The male judges on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing are reportedly unhappy with Alesha Dixon’s return as judge as they feel she is using the show to further her own music career. This group of colleagues seems to be very disgruntled before the new series even begins. Fingers will be pointed as to the cause of the unrest – is it simply a concern by passionate colleagues or bullying, sex discrimination, or age discrimination because of her youth and looks? Does your business have procedures in place to tackle these issues? If not, buy all your workplace policies online through our Dox in a Box service at lilihunter.com.

Germany’s central bank the Bundesbank, has called for one of its Board members to be sacked following discriminatory comments in which he said that Jews shared “a certain gene” and Muslims would not integrate into German society. Board members state the comments broke the bank’s code of ethics and damaged its public image. The director made the comments in a book on immigration and he claims they were his personal opinions and not those of the bank. Many of the banks employees have an immigrant background and they will want to know the bank has taken this issue seriously. To get advice on all aspects of discrimination get employment law that Cliks! from Lili Hunter Consulting.

Philip Grimmer, the Madonna impersonator in this year’s Britain’s Got Talent is the second contestant to sue Simon Cowell’s production company for employment claims including disability, age and sexual orientation discrimination. He claims that the auditions fell within the scope of employment law because they were equivalent to job interviews. Do you know how to distinguish employees from other groups of workers? Ensure that you are not at risk of unforeseen claims being raised by your “consultants” claiming to be employees – get employment law that Cliks! from www.lilihunter.com

Continuing our theme this week, X Factor has been accused of digitally enhancing the sound of vocals. Auto tune is used to improve performance by correcting pitch and to disguise off-key mistakes. Do you know what to do when you get employees enhancing their skills and qualifications on their CV and you only discover this once they begin employment? For advice on recruitment and employment law that Cliks, visit www.lilihunter.com.

X-Factor came back with a bang on Saturday night but there are notable absences other than talent in some of the auditions. Cheryl Cole’s malaria and Dannii Minogue’s pregnancy will see the show bringing in a mixed bag of hastily arranged stand-ins. Does your business have effective and up to date absence and family friendly policies in place to deal with such issues? Buy these from our Dox in a Box range and sign up to our regular free newsletter to keep updated on any changes affecting your business!

Steven Slater “facebook legend” is a US flight attendant who argued with a passenger who accidentally hit him with his bag. Mr Slater used the loudspeaker to tell him off before grabbing beer from the kitchen and making his exit through the emergency slide and leaving the company! He was arrested and charged for a number of offences. If he had not resigned he would have undoubtedly been sacked. Do you know that extra precautions have to be taken when there are criminal aspects to disciplinary situations? For advice on difficult disciplinaries, get employment law that CLIKs from Lili Hunter Consulting Limited.

A survey by Abbey Legal Protection found that 36% of employees have sent friend requests to CEO’s and senior managers on Facebook. This has led to personal information and photographs being accessible to staff. 21% also claimed that such information has been used in a workplace situation. Buy your electronic communications policy from Dox in a Box to ensure that your employees know what is and isn’t acceptable on the internet both in the workplace and at home.

Not only are petrol prices set to rise but the P&J today reveals that “UK businesses are wasting millions of gallons of petrol because employees do not drive the company vehicles efficiently”. A study revealed that “poor driving technique, inaccurate fuel gauges and bad record-keeping” were contributing factors. Employers should ensure that all employees know what is expected of them in relation to their company car to ensure the system is not abused. Click here to purchase our Company car policy from Dox in a Box.

Gagging clauses are often written into an employee’s contract to stop them discussing their salaries and bonuses- senior roles in particular! The changes under Equality Act 2010 intend to lift this secrecy as these clauses are also used to mask discriminatory pay differentials. The Equality and Human Rights Commission found men get five times more bonuses than women. Will your pay structure stand up to scrutiny? For employment law that CLIKs visit us at www.lilihunter.com