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....
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....
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....
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....
There is no getting round the fact that litigation can be expensive and sometimes disproportionately so. This is a problem with which the Courts have been grappling for many years, particularly since the introduction of the Civil Procedure Rules in 1999...
In a recent decision of the Court of Appeal, the question of when a principal can terminate a commercial agency contract on the grounds of an agent`s misconduct has been considered...
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....
The CEIP was launched at a VIP reception at the Royal Commonwealth Society, on Thursday 14th March, 2013....
On 6 March 2013, Mr Justice Hickinbottom gave judgment in the application for judicial review by a number of Claimants into whether or not the Government has correctly transposed the EC Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC) into domestic law...
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...
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has recently criticised a Tribunal`s reasoning in outrightly refusing to allow a Claimant to rely upon covert recordings that she had made (Vaughan -v- London Borough of Lewisham and others UKEAT/0534/12/SM)....
New pan-Commonwealth network will link environmental entrepreneurs and companies with international investors...
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....
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 remaining sections (sections 1 and 2) of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 ("the Act") came into force on 31st January 2013. Sections 3 and 4 came into force on 8th March 2012, when the Act received Royal Assent. The Act will affect organisations subject to the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 (as amended) ("the Regulations"), and it will only apply...
The health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has said he wants to see a clampdown on "Gagging clauses" in severance agreements for NHS staff. He would also like to introduce wording into severance agreements making it clear people could still whistle-blow....
Blogging is a popular way for individuals to express their views and opinions freely to a wide audience on the internet. Internet service providers are generally not themselves regarded as the "publisher" of statements posted by their users, thereby avoiding any liability to pay compensation for any defamatory statements. However, the recent Court of Appeal decision in Tamiz -v- Google Inc [2013] EWCA Civ 68 casts doubt on this position....
Every year, all over the globe on March 8th, International Women`s Day is celebrated. Countless events take place, not just on this day but throughout the month to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women....
The government has announced that the inheritance tax nil rate band will remain frozen at £325,000 until at least April 2019...
On the 18th February 2013 the Law Commission opened a consultation considering the current law relating to ‘rights to light`. The aim of the consultation was to strike a balance between the rights of landowners and the rights of those wishing to develop neighbouring land....