Your monthly at-a-glance answers to frequently asked questions. This month we look at employee illness and recent changes to the law.
Q: How should I deal with an employee returning after serious illness?
Your first concern should be the employee’s welfare, and you should make sure you handle the matter with the utmost sensitivity. Under disability discrimination regulations, you must make reasonable adjustments to facilitate the return to work of an employee with a serious illness such as cancer or multiple sclerosis. Talk the illness and its workplace implications through with the employee, and make sure any decisions you take are based on sound medical advice.
Q: What were the main law changes that took effect at the start of October?
October 1 is one of the government’s two “common commencement dates” on which most rule changes affecting small businesses come into force.
This year, the main changes introduced were:
- increases in the national minimum wage rates;
- an extension of the rights enjoyed by pregnant and adopting employees;
- a new prohibition of discrimination on grounds of age;
- the replacement of the old system of fire-safety certification with a new regime built around risk assessments.
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