DISCIPLINARIES AND GRIEVANCES Following a record rise of tribunal claims last year, the government has announced new plans for resolving workplace disputes.
COST OF DISCRIMINATION Up until recently, tribunals have said that consideration of costs alone cannot justify discrimination. We look at a case which says there is no reason why they can’t constitute justification.
CANDYMAN Although the terms of a contract may seem crystal clear at the time of signing it, we look at a case in which the court said the claimant was not entitled to a contractual bonus because he had to be “employed” by the company to receive it.
IN BRIEF The government has provided more information about its plans for a new system of flexible parental leave.
Click on the link to read more – Employment Law Update February 2011
TIME OFF FOR EMPLOYEES We look at the main obligations on employers to give employees time off to carry out public duties and attend court.
SCORING SYSTEM Employers have to consult with employees before making them redundant. We look at a case in which the appeal tribunal said that consultation must include adequate information which the employee can use to respond to and argue their case against dismissal, as well as challenge any points under a scoring system.
LETTER BY LETTER The law says that the effective date of termination when a contract is terminated without notice is the “date on which the termination takes effect”. The Supreme Court has said that this was when the employee actually read the letter of dismissal and not the date when it arrived at her home.
IN BRIEF The Government recently set out a series of principles that it intends to use when introducing European measures into UK law.
Click on the link to read more – Employment Law Update January 2011
OFFICE ROMANCES We provide a brief overview of what employers can do to pre-empt and safeguard themselves against claims when office romances go wrong.
ADVERSE REFERENCE References that employers provide must be accurate and truthful. We look at what happened when an employer provided an adverse reference prompting the prospective employer to withdraw the offer.
CHARGE SHEET Employees should only be disciplined for misconduct with which they have actually been charged. We look at a case in which the appeal tribunal said that as the company had only charged the employee with loss, it could not dismiss her for theft.
IN BRIEF A recent report by the Learning and Skills Network says that UK employers do not invest enough in skills training.
Click on the link to read more – Employment Law Update December 2010
DEDUCTIONS FROM WAGES We provide a brief overview of the law setting out when employers can make deduction from wages.
PROOF OF AGE In discrimination claims, the burden of proof can pass from the claimant to the appellant in certain circumstances, requiring them to prove they did not discriminate. We look at a case that said the use of the word “younger” in a recruitment document was enough to reverse the burden of proof.
EXCEPTION TO THE RULE When conducting disciplinary proceedings, employers are required to apply certain “principles” of fairness to avoid a finding of unfair dismissal. We look at the circumstances in which a dismissal could still be fair even if the principles had not been applied.
IN BRIEF There are two recent developments in employment law that employers should know about: extended flexible working provisions and extended maternity rights provisions.
Click on the link to read more – Employment Law Update November 2010
AGE DISCRIMINATION ROUND-UP We provide a brief overview of recent case law developments because of age discrimination and flag up some of the changes being introduced by the Equality Act 2010.
TERM BY TERM Under equal pay law, a “term” of a contract must have “sufficient content” so that it can be compared with a similar provision in another contract. We look at an appeal tribunal decision which said that tribunals must compare each term separately.
SALARY SACRIFICE Some companies offer employees “salary sacrifice” schemes, the value of which is then deducted from their salary. We look at a case which said that companies must pay VAT on retail vouchers offered to employees.
IN BRIEF Many of the provisions in the Equality Act 2010, which updates and brings together nine separate pieces of discrimination legislation into one single Act, came into force on 1 October.
Click on the link to read more – Employment Law Update October 2010
FORTHCOMING LEGISLATION In general, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills introduces legislative changes twice a year, April and October. We provide an overview of the main changes effective for the next six months from October 2010.
PERCEPTION OF DISABILITY Disability discrimination law covers claimants who associate with someone who has a disability. We look at a court decision which said that the legislation did not cover someone with a “perceived disability”.
IT’S A PRIVILEGE Courts can refuse a request for disclosure of documents by claimants in certain circumstances. We look at a case which said that even if the advice was given by non-lawyers it would still be covered by litigation privilege if given for the dominant purpose of litigation.
IN BRIEF The government has introduced a “one-in, one-out” system with regard to regulations affecting businesses and third sector organisations.
Click on the link to read more – Employment Law Update September 2010
UPDATE ON THE EQUALITY ACT We provide a brief overview of the main changes to discrimination law following the government’s announcement that the Equality Act will be implemented in October this year.
CLOAK OF PREJUDICE When negotiations are conducted “without prejudice” nothing mentioned can be subsequently used in evidence. We look at a case that said the only exception to the rule was when it might “act as a cloak” for perjury, blackmail or some other “unambiguous impropriety”.
FULL TIME HOLIDAY RIGHTS The law says that part timers and fixed-term workers cannot be treated less favourably than full time or permanent employees. We look at a case in which the European court said that member states cannot rely on a law which reduced the holiday entitlement of a part-timer that had been accrued (but not taken) when they were working full time.
NEWS IN BRIEF The Government has announced that the default retirement age will be consigned to the history books in October 2011.
Click on the link to read more – Employment Law Update August 2010
