Moving into July, HR Most Influential 2022 honoured the best and brightest of the HR community; a major Supreme Court case changed how employers calculated holiday pay; retailer Next found itself in hot water; and fit notes got a much needed upgrade.
HR Most Influential 2022: top practitioners and thinkers
HR magazine celebrated the very best in HR, unveiling its 2022 HR Most Influential (HRMI) rankings aboard the HMS Belfast on 9 July.
Perry Timms, founder and chief energy officer of consultancy PTHR, took top spot on the list of HR Most Influential Thinkers for 2022 and Sharon Benson, interim transformation and people director at Edison Young People, was ranked the number one Practitioner for 2022.
HR Most Influential Hall of Fame inductees included Skanska UK's executive vice president and chief HR officer Harvey Francis, Dole's people and organisational development director David Frost, APS Intelligence founder John Amaechi, HR Rewired managing director Shereen Daniels and Dorchester Collection chief culture and operations executive Eugenio Pirri.
Harpur Trust vs Brazel rule could impact holiday pay practices
The UK Supreme Court was forced to step in to mediate a holiday pay debate between independent school operator Harpur Trust, and part-time music teacher Lesley Brazel.
The Court ruled in favour of Brazel, who was being paid holiday pay based on time she worked rather than what she was actually entitled to as an employee of the school.
Harpur Trust switched to paying her using the percentage method, a calculation of average hours worked at the end of term and paid her 12.07% of that figure as holiday pay. They had previously used the calendar method, multiplying her average weekly pay by 5.6 (the number of weeks paid annual leave Brazel was entitled to).
Fit note update modernises sick leave
The government introduced new laws which made it so medical professionals other than GPs could issue fit notes to sick employees unable to work.
The new legislation opened up the responsibility to nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists and physiotherapists, giving more flexibility to workers.
Next's underpayment of staff risks tribunal action
Retailer Next was forced to apologise to staff members after a payroll error meant some employees were underpaid for more than five months.
The error saw staff miss out on up to £200 a month, while pension contributions were deducted from payslips but not deposited into employee pension funds.
Best of HR magazine from July 2022:
Uber ruling prompts new government guidance on workers' rights
