The EAT has held that the Equality Act 2010 protects individuals against post-employment victimisation. This is a change from its previous decision in Rowstock Ltd and another v Jessemey...
Regulations have been published on tribunal fees. Fee levels are unchanged following consultation, ie a £250 issue fee, and a £950 hearing fee, for most types of claim (including unfair dismissal, discrimination and whistleblowing). Unlawful deductions and statutory redundancy payments carry a lower fee (£160 issue; £230 hearing). The BIS has confirmed that the changes to the whistleblowing laws...
This April we carried out a survey in association with GB Management Coaching Ltd. Gail Brown, the Managing Director and one of our Forbury HR Consultants, specialises in helping HR professionals fast track their career and reports on the findings of the survey....
FTSE 350 companies risk a backlash from one of the country`s biggest pension fund investors if executive pay is not curbed. The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, which represents pension funds with more than £115bn in assets, has published guidelines on its expectations for executive pay, arriving at the following conclusion More pay does not necessarily equal better performance. The significa...
Acas has published 6 step by step guides aimed at small businesses, line managers and supervisors for use when dealing with common business situations and potential problem areas at work. Breaking these areas down into checklists and reminders of things to consider, practical examples, and potential legal issues to be aware of, the guides cover: Recruiting an employee Settling in a new employ...
According to recent reports 23% of large British firms (i.e. those with more than 100 staff) now engage individuals on so-called "zero hours" contracts. This is in contrast to 11% in 2004....
We know that employees who blow the whistle while employedare protected if they are then subjected to a detriment by theiremployer. We also know that the same applies to employees who did thisbefore the whisleblowing legislation came into force. But what if an ex-employeewhistleblows, would this be regarded as a ‘protected disclosure` allowing theemployee to claim a remedy under the Employment Ri...
Miller and ors v Interserve Industrial Services Ltd was a recent case in the Employment Appeal Tribunal concerning alleged blacklisting of union members. Interserve Industrial Services Ltd (IIS) provides workers for the oil industry and the 3 claimants were members of Unite the Union who had a history of acting as shop stewards. IIS and the trade union had a collective agreement that they would,...
I am a trade union workplace representative and postgraduate law student and with a particular interest in employment law. This week I am on work experience with Clarkslegal in the Cardiff office and have been asked to share what it is like and what challenges I have faced working with the union. I have been a union workplace representative for nearly 3 years and counting. Before I was appointed...
On 6th April 2013, with the changes to the rules on collective redundancy, ACAS has published a code of practice. When proposing to make redundant 100 or more employees at one establishment within 90 days, an employer must start consultation and notify the Secretary of State at least 45 days before he intends to dismiss the first employee. This figure has been reduced from 90 days. This period r...
The 6 April 2013 is the first day of the new financial year and also the date the following changes in employment law come into effect....
When is it fair for an employer to dismiss on grounds of gross misconduct for posting comments on social media sites such as Facebook? Looking at recent cases, a recurring problem for employers and employment tribunals is deciding where the boundary lies between gross misconduct and misconduct. The difference between the two is crucial to whether a dismissal will stand up to the scrutiny of an unfair dismissal claim. Given the nature of transgressions made by employees on social media sites, which are often blatant and offensive and easily attributable to the employee, establishing misconduct should be straight forward. These are cases where a warning including a final written warning would be the appropriate sanction under the employer`s disciplinary policy....
In Malekout v Ahmed & others (t/a The Medical Centre) UKEAT/0556/12 the Employment Appeal Tribunal has upheld the decision that a redundancy situation existed when an employee was dismissed following recruitment of a better performing replacement....
Kavanagh and others v Crystal Palace FC (2000) Ltd and others was recently heard in the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). The football club went into administration in January 2010 and G, the administrator, sought to sell the club as a going concern. A couple of months later a consortium was set up and given preferred bidder status....
In Walker v Sita Information Networking Computing Ltd UKEAT/0097/12 is was held that an obese claimant was disabled under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. However they also suffered from a number of physical and mental conditions....
Following last year`s split which saw the UK Border Force (responsible for daily operations) stop being part of the UK Border Agency, the Home Secretary has now announced that the Agency is to be abolished altogether....
Some other substantial reason (SOSR) can often be viewed as a "get out of jail" card by employers. However, the Employment Appeal Tribunal in Handshake Ltd -v- Summers UKEAT/0216/12 has recently upheld a Tribunal decision that the fair grounds of SOSR did not apply when a senior executive was dismissed....
The new employment tribunal rules, originally expected to come into force in April 2013, will now come into force in summer 2013. These rules and other expected employment law changes are summarised in the table below. Employment Law change Date expected to come into force The current regulations for National Minimum Wage will be consolidated. April 2013...
In Mental Health Care (UK) Limited v Biluan and another UKEAT/0248/12, the EAT held that it is not. This case considered the fairness of a redundancy selection process which utilised assessment centre competency tests normally used when recruiting new employees. Facts In 2010, the management of a residential hospital decided that there was a need to close one of its wards, resulting in 19 red...
The EAT has held that the Equality Act 2010 does not provide protection against victimisation which occurs after the employment relationship has ended. Therefore an employee could not succeed with a victimisation claim based on an unfavourable reference provided by his former employer....