Is he taking the pasta?

This is a brilliant story. Will pastafarians be afforded the same religious beliefs here in the UK. Watch this space!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8635624/Pastafarian-wins-religious-freedom-right-to-wear-pasta-strainer-for-driving-licence.html

Southampton Rubbish Building Up

I was in Southampton yesterday. As a consequence of the bin men going on strike there was rubbish all over the city with mounds of bags going uncollected. In the city centre the litter bins were taped up and there was litter all over the street.

It is unclear how long this dispute will rumble on for with further strikes being threatened and both parties appearing to be firmly entrenched in their positions. More industrial action is expected to take place and it does not seem likely that things are going to improve for the people of Southampton any time soon.

One thing that people can do to help the situation is not to drop their litter when the bins are not available for use. It only makes the everything worse and the streets even more dirty.

I have read the above paragraph and it makes me sound like a sandal wearing hippie. I am not in anyway like this; however, I really hate litter!!!! 



Peace man!



My first article!

 Hi

Please find below an article I wrote for my firm about ex-gratia payments and payments in lieu of notice. As you can see what appeared to be a straightforward termination letter cost an Employer over £20k (ouch!!):-

Termination Letter costs Employer £20,000

A Company has found itself in hot water when it tried to make a payment in lieu of notice tax-free. The Company described the payment in a termination letter as an “ex- gratia payment”. This description proved costly as the Employment Appeal Tribunal decided that the wording of the letter meant that the employee was entitled to a further £20,000 in notice pay on top of the £20,000 she had already received.

The case of Publicis Consultants v O’Farrell related to an employee, Ms O’Farrell, who had been made redundant. Ms O’Farrell was entitled to three months’ notice but was actually only given one days notice that she was being made redundant. Her employers decided to pay her in lieu of notice. In an effort to avoid the payment being liable for tax they described Ms O’Farrell’s notice pay in her dismissal letter as an “ex-gratia payment equivalent to three months’ salary”.

Ms O’Farrell made a tribunal claim stating that her contract of employment had been breached because her employers had not paid her any notice pay. Her employers argued that her contract had not been breached as it was clear that the ex-gratia payment was intended to be the notice payment.

Unfortunately, as the payment was described as ex-gratia payment rather than as a payment in lieu of notice, the Employment Appeal Tribunal found in favour of Ms O’Farrell stating that the payment was a separate ex-gratia payment and she was still entitled to her notice pay. The Tribunal ruled that she was entitled to three months pay totalling £20,625 (less tax and NIC). From the Company’s point of view this judgment further rubbed salt into the wounds as Ms O’Farrell had already successfully claimed that she had been unfairly dismissed.

The strict interpretation by the Tribunal shows that notice payments cannot also be ex-gratia payments (and vice versa) and this case clearly illustrates the risks when employers try to avoid tax on notice payments in this manner.

These risks do not just apply to redundancy situations but also when an employee’s employment is being terminated for any other reasons. Employers should consider protecting themselves from such claims by entering into a Compromise Agreement with the outgoing employee or at the very least they should ensure that they receive advice from an employment solicitor before terminating their employment.

For further employment advice, please contact any member of the employment team at Thomas Eggar. We can draft compromise agreements for a fixed fee and can assure our clients that no letter written by us will cost £20,000!

Andrew Browning

Employment Solicitor

 

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my blog. My name is Andrew Browning. I am a solicitor specialising in Employment Law. I work at Thomas Eggar Solicitors. I started working for TE on 1 June 2011 so I am still very much the new boy. Although moving jobs is a big upheaval I am really happy with how I have settled into the firm and I am looking forward to a long and happy career at Thomas Eggar.

 The purpose of the blog is to try and keep readers updated on employment law issues and also give them an insight into the day to day life of an Employment Solicitor. So without further ado I declare this blog open!