Employment Matters

The High Court takes a steely look at bonus clawback provisions

The recent case of Steel v Spencer Road LLP (trading as The Omerta Group) provides a helpful reminder of the law relating to the interaction of restraint of trade and bonus clawback provisions, highlighting the difference between an unenforceable restraint of trade and protective provisions within a contractual remuneration package that disincentivise certain behaviour.

Metaverse: Managing workplace behaviours online

Employers increasingly require employees to work and meet in the metaverse. Whilst doing so has its advantages, it also raises a number of HR issues, not least ensuring that staff behaviour in the metaverse remains as professional as in other work environments.

Three headline HR actions to start 2024

2024 promises to be a busy year for employment law, not least because a number of legislative changes are coming into effect.

AI in the workplace: Generative AI

Generative AI is the process of AI algorithms generating or creating an output from user instructions or prompts, based on the datasets they are trained on. This could take the form of, for example, text, images, video, code, data or 3D renderings.

Mishcon de Reya contributes to latest edition of Harvey on Industrial Relations and Employment Law

Members of the Employment team at Mishcon de Reya have updated their chapter entitled 'Restraint on competition' in the latest edition of the pre-eminent employment law text 'Harvey on Industrial Relations and Employment Law'. Mishcon's Employment team has been responsible for the content and curation of this chapter since 2020.

Better Bonuses – How employee-owned businesses get more bang for their buck with tax-free profit-share

Most employers will seek to provide some form of cash bonus award to incentivise staff performance in the short term. Whilst tax-free profit-related-pay ("PRP") was once widely available, the eligibility criteria are now far more tightly drawn.

Employers get ready: changes to family-friendly rights from April 2024

Employers should consider updating their family-friendly policies and procedures to take account of changes from April 2024 to the statutory paternity leave and flexible working regimes, and the introduction of carer's leave.

A company's sponsor licence revocation: a cautionary tale for compliance

A recent case has served as a stark reminder of the importance of complying with sponsorship regulations. In Prestwick Care Ltd & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 3193, the High Court upheld the Home Office's decision to revoke a company's sponsor licence. It is relevant to all companies that sponsor overseas workers in the UK.