A  recent case has indicated,once again,that failure to ensure employees are not subjected to discriminatory behaviour can prove extremely costly .

In a recent case brought in the Birmingham Employment Tribunal a female Muslim lawyer agreed to settle her claim for discrimination upon payment of £75,000 after enduring racist comments and harassment over a five year period at the hands of a senior work colleague.

This is a salutory lesson for employers to make sure that all staff conduct themselves in an approriate manner in the workplace.Ultimately it is the employer who is liable for the actions of their workers.

So far as employees are concerned the case shows once again that  significant awards can be obtained in  appropriate circumstances.

In either case it pays to take advice promptly upon this complex and developing area of the law.

From April 2009 the rules change again to increase the statutory miminum holiday entitlement  to 5.6weeks (or 28 working  days) for all full-time employees. This is ,of course,amended pro rata for part- time workers.

The allowance includes Bank Holidays and relates to paid leave . An employer may, of course, agree to an increased holiday allowance as this is a minimum requirement.

Pay must be made at the normal daily rate for the period of the holiday ,excluding overtime.

If you are an employer, therefore, you should make sure you review your contracts now to ensure that you will not be in breach of the regulations .

As an employee you should check to make sure that your employer is aware of the changes and is putting in place suitable arrangements.

There are no further changes in the pipeline…for the time being.

We at Willsons always work extremely hard to make sure our clients receive the maximum amount of compensation in any claim we handle.

We are proud to report we have surpassed £1 million pounds recovered on behalf of our clients in less than 2 years.

We are pleased to offer a “No win,No fee” service and are experienced in handling claims of all types including slip/trip cases,road traffic accidents,work place accidents, industrial diseases and victims of criminal assaults.

We also offer a free initial interview if you are not sure whether you have a valid claim or not so it costs nothing to find out!

Alternatively , you can simply ring our freephone number or  e.mail us your enquiry.It couldn’t be simpler.

Remember, we are always pleased to help .