Welcome to the February 2024 edition of Employment Matters: our round-up of the latest developments in employment law and key issues affecting employers and HR professionals.
2024 is poised to be one of the most turbulent years for employment law. Not only do we have a general election on the horizon, but several new pieces of legislation take effect, resulting in significant changes to (among other things) holiday pay rights, family-friendly entitlements and anti-discrimination law, including the introduction of a new duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. We will be exploring these topics in greater detail as the year goes on. But, for now, we set out our top three "headline actions" for HR to start 2024; and explain the new changes to the paternity leave and flexible working regimes, plus the new right to carers' leave.
That said, there are a number of constants against this sea of changes. We continue to be active in thought leadership, especially around the future of work. After our highly successful "mock" employment tribunal event in October 2023, which explored allegations of sexual harassment in the Metaverse, we discuss what employers can do to manage workplace behaviour online. Similarly, our AI specialist, Daniel Gray, examines the recent case of Harber v HMRC and the risks employers face when implementing generative AI without appropriate safeguards.
Further, we continue to bolster our employment practice with increasingly sophisticated and integrated incentives and immigration capabilities. This quarter, our Incentives team explains the benefits of tax-free profit-shares for employee-owned businesses; while our Immigration team discusses the cautionary tale of a care home provider which had its sponsorship license revoked, partly because of failures to comply with UK employment law.
We also continue to write extensively for the leading industry publications. We co-authored an article in the prominent trade magazine, ELA Briefing, about whether a bonus clawback provision can amount to an unlawful restraint of trade. Likewise, we updated our chapter 'Restraint on competition', in the pre-eminent employment law text Harvey on Industrial Relations and Employment Law, so that it now contains, for the first time, guidance on interim relief in arbitration.
Finally, we continue to host events for our clients. We have a number scheduled for 2024, so please do watch this space for details of how to book. In the meantime, I am delighted to share a recording of a panel discussion, which we co-hosted with General Counsel of Ocado, about what to do if that nightmare scenario ever arose whereby a senior employee has run off to a competitor having stolen your confidential information…