; and

Employment Legislation Update

2009-05-08
There’s been a few developments in employment legislation in the past month:

Equality Bill

The long-awaited Equality Bill has now been published. The Bil...

New look blog

2009-04-28

We’re delighted to announce the launch of the new look blog!

Since launching the blog last November, we’ve tried to keep you updated with what we’re up to – whilst also keeping you posted with all the employment ...

Confidence in Pensions rising again, or is it?

2009-04-27

Cleardocs Employment Documents Updates

Default Retirement age to be scrapped

British staff pull the most sickies in Europe

New copy and paste functionality

The Equality Bill will come into effect in October 2010

Cost of the new Budget: 1.3 million jobs

The Emergency Budget and what it means for small businesses

World Cup Special Offer: win a copy of The Employers Handbook

Employers beware: Fake fit notes available online

Employers guide to the World cup

Claimants get fast track to tribunal compensation

The new coalition government and what this will mean for small businesses

Unfair dismissal compensation may go through the roof pending outcome of landmark case

Workers unsure about their redundancy rights

90% of Small businesses unhappy with Budget 2010

Business groups say no to proposed National Insurance increases

Small businesses struggling with employment law

Employment tribunal ruling; employees can carry holiday over to the following year if leave lost due to illness

Employers and staff disagree on the success of cost-cutting techniques

EAT Holiday ruling: more good news for employers

SMEs in favour of no default retirement age

What to expect in 2010

"Promotion? No thanks, give me an iPod"

Legislation update - December

ACAS helps businesses avoid over 2000 tribunal claims

Pre-Christmas special offers

Gender pay gap narrows - but are businesses measuring theirs?

Unemployment still high but rising slower

46% employees seek additional employment for extra cash

Christopher Balmford in the UK

All eyes on MPs

Employees understanding of cost cuts

Fewer employment tribunals but unfair dismissal claims continue to rise

October 2009 legislation changes

Default Retirement Age to remain unchanged - for the time being...

Illness during annual leave: will it be the employers who are left sick?

Can you trust your staff?

SME survey - the results so far

In the news

Employment Legislation Update

22% rise in unfair dismissal claims

Cost-cutting now, long-term damage later?

Flexible Working proves popular

Employment Legislation Update

Cleardocs launches Consultancy Agreements - reflecting customer demand in the global financial crisis

RSM Bentley Jennison teams up with Cleardocs to launch 4staffhandbooks

UK to retain opt-out from 48-hour week Working Time Directive

Employment Legislation Update

New look blog

Confidence in Pensions rising again, or is it?