Monaco Solicitors Newsletters

Welcome to Monaco Solicitors’ Newsletter area! Just scroll down to see the newsletters we’ve published since Autumn 2022, with the most recent first.

Enjoy and if you have any feedback we’d love to hear from you. Email jenny.monaco@monacosolicitors.co.uk.

 

 

Monaco Solicitors News. Issue 2 /Christmas 2022

A Christmas letter from Alex Monaco to all our website visitors

It’s been a strange year for UK-based employees in 2022.

The year started with a bang for many workers. In some sectors, there were such huge increases in wages and so many jobs available, that you could leave your job after 6 months’ employment and get another job with a 20% pay rise.

This seemed especially true in tech, sales, marketing, and operations. It was hard to know whether it was the post covid boom or more to do with Brexit creating lots of vacancies where many of our European friends left the country, or both.

That boom was never going to last, and, as usual, the bubble burst. Companies could not afford the higher wages – clearly, a country can’t become a high-wage economy overnight.

Once again, the people in charge seemed to think that printing lots of money was going to solve everything. Not exactly a long-term plan guys! Inflation kicked in and the economy overheated.

The very same companies that were expanding are now contracting at a rapid rate. We are seeing mass redundancies across the board, in sectors as varied as tech, finance, retail, logistics, communications, real estate, healthcare (even!) and more.

Now employees are stuck between a swath of redundancies, and the rising cost of living; whether that’s energy, food or accommodation costs.

 

 

In times like these, workers’ rights can be the first thing to fall by the wayside, so it’s important to stand up for yourself or at least know how to play difficult situations at work. That balance between fighting your corner and wanting to keep your job can be a real tightrope.

If that balance tips into a place where you have no choice but to leave your job, just know that the team at Monaco are here to help you get a fair deal. Some stats for 2022 include: over 400,000 visitors to our website; 18,000 enquiries; 1,200 clients; and over £5M in settlements for our clients (paid by companies/corporations to mistreated employees).

Whether it’s our 8 trainee solicitors offering more affordable rates, or the 8 senior solicitors with unparalleled expertise, everyone here is committed to increasing access to justice. Please do get in touch if you have a query.

Behind the scenes, we’re all working together to help more and more employees in new and innovative ways, and we are really passionate about it. The photos attached are the all-company Christmas lunch and the trainees rocking their Christmas jumpers.

Plus we have poured all of our efforts back into producing cutting-edge digital resources which have helped countless more employees represent themselves successfully, where they perhaps otherwise would be unable to afford a lawyer.

Monaco Solicitors News. Issue 1 /Autumn 2022

Welcome to this newsletter from Monaco Solicitors, award-winning employment lawyers

Here are tips for employees about two topics particularly relevant to current employment – Redundancy and Working from Home.

See Monaco Solicitors’ website pages – links highlighted below – for more detailed information about the topics covered.

Remember that we’re here for you if you want to discuss your work situation with a member of our legal team.

Get in touch via this website link, email, or by phone (020 7717 5259).

 

Don’t just accept basic redundancy pay

Further detail is provided in our redundancy guide and other related website pages, as highlighted.

You may be made redundant if your employer’s business is closing (in full or partially), or the volume and income are falling and fewer employees are needed. If you’re facing redundancy, the Q&As below may help.

 

Q. Is your redundancy genuine, or is it a ‘sham’?

Your employer may use redundancy as an excuse to sack you because they don’t want to go through formal dismissal procedures. They may use redundancy as a reason for dismissing you so as to hide the real reason, which could be unfair or discriminatory. Those are both examples of sham redundancies.

You should challenge the reasons for your redundancy. If genuine, the reasons should be business reasons that your employer can substantiate. See sham redundancy for more.

 

Q. Why have you been selected?

Ask why you have been selected for redundancy, especially if there are other people doing largely the same or a similar role, and they haven’t also been selected.

You may be told it’s because of your performance, frequent sickness absences, mental health problems, persistent lateness for work, or other issues. But if they haven’t discussed these with you properly before – that’s not a fair selection!

 

Q. Have you been consulted?

A redundancy consultation period should allow you to explore with your employer whether there may be any alternatives to redundancy, although it’s only obligatory if 20 or more are going. See redundancy for more.

Make sure you are consulted where numbers justify it and try to contribute actively to ideas to reduce the number of redundancies. Even if it’s an individual redundancy case, there should still be meaningful consultation.

 

Q. Have you been offered alternative employment?

If your organisation is large enough, there may be other roles that you could fulfill. You should be given the chance to apply for one of them.

If you can identify vacant roles that you are qualified to do, or have previously done, then you should tell your employers about them, ask to be interviewed for the role, and be given a trial period in that role.

 

Potential claims

In all of the above, there may be several claims you could make against your employer, including unfair dismissal and discrimination. Even if your redundancy appears fair, there is still often scope for negotiating a better redundancy payout.

So, don’t just accept basic redundancy pay! Use your potential claims either to negotiate a fair settlement agreement or – if all else fails – to submit your claim to an employment tribunal.

To discuss your options with our friendly team of legal specialists, get in touch.

Working from home is here to stay!

Like it or not, working from home (WFH) and hybrid variations are here to stay – although not for everyone.

Here are some Q&As about it for employees whose jobs are mainly desk-bound, who are contracted to work at their employer’s premises,  and who want to work from home or increase their WFH hours:

 

Q. Do you have a right to work from home?

If your employment contract says your work location is your employer’s offices, then home working is not an automatic right. But you do have a right to ask for it under a law called the Flexible Working Regulations (2014).

Usually, you should have worked for your employer for 26 weeks or more. But some employers will consider a request sooner than that, so it’s worth checking out whether you can apply early if you want to.

 

Q. Can your employer refuse your WFH request?

Yes, they can refuse your WFH request, providing their reason is a valid business reason, including things like increased costs to the employer, or lack of work at times when the employee wants to work. (See flexible working for more.)

So, make sure your written request covers all the issues that your employer might raise in objection to your request. See flexible working for what to include in your letter.

 

Q. Is your employer obliged to provide equipment for WFH?

No, they’re not (unless your contract says otherwise). This could be one of the cost factors mentioned above that leads your employer to refuse your request.

So you will be at an advantage if you can also state in your request that you already have the equipment necessary for home working.

 

Potential claims

Your employer’s failure to agree to your request for home working could lead to you having various potential claims against them.

Relevant claims could include unfair dismissal or constructive dismissal (eg you’re sacked or forced to resign because you can’t get into the office 9 – 5 every day), discrimination (eg you need to work from home for childcare reasons, you’re disabled), and more.

Contact us to discuss your options if you think your employer has unfairly refused your WFH request.

 

That’s it for this edition! Thank you for reading it. Share it with a friend who you think might find it helpful and let us know if you’ve got any comments.

The next edition will be out shortly. It will include a discussion of mental health issues at work.

If there are any other topics you’d like us to deal with, please email the Editor: jenny.monaco@monacosolicitors.co.uk

 

All reasonable attempts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this newsletter. The views held in it are not necessarily those of Monaco Solicitors who also cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies that it may contain. The tips given should on no account be interpreted as comprising legal advice, which we recommend should be sought on an individual basis from Monaco Solicitors or another reputable firm of employment lawyers.