It is usually the case that companies conducting a disciplinary/grievance procedure only allow employees the right to be accompanied by either a trade union representative or a colleague....
Following the case of Stringer, the Tribunal in the case of Rawlings v The Direct Garage Door Company held that an employee was entitled to be paid for the holiday he had been unable to take during his period of long-term sickness absence....
The employer in the case of Dunn v AAH Ltd was entitled to terminate the employee`s contract on the grounds that it had been repudiated....
Even though there may be special circumstances that apply where it could affect the timing of consultations under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, this does not preclude or excuse the employer`s obligation to consult....
Following the Court of Appeal decision in Buckland v Bournemouth University, it was held that employers could not ‘cure` a fundamental breach of contract by taking subsequent steps to rectify it....
The EAT has considered whether an employer ‘aided` discrimination when it engaged an agency worker who discriminated against its employee....
Thank you to everyone who responded to our recent survey on the default retirement age. The results made very interesting reading and, as promised, we have set them out here....
It seems flexible working is increasingly important to today`s dads, with over 56% of those surveyed by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills saying they would look for an employer who offers flexible working when choosing a new job. However, 20% of dads did not know whether their current employer offered flexible working....
As it is announced that we are coming out of recession, now may be a good time for employers to reorganise their workforce to ensure that the company is in the best shape for the future. The need to slim down applies just as much to businesses as it does to our own personal quests for self-improvement. With headlines claiming that the recession is finally over (albeit on the basis of a minuscule 0.1% growth), it is clear that the leaner the business, the better its chances will be for survival in 2010 and beyond....
Following the Court of Appeal decision in Muschett v HM Prison Service (2010), it seems that it will be harder for agency workers to gain protection from discrimination at the hands of an end-user....
The Court of Appeal has held in Parkwood Leisure Ltd v Alemo-Herron (2010) that a contractual entitlement to a pay rise, agreed in collective agreement negotiations to which the transferee was not a party, did not bind the transferee following a TUPE transfer....
The ECJ has held that a German law which discounts employment before the age of 25 when calculating statutory notice periods is age discriminatory (Kucukdeveci v Swedex (2010)). The ECJ also confirmed that non-discrimination on the grounds of age is a general principle of equal treatment in EU law. National courts should, if need be, disapply any principles of national law that are contrary to this principle....
In another case concerning age this week, but this time in the UK, an employment tribunal has held that a 42 year old Head of Marketing, who did not fit a "younger" profile, was subjected to age discrimination....
For a disability to be covered by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, the effects of the impairment must be long-term. "Long-term" means the condition must have lasted, or be likely to last, for at least 12 months....
The ECJ has considered the use of age limits in two German cases this week. In both cases, the ECJ held that the age limits were not contrary to the Equal Treatment Directive....
We`ve heard it before - headlines proclaiming new legislation is "the biggest shake-up" to employment law since, well, the last big shake-up. In the case of the Equality Bill such headlines may be justified....
As we reported back in October, the Government has commenced consultation on the default retirement age. The Government is now seeking, by 1 February 2010, information from employers on the following issues:...
The EU Pregnant Workers Directive provides for the health and safety protection of pregnant workers and new mothers. In the case of Parviainen v Finnair Oyj (2009) the Advocate General has given his opinion that the Directive does not require an employer to pay a pregnant worker, who is temporarily transferred to a different job to prevent her being exposed to health risks, the average salary that she earned prior to the transfer. Instead, the employer is required to provide her with an adequate allowance, which must be no less than a male or female worker is paid for doing an equivalent job....
The EAT in Dansie v Metropolitan Police (2009) has confirmed that the Metropolitan Police were within their rights to require a male employee to cut his shoulder length hair. The overall dress code was equally balanced between male and female employees. Consequently, the police had not discriminated against Mr Dansie under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. This case of confirms the correct legal test is whether, applying contemporary standards and conventions, as well as the specific needs of the profession in question, the employer`s dress code as a whole requires an equivalent level of smartness between the sexes....
The Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004 give employees certain rights to have their employer put in place an I&C agreement. Under the Regulations, following a valid employee request to negotiate an agreement, the employer must negotiate with negotiating representatives "as soon as is reasonably practicable". The Regulations then stipulate a timetable in which agreement should be reached (a period of 6 months, commencing 3 months after the original employee request was made)....