Experts have warned that thousands more run the risk of losing their job in Aberdeen as a result of the oil crisis that has affected the prices of oil.

The government have announced that companies underpaying female employees and contributing to the gender gap will be named and shamed. The move, which has been suggested by Prime Minister, David Cameron, will aim to “end the gender pay gap in a generation”.

Expert employment lawyers have called the UK government’s zero hour contract legislation “toothless” with unions stating that the government’s laws on the matter “totally miss the point”.

A number of leading charities have condemned government austerity stating that an extra incentive on savings for all has led to more gender inequality.

Aberdeen could be struck by industrial action after North Sea Oil unions threatened to strike for the first time since the 1990s.

A deep-sea engineering firm are set to cut 410 jobs by the end of the year. The firm currently employs just under 2,000 workers in Aberdeen.

Discrimination in the most basic sense is being treated unfairly because of who you are. People in the UK are protected from discrimination by the Equality Act 2010. This means that the following entities cannot treat you unfairly because of who you are under the law:

Case One : Mr Jones works as an assistant to a Managing Director in an advertising firm. Due to the nature of his employment, he frequently has to stay late in order to finish or prepare work for the following day. In Mr Jones’ contract of employment, it states that once he has worked more than 40 hours in a week, he is entitled to be paid overtime – however, he has never been paid overtime. His employer refuses to pay Mr Jones the additional pay that he is entitled to. Mr Jones has submitted a formal grievance to his employer but still he is not being paid the money due to him. Provided that Mr Jones adheres to the time limit of three months for bringing a claim, Mr Jones can bring his case to the employment tribunal. In his claim he could ask to be paid all outstanding overtime owed to him.

Early Conciliation

Before filing a complaint about equal pay with an employment tribunal you must first inform Acas so the can carry out what is known as the early conciliation procedure. The formal procedure for notify Acas requires you to fill out a simple Early Conciliation notification form. Acas aim to contact all claimants within two working days of submitting this form. When they contact you, Acas will explain breify what the Early Conciliation procedure is and ask you some basic questions about your claim. At this point, you may decide you do not wish to continue with your claim or Acas may advise you that they are unable to help. However, most cases are passed to an Acas conciliator after the initial discussions. The conciliator will discuss with you or your representative and also the representative of your employer who you are making your claim against. The role of the conciliator is to try and talk through any issues and reach a solution to the issue without having to resort to employment tribunal proceedings.

WITH the price of oil dipping below $50 a barrel for the first time in five years these are difficult times for employers and employees alike in Scotland – especially in the oil and gas industry.

The right to make a claim for unfair dismissal is not automatic – usually you will have to have been in continuous employment for two years with the employer you are bringing the claim against.

A settlement agreement (previously known as a compromise agreement) is where an individual agrees that they will not bring an employment claim against an employer in return for an agreed settlement.

In a recent blog post, Richard Branson, Virgin Group founder, has sparked a discussion on holiday entitlement, describing Netflix’s vacation policy of leaving employees in control of when and how long they go holiday as ‘one of the simplest and smartest initiatives I have heard of in a long time’.

A new guide on managing bereavement in the workplace has been published by workplace expert Acas.

A survey conducted by retirement experts LV=, has discovered that many people choose to work after they have reached retirement age. Many retirees choose to phase their retirement, reducing the hours they work gradually to become used to lifestyle change.

A consultation has been launched this week to investigate the best way of proceeding to eradicate the problem of exclusivity clauses in zero hour contracts.

In the recent case of Prophet v Huggett [2014] EWCA Civ 1013, the Court of Appeal in England & Wales made it clear that it would not read in words to ensure the efficacy of a non-competition restrictive covenant, where the language of the provision is ‘truly ambiguous’ and ‘admits clear alternatives as to the sense the parties intended to achieve’.

A new report published independent group chaired by entrepreneur and former Scottish Government minister Jim Mather the outlines various recommendations to improve workplace relations – which are also anticipated to improve productivity leading to economic growth.

The Commons Public Accounts Committee have stated that whistleblowers are often subjected to bullying and harassment and that the treatment of employees in public services who have raised concerns about wrongdoing has been "shocking".The Government is seeking to ensure that pople feel free to speak up about wrongdoing.