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From 1 October 2022, the requirement for employers to physically check their new hires’ right to work (RTW) documents will return unless they opt to use one of the new government ‘Identification Document Validation Providers’ (IDSP) to validate RTW evidence online.

Background

Prior to the pandemic, all RTW checks had to be carried out face-to-face.

As a temporary measure brought in during the pandemic, the Home Office allowed employers to carry out RTW checks over video call and to accept scanned documentation (as opposed to having face-to-face checks and then copying and retaining original documents, as was the pre-pandemic requirement). This temporary measure will end on 30 September 2022. 

Reminder of requirements

All UK employers must carry out certain RTW checks for new recruits (regardless of nationality) and also use reasonable steps to ensure their current employees have and maintain a RTW in the UK. While there is no standalone liability for employers who fail to correctly carry out RTW checks, failing to do so exposes employers to fines of up to £20,000 per breach in the event that they employ someone illegally (plus criminal liability, disqualification of directors, reputational damage, among other risks). Compliant RTW checks secure a statutory excuse to civil liability for the hiring of illegal workers. Continue Reading UK employers, are you ready for October? Change in Right to Work Check Requirements

2021 marks the start of a new era for the UK, the Brexit transition period having ended at 11pm on 31 December 2020. After endless rounds of negotiation, the parties reached a last-minute agreement over the ongoing relationship between the UK and EU, and the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020 (which gives legal effect in the UK to the agreements reached) received royal assent on 30 December 2020. But what impact does this have on UK employment rights derived from the EU?

The short answer is that while Brexit provides the UK with some freedom to deviate from EU derived employment law, we should not expect to see any radical changes to UK employment laws or employment rights.

The Trade and Cooperation Agreement reached between the UK and EU incorporates level playing field commitments that seek to prevent either the UK or the EU gaining a competitive advantage in a variety of contexts. These include rights at work, namely fair working conditions, employment standards (including in respect of workplace health and safety), information and consultation rights and the restructuring of undertakings. The commitments given by both the UK and EU are intended to ensure that neither will weaken or reduce labour or social rights and standards below the levels in place at the end of the transition period where this affects trade or investment between the UK and EU, including by way of a failure to enforce those laws and standards.
Continue Reading Implications of Brexit for UK employment law

At the end of 2018, a report from a committee of the UK parliament called on employers and regulators to take a more proactive role in relation to sexual harassment in the workplace, including in relation to the use of confidentiality (non-disclosure) agreements.

In its recent response to that inquiry, the government has set out its ‘measures to prevent the misuse of confidentiality clauses in situations of workplace harassment or discrimination’. This response, together with the launch of its consultation on tackling the wider issue of sexual harassment in the workplace, reflects the UK’s continued focus on the issue of workplace harassment.

Confidentiality clauses tend to be drafted into contracts of employment and settlement agreements. They are provisions in those contracts which seek to prohibit the disclosure of information. While recognising that confidentiality clauses serve as a useful and legitimate mechanism both during the course of and after employment (for example, to prevent employees from sharing company proprietary information with competitors), the UK government has made it clear that they should not be used to ‘gag’ and intimidate victims of workplace harassment and/or discrimination. The government has confirmed that, when parliamentary time allows, it will provide guidance on drafting requirements for confidentiality clauses and legislate to, in summary:

Continue Reading UK government consultation: UK to legislate on use of confidentiality (non-disclosure) agreements in the workplace

Employment status in the UK

The UK recognises three categories of employment status: employees, workers and self-employed contractors, each with varying levels of protection under employment law.  Employees are entitled to the full suite of employment rights, while self-employed contractors have very little protection under employment law. Workers who are not employees sit somewhere in…