HR Services

For many firms, the appraisal system (or performance review) is often just another form filling exercise. The most frequent complaint (from employees) is that although they ‘go through the motions’ annually, nothing ever comes of their appraisal.

Landmark penalty brings warning more employers may be caught out if they fail to comply. Swindon Town Football Club (STFC), which plays in League One, paid a penalty of £22,900 – calculated at a rate of £2,500 per day for the period its compliance was deemed unsatisfactory by the regulator, as well as a lump sum fine.

Northern Ireland’s largest insurance broker has been ordered to pay out almost £46,000 to a former senior staff member for unfair dismissal.

Imagine that you visited your doctor tomorrow for advice and discovered that she hadn’t updated her knowledge or skills since she qualified 20 years ago.  How confident would you feel about taking her advice?

Different professional bodies will have different requirements but fundamentally, it’s agreed that there are two types: structured and unstructured.

It is vital to remember that you, as an employer, are bound by data protection obligations and often this is not recognised on application forms.  Any evidence of an employee’s right to work in the UK and any financial or criminal information is sensitive personal information and must be treated as such.  Whilst certain roles (particularly those in the caring professions and involving vulnerable adults and children, for example) may require the employer to check an applicant's criminal background, this is unlikely to be relevant for the majority of insurance brokers, since the request for information must be ‘proportionate’ to the role.

Contrary to what you may have read in the British press, the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECHR) decision in a recent case (Barbulescu v. Romania) does not give employers free rein to monitor any and all communications made at work by their employees.

Concordia Employment Services Limited the London based MGA has just launched a new product designed for insurance intermediaries: CONCORDIA BROKER PROTECT.

Aside from the continuing debate on zero hours contracts, it’s been a relatively quiet year for employment law developments, so I’ve chosen to highlight some of the most common issues that I have been asked to advise on in 2015.