The answer to this depends on how many redundancies you are proposing to make.  If you are proposing 20 or more redundancies at one establishment within a rolling 90-day period, you must notify the Insolvency Service about those proposals by completing a Form HR1 (see here and here). Failure to do this constitutes a criminal offence which is punishable with a potentially unlimited fine. Note too that, in a collective redundancy situation like this, you will need to comply with statutory collective consultation obligations (which include undertaking a thorough consultation about the proposals with ‘appropriate representatives’ of the affected employees, starting at least 30 or 45 days before the first proposed dismissal, depending on the numbers involved).  If you are a Make UK subscriber, you can read more about the rules that apply in a collective redundancy situation in our HRL Resources and/or speak with your regular adviser.

If you are not a Make UK subscriber, you can contact us for further support on this topic or to access our resources. Please click here for information on how we can help your business.

Yes, the new Statutory Code of Practice on Dismissal and Re-engagement came into force on 18 July 2024 – see here.  This code sets out employers’ responsibilities when seeking to change contractual terms and conditions of employment and aims to ensure that dismissal and re-engagement is only used as a last resort.  Employment tribunals have the power to apply an uplift of 25% of an employee’s unfair dismissal compensation if an employer unreasonably fails to comply with the Code where it applies.

It is worth noting that the new Labour Government has committed to strengthening this Code of Practice in due course (see page 6 of ‘Labour’s Plan to Make Work Pay: Delivering A New Deal for Working People’). However, the Labour Party did acknowledge in its general election manifesto that employers should be allowed to implement contractual changes via dismissal and re-engagement where there is no alternative in order for the business to survive, so we do not expect this business practice to be banned entirely.

To read more about changes the new Labour Government is planning to make to employment law and access our detailed plan which sets out key steps Make UK recommends HR take now to prepare, see here.

If you are a Make UK subscriber, you can speak with your regular adviser about issues such as dismissal and re-engagement and the Labour Government’s planned changes to employment law and/or access further information in our HRL Resources. If you are not a Make UK subscriber, you can contact us for further support on this topic or to access our resources. Please click here for information on how we can help your business. 

A pulse survey is an anonymous and independent survey which an employer may ask its workforce to complete in order to gain a clearer understanding of its employees’ views on various issues relating to workplace safety, in particular sexual harassment at work.

Carefully tailored questions in a pulse survey enable an employer to better understand, for example: whether employees know how to report incidents of harassment; and whether employees feel confident to raise concerns and, if not, why not.  An employer can then use the results from the survey to foster positive change within the organisation. 

Conducting a pulse survey can be a highly effective tool for HR and senior management to gain a better understanding of their workforce, and to support and build a genuinely inclusive culture.  Repeating a pulse survey – for example, a year after the initial survey – can help the employer to understand whether the measures it has adopted internally to drive change have been effective.

To read more about how Make UK can support employers to undertake a pulse survey within their business, as well as further steps employers can take to tackle sexual harassment at work, see here.

If you are a Make UK subscriber, you can speak with your regular adviser about issues relating to sexual harassment at work and/or access information in our HRL Resources. If you are not a Make UK subscriber, you can contact us for further support on this topic or to access our resources. Please click here for information on how we can help your business. 

The flexible working legislation doesn’t expressly provide for or regulate trial periods, and the ACAS Code of Practice only includes limited information (just stating that “it may be helpful to discuss whether a trial period may be appropriate to assess the feasibility of an arrangement”).  The ACAS Code of Practice on requests for flexible working can be found here.

This means it is up to employers to decide how long a period is reasonable to assess the feasibility of each proposed working arrangement, in the context of the specific role and the business concerned. In some circumstances, a couple of weeks may be all that is needed to assess the practical impact of a small change to a proposed working pattern. In other circumstances, a trial period as long as six months may be reasonable.

It is important to document the terms of any trial period clearly, including the start and end date. You could also include details of any review meeting/conversation(s) you will have during the trial period to discuss with the employee how the new arrangements are working from individual, team and business’ perspectives.  It is advisable when offering a trial period to specify that, if you reject the request after the trial period, the employee will revert to their original working arrangements and terms and conditions.

If you are a Make UK subscriber, you can speak with your regular adviser about handling flexible working requests and/or access further information in our HRL Resources. If you are not a Make UK subscriber, you can contact us for further support on this topic or to access our resources. Please click here for information on how we can help your business.

No, this proposal was tabled under the previous Conservative Government, and the new Labour Government has not indicated any intention to introduce a limit of this kind. To read more about changes the new Labour Government is planning to make to employment law and access a detailed plan which sets out key steps Make UK recommends HR take now to prepare, see here.

If you are a Make UK subscriber, you can speak with your regular adviser about the Labour Government’s planned changes to employment law and/or access further information on general employment law issues in our HRL Resources. If you are not a Make UK subscriber, you can contact us for further support on this topic or to access our resources. Please click here for information on how we can help your business.