There has recently been a further case on long-term sickness and a worker’s right to accrue untaken annual holiday leave ( Fraser v Southwest London St George’s Mental Health Trust ). Mrs Fraser was on long-term sick leave after she injured her...
We know that where either an employer or employee uses unambiguous words of dismissal or resignation, they are deemed to have dismissed or resigned unless "special circumstances" apply, such as words said in the heat of an argument. In CF Capital...
The complex issue of employment status has been considered again, this time in Johnson-Caswell v MJB (Partnership) Ltd. The issue was whether the training and supervision of a worker necessary to comply with FSA regulations results in a degree of control...
Dunn v Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management Mrs Dunn raised grievances about changes to contractual sick pay provisions in her contract. Her grievances were rejected and during the appeal process, the company’s Chief Executive made...
Virgin have just been found to have unfairly dismissed four former employees after they were sacked for gross misconduct on the grounds that they allegedly distributed links to a video clip claiming to show a Taliban fighter having sex with a donkey. One of...
If an employer sets out the wrong reason for dismissal on a Tribunal Response Form (known as an ET3), can the tribunal overlook this and make up its own mind about what the reason for dismissal may be? In Screene v Seatwave, the reason for the summary...
Will pre-trial publicity affect the likelihood of an award of costs being made against a claimant in the EAT? Yes, according to Iteshi v OFWAT. The Claimant had sent a letter to his MP, copied to the EAT, in which he made unsubstantiated allegations of...
In Cordell v Foreign Commonwealth Office a deaf employee was supported by a team of lip speakers in her role in Warsaw. An offer of another role in Kazakhstan was withdrawn after an assessment of the costs of providing a similar team there. Not only...
First Conviction Under the Bribery Act The Bribery Act 2010 came into force on 1 July 2011. Under Section 2 of the Act, it is an offence for a person to request, agree to receive or accept a financial or other advantage intending that, in...
Clear Edge v Elliot Springboard injunctions have traditionally been used as a way of stopping former employees using information they’ve obtained improperly. A company might apply to the courts for this special sort of injunction when it looks...
The complex issue of employment status has been considered again, this time in Johnson-Caswell v MJB (Partnership) Ltd. The issue was whether the training and supervision of a worker necessary to comply with FSA regulations results in a degree of control...
An important decision for all employers of workers who don’t follow a standard working pattern. The employees worked on offshore oil and gas installations, spending two weeks offshore and then two weeks onshore. Each period of time onshore was known...
The proposed changes in 2012 are.. 31 January - closure date for calls for evidence on the effectiveness of TUPE and the scope of the collective redundancy rules - may result in a formal consultation later in the year 1 February - ...
When a supplier to a marquee company was not paid for goods it had supplied, the directors told the supplier that the company was waiting for an insurance claim to be settled, after which payments would be made as usual. In reality, there was no insurance...
An employment perspective of the Costa Concordia disaster (and what to learn from it). Most people will be familiar with the terrible events recently occurred aboard the Costa Concordia and the fact that it is still ongoing. As part of this some are...
Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (now superseded by the Equality Act 2010 ), when deciding whether or not an employer took sufficient steps to comply with its duty to make reasonable adjustments to remove a disadvantage faced by a disabled...
In Williamson & Soden Solicitors v Briars , the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) considered the employment status of a solicitor who was described as a partner of the firm and whose remuneration was by way of a ‘guaranteed profit share’...
There are generally strict time limits that apply when presenting a claim for unfair dismissal to the Employment Tribunal (ET). Normally, a claim must be lodged before the end of a three-month period beginning with the effective date of termination (EDT)....
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has issued for consultation proposals for introducing fees for those wishing to lodge a claim with an Employment Tribunal (ET) or an appeal with the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). Currently, the system is free to use and in...
In July, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) announced that it had applied to intervene in four cases due to be heard by the European Court of Human Rights, all of which were brought by Christian employees who claimed to be victims of religious...
Every year the firm's Christmas party presents employees with the chance to relax and enjoy the holiday season. However, it is easy to forget that an employer owes its employees certain obligations, even outside work, when the employer has organised the...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published provisional fatal injury statistics for the year April 2010 to March 2011 . These show that the number of workers killed in Britain was 171, compared with an all time low of 147 deaths in the previous...
Following its Resolving Workplace Disputes consultation and the Red Tape Challenge review of employment law, the Government has announced its proposals for reform. The aim is to replace overly burdensome regulation whilst safeguarding workers’ rights,...
Under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (AWR), which came into force on 1 October 2011, agency workers are entitled to have the same basic terms and conditions of employment as if they had been employed directly by the hirer once they have completed a...
Two companies have been fined a total of £450,000 and ordered to pay costs after health and safety failures led to a maintenance worker falling to his death. Christopher Booker, 49, was working at Aberthaw Power Station when the accident happened in...
The Supreme Court has handed down its decision in a case concerning the employment status of 20 valeters who provided car-cleaning services to motor retailers and auctioneers ( Autoclenz Ltd. v Belcher and others ). The valeters had written contracts with...
As reported previously, the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR) as they currently stand are not in accord with recent decisions of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on the interpretation of the Working Time Directive with regard to the interaction of...
Employers are reminded that new National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates came into force on 1 October 2011. The revised rates are as follows: The adult hourly rate of the NMW has increased from £5.93 to £6.08; The development rate (which...
Earlier this year, the Government published a consultation document entitled ‘Resolving Workplace Disputes’. This sought views on various measures aimed at increasing employers’ confidence to take on more workers, encouraging the early...
The Government is calling on businesses to have their say in the latest phase of its Employment Law Review. From today until 19 October, the Government's ‘Red Tape Challenge’ is focusing on more than 160 different employment-related...
An employee wishing to bring a claim of unfair dismissal must do so before the end of the three-month period commencing with the effective date of termination (EDT) of their employment. Where a period of notice is given, the EDT is the date on which this...
Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) are becoming increasingly common. For example, all of the ‘Big Four’ accounting firms have been LLPs for several years now. Recently, the acrimonious bust-up of an LLP led to one of the ex-members suing the...
Following several suspicious deaths at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, Rebecca Leighton, a nurse working at the hospital, was accused of tampering with medical products, arrested and charged. She was consequently banned from working as a nurse by the...
Whilst the Internet, tweeting, blogging and the like have revolutionised the way we communicate with one another, some estimates report that misuse of social networking tools by employees at work costs the British economy billions of pounds a year and...
Businesses are reminded that new reporting arrangements for workplace health and safety incidents commenced today (Monday 12 September). Only fatal and major injuries and incidents should now be reported by phone to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)....
A recent case ( Gosden v Lifeline Project Ltd. ) demonstrates that it is important for employers to have in place an Internet usage policy and to ensure employees are aware that disciplinary action may be taken over any conduct capable of harming the...
The Government has accepted all the recommendations made in the recent review of health and safety regulation, ‘Common Sense, Common Safety’, and announced a package of measures designed to support its growth agenda and to ease the regulatory...
The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) has issued guidance for employers and employees on coping with the effects of the riots which have recently erupted in London and in other major cities across the UK. The focus of the advice is on...
The Government has announced that as part of its ongoing review of employment law, aimed at eliminating unnecessary ‘red tape’, it will consider in detail the case for reforming: Compensation for Discrimination Whilst there need to be remedies...
If an employee is dismissed following an unfair redundancy selection process, the level of any compensatory award can be reduced if the employer can show that the employee would have been dismissed even if the correct procedures had been followed. This is...
Whilst the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) operate to protect the employment law rights of employees when there is a relevant transfer of a business or part of a business, Regulation 8(7) provides that where...
A recent case in the Court of Appeal ( Tilson v Alstom Transport ) dealt with the application of the ‘necessity’ test for implying a contract of employment between an agency worker and the end-user business where the worker is fully integrated...
A manufacturing company based in Wigan has been fined £12,500 and ordered to pay costs of £1,703 after a worker lost part of his index finger whilst operating a drilling machine. The 46-year-old employee was drilling holes through an iron bar...
The Government’s review of the operation of health and safety legislation in the UK, 'Common Sense – Common Safety', recommended that the risk assessment procedures for low hazard workplaces, such as many offices and shops, should be simplified...
The scheme whereby the names of employers who breach National Minimum Wage (NMW) legislation are published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) came into effect on 1 January 2011. The aims of the scheme are to deter employers who would...
A committed Spiritualist has failed in his attempt to persuade the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) that his dismissal from the post of Special Constabulary Trainer was unlawful discrimination under the Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 ( ...
As part of its comprehensive review of employment legislation, the Government has published a consultation document, ‘Resolving Workplace Disputes’. This seeks views on measures designed to improve the Employment Tribunal (ET) system and to...
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has published guidance for employers and those in the recruitment sector on the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (AWR), which come into force on 1 October 2011. The AWR will give agency workers the right...
Employers are reminded that the Employment Equality (Repeal of Retirement Age Provisions) Regulations 2011 came into force on 6 April 2011. This means that the last date on which an employer can lawfully notify an employee of a retirement dismissal using...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published for consultation a proposed amendment to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR). This follows a recommendation in the recent Government-commissioned...
A recent decision of the Employment Tribunal (ET) illustrates that you should think carefully before pressing the email ‘send’ button on what you regard as a private communication made out of working hours. If the email contains material that...
