News

Lawspeed is delighted to announce that it has been awarded ISO 9001:2008 Certification. Managing Director of Lawspeed Adrian Marlowe said “this confirms that our processes and procedures represent best practice, having been formally audited, and evaluated against the internationally recognised standard for quality management. “We have a long standing commitment to maintaining excellence; it is […]

As we prepare for this seminar for agencies and umbrella companies, more and more discussion points emerge justifying a greater range of content. The new agenda will therefore be: •    maximising compliance, and protecting fees with today’s technologies, covering contract sign off, pre    designed cloud services, and data related issues •    more RPOs? Ramifications of […]

Over the 16 years we’ve been helping recruiters we’ve seen many excuses put forward by hirers to avoid paying agency fees. Here are the top 3…. 1. The candidate is working in a different role to the one they were put forward for This is a rather unimaginative way to avoid paying for the services […]

The Information Commissioners Office has issued a warning following a breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 where a member of staff at the Royal Veterinary College lost a camera which contained passport images of six job applicants. Aberdeen City Council received a penalty of £100,000 following a data breach where sensitive information was uploaded […]

There is now an established production line of employees exposed for posting ill thought out tweets or Facebook status updates. The case of Kelly Stone, a recruiter condemned by the public on social media for gloating about stopping individuals’ benefits, is the latest well publicised incident of public disapproval going viral. Whilst this may seem […]

Electronic signatures have been hailed as a way for businesses to be more efficient in contract negotiations, by allowing parties to sign documents with speed and certainty. This approach has also been credited with increasing the security of documents and records, which can easily be duplicated and saved in secured locations. In the recruitment industry, […]

The decision of an Employment Tribunal on 4th October 2013 meant that 6 individuals supplied as agency workers through the umbrella provider Paymaster were neither employees nor workers of Paymaster despite being signed up on written employment contracts, writes Adrian Marlowe of the recruitment and employment law specialist Lawspeed. Paymaster had gone into receivership leaving […]

Between 2012 to 2013 HMRC identified 736 employers who failed to comply with NMW consequently leading to the recovery of £3.9 million in unpaid wages for over 26, 500 workers. New rules effective from today (1st October, 2013) are targeting these figures. Employers who fail to pay the NMW could forfeit their reputation by being […]

Earlier this month the two teaching unions, the NUT and NASUWT, announced dates for regional strikes across England in October. On 1st October the Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside and Eastern regions are being targeted for action. On 17th October the North East, Cumbria, London, South East and South West will be affected by the strike. […]

Critical issues for the recruitment industry Lawspeed – the recruitment & employment law experts – present a cutting edge seminar to keep you up-to-date with all the important topics. Subjects covered include: maximising compliance and protecting fees with today’s technologies, changes to regulatory structures, contractor tax update, zero hours contracts and restrictive covenants in the […]

Five years ago there was a significant ruling at the High Court concerning the use of LinkedIn contacts where it was found that these had been uploaded to an individual’s personal account they could constitute company property when the employment ceased. (Hays Specialist Recruitment (Holdings) Ltd & Another v Ions & Another [2008]). Since then […]

What happens if a hirer is unhappy with a contractor you have placed with them and is unwilling to pay for their time spent on assignment? In order for employment businesses to ensure that they receive payments that they are entitled to it is vital that they have correct protection in place. A recent case […]

Everyone knows that it is illegal to discriminate in the workplace, directly or indirectly, against anyone on the grounds of; age, sex, disability, religion or belief, pregnancy or maternity, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership or race. But it wasn’t always like this… 1963 Last month people across the world remembered and celebrated […]

The TUC’s latest move in complaining to the EU Commission that the UK implementation of the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) has not adequately protected agency workers’ rights is ‘cynical’ says the Association of Recruitment Consultancies (ARC). Adrian Marlowe, chairman of the ARC, said “The AWR came into being after an agreement was reached between the […]