We know you have been patiently waiting to find out the answers to the Employment Law Christmas Crossword 2022, and your wait is finally over. We’ve put together a video setting out the answers, but if that doesn’t work, you can find the answers below.
Answers:
1 Across is Redundancy
Redundancy is a form of dismissal which happens when an employer needs to reduce the size of its workforce. Redundancies should be considered if:
- The business will be closing.
- You need to change the type or number of roles needed.
- Changing location.
We hope no one has to go through a redundancy process, however, in the current climate it is looking more and more likely that businesses will need to look restructuring in the coming months.
If you need advice on the redundancy process, please seek advice.
2 Across is Disability
The Equality Act 2010, protects employees from disability discrimination.
An employee does not have to tell their employer they are disabled. But if/when they do, the employer will have a legal responsibility to support them. You should carry out the following:
- Speak with the employee to see how you can support them. Discuss any reasonable adjustments that can be made to help. Reasonable adjustments will differ for each individual.
- You should carry out a health and safety risk assessment.
If an employer fails to support an employee, for example, by failing to implement reasonable adjustments, an employee is likely to have a claim against the company for disability discrimination.
If you have any questions about potential discrimination claims or how discrimination should be dealt with in the workplace, please do not hesitate to contact us.
3 Across is Wrongful
I know what you are thinking…you are a mean one! Many of you may have said ‘unlawful’ for Unlawful Deduction of Wages, which isn’t wrong, but it’s not the answer we were looking for.
Wrongful dismissal is a claim for the breach of the contract of employment. The most common claim arises from employers not paying the correct notice entitlement as set out in the contract of employment.
It is important to note that wrongful dismissal is different to unfair dismissal.
4 Across is Maternity
Employees who are pregnant are entitled to the following types of Maternity Leave:
- Ordinary Maternity Leave of 26 weeks.
- Additional Maternity Leave of 26 weeks.
(Note: employees must take 2 weeks leave after the baby is born or if they are a factory worker, at least 4 weeks).
The earliest time an employee’s maternity leave can start is 11 weeks before the expected week of childbirth.
An employee may also be entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay, if they qualify.
If you have any questions in relation to maternity entitlements, please do not hesitate to contact us.
5 Across is Gross
An employer may dismiss an employee for Gross Misconduct. When carrying out this sort of dismissal, the Employer may need to consider whether it is appropriate to suspend the employee whilst the investigation and disciplinary is being carried out. The Employer should also ensure that they follow their Disciplinary Procedure when dealing with such misconduct.
If an employer fails to dismiss an employee correctly, it may give rise to an unfair dismissal claim.
Gross misconduct can include things like theft, physical violence, gross negligence or serious insubordination.
If you have any questions about gross misconduct at work, please do not hesitate to contact me.
6 Across is Disciplinary
If an employee behaves in a way which amounts to misconduct or gross misconduct, an employer should deal with the issue in accordance with their disciplinary procedure.
The employer should conduct an investigation into the issues (where necessary) and then decide if a disciplinary hearing is necessary or if no further action should be taken.
Be aware that employees have a right to be accompanied at a disciplinary hearing by a trade union representative or a colleague. Employee’s do not have this right for the investigation meeting, however, it is advisable that you allow them to be accompanied.
The disciplinary process could result in an employee being issued with a warning. Please note that it is no longer advisable to provide verbal warnings.
It is extremely important that the procedure is carried out fairly, otherwise an employee may be able to bring a claim against their employer.
3 Down is Wage
Employees are legally entitled to be paid the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage.
Failing to do so could land an employer in hot water, not just with a claim at the Employment Tribunal but also with HMRC.
The current rates are as follows:
Age 23 or over: £9.50
Age 21 to 22: £9.18
Age 18 to 20: £6.83
Under 18: £4.81
Apprentice: £4.81
Please be aware that these rates are usually increased by the government on the 1 April each year.
7 Down is Consult
If an employee is faced with the risk of being made redundant, a consultation period must take place.
The consultation will involve the employee and employer speaking about:
- why they are being made redundant.
- any potential alternatives to redundancy.
If the employer is making up to 19 redundancies, there are no rules about how the consultation period should be carried, however, we would usually advise a consultation period of between 3 to 4 weeks.
If the employer is making 20 or more redundancies at the same time, then the collective redundancy rules apply.
Be aware: If the employer fails to consult properly, an employee can bring a claim in the Employment Tribunal.
8 Down is Capability
If an employee’s performance or attendance is not at the required standard expected of them, an employer should raise the issues informally at first and if no improvement it will be necessary for them to deal with this formally, under their capability procedure.
The aim of this process is to provide you with an opportunity to improve and put steps in place to help you improve (i.e. further training, performance improvement plan etc.).
It is extremely important that such a procedure is carried out fairly, otherwise an employee may be able to bring a claim against their employer.
9 Down is Unfair
Unfair dismissal is a claim that employees can bring when they believe they have been dismissed unfairly because there was:
- No fair reason to dismiss.
- Did not justify dismissal.
- Procedure not followed correctly.
An employee can only bring such a claim where they have 2 years’ continuous service with the employer.
However, there may be situations where the dismissal is ‘automatically unfair’ and they can bring a claim where they have less than 2 years’ service, such as:
- Discrimination.
- Whistleblowing.
- Industrial action.
10 Down is Dismiss
We have discussed above, the importance of the disciplinary and capability procedures, as well as claims like wrongful and unlawful dismissal.
It is important that when dismissing an employee, the employer provides the employee with their contractual entitlements such as:
- Notice Pay (unless gross misconduct situation).
- Holiday Pay.
- Contractual benefits up to termination date.
- Salary up to their termination date.
If an employer fails to pay them correctly then an employee can bring a claim for wrongful dismissal.
See above, the points on unfair dismissal.
11 Down is Grievance
A grievance can be raised informally or formally by an employee.
An employee may decide that their issues are serious and decide it is more suitable for them to be dealt with formally.
An employee must make a grievance in writing.
Once received the employer must follow their grievance procedure.
A grievance should be dealt with as quickly as possible in order to resolve the issue the employee is experiencing, this may not always be possible, and as such you should keep the employee updated.
If you have any questions in respect of the grievance procedure, please do not hesitate to get in contact.
The Bater Law Team wishes you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!