Employment Corner: October 2022
Written By
Alison Dixon
Partner
UK
I'm a partner in our International HR Services group, which I co-head, based in London. I have more than ten years' experience advising clients on complex employment law issues.
Our Employment team reports below on various developments which will be of interest to the Hotel, Hospitality & Leisure sector, including legal and case updates. Most notable are changes in right to work checks for new employees, the employment law changes that the UK government may now consider following our recent change of Prime Minister, and case law clarifying holiday and holiday pay entitlements for workers who have gaps in their work schedule throughout the year.
Right to Work checks
From 1 October 2022 the government is requiring UK employers to undertake manual in-person right to work documentation checks or use an IDSP to check the documentation for employees who are British or Irish citizens, as opposed to the online video call checks that were introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Employers in the Hotels, Hospitality & Leisure sector, which has traditionally engaged large numbers of migrant workers, will need to update their processes for carrying out right to work checks to ensure compliance. Please read more in our article here.
New Prime Minister, new employment laws?
The recent change in Prime Minster has triggered a flurry of activity in government, including moves to repeal all EU-derived legislation. This has a potentially significant impact on UK employment law and, consequently, all businesses that employ people in the UK. Our article around anticipated and potential upcoming changes to employment law includes discussions in relation to trade union law, working time regulations, the IR35 rules, and TUPE.
Holiday pay for part-year workers
In Harpur Trust v Brazel, the Supreme Court held that the correct method of calculating holiday pay for workers with irregular hours was to take an average of weekly pay over a reference period of 12 weeks, and that the 12.07% method of calculating holiday pay for those workers that do have permanent contracts but only work for part of the year is not legally correct. This judgment has significant implications for sectors like Hotels, Hospitality & Leisure, that engage large numbers of seasonal workers on zero-hours contracts. They may have to adjust how they calculate holiday pay to avoid claims. See our full update here.
Tracking implementation of the EU Whistleblowing Directive for international businesses
We have recently updated our tracker, which monitors the implementation of the EU Whistleblowing Directive across member states where we have offices. Under the Directive, companies with 50 or more workers will need to put in place internal reporting channels and ensure that whistleblowers are protected against retaliation. Whilst all EU member states are under an obligation to pass national law to implement the Directive, countries are taking different approaches to both the timing and the nature and extent of their domestic legislation. International clients can use this tracker to see at a glance what stage different member states are at with respect to implementation and get an overview of key local variations.
