The EAT in Brito-Babapulle v Ealing Hospital NHS Trust UKEAT/0358/12 has confirmed that an employment tribunal`s finding that gross misconduct does not mean that dismissal will automatically be within the band of reasonable responses. The EAT found that the approach of the ET missed out essential considerations upon fairness - whether dismissal was reasonable in the particular circumstances of t...
The English Courts have two parallel systems that determine whether the English Courts have jurisdiction: the EU rules for determining jurisdiction as set out in Regulation 44/2001 (the "Regulation") and English Common Law rules. The Common law rules will only apply when the Regulation does not. As a result, there can be situations where it is unclear which test the Courts should be using and this can have profound consequences for the parties involved....
The Court of Appeal has given its Judgment on a recent case that considered the extent of a solicitor`s duty to his client to formulate a binding settlement agreement resulting from a mediation. The background dispute that gave rise to the current case is worth consideration first....
There are currently two potential claims that could be brought against a procuring body for potential irregularities in procurement processes governed by the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 (as amended) (the Regulations)....
For many years it has been possible under Section 31(6) of the Highways Act 1980 to deposit a statement and map with the local highway authority setting out any public rights of way which are registered as crossing a piece of land. Such a statement has the effect of preventing any new rights of way arising across land for a period of 10 years from the date of deposit....
We are delighted to be able to confirm the promotions of Rhiannon Holtham to Partner and Suzie Chetri to Associate in our Company and Commercial group....
The Government has published a consultation on proposals to strengthen and simplify the current civil penalty scheme, which is aimed at preventing migrants from working in the UK illegally....
Are employees on long term sick leave entitled to carry over their full statutory holiday entitlement into the next holiday year?The Working Time Directive provides that member states must ensure that every worker is entitled to paid annual holiday of at least four weeks. This has been implemented in Great Britain by the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR) which provide that all workers are entit...
In the case of Sud v London Borough of Ealing a robust decision has been made in the Court of Appeal upholding the tribunal`s decision to order the Claimant to pay 50 per cent of the Respondent`s legal costs. Background to the case/decision: The Respondents legal costs at full value were over £100,000. The Claimant had brought claims of unfair dismissal, detriment for having made protected dis...
The Court of Appeal issued some useful guidance as to when enhanced redundancy pay becomes a matter of contractual entitlement rather than just being payable at the employer`s discretion. In his judgment in the case of Park Cakes Ltd v Shumba & Ors [2013] EWCA Civ 974 on 31 July 2013, Lord Justice Underhill set out some useful non-exhaustive factors to consider: On how many occasions, and over...
The "go home or face arrest" campaign has been widely criticised. The Home Office was forced to defend the week long £10,000 campaign in six London boroughs which we commented on last week....
The increasing use of "zero-hour" contracts by employers has been topical in recent months. Criticism has arisen because the employee must remain available for work whilst not being guaranteed regular hours and consequentially levels of pay remain unpredictable...
Clarkslegal was delighted to sponsor the prize for the Highest Achieving Student in Employment Law and Practice at the recent University of South Wales prize-giving ceremony for the Faculty of Business and Society....
As previously mentioned on Employmentbuddy, there are six procedural employment law changes coming into effect on Monday, 29 July 2013. Tribunal fees. For the first time, claimants will have to pay fees to bring employment tribunal claims. See our new factsheet Employment Tribunal Fees [LINK] Tribunal rules. The rules of procedure in employment tribunals have been overhauled, the most important change b...
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has requested permission to appeal the recent judgment by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in the Usdaw v Woolworths case that means that collective redundancies need not be "at one establishment" for there to be a requirement for the employer to consult. We will keep you posted....
Following the announcement in May for tougher rules to be introduced to tackle immigration the government continues with its policy to reduce the overall numbers. To this end, the Home Office this week launched a novel one-week pilot scheme to encourage illegal migrants to leave the UK voluntarily. Vans were driving around Hounslow, Barking & Dagenham, Ealing, Barnet, Brent and Redbridge displa...
As part of our 100 days` volunteering for our centenary year, members of Clarkslegal staff helped raise awareness of the Samaritans in Reading, for the charity`s 24-7 campaign....
According to a panel of leading experts, the UK and EU are missing a wealth of opportunities from the fastest growing economies in the world because of barriers to trade with the Commonwealth....
The recent case of Whitmar Publications v Gamage [2013] provides guidance for employers who find themselves in competition with former employees, when these employees have taken steps to compete with their employer whilst they were still their employees. In Whitmar, three employees had worked for the Claimant, a publisher, for a number of years. In January 2013 they resigned from their employme...
The ECJ has just issued its judgment in the important Alemo-Herron case, of particular relevance to public sector contracting. In a decision which will come as a relief for private sector contractors, it has ruled that the Acquired Rights Directive precludes UK courts from adopting a "dynamic" rather than a "static" interpretation of TUPE. In other words, where transferring employees` contracts p...