Bhayani HR
I am proud to share Jay’s success on the customer reviews website, VouchedFor for Spring 2017.
Jay is rated 4.9 out of 5 on 22 reviews and listed in the Sunday Times. Great to be part of this team!
Our client reviews are really important to us as they help us to keep learning about how we can serve you better. You can read and leave a review by clicking here.
Garden Leave is when an employee is required to spend some or all of their notice period away from their place of work and the employee will often be restricted from performing some or all of their duties. The employee will generally be prevented from contacting clients, suppliers or customers but will continue to receive their full salary and all other contractual benefits and payments until the end of their notice period.
An employer may require an employee to go on Garden Leave to protect themselves against competition, poaching clients, customers and staff. A period of Garden Leave can assist in the enforcement of restrictive covenants, confidentiality and intellectual property clauses.
The idea behind keeping an employee away from their place of work is to make sure that they cannot harm the business in anyway when they hand in their notice or you serve notice, but they will be prevented from working for another business or setting up their own business during this time.
If the employee is away from the business, has limited or no access to company information and is effectively out of the industry for any period of time, this will limit the damage they can do to a business when they do eventually move on after their period of notice has expired.
It may also be beneficial to have an employee away from the business if the dismissal is acrimonious or the employee is likely to disrupt other employees or will not be productive during their notice period.
You can still require an employee to return to work or resume some or all of their duties at any point during the Garden Leave period.
A Payment in Lieu of Notice, sometimes referred to as PILON, is when the employment contract terminates and you make a payment for any outstanding notice not worked and you do not require the employee to work all or the remainder of their notice period. A Payment in Lieu of Notice may be made when the employer would rather the employee leave with immediate effect and a period away from the business on Garden Leave is unlikely to offer the Company any enhanced protection from any breaches of contract.
The employee will leave the business at the point they are notified that a Payment in Lieu of Notice will be made and their employment will terminate. This means that their last day of employment will be brought forward and will no longer be the end of their contractual notice period. This is particularly useful if you think an employee will be disruptive, damage the company or be unproductive if they were to carry on working for the company when they know that they are leaving. It is also means that contractual benefits will cease with immediate effect and no further holiday pay or other contractual payments will need to be made beyond the termination date.
In considering which option is preferable, you must first check the contract of employment to ensure that the contract contains appropriate and well drafted Payment in Lieu of Notice and Garden Leave clauses. If the contract does not contain these clauses, you would only be able to exercise these options with the employee’s consent. You have no automatic right to serve notice and require the employee to go on Garden Leave or dismiss an employee and make a payment in lieu. This could be considered a breach of contract if the employee does not consent.
In both cases, the employee will not work some or all of their notice but will still receive pay. Neither option removes or reduces the employer’s duty to make the correct statutory or contractual notice payment.
Other considerations could be the payment of further holidays and contractual benefits. An employee on Garden Leave will continue to accrue holiday until their termination date and will be entitled to other contractual payments during this time whereas a termination with a payment in lieu would end these benefits with immediate effect. With appropriately drafted clauses, you may require an employee to use their holidays during a period of Garden Leave which could serve to limit the additional payments that you would have to make.
If there is a chance that you will require the employee to return to work or provide additional information such as training or assist in a handover, then Garden Leave would be preferable as you cannot compel an employee to co-operate and assist the business once their employment has terminated.
There are pros and cons to both of these options but, should an employee resign or you decide to dismiss an employee and believe that they may pose a risk to the business, then you should seek legal advice on whether Garden Leave or a payment in lieu would be the best option for your business.
If your contract does not contain a Payment in Lieu of Notice clause and/or Garden Leave clause then we would strongly recommend that your contracts are amended to insert such clauses.
Our employment law team at Bhayani HR & Employment Law are experts in drafting robust, easy to understand and detailed contracts of employment which will protect your business and reassure employees that they will be treated fairly.
Our solicitors recognise the importance of solid and meticulous drafting and would be happy to speak to you about a review of your current contracts of employment. We can assist with the redraft of your contracts of employment at a competitive fixed fee cost. We can even send in our own HR team to ensure that each contract of employment is signed by your employees and they fully understand the terms of their new contract.
If you would like more information, please complete our enquiry form, email us at hello@bhayanilaw.co.uk or call 0114 303 2300.
Zero hour contracts are a hot topic, especially with the upcoming election. They are divisive and generally frowned upon, but is there is a place for them in the employment sphere?
A zero hour contract is a contract which does not guarantee an employee any minimum hours per work. This means that an employee’s working pattern can be unpredictable, with no guaranteed income as the employer will only pay for the hours that are worked. It is estimated that 2-3% of the working population are on zero hour contracts. The figures fluctuate throughout the year, with peaks over the summer and Christmas periods to cover seasonal work.
The key benefit for an employer offering zero hour contracts is that they can secure staff and flexibly plan their staffing levels dependent on the work coming in. This is ideal for small businesses or growing businesses who have low cash flow and cannot commit to paying an employee regular hours but risks being understaffed. Staffing levels can vary at different times of the year and a zero hour contract can be a quick and easy solution for seasonal work when demand is less predictable and staff may be required at short notice.
The benefit for an employee is that they may prefer to work flexibly and part time to fit around other commitments. A zero hour contract cannot prevent an employee working elsewhere, so can be an ideal solution for a second job.
A zero hour contract also does not preclude an employee from receiving holiday payments and in some cases they can still receive Statutory Sick Pay, Statutory Maternity Pay and other employee benefits.
It is estimated that around a third of employees on zero hours contracts would like more hours. Often, an employee is reassured that they will receive a set number of hours but, as there are no minimum hours within the contract, the hours actually given may not meet the employees expectations and the employer cannot be compelled to give additional hours. Also, whilst the idea of working flexibly appeals to some, it can cause problems for employees who require a set pattern of work. An employee may feel unable to turn down work, if they fear that a refusal to work will result in them receiving even less hours in the coming weeks.
Zero hour contracts can make employment status difficult to determine. Often someone on a zero hour contract will be a worker, which affords them limited employment rights. However, the contract of employment can give employee status, even though there are no guaranteed hours. The significance of this is that an employee is entitled to statutory sick pay, redundancy, protection from unfair dismiss and statutory maternity pay and other family rights. A worker is not entitled to these benefits.
It is not only the contract of employment which will determine whether there is a true zero hour arrangement. The reality of the situation will also be considered. This means that if someone regularly works the same number of hours each week and has done for a significant period but is on a zero hour contract, there may be an argument to suggest that they have fixed contractual hours and could in fact be an employee as opposed to a worker. They would be able to argue that they are entitled to a minimum number of hours per week.
With the upcoming election, the future is uncertain for zero hour contracts with arguments that they allow the exploitation of workers and undermine workers’ rights.
Due to the negative press zero hour contracts have received, many companies are now looking to reduce their numbers of zero hour contracts and offer existing employees with regular hours the opportunity to move on to fixed hour contracts.
As employment law experts, we can draft comprehensive contracts of employment to suit your business and assist in the transition from zero hour to fixed hour contracts. We can also provide specialist advice in relation to employment status and what the best options are for your company when recruiting new members of staff.
We will be running a specialist session on employment status alongside BHP Accountants on 27th September 2017. We will be sending out details on how to book in due course.
If you would like your contracts of employment reviewing, new contracts drafting or just need some advice on employee status, please contact us on 0114 303 2300 or email hello@bhayanilaw.co.uk
