In this newsletter we look at legislation changes, case law judgements, the Worker Protection Act, and other elements.

We hope you find this information helpful, if you would like more detail on any aspect please contact us.  Don’t forget to take a look at our website to see the full range of our services.

From basic Contracts of Employment to a fully Outsourced HR service we can help.  If you would like to know more about any of our support, consultancy, and training services, and see how we can help you, please visit our website or contact us at info@connectivebusiness.co.uk to arrange a Free no-obligation consultation.

Legislation Updates

New protections for victims of crime

From 1 October 2025 the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 (VPA) will come into force across England and Wales.  The VPA gives more support to victims of crime and in some respects puts existing common law into legislation. In workplaces, this will reaffirm (and in some ways extend) the rights of employees:

• The VPA applies to NDAs, confidentiality clauses in contracts and settlement agreements. For ease, the following information will use ‘NDA’ to encompass all of these areas.
• Any NDA signed on or after October 1 2025 will not be enforceable against people who are victims of crime (or who reasonably believe they are) when they report relevant conduct about the alleged crime to specified persons or authorities.
• Currently, even where an NDA is in place, a person can inform prescribed bodies about criminal activity and make protected disclosures (i.e. whistleblowing, or about health and safety risk, or regulatory breaches). The VPA reaffirms that this criminal activity can be disclosed, and it also uses the term “criminal conduct” to broaden the possible disclosures that may be considered. For example, “criminal conduct” would include theft, data protection breaches or concerns about forced labour.
• Currently, the list of prescribed bodies for whistleblowing purposes is based on a fixed list set out in the legislation, although other appropriate bodies may be added to the list due to tribunal or court decisions in specific victims of crime cases.  The VPA updates this by affirming that disclosures can also be made to victim support services, a person authorised to receive information on behalf of a prescribed body or a close family member.

Case Law Updates

IT professional who worked from home to oversee gardening was constructively unfairly dismissed

A senior IT professional has won a constructive unfair dismissal case after his employer acted unfairly when he chose to work from home to supervise gardening work.  The Employment Tribunal awarded BW £30,692 after the company’s response to a breakdown in workplace relationships, particularly its objection to his remote working, breached the duty of trust and confidence.

The ET heard that BW was due to meet company founder CB face to face to resolve a workplace dispute.  However, tensions escalated when BW requested to switch the meeting to a Teams call, explaining that he would be working from home for the rest of the week because of scheduled gardening work.  CB told the ET he was “very disappointed” with the change, believing it suggested BW was not fully committed to the process.  Following this, other directors at the company declared they had “lost trust and confidence” in BW, which ultimately led to his resignation

Some employers that wish to bring back their employees from home working are concerned to manage any risks that by doing so they may face indirect discrimination claims.  This could be on the basis that, for example, employees who are women, those who have child caring responsibilities or employees who have disabilities, may find it disproportionately harder to comply with such requirements than others.  However, BW’s case shows that insisting on someone coming into the office rather than working from home may constitute behaviour entitling an employee to resign and claim constructive dismissal.  Employers should fully consider any challenges the employee may face in returning, before enforcing office attendance.  Employers should also take care with their verbal and electronic communications so as not to give their employees the opportunity of claiming they have been constructively dismissed.

Training

Operational Managers are key to a Company’s success, and how they work with and manage their teams is an essential part of this.  Failing to provide them with the essential training they require will lead to more issues within the workplace.

We run a number of ‘1 to 1 HR Coaching for Managers’ modules, all of which are delivered remotely via Microsoft Teams:

• Being an Effective Manager / Responsibilities of a Manager;
• Dealing with Misconduct (Discipline), Poor Performance (Capability) and Grievances;
• Managing Attendance / Sickness Absence;
• Managing Performance / Developing People;
• Dealing With Conflict;
• Managing Recruitment;
• Managing Investigations.

Each module is focussed on the key elements involved, and takes around 1½ hours, with Managers also completing a workbook containing a number of questions and scenarios which is then analysed and feedback provided to ensure an in-depth understanding of the subject(s).

More details on all of the above can be found on our website.

Worker Protection Act

With allegations of sexual harassment, the evidence can be limited to one person’s word against another.  In such cases, an employer is faced with a dilemma over whom to believe.  It will mostly come down to whose testimony is more credible, which is itself a question fraught with difficulty and potential prejudice.  Employers must be careful not to assume that an allegation must be true because ‘nobody would make it up’.  Equally, rejecting a complaint because the complainant didn’t take it to the police or put up with the behaviour for so long before complaining, would be wrong too.

An employer has to mount as thorough an investigation as its resources allow and the circumstances warrant.  Some employers may feel pressure to uphold the allegation, thinking that this will be the easiest way to show compliance with their new Worker Protection Act and therefore avoid a lawsuit from the complainant.  However, there is danger in this approach not least because of its potential for miscarriages of justice, and given the likely significant personal impact on the individual, also means that they have every incentive to challenge the finding in the employment tribunal.

Employers must therefore be very careful to carry out an even-handed investigation, following equally lines of enquiry that tend to incriminate or exonerate the accused, and must be sensitive to the possible impact of trauma and other pressures that may affect any of the individuals involved.

If an employer finds that the accused did indeed sexually harass the complainant, the next question is what disciplinary sanction to impose. Some think sexual harassment always warrants summary dismissal.  However, that is not the case as not all sexual harassment is the same.  It is one thing where a manager exploits an imbalance in power to demand sexual favours, another where a fellow employee makes an insensitive or foolish remark that causes unintentional offence, and they are genuinely remorseful about it.  Both instances may amount to sexual harassment, but it would be unfair to mete out the same sanction.

Partner Services

We have long-term partnerships with key providers which enables us to provide other recommended services to our clients.

We are pleased to announce a new partnership with Wellfinite who are workplace wellbeing specialists dedicated to helping businesses build healthier, more supportive work environments.  Wellfinite offer a range of services include flexible workshops, from one-hour lunch & learns to full-day sessions and ongoing programmes, covering mental and physical wellbeing, leadership, and team building. They also provide one-to-one coaching for employees needing additional support.

Other partnerships include:

• Financial Services;
• Legal Services via Howells Solicitors;
• Health Insurance and Staff Healthcare Benefits via Western Provident Association (WPA);
• Health and Safety via Sure Safety;
• Cloud based HR Software via WorkSmarter.

Visit our website to see full information on our partners and their services.