Questions and Answers

I need staff to come into work over the May bank holiday. I do not recognise a trade union so there is no collective agreement to this effect. Can I force the staff to work on any bank holiday?

My staff do not have the entitlement to leave on bank holidays written into their contracts. This year I wish the business to close for a week over a bank holiday period.  How should I go about this?

Can I dismiss an apprentice?

What rights do agency workers have?

An employee has been diagnosed with a mental health illness. It has been suggested that we can develop with the employee a Wellness and Recovery Action Plan to assist them at work. What is this?

I’m concerned that my business will be liable for the new plastic tax as we use a lot of plastic packaging. What can I do to prepare for this and in particular, how can I find out whether the plastic we use contains any recycled material?

A number of my employees are practising Muslims. They have complained that they consider themselves to be forced to take time off over Christmas (because we have a one week shut down) and yet they have to use up their holiday entitlement if they want to take time off over Ramadan, which lasts for a month. They believe this amounts to religious discrimination. What can we do?

One of the essential workers on my night shift is a follower of the Islamic faith, and has come to me to talk about Ramadan. As we’re working with reduced staffing levels, we cannot allow her to take annual leave over this period as she would usually do. What provisions should we put in place to allow her to consume food and drink and take part in prayers through the night?

I couldn’t open my retail shop for a day as there was a high risk of damage to the shop front posed by strong stormy weather. Do I have to pay staff for the hours they would have worked had we been able to open?

Now that Plan B has been dropped, what Covid-19 restrictions will be in place instead and are people still required to self-isolate?