Glasgow Employment Law Blog

Figures from the Office of National Statistics have shown that employment in Scotland reached a record level between September and November

The latest data regarding employment in Scotland showed that there had been a substantial rise in the number of people in some sort of employment with 21,000 more Scots in work, compared with the previous quarter, bringing the total to 2,631,000.

Out of the four nations in the UK, Scotland has the highest employment rate with the employment rate in Scotland being 0.3% higher than the national average of 74.6%. Indeed, unemployment in the same period fell by 11,000, a rate of 0.7%.

Scotland's Fair Work Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: "I am very pleased to note this month's figures, which reinforce the positive longer-term trends in Scotland's labour market.

"Employment has continued to rise and unemployment to fall - with more Scots in work than ever before. Youth employment figures continue to be strong, outperforming the UK statistics.

"However, we are not complacent and we recognise that a number of significant challenges remain beneath these encouraging headline figures."

Former employees at clothes store USC after 50 members of staff were given less than 15 minutes notice about losing their job.

Mike Ashley has been criticised for using "disgraceful" and "unlawful" employment practices have all secured a protected redundancy from the firm, with the figure expected to be in the thousands for the vast majority. The firm now lies in the hands of administrators Duff and Phelps.

In total, 88 members of staff lost their job at the USC warehouse in Ayrshire which led to severe criticism of the USC’s parent company Sports Direct.

Hiring intentions in the United Kingdom (UK) as a whole, are at their highest level since the recession, whilst Scotland's employment outlook is at a seven year high. Therefore, employers wishing to add to their workforce, must ensure that contracts of employment are properly drafted.

From 30th June the right to request flexible working will extend to all employees who have been working continuously for 26 weeks.

Flexible working covers types of employment contract as well as places of work, enabling employees and employers to vary traditional working patterns. Examples of typical flexible working arrangements include job sharing, working from home and changing the hours or times of work.

Under the new employment rules, the right to request flexible working will be extended and the complex statutory procedure for dealing with requests replaced:

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published data estimating the number of people on zero-hours contracts to be around 1.4 million.

Following a survey of 5,000 employers, the results show that in January to February 2014 there were approximately 1.4 million employee contracts that didn't guarantee a minimum number of hours or pay. These zero-hours contracts (employment contracts in which an employer does not guarantee the individual any work and the individual is not obliged to accept any work offered) are currently being closely scrutinised because they do not safeguard workers.

The data shows that:

The Government’s consultation on zero hours contracts has now closed, having received more than 30,000 responses.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has announced plans for an additional regular estimate of the number of ‘zero-hours’ employment contracts in the UK workforce.