Employment

When the professional becomes personal: balancing expectations for the incoming workplace generation

March 2025 marks the annual “B Corp Month” campaign, which aims to celebrate the 10,000 certified “B Corporations” around the globe, that “use business as a force for good”. This year’s campaign highlights “Generation B” – a new generation of individuals within the workforce who are striving to “create a better future” and “drive positive …
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The top ten things charities get wrong in whistleblowing cases

Employees in the UK are entitled to certain legal protections in the event that they make a disclosure about wrongdoing that is in the public interest (known as “blowing the whistle”).  For employers, including charities, the best way to comply with their legal obligations to protect whistleblowers within their organisation, is to ensure that they …
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Employment Rights Bill update

On 4 March 2025, the Government published its responses to five consultations, relating to provisions contained its landmark Employment Rights Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament.  These responses addressed proposals to strengthen workers’ rights in relation to zero hours contracts, collective redundancy consultation, Statutory Sick Pay, industrial relations and Trade Unions, and …
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Contemplating redundancies? Top tips for employers

In the wake of a number of well-known companies and charities announcing plans to cut jobs over the past few weeks, and the Guardian newspaper reporting that UK employers are preparing for the biggest redundancy round in a decade amid declining business confidence and tax increases coming into force in April 2025, it seems that …
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Navigating the expression of protected beliefs and social media use in the workplace: lessons from Higgs v Farmor’s School [2025] EWCA Civ 109

The question of how to navigate the expression of protected beliefs in the workplace, particularly where those beliefs may not be universally shared or agreed with by co-workers, remains a hot topic for employers; not least in the context of balancing “gender critical” beliefs and the rights of transgender individuals.  This issue has become all …
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Two thirds of architect practices cannot pay new rates to sponsor overseas skilled workers

Law firms Bates Wells and Kingsley Napley are urging Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to respond to their letter, sent 16 December 2024 (see here), which highlighted the concerns of clients in the architect sector about the impact of minimum salary threshold changes on their ability to recruit and retain the right talent. The architect industry …
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USAID and UK NGOs: Trump’s Executive Order Freezing Foreign Assistance

Many INGOs and English charities working in the humanitarian and international development sectors will be impacted by President Trump’s recent executive order, Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid. The order mandates a 90-day pause in U.S. foreign aid assistance, with a view to aligning US aid to President Trump’s foreign policy agenda: it was …
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It’s beginning to sound a lot like Christmas…

The arrival of the festive season is usually a time for merriment but for employers it brings with it the challenges involved with sourcing additional staff. It’s important that you don’t let practices slip, otherwise, you may find yourselves in tricky situations. Here are our top tips for HR directors this festive season to help …
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Faith-based Organisations: 2024 and 2025 update

Welcome to our annual faith-based update. In this packed edition, we cover a range of issues that commonly present challenges for faith-based organisations and explore recent developments that will impact faith-based charities. In this edition, we explore: Read the update here or download a copy here. We hope you enjoy this update and find it …
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Bates Wells act in an important intervention on behalf of Protect, the UK Whistleblowing charity

Protect, the UK whistleblowing charity, successfully intervened in the Employment Appeal Tribunal case of Declan Durey v South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust to protect “injury to feelings” compensation for whistleblowers. The case concerned a challenge to this established form of compensation. Following the hearing, the settled position remains that Employment Tribunals can make …
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Groundbreaking cases and positive impact: Bates Wells recognised by The Times Best Law Firms 2025

We’ve been recognised by The Times Best Law Firms 2025 for our work for charities, employment, immigration, and administrative & public law. Stand out work was recognised on a ground-breaking employment case against Uber Eats, and with the RSPCA on animal welfare regulation in the UK, highlighted in our latest impact report. And also our …
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#CountdownToTheDuty: Preventing sexual harassment in the workplace

From 26 October 2024, employers will be under a new legal duty proactively to take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment in their workplaces. The last two weeks we’ve been taking a closer look at what this means, sharing daily tips for employers in the lead up to this new duty coming into force. Here’s our …
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