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A group of 65 Hermes couriers have successfully won their legal battle to be treated as workers instead of independents contractors. This case follows on from a number of recent successful gig-economy cases, with this one seen to have the most significant...
It’s that time of year we have all been looking forward to (or have we?) The 2018 World Cup in Russia sees 32 nations taking part in 63 matches from 14 June until 15 July. As an employer you may assume you have little to worry about in...
This was considered by the Employment Tribunal in the case of Miss A de Souza E Souza v Primark Stores Ltd . The Claimant, a transgender woman, applied for the role of retail assistant with the Defendant, Primark. On the application form the Claimant...
Last year we posted an article about a successful direct sex discrimination claim over shared parental pay. This decision has now been appealed. There has been some controversy since shared parental leave (SPL) came into effect on 5 April 2015. More...
Flexible working is a way of working that suits an employee’s needs. A request could be for reduced days, staggered hours, home working, flexitime or even job sharing. There is a particular process which should be followed in order to make a formal...
So this is it, after a whole year of being on maternity leave and having celebrated my daughter’s first birthday, I have now returned to the world of work. During this past year my primary focus has been caring for my child and having quality time...
It’s that time of year again when business owners and HR professionals are busy getting to grips with impending changes in employment law. This year is no exception and there are a number of changes to be aware of. In this article, we...
Three recent cases, all determined by the European Court of Human Rights (“ECtHR”) have all held that various acts of surveillance by employers upon their staff have infringed their employees’ rights to pursuant to Article 8 (1) of the...
Introduction. Recently the High Court found Wm Morrisons Supermarket PLC (Morrisons) to be liable to its staff for the actions of a rogue employee who distributed personal data of the staff to a file sharing website. The Facts of the Case. ...
Michalak v General Medical Council [2017] UKSC 71 The recent case of Michalak involves the nature of judicial review on administrative action. The Claimant brought a claim in the Employment Tribunal against the General Medical Council (GMC), its chief...
Case : Antović and Mirković v. Montenegro ( application no. 70838/13 ) On 28 November 2017, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that video surveillance installed in University Auditoriums infringed professors’ Article 8...
Last month we saw the Employment Appeal Tribunal dismissing Uber’s appeal in Uber v Aslam and upholding the Tribunals decision that drivers working for Uber were ‘workers’ rather than self-employed and therefore had certain basic employment...
It is unlawful under immigration laws for employers to employ individuals that do not have current leave to enter or remain in the UK, or individuals who have leave but are not allowed to work in the UK. A breach of the law makes employers liable to a civil...
The government has opened up applications for Employment Tribunal fee refunds to all who may be eligible, following a pilot scheme. This comes after the defeat suffered by the government back in July 2017, where the Supreme Court upheld an appeal by Unison...
In all walks of life, there is the potential to be exposed to bullying. Take sharks, for instance, who are colloquially characterised as the “bullies of the sea.” Although bullying is unacceptable anywhere, it is especially insidious in the...
Settlement agreements, formerly known as compromise agreements, have been commonly used by employers for many years as a means of ending the employment relationship with an employee. They are binding contracts signed by the employer and employee...
Introduction The monitoring of staff use of IT systems, e.g. email and telephone, is often deemed necessary by an employer to ensure that its staff are working during working hours. However employers in particular need to be wary of the risks of...
World Mental Health Day was marked on 10 October 2017 amid growing general awareness of mental illness, its impact, and greater willingness to discuss a subject which, especially in the past, has carried a stigma. This year, the theme is mental health in...
Introduction Many contracts of employment particularly in respect of senior staff, contain clauses known as post-termination covenants or restrictive covenants which can still bind an employee even after the termination of the employment contract. ...
Whilst instructing a solicitor to represent you in a Tribunal claim can benefit your case, it is true that the cost of instructing a solicitor to represent you throughout such a claim can potentially be significant. It is common for a party to...
Hardly a week passes when equal pay is not in the news. A recent example of this is the debate over BBC top earners’ salaries, published in July 2017, which has leant momentum to calls for greater transparency on gender pay divergence, not only in the...
Where a Claimant succeeds in a discrimination claim, an Employment Tribunal has the ability to: Order payment of compensation (uncapped) Make recommendations Make a declaration as to the Claimant’s and Respondent’s rights Injury to...
The holiday season, while welcomed by most of us, can bring a number of issues for both employers balancing the needs of employees, and parents trying to juggle work and childcare commitments. Here are some useful points to consider when it comes to workers...
In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court has today ruled that Employment Tribunal fees are unlawful. The case against the government, which introduced the Employment Tribunal Fees Order in 2013, was brought by Unison who had appealed a previous ruling...
Alzheimer’s Society is Chattertons charity of the year and all employees have undergone training to become a dementia friendly firm. Dementia can affects us all in many ways, therefore it is vital that we increase our understanding of Dementia to...
A father has won a direct sex discrimination claim for failure to pay enhanced shared parental pay in circumstances where female employees were entitled to enhanced maternity pay. Background Shared Parental Leave and pay Shared parental leave allows...
It is not uncommon for employers to determine that employees and workers cannot take time off at certain times of the year. This is particularly true in certain industries (for example, industries that rely on seasonal work or where demand for a...
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has confirmed in Fulton and another v Bear Scotland that a gap of three months or more between one series of non-payments or underpayments and the next (in this case holiday pay), will break the ‘series of...
There are a number of reasons why an employer may wish to relocate an employee, several employees or even the whole office. Perhaps there have been problems between employees in a particular office, or there is more demand for the services carried out by an...
This was considered in the case of Marathon Asset Management LLP and another v Seddon and another [2017] . In this case, 2 employees worked for an asset management firm, Marathon Asset Management LLP. In the months before they left, a number of files were...
After the draft Labour party manifesto entitled "For the many not the few" was leaked to and published on the BBC website, we review the proposed far-reaching employment law reforms which Labour may implement if they were elected on the 08 June...
All employers irrespective of their size must pay workers a National Minimum Wage (NMW) with different rates applying for different categories of workers (current rates set out below). To establish whether a worker has been paid the NMW...
In the recent case of Government Legal Service v Brookes, the EAT has upheld a decision that, in requiring a candidate with Asperger’s syndrome to sit a multiple choice test as part of its recruitment process, Government Legal Service...
You issue a letter of notice to your employee by post. The question is however, does the notice of termination take effect on posting, delivery or on communication of the notice if there is no express term in the contract of employment stating when the...
There are 5 potentially fair reasons for dismissing an employee: conduct, capability, redundancy, statutory illegality or “some other substantial reason of a kind such as to justify the dismissal of an employee holding the position which the employee...
What is happening? Date: Employment/Immigration - Immigration skills charge applies to Tier 2 (general) and healthcare surcharge is added to Tier 2 (intra company transfers) visa category. April 2017 National Living Wage -...
This is always a difficult decision employers tend to face when there is an employee off sick for a long period time and shows little or no prospect of ever returning to work. What is the best decision for the employer whilst ensuring they do not open...
The Guardian newspaper has reported that food delivery Company Deliveroo has issued guidance to their Managers on how Deliveroo riders should be referred to. In what is apparently a six page document which has been seen by the Guardian newspaper,...
This was a case considered by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). The Claimant, Mr Baker, was employed as a lawyer by Peninsula Business Services Limited. He claimed he suffered from dyslexia, that this was a disability and that it affected his ability to...
From 1 April 2017, the following minimum wage increases are due to take effect:- for workers aged 25 and over the national living wage increases to £7.50 per hour (up from £7.20) for workers aged 21 to 24 the rate increases to £7.05 per...
We have just seen the European Court of Justice (ECJ) consider two separate cases involving claims of religious discrimination in the workplace. In the first case ( Achbita and anor v G4S Secure Solutions NV ) the ECJ held that a company policy which...
ACAS, the advisory, conciliation and arbitration service, has launched its updated guidance on employment status in light of the large amount of publicity (most of it negative) surrounding the gig economy in recent months. The guidance aims to help...
Hiring Most businesses will already have a set procedure for hiring new members of staff. This may include the following broad steps: Advertising Preparing a Job Description and Person Specification Reviewing CV’s Invitations to interviews ...
Following the general election in May 2015 it was announced that the Conservative government would reform the law around trade union activity and industrial action to “bring an end to disruptive and undemocratic strike action”. The Trade...
Compensation limits which Employment Tribunals can award are set to be further increased with effect from 6 April 2017. The changes apply to dismissals or other detriments, occurring on or after 6 April 2017 only. For anything which falls before this date,...
In 2015 the government announced plans to introduce an Apprenticeship Levy on employers in an attempt to expand the ‘quantity and quality’ of apprenticeships in the UK. The levy will be introduced on 6 April 2017, requiring all employers with an...
Another important decision on the issue of Employment Status; Pimlico Plumbers & Charlie Mullins v Gary Smith The Court of Appeal has handed down an important judgment in yet another case concerning employment status in the case of Pimlico...
This has been something which many employers have wondered for some time. An employee has received warnings in the past which have gone on their personnel records and eventually expired, yet can previous warnings, although expired, be relied upon when the...
Is a dismissal classed as a redundancy where employees fail to comply with a mobility clause in their contract? This was addressed by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in the case of Kellogg Brown & Root (UK) Ltd v Fitton . Following a site closure...
This was considered by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in the recent case of Taylor v Ladbrokes Betting and Gaming Ltd . The Claimant, Mr Taylor was dismissed by his employer Ladbrokes on 4 November 2013 and brought claims of unfair dismissal and...
