Our monthly employment law round up.
Ban on exclusivity clauses to be extended
Exclusivity clauses, which restrict workers from working for multiple employers, were banned for workers on zero hour contracts in 2015. The UK Government announced on 9 May that the ban is to be extended to contracts where the guaranteed weekly income of the worker is on or below the Lower Earnings Limit of 123 a week. It is anticipated that this will enable 1.5 million workers to top up their income with extra work if they choose to do so. Legislation to implement these reforms is be laid before Parliament "later this year".
Real living wage announcement brought forward in response to rising living costs
The Living Wage Foundation has confirmed they will be announcing the "real" living wage in September this year rather than waiting until November's Living Wage Week. The real living wage is a voluntary hourly pay rate, that employers can sign up to, calculated on the basis of what people need to afford as a minimum. It is different from the statutory living and national minimum wage rates which employers must comply with. Currently the real (non-statutory) living wage is 9.90 per hour in the UK and 11.05 in London. The statutory national living wage for employees aged 23 and over is 9.50 per hour.
Plans to legislate for workers to keep tips reportedly dropped
According to reports in the Financial Times, the plans to legislate for workers to keep tips have been dropped. The legislation was...
The HHS secretary touted a proposed $1.1 billion IHS budget increase but stayed silent on Medicaid cuts and a rollback of childhood vaccination efforts U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robe...