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....
In Barclays Bank v Various Claimants, the Court of Appeal has upheld a High Court’s decision that the bank was vicariously liable for the deliberate criminal assaults of a contractor on its employees. The case concerned historical sexual assaults of a doctor (who was an independent contractor of the bank) on female bank employees when conducting medical examinations on behalf of the bank. ...
Technology’s impact in the workplace is unquestionable- the increased use of remote working, mobile devices and new technologies in the workplace all designed to improve employee and company performance is clear for all to see. However, the debate continues on whether this impact is positive or negative on employees’ wellbeing. ...
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has recently found that a belief held by only one person, cannot give rise to an indirect discrimination claim on the ground of philosophical belief. The claimant worked for Mulberry as a Market Support Assistant: a role which gave her access to some of Mulberry’s designs ahead of their launch to market. ...
In the recent case of Patel v Folkstone Nursing Home Ltd, the Court of Appeal held that an employee had not been dismissed by his employer as his internal appeal against dismissal had been successful; thereby effectively erasing the earlier dismissal. The claimant had been dismissed for gross misconduct for falsifying records and sleeping whilst on duty. ...
Uber had its brakes slammed on last September after Transport for London (TFL) revoked its five-year licence for failure to report crime and to properly background check its drivers....
In Flowers v East of England Ambulance Trust, The Employment Appeal Tribunal has confirmed that voluntary overtime should be included when calculating holiday pay, if it is paid over a sufficient period of time. The ambulance crew members in this case did both mandatory but non-guaranteed overtime (shift over-run) and voluntary overtime, both of which were irregular. However, the voluntary overtime was not included in their holiday pay calculations. ...
In Ali v Torrosian and others (t/a Bedford Hill Family Practice) the EAT confirmed that when determining a claim for unfavourable treatment arising in consequence of a disability, Tribunals must consider whether the employer’s pursued legitimate aim could be achieved by less discriminatory means. Discrimination arising from disability (“unfavourable treatment”) was a new ground of claim created under the Equality Act 2010. ...
As we have previously blogged, if an employee fails to produce evidence of his right to work in the UK, it will not necessarily be fair for an employer to dismiss on the basis that it would be illegal to continue to employ the employee. However, dismissal in these circumstances can still be fair if the employer has a reasonable and genuinely held belief that it would be illegal to continue to employ them and has followed a fair process....
If an employee is dismissed for gross misconduct just short of 2 years service, s/he cannot add on statutory minimum notice so as to qualify to bring an unfair dismissal claim, found the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in Lancaster & Duke Limited v Wileman....
In a recent ruling by the Employment Tribunal, Hermes couriers have been deemed to be workers. This is the latest in a long line of decisions about the gig economy, including Pimlico Plumbers, Uber, Citysprint and Deliveroo, in which the general trend has been that those working in the gig economy have been found to have greater rights than the company may have envisaged....
In Kilraine v London Borough of Wandsworth the Court of Appeal has confirmed that to be protected under whistleblower legislation, disclosures need to be more than mere allegations and have sufficient factual content and specificity of a relevant failure set out in the Employment Rights Act 1996. ...
It is automatically unfair to dismiss an employee for taking part in trade union activities at an appropriate time. It is also unlawful to subject an employee to a detriment on this basis. For a union official, union activities include seeking to present a case on behalf of his/her members....
It is common for parties to a tribunal claim to agree, at an early stage, the list of the issues that they want a tribunal to determine. In the recent case of Scicluna v Zippy Stitch the Court of Appeal has suggested that tribunals will usually be confined to these issues. ...
As huge numbers of employees face displacement by technology over the coming decade, nearly half all jobs in manufacturing according to some, what is the HR agenda to mitigate the human cost of this technological revolution?...
Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) and Blockchain are becoming more prominent, with ever-increasing uses. But how could such developments impact HR?...
The recent EAT decision of Quintiles Commercial v Barongo held that even in the absence of any prior warnings, a dismissal for misconduct is not necessarily unfair where the conduct is labelled ‘serious misconduct’ rather than ‘gross misconduct’. The Tribunals need to consider the circumstances as a whole when assessing the decision to dismiss....