A to Z of Employment - Entries for G
Garden Leave
Garden leave is a term used to describe a situation whereby an employee who has resigned from their employment or who has been dismissed by the employer is not required to work their notice and instead remains at home during the period of notice. They are paid as normal and their employment does not come to an end until the notice period has expired. Therefore they are not free to undertake work for a different or new employer during the notice period. In most cases an employer must have the contractual right to enforce a garden leave clause. The use of garden leave clauses is more common for employees who, because of their role or their status may have access to confidential information, such as trade secrets or customer details, and is often used by their employer as a way to protect that information during the employee’s notice period.
Gender Reassignment
This is the personal, social and medical process by which a person's gender identity is changed.
Individuals have the right not to be discriminated against because they are proposing to undergo, are undergoing or have undergone gender reassignment. Protection begins from the date when the individual made it known to a medical practitioner that they intended to undergo gender reassignment.
http://www.equalityni.org/sections/default.asp?secid=8
Genuine Occupational Qualifications (GOQ)
In very limited circumstances it may be lawful for an employer to discriminate against individuals on the grounds of their race, sex, sexual orientation, age etc, in respect of certain jobs, where the requirement to do so is necessary to fulfil the requirements of the role. For example, an employer may recruit specifically for a member of one sex for a role in a single sex establishment, or for a member of a particular race/nationality for a modelling or acting role.
Grievances
Grievances are concerns, problems or complaints that employees raise with their employers. If an employee wishes to pursue a claim to the Industrial Tribunal arising out of a grievance they have with their employer, they must first raise the complaint in writing with their employer under the statutory grievance procedure.
The statutory procedure has three steps:
- step one: the employee informs the employer of the grievance in writing
- step two: the employer and the employee meet to discuss the grievance, and
- step three: hold an appeal, if requested
Tribunals may adjust any award of compensation by between 10 and 50 per cent for failure by either party to follow relevant steps of the statutory procedure.
LRA Code of Practice – Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures
Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures- Sample Letters and Flowcharts
Information note No. 1 - Employee grievances
Self help guide - Preparing a grievance procedure
Gross Misconduct
An act of misconduct which permits an employer to dismiss an employee on the first occurrence of the offence is usually viewed as Gross Misconduct. Although the definition of gross misconduct is likely to vary from company to company, in general it includes offences such as theft, physical violence, very serious breaches of health and safety rules, etc.
LRA Code of Practice – Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures
Guarantee Payments
This is a statutory payment made to employees with one month's service with their employer, who are not provided with work throughout a day during which they would normally be required to work under their contracts of employment.
Payment is limited to a maximum of five days in any period of three months but the entitlement cannot exceed the number of days a week the employee is contracted to work in a normal week. Guaranteed pay is currently £21.20 a day (from 8th March 2010) and this figure is renewed annually.
See Lay-Off & Short-Time Working
LRA Information note -No.5 Temporary lay-off and short-time working
DEL ER Booklet 14 - Guarantee Payments
