The King’s Speech confirms that the UK government will introduce an Employment Rights Bill into Parliament in the next session. This should be published within 100 days. Although the Speech and supporting papers provide more...more
The Court of Appeal in England and Wales decided that an employer was entitled to dismiss and offer to re-engage employees on new terms in order to remove pay protection it had originally referred to as “permanent”. The...more
Managing an employee who has persistent short or medium term ill-health absence is difficult for an employer. Dismissing an employee whose attendance is unlikely to improve may be fair, but this will often depend on medical...more
An employee will succeed with an indirect sex discrimination claim if she can show that her employer applied a provision, criterion or practice (PCP) that put women (including the employee) at a disadvantage when compared...more
A tale in two parts - COVID-19 and health and safety dismissals There have been more employment tribunal decisions examining when a COVID-19 related dismissal will be automatically unfair for health and safety reasons. One...more
Too little, too late - employer could not cure fundamental breach - If an employer commits a repudiatory breach of contract, an employee is entitled to accept the breach by resigning. They can then claim unfair constructive...more
Narrow escape - limited waiver of privilege decision upheld In Watson v Hilary Meredith Solicitors Ltd the EAT reaffirmed the correct approach to waiver of privilege. A tribunal was entitled to find that a respondent had...more
First tribunal guidance on "serious and imminent" danger in context of COVID-19 -
In Rodgers v Leeds Laser Cutting Ltd the Employment Tribunal considered whether an employee had been unfairly dismissed for refusing to attend...more
4/26/2021
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
UK ,
Unfair Dismissal ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Workplace Safety
Split the difference - CJEU decision on fragmentation applies to service provision changes -
When a contract is retendered, services that were originally provided by a single contractor may be divided between two or more...more
One size doesn’t fit all – non-compete unreasonable and void -
In Quilter Private Client Advisers v Falconer the High Court found that a nine month non-compete covenant was in restraint of trade and void. The case is a...more
Tell me more – ICO publishes detailed subject access guidance -
The ICO has published detailed guidance for handling subject access requests. This is relevant to employers responding to subject access requests from...more
11/5/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
Data Protection ,
EU ,
Furloughs ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) ,
International Labor Laws ,
Job Retention Schemes ,
Personal Data ,
Subject Access Request (SAR) ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Withdrawal Agreement
Replacement for furlough scheme announced -
On 24 September the government announced the Job Support Scheme, which will open on 1 November. The Job Support Scheme will support wages for employees who are performing at...more
If it ain't broke – material factor still explained pay disparity after job evaluation -
Employers have a defence to an equal pay claim if they can show that a difference in pay between an employee and their comparator is...more
9/16/2020
/ Data Breach ,
Data Collection ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Gap ,
Redundancy Dismissals ,
UK ,
Wage and Hour
Turning a blind eye – one-off act not a PCP -
In Ishola v Transport for London the Court of Appeal confirmed that it was not a provision, criterion or practice to require an employee to return to work before a proper...more
2/26/2020
/ Appeals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Grievance Process ,
Gross Misconduct ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Law Violations ,
New Guidance ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Return-to-Work Agreements ,
UK ,
Unfair Dismissal
Gathering clouds – flawed investigation made dismissal unfair -
In Sunshine Hotel Ltd t/a Palm Court Hotel v Goddard the EAT agreed that failing to hold an investigatory meeting does not necessarily make a dismissal...more
1/13/2020
/ Employee Misconduct ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Pay ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Job Promotions ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
UK ,
UK Employment Appeal Tribunal ,
Unfair Dismissal ,
Workplace Investigations
Red faces – no gross misconduct when employee revealed executive's pay -
The EAT had to consider whether an employee had acted in breach of contract or committed gross misconduct when he revealed details of an executive's...more
12/16/2019
/ Couriers ,
Defense Strategies ,
Employee Definition ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Pay ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
UK ,
UK Employment Appeal Tribunal ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wrongful Termination
It's not what you know – dismissal for whistleblowing despite dismissing manager's belief -
In Royal Mail Group Ltd v Jhuti the Supreme Court has reinstated a decision that an employee was dismissed because she had blown...more
12/3/2019
/ Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Entitlements ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Holidays ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Regulations ,
Retaliation ,
Senior Managers ,
Sick Leave ,
Trade Unions ,
UK ,
UK Employment Appeal Tribunal ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
If it ain't broke – removing extended absence trigger a failure to make a reasonable adjustment -
Removing an extended sickness absence trigger point from an employee with ME/ chronic fatigue syndrome was a failure to make...more
11/18/2019
/ Breach of Duty ,
Constructive Discharge ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Diversity ,
FTSE ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Internal Investigations ,
International Labor Laws ,
Leave of Absence ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
UK ,
UK Employment Appeal Tribunal ,
Woman Board Members
Coming clean – false reason for dismissal shifted burden of proof -
In Base Childrenswear Ltd v Otshudi the Court of Appeal confirmed that giving a false reason for dismissal and persisting with it was enough to shift the...more
10/21/2019
/ Appeals ,
Aviation Industry ,
British Airways ,
Burden of Proof ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
Race Discrimination ,
Strike ,
UK ,
UK Parliament ,
Unions
Battle Royal – handling of boardroom dispute was repudiatory breach -
The High Court decision in Stobart Group Ltd v Tinkler explores the extent of a director's duties in the context of a boardroom dispute....more
5/13/2019
/ Appeals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Foreign Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
HMRC ,
Jurisdiction ,
NICS ,
UK ,
Wages
No objection – TUPE was principal reason for dismissal -
In Hare Wines Ltd v Kaur, the Court of Appeal confirmed that a TUPE transfer was the principal reason for an employee's dismissal, despite the employer's evidence...more
3/4/2019
/ Disability ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Tribunals ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
TUPE ,
UK ,
Unfair Dismissal ,
Wage and Hour
Looking back – limited appeal investigation not unfair -
It was not unfair for an employer to place limits on a disciplinary appeal investigation where the employee's representative had agreed to this, according to the EAT...more
No right to dismiss where employee entitled to disability payments -
In Awan v ICTS UK Limited the EAT confirmed that there was an implied term in the employee's contract that his employer would not dismiss him for...more
Informed choice – choosing English law relevant to jurisdiction -
In The British Council v Jeffery and Green v SIG Trading Ltd the Court of Appeal confirmed that choosing English law to govern an employment contract is a...more
11/12/2018
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Gross Negligence ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Jurisdiction ,
Payroll Periods ,
UK ,
UK Employment Appeal Tribunal ,
Wage and Hour
Weekly newsletter on employment matters.
In this weeks issue:
- Ask the question – employee not necessarily required to suggest bumping...
- I work from 9 to 5 – no injury to feelings compensation for breach of...more
3/26/2018
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Father's Rights ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Parental Leave ,
Redundancy Dismissals ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
UK ,
Unfair Dismissal ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour