As we begin to emerge from the pandemic, many issues which have been on the back-burner over the past few years are starting to resurface. In this article we take a look at some hot topics and legal developments we are expecting to take place this year.
As those of us who have worked from home for the past two years start returning in earnest to the office, flexible working is on everyone's lips. The UK Government's long awaited Employment Bill is expected to widen the scope of the current right to request flexible working, and make it a ‘day one' right. We expect that the bill may also revise some of the current eight statutory reasons for which a flexible working request can be refused. Organisations are, of course, able to have broader flexible working policies than those required by legislation, and with the (partial) move back to offices, hybrid working policies are becoming more common. The pandemic experience has undoubtedly made hybrid working requests more difficult for employers to refuse. However, the long term impact on on-site and office working remains to be seen. Employers should be conscious of the need to carefully balance discrimination aspects with health and safety concerns when introducing hybrid working policies.
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment at work continues to be an area of focus, and the UK has recently ratified the International Labour Organisation's Violence and Harassment Convention. As part of...
MUNCIE, Ind.–A Muncie man faces eight federal charges accusing him of filing more than $1 million in false COVID-19 tax credit claims. Gregory Vernon Dupree, 38, was charged in a federal indictmen...