Insights
Should mobile phones be banned from work meetings?! Kaajal Nathwani took part in a discussion on BBC Radio 5 Live…
The CEO of JP Morgan, Jamie Dimon, is banning staff from being on mobile phones in work meetings. Can employers do this? Hear Kaajal’s thoughts from an employment law perspective.
Full discussion here: Stephen Nolan – 11/04/2025 – BBC Sounds
Kaajal Nathwani taking part in a panel discussion on BBC Radio 5 Live…
….focusing on Amazon, amongst others, and their much publicised mandate enforcing a full time return to the office from January. She discusses the legal position of such a mandate and implications of enforcing the same
Osborne & Wise Partner, Kaajal Nathwani, appearing on Tony Livesey’s BBC Radio 5 show
She discusses why fast food giant McDonald’s is in the news again regarding it’s treatment of employees. With a recent 29 dismissals but a reported 700 claims, including for sexual harassment, have they managed to meet any of the obligations included in the signed section 23 agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission?
Menopause in the workplace roundtable
A virtual roundtable discussing the legal, practical and cultural impact of menopause at work. Featuring key speakers:
Kaajal Nathwani – Partner, Osborne & Wise – Employment Lawyer
Lisa Seagroatt – Founder, HR Fit for Purpose – Health and Wellbeing specialist
Pat Duckworth – Women’s Health Strategist
Third Party Harassment
What should an employer be doing to try and prevent harassment of its employees by client, customers or other third parties?
Recent changes in the law around third party harassment mean employers need to action to prevent this.
📽️ In this video short we cover some practical examples and what preventative steps employer’s should be taking in this area.
ℹ️ For further information on how Osborne & Wise can assist your business contact us on info@osbornewise.com
‘Right to Switch off’
This video short discusses the changes proposed by the Labour party manifesto.
The ‘right to switch off’ requires that employees do not have to work outside of core hours. We feel that it will follow other European countries who already implement a ‘voluntary code of practise’.
What businesses can do to prepare:
Review current working practices – organise work flow effectively
Have conversations with employees about what should be expected of them outside of core working hours.
Optimising technology and encouraging rest and time away from work which can lead to increased productivity in the long term.
Flexible working as a ‘genuine default’
In this video Dan reviews the Labour party’s proposal to make flexible working a ‘genuine default’ or the ‘new norm’.
But what does this mean? We feel it will mean a shift in the burden from employee to employer.
An employer who wishes to refuse a flexible working request will have to demonstrate why it can’t be granted.
How do businesses prepare?
Undertake an internal review on how the requests are currently processed
Review related policy documents
This is not a right to flexible working but will create a shift in employee expectations and how tribunials will review these decisions.
Labour Reforms: Unfair dismissal, a Day 1 Right
Once brought in employers will have to follow a fair process and justify a dismissal as fair from the 1st day of employment.
Here’s what we’re saying to our clients to ensure they are prepared for these changes:
• Familiarise yourself with what a ‘fair’ process would look like
• Tighten up and improve recruitment processes
• Review probation periods & length of those periods
October is an official month of recognition for baby loss and it aims to raise awareness of pregnancy and baby death in the UK. Baby loss is a loss that is often silent and rarely acknowledged by employers and colleagues in a workplace setting usually because nobody knows what to say. Statistic from Tommy’s confirm that […]
Osborne & Wise partner Kaajal Nathwani has written an article for the Solicitors Journal – read in full here
Travel time and the national minimum wage: Court of Appeal Clarifies the Position Battle of the courts The Court of Appeal has recently considered whether time spent by poultry workers travelling from home to work sites counts as ‘time work’ under the National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015 (NMW Regulations). In HMRC vs Taylors Services Ltd […]
As UK temperatures soared to their highest this weekend in the third heatwave of the year, we have had quite a few of our employer clients wondering: legally, how hot is too hot to work? When you’re on holiday sipping your favourite cocktail or keeping cool at the weekend in your shorts and umpteenth iced […]
The UK Government has announced important changes to whistleblowing legislation, extending legal protections to individuals who report breaches of financial, trade and transport sanctions. These reforms, coming into effect on 26 June 2025, are intended to improve enforcement by encouraging greater transparency and information-sharing across regulated sectors. Legislative update The Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons) […]
How many people who work remotely from home, use their working hours to squeeze in that extra washing load, cut up the veg for dinner, or book their gardener to come round whilst they are home to supervise? Tipping the balance Is this a win for the employer and win for the employee? Or are […]
Probationary periods have long been an effective tool to effectively manage employees, especially when assessing their long term suitability for post. With the upcoming change to unfair dismissal rights [read this for more info: must read for employers: managing day one protection from unfair dismissal — Osborne & Wise], probationary periods are going to be […]
The employment law landscape is undergoing significant transformation in 2025, with a raft of reforms recently in force or on the horizon. In a world where many jurisdictions appear to be pulling back from workers’ rights (think Trump’s approach to DEI), it is quite a contrast that here in England and Wales, there is a […]
Workplace culture and often lack of legal understanding or compliance can have a significant impact on maternal mental health. Last week marked mental health awareness week, a week which which raises awareness and promotes recognition of unique challenges faced by women before, during, and after maternity leave. Why maternal mental health matters Maternal mental health […]
In this article, Penny Morrison considers what employers need to know following the Supreme Court’s decision earlier this month and what they should be doing to ensure legal compliance while at the same time acting with compassion and consideration for all. Introduction The recent Supreme Court decision on the definition of “woman” in the Equality […]