B2HR News

Employee Reference – It’s always what you say no matter how you say it…..

2011-05-13T21:14:00.000+01:00

As an employer if you are asked to give a reference by a current or ex-employee you are obliged to do so. This is because as an employer you have a continuing duty of care not to damage an employee’s prospects of future employment.

If you are asked to provide a reference it is important that the content of the reference is true, accurate and fair. If you are over-zealous in your praise of a poor employee the new employer may have an action against you for misstatement. If you are overly or unfairly critical of an employee in circumstances where you haven’t raised your criticisms with the employee then the employee may have a claim for their losses arising from a dismissal or a job offer being withdrawn.

A recent case delivers a further message that the obligations relating to references extend to any other communications – Mr McKie’s former employer, Swindon College, was ordered to pay damages to Mr Mckie because of an email which was sent by the HR director some 6 years after Mr Mckie had left the College. The email was found by the Tribunal to contain comments about Mr McKie that were ‘untrue and fallacious.’

When provided a reference consider:　

· Adopting the practice of providing only factual references that simply confirm the dates of employment and the their job title;

· Where negative information will be provided in a reference you should provide the draft reference to the employee before sending it to the prospective employer so that the employee can decide whether or not to ask you to stand as referee; and

· Always include a disclaimer.

If you would like to discuss references or any other employment issue please feel free to contact us.

Default Retirement Age - 30th March 2011.....

2011-02-14T14:18:00.002Z

The 30th March 2011 is the last day on which an employer has the right to serve an employee the 6 months notice to require that they retire at the age of 65 or over. If you have employees who are or will be 65 or over before 30th September 2011 and you wish to give effect to their retirement then you must not delay in issuing your notice of retirement. If you have any questions or wish to discuss this issue please contact us.

Employment Forecast 2011

2010-12-12T23:11:00.004Z

Default retirement age to be scrapped

From 6^th April 2011 employers will be prohibited from issuing any new notifications of retirement using the default retirement age of 65. Employers who issue a notification of retirement before 6^th April 2011 will be able to retire the employee if his or her retirement date is before 1st October 2011. After 6^th April an employer cannot prescribe a compulsory retirement age, unless it can justify it as "a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim".

Right to request ‘time off to train’

From April 2011 the Apprenticeships, Children and Learning Act 2009 introduces the statutory right for qualifying employees to make a request in relation to study or training. This right came into force in April 2010 for employers with 250 employees or more and April 2011 sees the right extend to small businesses with employees of fewer than 250.

Paternity leave and pay extended

Fathers of babies born after 3^rd April 2011 will be able to benefit from up to 26 weeks additional paternity leave where the mother returns to work before the end of their maternity leave entitlement.

Equal treatment for agency workers

The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 will give agency workers who have worked for 12 weeks in the placement the same basic employment rights as direct employees.

If you need further advice on any of the above issues please complete the contact form or telephone us on 01603 251786.