An employee may claim a statutory redundancy payment without being dismissed in one of two situations: • where the employee is ‘laid-off’ by the employer, ie when the employer temporarily shuts down its operation because it cannot find any or enough work for the employees • where an employee is put on short-time working—short-time working occurs where the employer requires the employee to do less than their full contractual hours and the employee receives less pay as a result In order for the statutory scheme to trigger, the employee must have been laid off or kept on short-time working either for four consecutive weeks or for a total of six weeks (no more than three being consecutive) in any period of 13 weeks. For these purposes, a week of lay-off occurs

For further information about sick pay, generally, see Practice Note: Sick pay. All employees, with certain exceptions, are entitled to receive statutory sick pay ('SSP') from their employers, under the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 (SSCBA 1992). The essential qualification requirements for SSP are that an employee must: • be an employee as defined and not fall within one of the excluded categories • be too ill to undertake any work under their contract of employment on any day for which they claim SSP, or be deemed to be so • have at least four consecutive days' sick absence (including Sundays and Bank holidays) during which they are too ill to work; this is referred to as a 'period of incapacity for work' • notify their absence to their

Conditions of entitlement to statutory paternity pay (SPP) are not the same as those relating to paternity leave, although there is a significant overlap. The individual seeking to claim SPP: • need not have the status of employee, but must have been (at the relevant times) in 'employed earner's employment' with the employer from whom SPP is claimed. • must have been in that employment for a continuous period of at least 26 weeks ending with (in the case of birth) the week immediately preceding the 14th

Statutory holiday entitlement The right under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR 1998), SI 1998/1833 is to a total of 5.6 weeks' annual leave each 'leave year', made up of: • a basic entitlement to a minimum of four weeks' annual leave (20 days for a regular full-time worker) each leave year, implementing the right to annual leave under Directive 2003/88/EC, the Working Time Directive (WTD) • an additional entitlement to 1.6 weeks' annual leave (eight days for a regular full-time worker) each leave year, which is a right under domestic legislation only The difference in the provenance of the legislation means that the two types of leave may need to be treated differently, as the Court of Justice decisions will apply to the basic four week entitlement but not necessarily to the additional 1.6 weeks' additional annual leave. For more detailed information, see

An employee who takes ordinary or additional maternity leave is entitled to the benefit of all the terms and conditions of employment that would have applied had she not been absent, except 'terms and conditions about remuneration'. An employee will therefore continue to accrue statutory and contractual holiday entitlement in the normal way during maternity leave as if she had not been absent. When it comes to payment for accrued holiday in these circumstances, consideration will need to be given to: • whether the employee’s period of maternity leave spanned two holiday years, and if so • whether accrued leave from a previous holiday year can be carried over The

For guidance on asking questions and carrying out disclosure and barring service (DBS) checks on an individual’s criminal convictions and cautions generally, see Practice Note: Criminal records—asking questions and DBS checks. If an employee receives a criminal conviction during their employment (eg between

Information relating to an employee's health, including their mental health, is special category data under Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018). The employer will therefore need to ensure that it is processed lawfully, which means (among other things) ensuring that: • the data protection principles are complied with • there is a lawful condition for processing under Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, GDPR and a specific condition for processing under Article 9(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, GDPR • subject to any exemptions, the individual’s rights as a data subject are satisfied For further information, see Practice Notes: • Employee health information—data protection issues • The

The terms 'career break' and 'sabbatical' have no particular legal meaning, and the label given to the break is not determinative of its legal nature. In practice: • the term 'career break' is often used to describe a longer period of unpaid leave during which the employment contract may continue, but more often does not, and • the term 'sabbatical' is used to describe a shorter period of leave which is often unpaid but might be paid or partly-paid, during which the contract does continue Typically, an employee on a longer career break will retain fewer rights than an employee on a shorter sabbatical. Each situation will turn on its own facts however and will depend on what the parties have agreed (expressly or impliedly) and any statutory rights which may continue during the break. The crucial question

A repudiatory breach is a breach of contract that goes to the very core of the contract or one that shows that the employer no longer intends to be bound by one or more of the essential terms of the contract. It gives the innocent party the right to treat the contract as being disregarded and entitles the innocent party to refuse to be bound by its terms. If the employer's conduct is in breach of the implied term of trust and confidence, that will inevitably lead to a fundamental or repudiatory breach entitling an employee to claim constructive dismissal (Morrow v Safeway Stores, EAT; Horkulak v Cantor Fitzgerald International). We assume for the purposes of this response that a repudiatory breach has been

Entitlement to statutory maternity pay In order to qualify for statutory maternity pay (SMP), it is necessary for a woman to be or have been an employee as defined and to satisfy a number of conditions, including that she must have been in employed earner's employment with an employer for a continuous period of at least 26 weeks ending with the week immediately preceding the 14th-week before the expected week of confinement (ie childbirth). SMP is payable for a total of up to 39 weeks. For further information, see Practice Note: Maternity pay—SMP—entitlement. Entitlement to statutory paternity pay Similarly, an employee seeking to claim statutory paternity pay (SPP) must have been in 'employed earner's employment' with the employer from whom SPP is claimed for a continuous period of at least 26 weeks ending with: • in the case of birth, the week immediately preceding the 14th week before

In relation to whether the terms of an offer of employment are enforceable, one would first need to ascertain whether it was intended for the offer to constitute a contract on acceptance, or whether it was intended for the offer subsequently to be replaced by a more detailed written contract. In the latter instance, if the terms of the offer were made subject to contract, it implies that the subsequent contract would be likely to prevail over the terms of the earlier offer in the event of any inconsistency between the two (and thereby potentially provide the employer with an opportunity to rectify any mistakes). See Precedent: Letter—employee offer letter which provides an example of where the terms of the offer are intended to be formalised in a subsequent

A deduction from a worker's wages will only be lawful if: • it is required or authorised to be made by virtue of a statutory provision, eg the requirement to make deductions for income tax or National Insurance contributions via Pay As You Earn (PAYE) • it is required or authorised to be made by virtue of a relevant provision of the worker's contract, eg where the employer provides a loan to the worker and has a contractual right