The Ministry of Justice has published tribunal statistics for April – June 2018. Readers will be aware that tribunal caseloads have increased steadily since the abolition of tribunal fees in July 2017. That trend continues in the latest report. ...
In a judgment published this week in the case of Mutombo-Mpania v Angard Staffing Solutions, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) upheld a decision that - an employee who suffered from essential hypertension but had advised his employer that he had no disability was not, on the evidence he provided, a disabled person; and the employer could not reasonably have been expected to know that he was disabled. ...
It appears that Morrisons is the latest of the ‘Big Four’ supermarkets (so called due to their dominance of the market share) to face a string of Equal Pay claims. Whilst Tesco still holds the lion’s share, controlling 27.4% of the available market, Morrisons’ not so insignificant 10.2% keeps it firmly rooted as one of the most influential chains in the UK. The claimants’ representatives are well versed in this matter as they are already overseeing legal action on behalf of 30,000 employees at ASDA, Sainsbury’s and Tesco. ...
In a recent EAT case, the claimant had decided to move from one department to another, both within the employer’s business. She had received a conditional job offer from the new department and wrote to her employer stating ‘please accept one month’s notice from the above date’. Her conditional offer was later withdrawn and she asked to retract, what she called, her notice of resignation. The employer refused stating that she had resigned....
Almost every job application in the modern world will ask for a reference to accompany an application. It is an important tool to establish whether a candidate is suitable for the role they are applying for. ...
In North East London NHS Foundation Trust v Zhou, the EAT has decided that it may not necessarily be unreasonable conduct for solicitors to have filed an incomplete claim form....
In a recent High Court decision, the Court reaffirmed some important considerations when dealing with alleged breaches of contract by an employer. ...
Augmented reality (“AR”) is becoming more and more prominent. Put simply, AR is technology that superimposes a computer-generated image onto a user’s view of the real world....
A new YouGov survey of over 1800 people in the UK has found that only 6% are working the traditional working hours of 9am-5pm. 58% of those surveyed said they would like to start work earlier than 9am if it meant they could go home earlier....
Victimisation occurs when someone is subjected to a detriment because they have done (or it is believed they have or may do) a protected act. However, if the individual gives false information or makes a false allegation, their actions cannot amount to a protected act if these were also done in bad faith. If the information or allegation turns out to be false but was made in good faith it will still be protected. ...
As we blogged in June, individuals on zero hours contracts can bring claims for less favourable treatment of part-time workers by comparing to compare themselves to full-time workers even though they have different kinds of contracts. More recently, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) Judgment in Rice Shack Ltd v Obi was published....
In Talon Engineering Ltd v Smith, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (the ‘EAT’) held that an employer’s refusal to postpone a disciplinary hearing for two weeks to enable the Claimant’s union official to accompany her rendered the subsequent dismissal unfair. In this case, the Claimant faced disciplinary action for sending unprofessional emails....
In this recent case, the management of a school in Spain was sub-contracted out by the local authority. In the midst of a dispute the contractor dismissed all of the school’s staff on 27 March 2013. ...
As a general rule, a lawyer’s advice to their client is legally privileged. However, there is an exception to this, known as the iniquity exception, which applies when advice is given for the purpose of furthering a criminal or fraudulent design. ...
Many employers will be familiar with the difficulties which arise when an employee alleges numerous legal breaches, citing large numbers of incidents.In the case of Tarn v Hughes & Ors, a GP claimed pregnancy and maternity discrimination, alleging 46 legal breaches of three different kinds. The tribunal was asked to decide 180 issues....
The Court of Appeal held in Office Equipment Systems v Hughes that even where a party is debarred from contesting liability at a hearing, they should normally be permitted to contest remedy....
The Supreme Court recently held that employers sued on the basis of vicarious liability for acts of their employees do not owe those employees a duty to defend the proceedings in a manner that protects the employees’ own economic or reputational interests. In James-Bowen & Ors v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, a terrorist suspect alleged that he had been seriously assaulted in the course of his arrest and brought a personal injury claim against the Police Commissioner for vicariously liability for the police officers’ actions....
In Haydar v Pennine Acute NHS Trust, the Claimant had brought claims against his employer which included unfair dismissal and discrimination. His claim for discrimination was dismissed and, although, the unfair dismissal claim was upheld a finding of contributory fault was made. The claimant alleged that he sent an appeal against this judgment to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) prior to the relevant deadline, however, there was no record of this being received by the EAT. ...
Before a strike can be lawful, unions have to hold a secret postal ballot of the union members who could take part. Earlier this year, the government offered civil servants a pay increase of 1%....
Following a consultation progress, the government has decided that specific legal protection against caste-based discrimination is not required. It says that it has not been able to identify a legally workable definition of caste and that it would be difficult to differentiate between caste and social class....