Articles by ‘James Sage’

Law firm RWK Goodman, a leading provider of legal services to the social care sector, has been named as founding legal partner for the Care Innovation Hub (CIH).

In this important update for care providers we will look at:

• new government guidance on how to calculate holiday pay
• Mencap sleep-in case heads to the Supreme Court
• new National Minimum Wage increases, and
• new penalty charges for “aggravated” breaches of employment rights.

The social care sector is facing a staffing crisis with an estimate shortage of half a million workers over the next decade, reports a major new study from the trade body Care Association Alliance…

2018 has brought a few changes in employment law which are directly relevant to pharmacy owners. More changes are still to come, with post-Brexit immigration system – which is expected to be unveiled this month – likely to affect workforce in the pharmacy and broader healthcare sector. Our Health & Social Care team brings you a roundup of the changes and steps you can take now to mitigate risks.

The Migration Advisory Committee’s (MAC) latest report makes a number of alarming recommendations for EU migration after Brexit, and if adopted by the Government will exacerbate the care sector workforce crisis.

Last month, in Royal Mencap Society-v-Tomlinson-Blake, the Court of Appeal held that ‘sleep-in’ shifts were not subject to the National Minimum Wage. The ruling, while providing welcome relief for care providers, left a few questions unanswered. One of them was how HMRC proposed to deal with providers who had joined the Social Care Compliance Scheme. HMRC has now provided further guidance, but has it brought any clarity?

In Royal Mencap Society-v-Tomlinson-Blake, the Court of Appeal held that ‘sleep-in’ are not subject to the National Minimum Wage (NMW).

Overturning a significant body of case-law, the Court of Appeal ruled that the National Minimum Wage is only payable when staff are awake and actually working, not when they are asleep and only available for work. In reaching its decision, the Court of Appeal relied heavily on reports by the Low Pay Commission to support its interpretation of the National Minimum Wage Regulations.

The Court of Appeal has today delivered care providers a lifeline, saying that they do not have to pay staff the National Minimum Wage when working ‘sleep-in’ shifts. The decision lifts an estimated £400m…

The issue of whether ‘standby’ (on-call) time is working time was recently considered by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in the Belgian case of Ville de Nivelles v Matzak.

Mencap’s appeal against a finding that its sleep-in shifts are working time under the minimum wage regulations was heard by the Court of Appeal in March. The judgment was reserved but will hopefully be delivered by the end of May 2018, if not sooner.

When buying or selling a dental practice, it is vital to make sure that the value and goodwill of the business is adequately protected. That’s why you should carefully consider the nature and content of the associate agreements.

The Competition & Markets Authority (CMA), the consumer watchdog, published the final report of its care home market study on 30 November 2017. Two of the key themes in the report are the urgent need for funding reform and concerns about care providers using unfair contract terms.