In a much welcomed decision for employers, the European Court of Justice in the Woolworths/Ethel Austin case has followed the decision of the Advocate General which we reported on 6 February 2015 (Advocate General's opinion in Woolworths' case: employers now optimistic that consultation decision will be overruled)....
In a recent employment tribunal case, the claimants were represented by UNISON appointed solicitors in a claim against three respondents for alleged failure to consult under TUPE. When their claim form was submitted, the claimants' solicitor paid the £1,000 issue fee. The claimants each entered into a loan agreement with UNISON to advance a sum to them equal to the tribunal fees. This was repayable in the event that their claim, or part of it, succeeded in the tribunal....
It may not get much of a mention in the general election debates concerning Europe or employment matters but this month the European Commission launched a public consultation with the workers and employers representatives at EU level in order to obtain their views on the possible consolidation of the EU Directives on collective redundancies (Directive 98/59EC), transfer of undertakings (Directive 2001/23/EC) and information and consultation of workers (Directive 2002/14/E...
The decision to dismiss an individual must fall within one or more of the five statutory potentially fair reasons. These are, conduct, capability, illegality, redundancy and some other substantial reason (“SOSR”). Examples falling into the last category include, personality clashes, pressure from third parties and breakdown in trust and confidence. It is ultimately a decision for the Tribunal as to whether a decision to dismiss amounts to SOSR....
Last week, the Conservatives unveiled its election manifesto commitment for employees of large employers to be allowed to take three days paid “volunteering leave” a year to carry out charitable or other volunteering work. This week, Labour is announcing its plans for up to 18 weeks unpaid leave for grandparents to look after their grandchildren....
The EAT has found that a disclosure can be made in the “reasonable belief that it is in the public interest" even if it relates only to a group of staff as a whole rather than the wider public. The EAT stated that an individual contractual dispute would not normally satisfy the public interest test but a disclosure relating to a relatively small group of people may do so; what is sufficient is necessarily fact-sensitive. ...
In a personal injury claim, when is an employer liable for psychiatric illness caused by occupational stress? In a judgment this week, a court has upheld the leading authority of Hatton v Sutherland [2002], which confirms that it is a high hurdle for an employee to get over to demonstrate that psychiatric injury was reasonably foreseeable....
Much has been written about Shared Parental Leave (SPL) in recent months, but now it is here! SPL can be taken by an employee who has a baby due on or after 5 April 2015, or a child placed for adoption on or after 5 April 2015....
UK Visas & Immigration ("UKVI") has recently announced a number of changes to the UK's immigration rules, most of which will take effect from 6 April 2015 and apply to new applications or extensions made on or after that date. Existing visas and applications submitted prior to 6 April will be subject to the rules currently in place....
In the holiday pay case of Lock v British Gas, which concerned commission payments, the European Court of Justice found that Mr Lock’s commission was intrinsically linked to his role as a salesman. Hence, his statutory holiday pay should include an amount to reflect the commission he would have earned had he not taken annual leave....
The Government has confirmed the measures that it intends to take to tackle avoidance of the forthcoming ban on exclusivity clauses in zero-hours contracts. There will be new protection from detriment for zero-hours contract workers who take jobs under other contracts and a minimum income level below which exclusivity clauses will be unenforceable....
The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”)has produced guidance on the new law surrounding enforced subject access requests. A copy of the that guidance may be found here. Employers seeking to obtain details of an existing or future employee’s criminal history must now do so through the correct channel. ...
The EAT has considered for the first time the issues of whether the references to "a client" and "the client" in regulation 3(1)(b) of TUPE (which defines a service provision change) can cover "clients" in the plural. The employment tribunal held that it does not....
Today George Osborne released the budget for 2015 and announced ‘the rich will pay the most’. He stated that £30bn worth of savings must be found, however insisted that the UK economy was improving and that “the sun is shining on Britain”. Here we look at the main points of the budget likely to affect businesses and employees....
With the general election looming, Mr Farage probably considers it a less than ideal time to become embroiled in a war of words with Channel 4. According to Channel 4, Mr Farage confirmed in an interview last autumn that he would scrap “much of” race discrimination law....
Where an employee is subjected to separate acts of harassment, can an employee’s subsequent resignation also amount to an act of harassment? The Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) recently had to consider this issue in Timothy James Consulting Ltd v Wilson [2015] UKEAT 0082/14....
It is important when deciding the criteria for bonus entitlement or when scoring employees during a redundancy exercise, that due consideration is given to whether an employee has been absent from work due to their disability....
In light of the controversy surrounding the payouts made to two former Tesco directors, there have been further calls , including from the City, for the notice periods in senior executives contracts to be reduced....
The Court of Appeal has given some useful guidance on when employees transfer under TUPE in a service provision change scenario: Rynda (UK) Ltd v Rhijnsburger [2015] EWCA Civ 75. This was a case concerning the transfer of a single employee....
When dealing with misconduct allegations, do you find that employees sometimes seek to provide explanations that are so hard to disprove or could require many weeks of investigation, that you feel like you have to give up on the matter, rather than risk a tribunal claim? Some recent guidance from the Court of Appeal...