The Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU") has decided against providing guidance on the correct trigger point for collective consultation where an employer wished to make twenty or more employees redundant....
On 1st July 2013, the Republic of Croatia will gain accession to the EU. After this date, Croatian nationals will no longer be subject to immigration control. However, restrictions will be imposed on Croatian nationals which are similar to those imposed on Romanian and Bulgarian nationals....
A gay couple booked to stay at a B&B in Berkshire. Upon arrival they were refused their room by the owner, Mrs Wilkinson. It has been ruled that they were discriminated against and they were awarded £1,800 each for "injury to feelings"....
The High Court considered in Netjets Management Limited v CAC and another [2012] EWHC 2685 what territorial limits exist on the Central Arbitration Committee`s (CAC) jurisdiction to consider a request for union recognition....
The DWP has brought into effect section 87 of the Pensions Act (PA) 2008, repealing the stakeholder pension designation requirements from 1 October 2012....
Chancellor, George Osborne, has announced legislation which will introduce a new ‘owner-employee` contract....
Thank you to everyone who participated in our online survey on the Government`s Consultation on the current law regarding collective redundancies. We received responses from a diverse cross section of businesses with employee numbers ranging from 40 to 2,500. We have included the results of the survey, together with feedback from a variety of employers that we have spoken to in our formal response to the consultation....
In the case of Taiwo v Olaigbe and others it was held that a claimant could pursue a claim of post-employment victimisation under the Equality Act 2010. It was noted that section 108 of the Equality Act 2010, which renders post-employment discrimination and harassment unlawful, expressly did not apply to acts of victimisation. However, this appeared to be a drafting error. Applying a purposive ap...
A recent case, Patsystems Holdings Ltd v Neilly, has highlighted some of the important factors courts will use to determine the enforceability of restricted covenants in employment contracts. Often when employees gain promotion their employment contracts will remain on the original terms, which might be out of date. In this case a junior employee was given inappropriate restrictions in his c...
New laws have come into force today, 1 October 2012, that require UK employers to automatically enrol eligible workers into a pension scheme and make mandatory minimum contributions on their behalf. The reforms are being implemented gradually, with only large employers that employ 120,000 or more staff having to comply from today, and those employing 50,000-119,999 staff having to comply by 1 Nov...
Where an employee is absent from work from one employer due to a temporary cessation of work and then starts work with an associated employer, is the employee continuously employed for purposes of bringing an unfair dismissal claim? The facts In Holt v EB Security Ltd UKEAT/0558/11/CEA, Holt ("the Claimant") was employed at a pub from July 2007 until it closed and his employm...
On 14 September Vince Cable announced the Ending the employment relationship consultation which covers ways to encourage the use of compromise agreements, to be renamed "settlement agreements", as a way for parties reaching mutual agreement where the employment relationship has broken down Proposals The consultation, which closes on 23 November 2012, has sought views on proposals that aim to al...
The case of Neijjary v Aramark Ltd confirms that employers need to be careful when dismissing on misconduct grounds where a number of allegations are made, not all of which may be upheld on appeal. It also deals with the issue of contributory fault. In this case, Mr Neijjary was employed as a hospitality manager by Aramak, a hospitality services company, at a Goldman Sachs site. He was summarily...
Vince Cable has announced various consultations on employment law. These proposed changes to employment law are part of the Government`s systematic review of employment law to reduce employment red tape and give firms more flexibility and confidence in managing their workforce. BIS reports that these proposed reforms are most likely to benefit small businesses. The consultations announced...
In November last year the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) called for evidence on the effectiveness of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE). Following this, Clarkslegal held a round table discussion with various employers affected by TUPE to gather views and evidence on the questions raised by BIS. Based on this discussion, we sub...
Today the Ministry of Justice has published the annyal Employement Tribunal and EAT statistics up to the 31 March 2012....
The EAT has upheld a tribunal`s finding that two employees, who were dismissed for failing to agree to new terms (including a pay cut) following a TUPE transfer, were unfairly dismissed....
This month a Scottish Council whose former employees` pension records were found in a paper recycle bank in a supermarket car park were fined £250,000 for the data breach. More than 600 files were found at the recycle bins, containing confidential information and, in a significant number of cases, salary and bank account details....
The Government has announced a range of legislative measures aimed at boosting UK business growth. According to BIS, from April 2013 the Government intends to introduce new rules that will exempt hundreds of thousands of businesses from regular health & safety inspections. Only businesses operating in higher risk areas will face these inspections, such as those in construction and those who hav...
As the summer holidays end there is still time to have your say on one of the Government`s key set of proposals for change in employment law: the changes to collective consultation, where an employer proposes to make 20 or more employees redundant at an "establishment". Responses need to go to collectiveredundancies@bis.gsi.gov.uk by 19 September....