Almost two years ago, I mentioned the English Court of Appeal’s decision in Uber BV & Ors v Aslam & Ors [2018] EWCA Civ 2748 on appeal from UKEAT/0056/17/DA), where individuals working as taxi drivers for Uber were to be classified as workers not self-employed individuals.
This decision was a significant defeat for Uber, but it was hardly going to be the last word in the story and so it proved. An appeal to the U.K. Supreme Court was always going to be on the cards and, on Friday 19 February, the Justices issued their judgement (see Uber BV & Ors v Aslam & Ors [2021] UKSC 5).
The Supreme Court was asked to consider two questions by Uber:
Whether the drivers (the Respondents) were “workers” providing personal services to the Second Appellant.
If the Respondents were “workers”, what periods constituted their “working time”.
The result? Uber drivers are workers not self-employed individuals. Essentially, the Supreme Court has approved the earlier decision of the English Court of Appeal.
Although Uber drivers won’t acquire full employment status, this decision is, nonetheless, highly significant. It will, for example, mean that Uber drivers will be protected under the National Minimum Wage legislation and the Working Time Regulations.
Paragraphs 94 to 102 of the Supreme Court’s decision are really instructive. The Court found the following matters extremely significant:
The rates of pay for taxi drivers was set solely by Uber
The contractual terms were dictated solely by Uber
Uber constrained or restricted the ability of drivers to decline jobs
Uber strictly vetted the type of vehicle which drivers could use for jobs and the technology used by drivers was “wholly owned” by Uber
The communication between a driver and a passenger was severely restricted by Uber in order “to prevent drivers from establishing any relationship with a passenger capable of extending beyond an individual ride.”
As Lord Leggatt (who delivered the unanimous judgement of the Court) stated at paragraph 102:
“Taking these factors together, it can be seen that the transportation service performed by drivers and offered to passengers through the Uber app is very tightly defined and controlled by Uber. Furthermore, it is designed and organised in such a way as to provide a standardised service to passengers in which drivers are perceived as substantially interchangeable and from which Uber, rather than individual drivers, obtains the benefit of customer loyalty and goodwill. From the drivers’ point of view, the same factors – in particular, the inability to offer a distinctive service or to set their own prices and Uber’s control over all aspects of their interaction with passengers – mean that they have little or no ability to improve their economic position through professional or entrepreneurial skill. In practice the only way in which they can increase their earnings is by working longer hours while constantly meeting Uber’s measures of performance.”
Worker is a term which is widely used in EU equality and employment law, but a single definition does not exist. As a result of the U.K.‘s long relationship with the EU, the term has entered the British legal systems and, in the interim period, Brexit will not change this fact.
In Allonby v Accrington and Rossendale College (Case C-256/01) [2004] ICR 1328; [2004] ECR I-873 the Court of Justice made the following observation:
“… there must be considered as a worker a person who, for a certain period of time, performs services for and under the direction of another person in return for which he receives remuneration …”
In Syndicatul Familia Constanta v Directia Generala de Asistenta Sociala si Protectia Copilului Constanta (Case C-147/17) EU:C:2018:926; [2019] ICR 211, the Court of Justice of the EU was strongly of the opinion that the relationship between employer and worker was of a “hierarchical” nature. This was a view echoed by Lord Clarke in the Supreme Court’s decision of Hashwani v Jivraj [2011] UKSC 40; [2011] 1 WLR 1872 where he identified the relationship as one of “subordination” in favour of the person receiving the services.
That said, Baroness Hale in a later Supreme Court decision – Clyde and Co LLP and Anor v Bates van Winkelhof [2014] UKSC 32 – stated that “while subordination may sometimes be an aid to distinguishing workers from other self-employed people, it is not a freestanding and universal characteristic of being a worker”. This remark was quoted with approval by Lord Leggatt in the Uber decision at paragraph 74 of his judgement.
In other words, such a feature is merely to be deployed as one of the many possible tests that can be used by the courts to analyse a relationship between two parties.
The Employment Rights Act 1996
Section 230(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 contains the definition of who precisely is an employee i.e. someone who has a contract of service. If you don’t have this type of contractual arrangement (you’re not an employee), you may well be working under a contract for services. This is one of the most important distinctions in employment law in the United Kingdom.
Section 230(3) of the Act also defines in law an individual who is a ‘worker’. This can include someone who provides services under an employment contract – and, crucially, some individuals who fall into the self-employed category.
Conclusion
Individuals working under a contract for services – precisely because of their lack of employment status – are often denied access to the sorts of legal rights which employees routinely take for granted e.g. unfair dismissal protection, redundancy protection, family friendly rights.
There are notable exceptions (aren’t there always?): high earning British television celebrities (e.g. Lorraine Kelly) or a number of BBC news journalists have preferred to be treated as freelancers or self-employed persons. Why? They can then minimise their exposure to income tax liability in a way (often via the medium of personal service companies) that would not be possible because if they were employees they would almost certainly be taxed at source on a PAYE (pay as you earn) basis.
We have seen an explosion in the type of work that is often characterised or labelled as the ‘gig economy’. This work is often characterised by a distinct lack of employment rights; irregular working patterns; chronic insecurity; lack of long term career progression; and low pay. It is often impossible for such individuals to complete the necessary periods continuous service to acquire employment rights.
Companies such as Deliveroo, Lyft and Uber have become synonymous with the ‘gig economy’, as have whole sectors of the employment
There’s now a growing awareness on both the part of the UK Government (The Taylor Review) and the European Union (the forthcoming EU Directive on Transparent and predictable working conditions) that people on contracts for services deserve greater levels of work-place protection.
It’s not just in the UK that debates about employment status are currently playing out. At the tail end of 2019, it was with particular interest that, in 2019/20, I was following a story from the United States which highlighted many of the issues which I have just been discussing in this Blog.
The US State of California enacted a law, Assembly Bill 5 2019 or AB5 (known more popularly as the gig economy law) giving those individuals working in the gig economy more employment rights. The law came into force on 1 January 2020.
The Covid-19 pandemic has also exposed the lack of employment protection for workers and the self-employed. Only last March, I was writing about the fact that the U.K. Government’s reforms to Statutory Sick Pay would would not include approximately 2 million individuals – a situation that Frances O’Grady, General Secretary of the TUC was quick to highlight.
By Shannon Clark, Robbie Graham, Salwa Ilahi, Jenna Murray and Ethan Robinson (Editor: SJ Crossan)
Introduction
The above picture shows people in Britain standing on their street participating in the ‘clap for carers’ which now takes place every Thursday.
In the past, seeing all of your neighbours standing clapping and banging pots and pans together every Thursday at 8pm would seem a bit odd. However, this is now the norm and we will go onto explain how this has become the case.
On the 31 December 2019, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission announced reported a number of cases of pneumonia in the Wuhan, Hubei Provence (WHO, 2020) and so began a Worldwide pandemic. The cause of these cases of pneumonia were eventually found to be caused by a virus called the Coronavirus. The virus has been found to cause an incredibly infectious respiratory disease, also known as COVID-19, which has sent many businesses and economies spiralling into free fall as they come to terms with the impact of the disease.
It has changed the way that almost everyone in society has to go about their daily lives as they have now been advised not to leave their home unless absolutely necessary and if they do need to go out, stay 2 metres apart from everyone at all times. For many it has also brought about change to their working lives as a vast amount of workers are not either having their contracts terminated, working from home or been placed on a fairly new concept in UK Employment Law known as Furlough.
In this article, we will go onto explain the main changes that have taken place as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and how they have impacted on workers, businesses and employment law in the United Kingdom.
Coronavirus update
At the time of writing this article (April 2020), the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the UK was approximately 162,000. While this number is not substantial in terms of the total number of workers in the UK, it has led to around 80% of the workforce in the UK (and across the world) having their jobs impacted by the pandemic. This is due to the fact that many countries, including the UK, have ordered non-essential shops and businesses, for example clothes retailers, pubs and restaurants, to close and stay closed until it is safe for them to re-open. As a result of this, there have been over 1.2 million new unemployment benefit claims in the UK since the beginning of the outbreak (Hope, 2020) and it is expected that around 8 million people will apply to the governments furlough schemefor funding (Osborne & Kellowe, 2020), which we will discuss later in this article.
Sick Pay
In the Employment Rights Act 1996, Section 230 (1) defines an employee as an individual who has a contract of service. As a result of this status, such individuals are entitled to employment protection and benefits such as the right to receive either contractual sick pay or statutory sick pay (Crossan, 2017). In relation to COVID 19, those entitled to contractual sick pay must follow their workplace’s usual protocol when reporting that they must self-isolate. Employees can self-certify for the first 7 days of absence however, they are required to get a note from NHS 111 or a doctor if they must isolate for more than 7 days (ACAS, 2020).
Typically, those described as workers or individuals on a contract for services are not entitled to the same level of protection. This leaves them unable to claim any form of sick pay. Due to the recent outbreak of COVID-19, the inability to claim sick pay could be argued to be one of the main causes of stress and financial worry for individuals due to the uncertainty and lack of information on how this virus is spread. As noted by ACAS (2020), this worry could now be said to be somewhat alleviated, as of 13 March 2020, the UK Government decided that both employees and workers must receive statutory sick pay from their first day of self-isolation if:
They have coronavirus
They have symptoms of coronavirus
Someone they live with has coronavirus symptoms
They have been informed to by NHS 111 or a doctor
Despite this, it should be noted that this change in policy will not be extended to the self-employed. Furthermore, for employees, contractual sick pay is often much more generous than statutory sick pay and it would therefore be beneficial for employees (if able) to claim this through their place of work instead of opting for SSP. In order to be eligible to receive statutory sick pay, employees must be earning at least £120 per week (BBC, 2020) and, as highlighted by the Office for National Statistics, the annual survey of hours and earnings has shown that around 1,766,000 individuals in the UK make less than £120 per week (ONS, 2020). This means that many workers will simply fail to qualify for SSP – such as those on zero hours contracts as they are unable to accrue enough hours; as well as over half of workers aged 65 and above. This leaves such individuals vulnerable to stress and money worries and may even encourage those suffering from viral symptoms and who are considered ‘key workers’ to attend work in order to make ends meet. This is particularly alarming as those aged 65 and above are more susceptible to infection from covid-19 (Hunt, 2020).
Prior to lockdown in March 2020, Gregg’s, the UK high street bakery retailer, unlike many other big businesses, announced that they would pay all staff contractual sick pay if they were required to self-isolate due to suffering Coronavirus symptoms (BBC, 2020). This approach is in huge contrast to the likes of JD Wetherspoon, which prior to quarantine, announced that all of its 43,000 staff would be subject to regular statutory sick pay rules if they had isolate in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19. This meant that not all Wetherspoons’ staff would be entitled to SSP and those that do qualify would only be paid after four or more days absence in a row which would have meant being entitled to receive less than £100 per week (Webber, 2020).
Furloughing
With the toll of the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown that has ensued, it has left many individuals unable to work due to the variety of ways that they can be affected by the virus. It is essential that these workers are still able to receive some sort of wage to support them during these difficult times. This is where the furlough scheme can assist those who cannot do their jobs. It is a “granted leave of absence” to enable the employment of these individuals to continue despite the current circumstances (Hodgkin, 2020). Lawrie (2020) explains the way in which the furlough scheme works; meaning that an employer can claim 80% of an employee’s wages from the government up to a limit of £2,500 and the company is not under any obligation to fulfil the other 20% of the wage.
This provides a sense of security for these employees as they are reassured that their job is safe and that they can still receive some financial protection if they have been affected by the virus personally or if their employer is unable to provide them with work during these uncertain times.
However, the furlough scheme, which came into effect on 1 March 2020, is only a temporary measure with an initial duration of 4 months. An extension of this can be granted (only if necessary) and the minimum furlough period that an employee is to be placed on is 3 weeks in a row – although they may be entitled to be furloughed more than once (HM Revenue & Customs, 2020).
It is important to note that, when an employee is on furlough, they are not to perform work for their employer and after furlough has ended, the employer is not obliged to retain on the employee, raising the possibility of redundancy (Lawrie, 2020).
The opportunity to benefit from furlough applies to individuals regardless of whether they hold full time/permanent status or not, and this extends to apprentices, workers, individuals on zero hours contracts, agency workers and temporary employees (ACAS, 2020). The way in which a furlough agreement is made is by the employer approaching the the employee or worker for permission – unless there is a lay-off clause included in the contract. The affected employee/worker would then be required to sign a written agreement to this effect. As the West Cheshire & North Wales Chamber of Commerce (2020) explains that failure to secure an employee’s consent to furlough could lead to claims of a contractual breach or constructive unfair dismissal, which is not an ideal position for either party to be in.
“Two-thirds of British businesses have already used the government’s scheme since it was announced last month” reported Bernal (2020) and a prominent example is British Airways, one of the UK’s biggest airlines. The airline worked with the Unite union to furlough 80% of its workforce, which is approximately 36,000 of its employees (Harding, 2020). This major decision applies to a range of their staff, including engineers and cabin crew, and was expected due to the inevitable effect that coronavirus has had on British Airways (Webber, 2020). Instead of being made redundant, the furlough scheme is a means of offering protection for an individual’s job and part of their income. Many workers and employees will surely be glad of the scheme’s existence.
Pay Rise
The UK National Minimum wage and National Living wage was set to increase by 6.2% for 2.8 million people on 1 April 2020 (with this being announced in December 2019). This would be give full time workers an annual pay rise as the National Living wage will rise from £8.20 to £8.72. This would apply to those aged 25 and above. The increase of the minimum wage for 21-24 year olds has risen from £7.70 to £8.20; 18-20 year olds will see the rate rise from £6.15 to £6.45; and for 16-17 year olds there was to be a rise from £4.35 to £4.55. (UK Government, 2020).
However there where discussions that this wage increase may be postponed but this was rejected even though this new living wage will not effect furlough workers as they won’t see the impacts of this on their wages for quite some time. The businesses that haven’t furloughed their workers are being begged to continue in paying the ‘real living wage’ as it is essential to these workers risking their health and safety to come to work. Many companies have begged to have the rise delayed and postponed due to the fact that the coronavirus pandemic which is currently taking place has caused huge financial impact across the UK effecting the economy with smaller businesses suffering the most. It is understandable as to why the government and businesses would wish to delay the increase as this non-essential businesses during the coronavirus have closed e.g. restraints and pubs, thus these business have no money coming in to pay their staff the new minimum wage no less the one that we currently had. This new wage could mean that funds and savings in the business could run dry as they pay their staff furlough wages which could result in these businesses to suffer even with permanent closures of businesses across the UK. But to the millions of key workers whom are working all over Britain giving essential help during the Covid-19 pandemic are still on their living wages and this rise is essential to keep them afloat. (Sheldon,2020).
Amey plc refuses to offer higher sick pay to workers amid the Covid-19 pandemic
The previous living wage was just not enough for people to live on which is the reason that this increase was so important, as it helped make sure that the working class have a good standard of living, but most would say that it is still not good enough and many will not see the benefits until the pandemic is over as furloughed staff are one due 80% of their salary meaning that in the current situation their is even more stress, this can be said as not only are key workers not getting the wage that they deserve for their hard work that is keeping the UK afloat, but many working class citizens are left nothing near the end of the month and this also goes for essential workers, such as NHS staff such as Hakeem Lawal who is a father of three started working as a cleaner for the NHS and has been working there since 2018 with no sick pay provided by his employer , he says “it was very hard because at the end of the month – more or less a week before the end of each month – you are waiting with nothing in your account at all” as well as the fact that the chemicals that he used to clean the facilities where very dangerous for his lungs, meaning that not only was he struggling financially to support his kids but he is aware that the job he is doing is harming himself and he has no safety net if these chemicals where to make him sick and have him off work (BBC News, 2020). It is also going to be more of a struggle for those working at home as it has meant that energy bills are rising as electricity is on far more often as people aren’t turning it off when going to work with a prediction from ‘Energyhelpline’ reckoning that household bills are likely going to rise by 30%.(Jones,2020). The living wage rise would have been greatly appreciated for families that will be struggling financially through the pandemic and self isolation nut if there are only getting 80% of their salary it could result in those who are already struggling to be put in an even worse situation with debt.
On 24 March 2020, during a trade union negotiation surrounding the topic of sick pay for refuse collectors (waste collectors), the head of Human resources at Amey plc (a services company that focuses on improving and maintaining the roads, railways and airports amongst other things) said that the company believed the Coronavirus is “less severe” than normal influenza and because of this they would not be providing their workers with unique sickness benefits (additional sick pay) if they choose to stay at home during the pandemic (Booth, 2020). The GMB trade union, who were arguing in favour of better sick pay for refuse collectors at the negotiation were shocked by Ameys comments regarding the coronavirus, they argued that it is unfair for these key workers to only be offered the minimum amount of sick pay (£94 per week).
Following the GMB’s defence of the waste collectors, Simon Schumann-Davies (the head of human resources for Amey) claimed that Coronavirus was significantly less severe than other diseases and stated that there would be no change in the sick pay that they offer to their workers: “we are applying exactly the same rules regarding sickness benefit as we would for any other condition in that we will be paying contractual entitlement.” (Davies, 2020)
In response to this Keith Williams from the GMB argued that Amey are forcing their workers to put their health at risk as they would financially suffer by choosing not to come to work and only receive statutory sick pay.
Following the barrage of criticism that Amey received for their actions towards their workers, a company spokesperson stated (on 31 March) that workers who decide to self-isolate will receive full pay. Shortly prior to this announcement, Amey had issued a statement clarifying that the opinions of Simon Schumann-Davies did not reflect its position on the pandemic. (Sumner, 2020). With the increasing severity of this situation it was inevitable that any decision by the company not to allow sick pay for workers would provoke an intense, public backlash and this, undoubtedly, forced them to change their policy.
Conclusion
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a massive impact on almost everyone – and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. It has changed the way that workers in the UK go about their daily home and work life and has brought about massive amounts of uncertainty. However, some of that uncertainty may have been removed due to the factors explained in this article, such as changes to SSP and the UK government’s furloughing scheme as employees and workers can be, somewhat, helped financially during these unprecedented and difficult times.
HM Revenue & Customs, 2020. Check if you can claim for your employees’ wages through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. [Online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme [Accessed 28 April 2020].
Lawrie, E., 2020. Coronavirus: What does it mean if I’ve been furloughed by work?. [Online] Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/explainers-52135342 [Accessed 27 April 2020].
By Rachael Holton, Ryan Kelly, Amy McWilliams and Jamie Watt (Editor: SJ Crossan)
As a society, we understand the concept of employment. You offer to work for an individual or an organisation in return for payment. Nonetheless, the status of employment, the kind of work and what kind of contract you have can take many forms. What are these different types of employment status? Well, as per Section 230(1) of the Employments Rights Act 1996, an ‘employee’ refers to a person who has gone into or works under a ‘contract of employment’. However, this is not the only type of employment status that exists, and this is a common misconception of today’s generation. In the workforce, some individuals are classed as ‘workers’ or ‘self-employed’. What is the difference?
Differences in Employment Status
For the most part, an employee works under what is referred to as a ‘contract of employment or service’. The agreement will list the basic rights of a worker, for example, whether it is temporary or permanent work, annual leave and working hours. An example is displayed below:
You could be forgiven for believing that this was the most widely recognised kind of ‘work’ or employment. According to figures from the Office of National Statistics, however, just 13% of the workforce in London are classed as ‘employees’, with over 27% working in the gig economy (Rodgers, 2018).
An employee essentially works under a contractual agreement. However, in any case, the rights vary to that of an employee, who is typically qualified for additional, and dissimilar sorts of rights. A worker must finish the work themselves except if they are offered consent to subcontract the work. A business will frequently utilise such and individual to help for a set timeframe, giving them enough work to fill their days over the length of their contract (Rodgers, 2018).
Conversely, a self- employed individual is classed as a subcontractor, who maintains their own business and, in this manner, assumes full liability for everything that accompanies that status. They work for themselves, implying that a great part of the time employment law, unfortunately, does not cover them (Rodgers, 2018).
The issues arising from an individual’s employment status can be seen in the case of Knight v Fairway & Kenwood Car Service Ltd UKEAT/0075/12/LA. The claimant was a cab driver working with the respondent organisation under written terms. If he paid the present lease and gave appropriate notices, he could work, or not, as he wished with no antagonistic outcomes under the agreement. He left the respondent organisation in the wake of being approached to do taxi jobs once they had been taken paying little mind to the conduct of the specific customer. He claimed wrongful dismissal, i.e. a claim for a breach of the employment contract.
Held: The Employment Tribunal ultimately decided that he was not working under a ‘contract of employment’ thus his case could not be heard by them. The claimant submitted an appeal. Nevertheless, the Employment Appeal Tribunal dismissed the claim on the grounds that the composed terms did not require any base or sensible measure of work from the claimant; he was allowed to work or not work. Nor in the conditions was there scope for inducing such a commitment from the way that the claimant, in truth, worked 7 days per week.
EmploymentRights vs Employment Status
The distinction between these types of employment status’ is so important in the workplace, and it is crucial that employers and individuals are aware of such differences. All employees are workers in a sense; however, employees get certain employment rights in their agreement that a worker does not. The difference between a few of the rights available to individuals, based on their employment status can be seen below:
In the event that an individual is uncertain about their rights in relation to employment law, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) has set out the rights these individuals are entitled to, depending on their employment status. A link to these rights can be found below:
Now, while there are laws that cover both employees and workers e.g. under Section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999, both employees and workers have the right to be accompanied by another individual in disciplinary or grievance hearings, there can be clear differences in how employees and workers are treated. A significant topic that has come under scrutiny in the past, and especially now in these uncertain times, is that of Sickness and Absence in the workforce, in particular, the right to receive or claim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).
Statutory Sick Pay
Positioned above is a copy of the Statutory Sick Pay document.
As previously mentioned, some UK employees could be entitled to receive a form of sick pay from their employers, otherwise known as contractual sick pay. However, the amount of money paid depends on the length of time the staff member has worked for at the commencement of the absence. Those who have worked at the organisation for less than a year, for example, may receive full pay for five weeks, and half pay for a further five weeks. For those, who had more than five years’ service, they would receive 26 weeks full salary and a further 26 weeks half pay (Crossan, 2020).
On the flip side, for employees who are not entitled to receive contractual sick pay, Statutory Sick Pay can be claimed. In order to be eligible, claimants must be earning a minimum of £120 before tax per week. To test whether s/he qualifies for SSP employees submit a written document to their employer, if requested, before a set deadline (Crossan, 2020).
If any of our readers wish to obtain access to this form, we have provided a link below:
On the other side of the world, however, in the US organisations are not obligated or required by federal law to offer paid sick leave. However, the Family and Medical Leave Act, established in 1993, enables eligible staff members of insured employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons (U.S. Department of Labour, 2020). Even though, organisations are not legally obliged to pay staff members for sick leave under federal law, some states require companies by law to offer sick leave. An example of this is the state of Massachusetts which permits five days of sick leave for employees (Foothold America, 2020).
Furthermore, in Sweden, members of staff who cannot work due to sickness, can normally obtain compensation for the full period that they are off work. At the start of the time off, a deduction to 20% of the compensation of the sick pay that you can receive during a normal working week (European Commission, 2020). In order to be eligible to receive sick pay from the employer, staff members must have worked for a minimum period of one month minimum or have worked continuously for fourteen days (European Commission, 2020). Workers who are off work due to sickness for more than a week must provide a medical certificate. In addition, for employees who are sick for more than two weeks, the Swedish Social Insurance Agency can provide a sickness cash benefit. In order to secure this entitlement, staff members must be absent for a minimum of a quarter of their normal working hours as a result of sickness. Whether employees receive this compensation is determined by their ability to work and not the severity of the sickness, as well as whether they are medically insured and providing a medical certificate that describes the sickness or injury (European Commission, 2020).
Coronavirus
In recent times, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has had a detrimental effect on businesses around the world. It started in China and has infected people from one hundred and eighy five different countries. The ONS (Office for National Statistics) reported that more than a quarter of the 5,316 businesses surveyed have temporarily shut down or paused trading for the period 23rd of March to 5th April due to the COVID-19 outbreak (ONS, 2020). The virus has affected the operations of many organisations: many have seen a decrease in turnover and some organisations have even been forced to cease trading indefinitely.
Boeing “Body Blow”
Multinational corporation, Boeing, is one of the most prominent companies to be hit by the effects of the virus. The company told BBC News that they may have to cut up to 15,000 jobs, after the travel industry has been torn apart by the pandemic, while 10% of jobs will be cut over the organisation, Boeing conceded that the losses would be more extreme in certain divisions, for example, its commercial airlines (BBC News, 2020).
Most importantly, the workforces of many organisations have faced challenges due to the virus. More than half of respondents to The Opinions and Lifestyle (OPN) Survey said Coronavirus has affected their wellbeing (ONS, 2020). Full results of the survey responses can be obtained from the following link:
But the big question is, does the right to sick pay (that traditionally has only ever been available to employees), still apply amidst a global pandemic?
Well, ACAS has advised that employees and workers should receive any Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) due to them as of 13th March 2020 from their first day of isolation if the following applies:
They have Coronavirus
They have Coronavirus symptoms (fever, new continuous cough)
Someone in their household is showing Coronavirus symptoms
They have been told to self-isolate by a doctor (NHS 111)
They then must follow the UK and Scottish government guidelines for self-isolation. The individual must self-isolate for seven days and anyone else who lives in their household must self-isolate for fourteen days. Some employers may offer more than SSP, known as ‘contractual’ sick pay, as previously mentioned.
If an employer requires proof of sickness, then the workplace’s normal sickness reporting procedures should be followed. As normal, an employee can self-certify for the first seven days of sickness, without a sickness note from a doctor. If self-isolating for a period that exceeds seven days, then an online self-isolation note can be obtained from the NHS website (ACAS, 2020). The following link will take readers to the NHS self-isolation page, whereby they can request a self-isolation note:
Another factor that has come under question frequently amidst the pandemic, is whether probationary periods are still in place. Probation is commonly a multi month process, during which there is consistent evaluation and feedback of the employee by the employer. Formal probation audit meetings and Probation Reports, are finished at customary intervals, typically following two, five and eight months (Forestry and Land Scotland, 2020).
The point of the procedure is to give the two parties sufficient opportunity to evaluate whether they are appropriate for one another. By finishing effective reviews and highlighting areas of improvements, you are likewise forestalling circumstances where you need to dismiss staff during their probation period (Willis, 2019). Employees who are currently serving their probationary period have not acquired enough service to be able to bring a claim for unfair dismissal (which is 103 weeks’ for employees who started on or after 6 April 2012), but there is potential to bring claims for workplace discrimination and whistle blowing. The following story, involving Eileen Jolly, is an example of how costly discrimination dismissal cases can be for employers.
Age Discrimination
Eileen Jolly, a medical secretary (89) has been named as one of the oldest employees to successfully win an age discrimination claim in the UK. The elderly woman was awarded £200,000 by the NHS after being dismissed over claims she was not capable of operating a computer. She was said to have “catastrophic failure in performance” after becoming accustomed to “old secretarial ways”. Not willing to sit back and take the discrimination, she took her NHS trust to an employment tribunal. The Judge present, Andrew Gumbiti-Zimuto wrote: “There was evidence of the claimant’s training having been inadequate, incomplete and ‘on the job’ training was ad hoc and not directed” (Smith, 2019).
New Guidelines
Thankfully, however, new Coronavirus guidelines have stated that many individuals currently on probationary periods will have their probationary period paused or extended (Forestry and Land Scotland, 2020).
Furlough
What is also important to discuss, is that due to the outbreak, businesses have been forced to furlough many of their workers as this will allow them to take advantage of the governments Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). To furlough an employee means to temporarily suspend or layoff an employee, this is usually done without pay. This term is most used in US employment law and is not recognised within the UK. Therefore, the term left many workers confused when Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, used the word ‘furlough’ in his Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (Bernal, 2020).
The ONS reported that for those businesses who were still trading in the UK, 21% of staff had been furloughed (under the terms of the CJRS) from the period of 23rd of March to the 5th of April (ONS, 2020). The CJRS allows employers to claim 80% of their employee’s wages from the government, up to a maximum of £2,500 a month – this includes those working on zero hours contracts and flexible workers. This is a temporary scheme in place for four months starting from the 1st of March 2020 – depending on the circumstances, the scheme could be extended. This allows companies to furlough employees rather than dismiss them. It is important to note that if a worker is self-isolating, they cannot be furloughed and should receive SSP until they return to work.
The minimum time period for furloughing workers is three weeks and they are not permitted to rotate which of their employees are furloughed; this can be difficult if someone who is still working is required to self-isolate/falls ill. It is important to note that if a worker is self-isolating, they cannot be furloughed and should be receiving statutory sick pay or enhanced sick pay (if in their contract) until they return to work. Due to this, CJRS cannot be claimed by employers for these employees to ‘make up’ any statutory sick pay/ enhanced sick pay they are receiving.
Employees who are ‘shielding’ (those who have been contacted by the NHS and are required to self-isolate due to extremely high risk of getting very ill due to COVID-19) for twelve weeks are permitted to be placed on furlough. Employers who insist that vulnerable employees continue to attend work at this time, where the work cannot be done at home, could be considered to be breaching their duty of care. The following case displays the effects of a breach of the employer’s duty of care in the workplace (ONS, 2020).
In Walker v Northumberland County Council [1995] ALL ER 737, the pursuer worked in an especially unpleasant social work post for the Council. He had just endured a breakdown because of exhaustion and an absence of help from his managers. His manager gave confirmations that protections would be set up upon his arrival from sick leave so as to decrease the dangers of stress. The pursuer came back to work yet endured a second breakdown in light of the fact that the Council had neglected to take sensible consideration to forestall him experiencing mental wounds. The follower brought a case for harms against the Council.
Held: by the House of Lords that the pursuer ought to be treated as an essential victim who was qualified for damages because of the Council’s carelessness. The Council had returned him to his past (unpleasant) post in the wake of knowing about the primary breakdown and it was, thus, reasonably foreseeable that if the claimant was exposed once again to these upsetting conditions he would almost certainly, this would make him endure mental injury.
Amazon Workers Fight Back
The severity of the current circumstances is evident in the following news story.
Several Amazon distribution centre specialists over the US will not appear for work this week by phoning in sick, denoting the biggest nationwide protest so far against the organisation’s response to Coronavirus. Beginning on Tuesday 21 April 2020, more than 300 Amazon employees have vowed to remain at home. This is as a result of rising disappointment amongst employees as the organisation has neglected to give adequate PPE to staff, failed to execute ordinary temperature checks it guaranteed at distribution centres and would not permit employees to take sick leave (The Guardian, 2020).
Employees of the multinational tech company are demanding sick pay and the right to not be punished for utilising their right to freedom of speech. While there has been no formal action or resolution as yet, Amazon did issue the following statement (The Guardian, 2020):
“Nothing is more important than the safety of our teams. Our employees are heroes fighting for their communities and helping people get critical items they need in this crisis.”
However, if we do not see change soon, could this be the start of the global e-commerce’s deterioration? We sure hope not.
Readers can access the full article, published by The Guardian below:
Disney is also an organisation that has been hit significantly by Coronavirus and as a result, a Disney representative presented the following statement: “With no clear indication of when we can restart our businesses, we’re forced to make the difficult decision to take the next step and furlough employees whose jobs aren’t necessary at this time.” (Godfrey, K., 2020).
We encourage our readers to watch the video presented to gain a deeper understanding of just much of an impact this pandemic is having on employment worldwide:
Conclusion
In conclusion, Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), is a well-known facility available potentially to most employees throughout the UK. It has been in place, in its current form, since 1982, aiding those unable to work due to sickness and other health related issues, it is a hugely worthwhile employment right. Now, more than ever, we are (unfortunately) having to analyse such an employment right as a highly debated topic because of the Coronavirus pandemic. However, whilst the pandemic continues to spread rapidly, the UK is also offering protection to those workers who do not normally qualify for Sick Pay, in terms of University Credit, Contributory Employment and Support Allowance. Luckily for these individuals, the UK Government has stepped in and has extended SSP during the Coronavirus lockdown. Overall, it is safe to say that SSP has been of great help in relation to sick workers with income support and although its usefulness may not always be apparent, it is times like this we truly start to appreciate the value of such employment rights.
U.S. Department of Labor, 2020. ‘Family and Medical Leave Act’ [online]. Available at: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla [Accessed: 28th April 2020].
One of the most important common law duties that an employer has under the contract of employment is to pay wages to the employee.
This duty, of course, is contingent upon the employee carrying out his or her side of the bargain i.e. performing their contractual duties.
The right to be paid fully and on time is a basic right of any employee. Failure by employers to pay wages (wholly or partially) or to delay payment is a serious contractual breach.
Historically, employers could exploit employees by paying them in vouchers or other commodities. Often, these vouchers could be exchanged only in the factory shop. This led Parliament to pass the Truck Acts to prevent such abuses.
Sections 13-27 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (which replaced the Wages Act 1986) give employees some very important rights as regards the payment of wages.
The National Minimum Wage Act 1998 (and the associated statutory instruments) and the Equality Act 2010also contain important provisions about wages and other contractual benefits.
There are a number of key issues regarding the payment of wages:
All employees are entitled to an individual written pay statement (whether a hard or electronic copy)
The written pay statement must contain certain information
Pay slips/statements must be given on or before the pay date
Fixed pay deductions must be shown with detailed amounts and reasons for the deductions e.g. Tax, pensions and national insurance
Part time workers must get same rate as full time workers (on a pro rata basis)
Most workers entitled to be paid the National Minimum Wage or the National Minimum Living Wage (if over age 25) (NMW)
Some workers under age 19 may be entitled to the apprentice rate
Most workers (please note not just employees) are entitled to receive the NMW i.e. over school leaving age. NMW rates are reviewed each year by the Low Pay Commission and changes are usually announced from 1 April each year.
It is a criminal offence not to pay workers the NMW and they can also take (civil) legal action before an Employment Tribunal (or Industrial Tribunal in Northern Ireland) in order to assert this important statutory right.
There are certain individuals who are not entitled to receive the NMW:
Members of the Armed Forces
Genuinely self-employed persons
Prisoners
Volunteers
Students doing work placements as part of their studies
Workers on certain training schemes
Members of religious communities
Share fishermen
Pay deductions?
Can be lawful when made by employers …
… but in certain, limited circumstances only.
When exactly are deductions from pay lawful?:
Required or authorised by legislation (e.g. income tax or national insurance deductions);
It is authorised by the worker’s contract – provided the worker has been given a written copy of the relevant terms or a written explanation of them before it is made;
The consent of the worker has been obtained in writing before deduction is made.
Extra protection exists for individuals working in the retail sector making it illegal for employers to deduct more than 10% from the gross amount of any payment of wages (except the final payment on termination of employment).
Employees can take a claim to an Employment Tribunal for unpaid wages or unauthorised deductions from wages. They must do so within 3 months (minus 1 day) from the date that wages should have been paid or, if the deduction is an ongoing one, the time limit runs from the date of the last relevant deduction.
An example of a claim for unpaid wages can be seen below:
Regular readers of the Blog will be aware of the provisions of the Equality Act 2010 in relation to pay and contractual benefits. It will amount to unlawful sex discrimination if an employer pays a female worker less than her male comparator if they are doing:
Like work
Work of equal value
Work rated equivalent
Sick Pay
Some employees may be entitled to receive pay from the employer while absent from work due to ill health e.g. 6 months’ full pay & then 6 months’ half pay. An example of this can be seen below:
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
This is relevant in situations where employees are not entitled to receive contractual sick pay. Pre (and probably post Coronavirus crisis) it was payable from the 4th day of sickness absence only. Since the outbreak of the virus, statutory sick pay can paid from the first day of absence for those who either are infected with the virus or are self-isolating.
Contractual sick pay is often much more generous than SSP
2020: £95.85 per week from 6 April (compared to £94.25 SSP in 2019) which is payable for up to 28 weeks.
To be eligible for SSP, the claimant must be an employee earning at least £120 (before tax) per week.
Employees wishing to claim SSP submit a claim in writing (if requested) to their employer who may set a deadline for claims. If the employee doesn’t qualify for SSP, s/he may be eligible for Employment and Support Allowance.
Holiday Pay
As per the Working Time Regulations 1998 (as amended), workers entitled to 5.6 weeks paid holiday entitlement (usually translates into 28 days) per year (Bank and public holidays can be included in this figure).
Some workers do far better in terms of holiday entitlement e.g. teachers and lecturers.
Part-time workers get holiday leave on a pro rata basis: a worker works 3 days a week will have their entitlement calculated by multiplying 3 by 5.6 which comes to 16.8 days of annual paid leave.
Employers usually nominate a date in the year when accrual of holiday pay/entitlement begins e.g. 1 September to 31st August each year. If employees leave during the holiday year, their accrued holiday pay will be part of any final payment they receive.
Holiday entitlement means that workers have the right to:
get paid for leave that they build up (‘accrue’) in respect of holiday entitlement during maternity, paternity and adoption leave
build up holiday entitlement while off work sick
choose to take holiday(s) instead of sick leave.
Guarantee payments
Lay-offs & short-time working
Employers can ask you to stay at home or take unpaid leave (lay-offs/short time working) if there’s not enough work for you as an alternative to making redundancies. There should be a clause in the contract of employment addressing such a contingency.
Employees are entitled to guarantee pay during lay-off or short-time working. The maximum which can be paid is £30 a day for 5 days in any 3-month period – so a maximum of £150 can be paid to the employee in question.
If the employee usually earn less than £30 a day, s/he will get their normal daily rate. Part-time employees will be paid on a pro rata basis.
How long can employees be laid-off/placed on short-time working?
There’s no limit for how long employees can be laid-off or put on short-time. They could apply for redundancy and claim redundancy pay if the lay-off/short-term working period has been:
4 weeks in a row
6 weeks in a 13-week period
Eligibility for statutory lay-off
pay
To be eligible, employees must:
have been employed continuously for 1 month (includes part-time workers)
reasonably make sure you’re available for work
not refuse any reasonable alternative work (including work not in the contract)
Not have been laid-off because of industrial action
Employer may have their own guarantee pay scheme
It can’t be less than the statutory arrangements.
If you get employer’s payments, you don’t get statutory pay in addition to this
Failure to receive guarantee payments can give rise to Employment Tribunal claims.
This is an extremely relevant issue with Coronavirus, but many employers are choosing to take advantage of the UK Government’s Furlough Scheme whereby the State meets 80% of the cost of an employee’s wages because the business is prevented from trading.
Redundancy payments
If an employee is being made redundant, s/he may be entitled to receive a statutory redundancy payment. To be eligible for such a payment, employees must have been employed continuously for more than 2 years.
The current weekly pay used to calculate redundancy payments is £525.
Employees will receive:
half a week’s pay for each full year that they were employed under 22 years old
one week’s pay for each full year they were employed between 22 and 40 years old
one and half week’s pay for each full year they were employed from age 41 or older
Redundancy payments are capped at £525 a week (£508 if you were made redundant before 6 April 2019).
Please find below a link which helps employees facing redundancy to calculate their redundancy payment:
What happens if the employer becomes insolvent and goes into liquidation?
Ultimately, the State will pay employees their wages, redundancy pay, holiday pay and unpaid commission that they would have been owed. This why the UK Government maintains a social security fund supported by national insurance contributions.
An example of a UK business forced into liquidation can be seen below:
Up to 900 workers lost their jobs when administrators closed 70 of the cafe chain’s outlets. Disclaimer:
Conclusion
Payment of wages is one of the most important duties that an employer must fulfil. It is also an area which is highly regulated by law, for example:
The common law
The Employment Rights Act 1996
The Working Time Regulations 1998
The National Minimum Wage Act 1998
The Equality Act 2010
Family friendly legislation e.g. adoption, bereavement, maternity, paternity
Failure by an employer to pay an employee (and workers) their wages and other entitlements can lead to the possibility of claims being submitted to an Employment Tribunal. The basic advice to employers is make sure you stay on top of this important area of employment law because it changes on a regular basis and ignorance of the law is no excuse.
Seán Crossan's Scots Law 