The Chancellor of the Exchequer yesterday announced that he would be increasing the maximum week's pay for statutory redundancy payments to £380 from £350.  This makes the maximum statutory redundancy payment £11,400.  Interestingly the Chancellor remained silent on when this change is to come into effect but we will let you know as soon as the decision is made.

Because Employment Law has become so complex it can be disastrous for your business if you don’t take specialist advice early on, before you hit difficulties and face costly claims.

Our Employment Advice Service will give you the answers and support you need to deal with difficult issues. The service is on a low fixed fee basis, which enables you to control costs. You can contact us as often as you want and will receive practical and expert advice from an experienced employment lawyer. You will also receive regular newsletters, factsheets and a place at our Employment law seminars.

From 1 April, an extra 4.5 million parents were given new flexible working rights, despite business warnings that this will be a 'nightmare' for small firms struggling in the recession.

The flexible working scheme is now extended to parents of children up to the age of 16, rather than the current age of 6. Over 10 million employees can now request changes to the traditional 9 to 5 working day. They will be able to request part-time working, working from home and a range of other variations, including job-sharing, compressed hours or school term-time hours.

Click here to read more.

The Employment Act 2008 came into force on 6 April, repealing the current statutory dispute resolution procedures ("SDPs"). You should be aware however that there are transitional provisions in place, which mean that the SDPs will still continue to apply in some circumstances post 6 April. Please click here for some key points on the new position.

We will also be making a free podcast available on our website from mid April to discuss the implications of these changes for employers. Click here to be notified by email when the podcast is available.

Partnership vehicles are commonly used in an attempt to avoid employee status for tax purposes. Partners are not employees of the partnership and pay self-employed rates of NICs.

In a recent case Protectacoat dismissed one of their “partners” and argued a written “partnership agreement” showed he was a partner, not an employee, so he could not claim unfair dismissal. He said that he was an employee because the employer provided his van and tools and had a degree of control over him. The Courts held that the “partnership agreement” was a sham and he was an employee. It said that tribunals should look carefully at the true legal relationship and determine the parties' intentions and expectations when entering into the contract.

Click here to read the case in full.

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