Intern rights

Many companies take on interns over the summer, 1 in 3 of which tend to be unpaid positions, however the TUC point out that interns may be eligible to receive the National Minimum Wage. Below are some tips that will help you decide whether your intern should be paid.

Whether your intern is covered by the NMW depends on their employment status. If they are undertaking work of value for you, they may come under the definition of a “worker” or “employee” and therefore be entitled to the minimum wage. If the intern is only shadowing members of your staff however and therefore not physically undertaking work themselves, then they would not come under these definitions and would not be entitled to the minimum wage. Be careful when offering to pay the intern expenses or other benefits, as this may also make them be entitled to the minimum wage.

It could be argued that an intern is a volunteer because they have agreed to offer their services free and voluntarily. However, interns are unlikely to be considered to be volunteers if they are required to turn up and work or if they have agreed to work a minimum number of hours or a regular pattern of hours. If in doubt, pay the minimum wage.

You can find more information about interns’ rights on: http://www.rightsforinterns.org.uk/

Future Development: A CIPD policy paper has called for an end to unpaid internships for university students with the introduction of a new 'Training Wage'. This ‘Training Wage’ is proposed to be £2.50 – the current minimum wage for apprentices. We’ll keep you informed of further developments to this proposal.

Disability discrimination update

There has been a recent case: Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police v Jelic, which gives guidance about what kind of adjustments a Tribunal would find reasonable in line with the Disability Discrimination Act:

Mr. Jelic was a Police Officer suffering from chronic anxiety syndrome. The Employment Tribunal felt that it would have been reasonable for the Chief Constable to have swapped Mr Jelic’s job for that of another police constable, or to medically retire Mr Jelic on a police pension and then re-employ him as a member of support staff. The Chief Constable appealed arguing that these measures were not reasonable but the EAT disagreed stating that the list of reasonable adjustments within the DDA (below) is not exhaustive:

• Making adjustments to premises
• Allocating some of the disabled person's duties to another person
• Transferring the disabled person to fill an existing vacancy
• Altering the disabled person's working or training hours
• Assigning the disabled person to a different place of work or training
• Allowing the disabled person to be absent during working or training hours for rehabilitation, assessment or treatment
• Giving, or arranging for, training or mentoring for the disabled person or any other person
• Acquiring or modifying equipment
• Modifying instructions or reference manuals
• Modifying procedures for testing or assessment
• Providing a reader or interpreter
• Providing supervision or other support

This case has shown that a Tribunal expects employers to take their duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees very seriously and to consider reasonable adjustments outside of the standard list above where necessary.

This is something we are frequently asked about by our clients about disabled employees and those with long-term ill-health. We advise managers that it is up to them to take the initiative and investigate possible adjustments to an employee’s role. We advise them to consult with the employee concerned about any possible adjustments as the employee will understand their own condition and may be able to help with these suggestions.

It is also advisable for the line manager to take into account any recommendations contained in a statement of fitness for work provided by the employee’s own doctor.

It’s also important to remember that adjustments may be agreed on a temporary or a permanent basis.

If you’d like further advice on making adjustments in your work place please contact your HR Consultant. For further details on the Disability Discrimination Act please contact Helenna on 01404 42359 or email Helenna@hradvantage.co.uk.

Vetting and Barring Scheme to be scaled back or dropped?

As you may have heard on the news, the Vetting and Barring scheme has now been halted whilst the Government conducts a full review.

This means that there is no requirement for any individual to register under the scheme until the review is complete and revised terms are confirmed. It is expected that this will be during the latter part of 2010.

In the meantime:

• Individuals who work with children and/or vulnerable adults will continue to be required to apply for an enhanced level Disclosure through the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and their employment will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure being received.
• If you work with children and/or vulnerable adults and you dismiss a member of staff because they have harmed a child or vulnerable adult, or you believe they would have done so if they had not left, you must still inform the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA)

We believe at this stage that when an application is made to the CRB for an enhanced level Disclosure, the CRB will check for information regarding relevant convictions and investigations, and will also check the ISA register for details of barred individuals.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Government has confirmed that its equivalent scheme, The Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme, is still scheduled to go ahead at the end of 2010.

We will of course update you on both schemes as further information becomes available. In the meantime if you have any further questions please contact Anne on 01494 478800 or anne@hradvantage.co.uk

Recommendation for VAT to be Payable on Retail Vouchers

It has been recommended by the Advocate General that VAT should be payable on retail vouchers provided to employees as part of a salary sacrifice scheme. This is despite VAT already being payable to retailers when the vouchers are purchased by the company. A further expense, and one that could hit companies who run a retail vouchers scheme very hard indeed is that the companies are likely to also be forced to pay VAT on past vouchers. This is all subject to agreement from the European Court of Justice following the advice from the Advocate General – the bad news for the companies involved is that the ECJ normally follows advice from the Advocate General.