Mark Ellis Blog

Back in February I bemoaned the nonsense that is holiday accrual through sickness periods.
Well employers have waited for years for the House of Lords to put some clarity into the issue and in the light of these trying times for employers hopefully inject some sanity and help out beleaguered employers.
Well the long awaited and […]

Well the timing of a caucus of Labour MPs and a coalition of 10 Unions could not be worse. During the week when the “official” unemployment figures rose above 2 million and to a ten year high and at a time when companies the length and breadth of the UK are shedding labour, implementing 3-day […]

Just when UK plc is busy fighting its own economic Battle of Waterloo what does the European Court of Justice (ECJ) do? Does it send in the elite ECJ economic crack troops, “Prussian reinforcements under Blucher stylee” ,at the final hour and help strike the decisive blow against the rear echelons of the economic recession? […]

Businesses should be counting the days down until the 6 April 2009 as this is the joyous day that the unworkable and ridiculous Statutory Disciplinary & Grievance procedures will be consigned to the statute bin for ever….
Butt only after they caused over 4 years of hardship to employers and employees alike with their prescriptive nonsense […]

Was it Mr Bumble in Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist who exclaimed that the “Law is an Ass!”?
Bertolt Brecht, the Bavarian playwright, was even more condemning when he stated that “the law was made for one thing alone, for the exploitation of those who don’t understand it.”I believe both well learned individuals nicely sum up the […]

Sitting down? Good. I am pleased to report on some good employment news for employers!
 
Action Against Business Crime (the national organisation for Business Crime Reduction Partnerships) has set up a register which allows employers to access details of those naughty employees who either have been dismissed for acts of dishonesty or have left employment whilst […]

For the last 4 years, employers have been plagued by the ridiculous statutory disciplinary and grievance procedures and some poor employers have lost claims brought against them, simply on the basis that the statutory procedures for dealing with disciplinary matters was not followed to the exact letter.
The statutory procedures have been little more than an […]

I think we people are like sheep. Too many just seem to follow the rest. Odd that, isn’t it, given that we are not sheep? Or lemmings for that matter? For example, the housing market was going from strength to strength. All was well. Demand was high and, as my uncle would say “they aren’t making any more […]

I have just had the pleasure of dealing with a few problems for clients regarding staff references. What a minefiled! I thought I would whinge (on my clients’ behalf) on this blog!

Let’s face it, many potential employees will tell you whatever you want to hear to get the job. What a waste of time, effort and […]

Face who? In case you don’t already know (I didn’t until recently!) Facebook is a “social networking” website. In plain English I think that means that it’s a place on the Internet where you go to talk to your friends, catch up with the latest gossip, make new friends, date, and share music, photos and […]