Barnard & Webb Solicitors

17/03/2025

📢 New Employment Rights Alert: Neo-Natal Care Leave & Pay Arriving in April 2025!

From 6 April 2025, eligible working parents of babies requiring neonatal care will have a new statutory right to Neo-Natal Care Leave and Pay. This much-needed reform recognises the challenges faced by parents with premature or sick newborns, allowing them to take time off without worrying about work or finances.

🔹 Who qualifies?
✅ Employees with at least 26 weeks' service and earnings above the lower earnings limit.
✅ Parents whose babies spend at least 7 consecutive days in hospital within the first 28 days of life.

🔹 What does it provide?
📅 Up to 12 weeks of paid leave, in addition to maternity/paternity leave.
💰 Paid at the statutory rate (same as statutory paternity/maternity pay).

🔹 What should employers do?
✅ Update policies and handbooks.
✅ Prepare for employee queries.
✅ Ensure payroll systems are ready.

This is a positive step towards supporting working parents during a difficult time. Employers—get ready! Need help updating your policies? Drop us a message.

04/03/2025

🚨 "AI at Work – Productivity Booster or Legal Minefield?" 🚨

AI is creeping into every workplace, from automated recruitment tools to AI-generated emails. We even used AI to assist with ideas for this post! Employers love the efficiency, but what about the legal risks?

❌ Bias in AI hiring – If your AI recruitment tool rejects candidates unfairly, you could face discrimination claims.
❌ Surveillance concerns – Monitoring employees with AI can raise GDPR and privacy issues.
❌ Unfair dismissals – If AI flags underperformance, are you ensuring a fair, human-led process?
❌ Employees using AI – Are staff relying on AI to draft documents, emails, or even code? If so, is the output accurate and legally compliant? Do you want to allow this?

✅ Top tips for employers:

🔹 Have an AI policy – Set clear rules on when and how AI can be used by both the business and employees.
🔹 Maintain human oversight – AI should assist, not replace, decision-making, particularly in recruitment, disciplinaries, and performance management.
🔹 Check data security – Are employees feeding confidential data into AI tools? Many AI platforms store inputs, creating potential GDPR risks.
🔹 Train your team – Ensure managers understand AI’s limitations and employees know when AI use is inappropriate.

AI is a fantastic tool, but without proper policies and oversight, it could create more problems than it solves.

What’s your view? Does your workplace have AI guidelines?

27/02/2025

🚨 Menopause-related Tribunal Claims Have Trebled – What Employers Need to Know 🚨

Employment tribunal claims citing menopause have tripled in the last two years. 📈 With increasing awareness and evolving case law, menopause is no longer a "taboo" workplace issue—it’s a legal and cultural imperative.

📌 Why the Rise?
Employees are increasingly challenging workplace policies, citing unfair treatment, lack of reasonable adjustments, and even discrimination linked to menopause symptoms. Various protected characteristics ie. disability, s*x, and age have been relied upon in discrimination claims, highlighting the risks for employers who fail to act.

📌 Legal Landscape
While menopause is not a standalone protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, tribunals are increasingly recognising its impact under disability discrimination provisions. Employers failing to accommodate menopause-related symptoms could face costly claims and reputational damage.

📌 What Should Employers Do?
✅ Educate & Train – Raise awareness at all levels, particularly among managers.
✅ Policy Review – Implement a menopause policy and ensure it aligns with best practices.
✅ Supportive Adjustments – Consider flexible working, temperature control, and access to quiet spaces.
✅ Open Conversations – Foster a culture where employees feel comfortable discussing menopause-related challenges.

This surge in claims is a wake-up call. Employers who fail to address menopause in the workplace risk not only legal repercussions but also talent retention and wellbeing challenges.

🔹 Is your organisation prepared? Feel free to get in touch if you require further advice. 📞 01442 773460

20/05/2024

12/08/2022

☀️Summer holidays, ice creams, mojitos (my personal favourite), let's face it there are many reasons for losing track of employment law right now.

However, do not fear, we have prepared a quick blog of summer 2022 latest developments in employment law. No doubt you will have it read before your ice cube has melted.

https://bit.ly/3zWjWel

We are a specialist Employment Law & HR firm that provides the highest quality advice and client care. We are based in Hemel Hempstead and are within a 5-minute drive of St Albans.

12/07/2022

With temperatures set to hit a sweltering 33c this week, I think we can all agree that working in a sweaty office with no air-conditioning is totally unbearable. But what are the legalities when it comes to maximum working temperatures?

Check out our latest blog for advice - https://bit.ly/3OZMPMU

We are a specialist Employment Law & HR firm that provides the highest quality advice and client care. We are based in Hemel Hempstead and are within a 5-minute drive of St Albans.

08/07/2022

Pregnancy and maternity discrimination was the fifth most common discrimination claim in 2020/21. The content of such claims include (but are not limited to);

🔴 sham redundancies;
🔴 offensive comments to pregnant employees;
🔴 failure to implement flexible working options; and
🔴 being overlooked for promotion.

Businesses need to ensure they understand their legal obligations and the reasons why it is imperative women are supported by the business when they are pregnant, on maternity leave, or when they return to work.

Employees need to understand their rights and entitlements so they can take action if discrimination occurs.

See our helpful blog - Understanding Pregnancy & Maternity Discrimination.

We are a specialist Employment Law & HR firm that provides the highest quality advice and client care. We are based in Hemel Hempstead and are within a 5-minute drive of St Albans.

21/06/2022

Just when you thought you’d seen the back of all the Covid-related posts…..sorry folks!

Many people are still suffering with the symptoms of long-covid and employers need to be mindful of this. I posted back in February regarding the possibility of long-covid amounting to a disability under the Equality Act 2010. The first person has now successfully claimed this at an Employment Tribunal. Full story below ⬇️

For further advice, feel free to contact us - https://bit.ly/3xHb0s6.

An employee with long Covid has won an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal, becoming the first person to successfully claim that the condition should be classed as a disability.

08/06/2022

A Waitrose employee has been awarded £47,192.90 in compensation after he was found to be unfairly and wrongfully dismissed for 'jokingly' texting his boss that he had 'found a knife'.

Mohammed Zahangir Kabir's actions were initially found to have amounted to serious misconduct when the Waitrose employee in Redbridge texted his boss, assistant team manager Matthew Ford, that he had found a knife and asked what to do. When Mr Ford asked what Mr Kabir meant, Mr Kabir sent heart eyes emojis and asked if his boss was 'scared' and when he would see him next.

The employment tribunal decided that Waitrose placed too much weight on Mr Ford's reaction over the messages (that he was scared and did not know what to do) when taking the decision to dismiss. The Employment Tribunal concluded that there was no actual threat in the messages and deemed dismissal 'unnecessary'.

This serves as a reminder to employers that even in circumstances where there is serious misconduct, they need to demonstrate that dismissal is a 'reasonable response'.

For the full story see:

https://bit.ly/3H79Da9

He was fired after he messaged his boss with a joke about finding a knife

08/06/2022

Recent statistics published by Scope UK – the disability equality charity - indicate there are an estimated 4.4 million people with a disability in employment.

The TUC published survey results in June 2021, which showed that nearly one in three disabled workers say that they’ve been treated unfairly at work in the previous two years.

For the key facts on disability discrimination in the workplace, read our helpful blog:

We are a specialist Employment Law & HR firm that provides the highest quality advice and client care. We are based in Hemel Hempstead and are within a 5-minute drive of St Albans.

20/05/2022

🔴 The UK abolished its ‘default’ retirement age in 2011, leaving workers free to retire at any time.

🔴 Reports last year confirmed that employment tribunals have seen a 74% increase in age discrimination claims.

🔴 So when can age discrimination occur and can it ever be justified?

See our helpful blog: https://bit.ly/39EyHbT

We are a specialist Employment Law & HR firm that provides the highest quality advice and client care. We are based in Hemel Hempstead and are within a 5-minute drive of St Albans.

30/03/2022

🔴 Employment Contracts - are the necessary?

🔴 For the answer, see our latest blog:

We are a specialist Employment Law & HR firm that provides the highest quality advice and client care. We are based in Hemel Hempstead and are within a 5-minute drive of St Albans.