Although it does not set any new rules, a recent Court of Appeal("CA") decision ( Jackson v Liverpool City Council) is of interest in two ways: first,  the CA sets out and confirms the basic summary of the law which is that an...

In a speech to business leaders on Thursday 10 November setting out measures intended to promote economic growth, the Prime Minister has indicated that the Government will consult on the introduction of ‘protected conversations’. The proposal...

Disenchanted employees have a tendency to express their feelings outside the workplace. Much of the time this may be confined to the home and possibly the likes of the local pub. It may be an irritant for employers but ordinarily it travels...

While cost is not decisive in deciding whether an adjustment to assist a disabled person is reasonable, this does not mean that it is not relevant. The Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) came to this conclusion in a recent...

The Agency Worker Regulations 2010 ("AWR") finally came into force on 1 October 2011. The AWRs are legislation designed to protect temporary agency workers. They will get some rights (entitlement to access the hirer's facilities and to...

Dealing with redundancies can be unhappy and difficult for both employers and employees. On top of emotional aspects there may be large redundancy payments to handle and, if the employer gets things wrong, even more compensation for an unfair dismissal...

The Government has announced that the qualifying period for an employee to benefit from protection against unfair dismissal is to increase to two years.   Two years had been the qualifying period during most of the last Tory government but was reduced...

Every employee costs his employer over and above salary and immediately related costs. This is because of the statutory rights that the employee acquires (such as the right not to be unfairly dismissed) and because of the employer’s   National...

An employee was not ‘self-dismissed’  when he failed to reply to a letter from his employer which stated he would be taken to have resigned unless he contacted the employer. It is not uncommon for an employer to write to an employee in...

The admissibility in Tribunal cases of clandestine recordings can give rise to problems in the employment field. In a 2007 case the Employment Appeal Tribunal concluded that it is not an infringement of human rights to allow such recordings of internal...

  In Eversheds Legal Services Ltd v De Belin the Employment Appeal Tribunal has confirmed that favouring a woman on maternity leave in a redundancy scoring was sex discrimination against a man in the same selection pool. The obligation to protect...

  The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has recently ruled that Realpubs Limited’s re-positioning of “The Coleherne”, claimed to be London's first gay pub, as a gastropub for a wider clientele was undertaken in a way discriminatory to...

  In Tullet Prebon Plc(TP) v BGC Broker LP(BP) the fast-moving and cut-throat world of the financial services industry was exposed to the light of day or, to be more precise, the sharp eyes of the Court of Appeal in February. It was held that an...

  In a decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (Pinewood Repro Ltd v Page) towards the end of 2010 a helpful and timely  reminder was given to employers using subjective criteria in redundancy situations.   In anticipation of a...

    In Orr v Milton Keynes Council the Court of Appeal has held that, in an unfair dismissal claim, an employer cannot be held to know everything known to its employees.  When assessing whether a dismissal is fair under  it is the...

In Bowater v NW London Hospitals NHS Trust the Court of Appeal (“CA”), no less, reminds all involved in unfair dismissal cases that tribunals must not substitute their own view of what they would have done if faced with the same facts as the...

Working time or, in the case of holiday entitlement, non-working time is a part of employment law where employers can slip up.  The Working Time Regulations 1998 (‘the WTR’) impose limits on working hours with some special...

  The Government is looking at a number of options to make changes to Employment Laws to ease the constraints that business leaders say the laws impose. The most prominent of these possible changes is that companies may be given the ability to sack...

In modern times and  until age discrimination law came into force, those over retirement age of, usually,  65 had no right to complain of unfair dismissal if their employment was ended after age 65 whatever the reason given. When the Age...

    The usual annual Government review of compensation rates has now taken place. As from 1 st February 2011 these changes will be effective the limit on the amount of a week's pay for the purposes of calculating, among other things,...

A Special Constabulary Trainer who was dismissed partly because of the way he promoted his spiritual beliefs at work has failed in his appeal against a decision that he was not subjected to discrimination on the ground of religion or belief. The...

 In the recent case of Semple Fraser LLP v Daly the Employment Appeal Tribunal helpfully reminds employers and employees of some important    practical points in redundancy situations about the limits on how far a Tribunal...

  An Employment Tribunal in Edinburgh has recently dealt with two difficult points about holiday pay entitlement when an employee has been off sick. In Souter v RCN Mrs Souter had been an Administrative Assistant at the Royal College of...

When selecting the pool from which to select staff for redundancy similarity or interchangeability of roles is only a starting point and not decisive. In Fulcrum Pharma v. Bonassera the Employment Appeal Tribunal have again decided that the overall...

Compromise Agreements (“CAs”) have been with us nearly fifteen years and most people are now familiar with the idea that they provide a mechanism by which employers and employees can settle claims in relation to an employee’s statutory...