The Future of Work – AI & HR

Over the last 6 months Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become increasingly accessible to everyone. What are the benefits of AI and ChatGPT for HR and what are the current challenges?

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“It’s not harassment, it’s only banter.”

As employment lawyers, probably our least favourite word is banter. Countless times over the years we have heard the perpetrators of harassment of various kinds dismiss their behaviour as "only banter."

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Menopause leave trial rejected by Government

Has the Government missed an opportunity to support both the employer and employee by rejecting the proposal to introduce menopause leave? What signal has been sent to women in the workplace?  

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Sunset Boulevard

The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill doesn’t sound very exciting, but behind this rather dull title is a Bill of historical significance. It introduces what parliamentarians call a “sunset clause”, which is a mechanism to establish an end date to legislation.

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Office Banter

An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman walk into a bar and engage in some innocent banter. But if they are colleagues going to the bar after work, then banter based on national stereotypes could be anything but innocent and could result in costly employment tribunal claims, as well as serious reputational damage for their employer.

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Employing Overseas Workers

A perfect storm of Brexit, pandemic-induced reappraisal of working practices and severe staff shortages have led many UK employers to look in more detail at the feasibility of employing staff overseas.

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P&O Ferries – did they break the law?

Whilst there is unanimous agreement that the 800 employees dismissed by P&O Ferries were treated abysmally, there is doubt as to which employment laws the company may have broken.

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Fire and Rehire

What do British Gas, Weetabix and Clarkes Shoes have in common? The answer is that they all have recently undertaken "fire and rehire" exercises in relation to long serving staff.

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The Perils of Inflexibility

The award of £185,000 to Alice Thompson as a result of her employer declining her flexible working request continues to reverberate.

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Recruitment following the pandemic

With business confidence recovering strongly, many organisations' priority is recruitment of additional staff. Businesses which suffered greatly during the pandemic, such as hospitality, are seeing a significant rebound. But the business press is full of stories of staff shortages in many industries, shortages which are holding back the UK's recovery from the pandemic induced recession.

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