Ms Shoesmith, the former Director of Children`s services at Haringey Council who was sacked after the death of 17 month old Baby P, had challenged a High Court ruling that had cleared former Children`s Secretary Ed Balls and the local authority of acting unlawfully when she was dismissed....
It has been reported by Prudential that women have narrowed the retirement gender pay gap by £900 as compared to last year, but still retire on average incomes 50% lower than men....
In Bailey v R & R Plant (Peterborough) Ltd (2011), the EAT has held that in order to meet the requirement to inform an employee of their right to request working beyond retirement, an employer must have notified the employee of the essential conditions for exercising that right....
From next year, the introduction of "auto enrolment" will affect all employers with at least one worker in the UK. The Pensions Regulator has now published detailed guidance aimed at professional advisers, large employers with in-house pensions professionals, and those with a sound knowledge of pensions. The guidance sets out how employers should implement their new duties....
On 1st October 2011 it is anticipated that approximately 2,000 kilometers of privately- owned sewers and lateral drains in England will be transferred to water and sewerage companies ("WSC")....
The Daily Mail has reported this week that Celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsey`s Mother-In-Law is to sue him in the Employment Tribunal for alleged unfair dismissal, failure to make a redundancy payment, breach of contract and breaches of the working time regulations....
In Dabson v David Cover & Sons (2011), the EAT has upheld the ET decision that the dismissal of the Claimant on grounds of redundancy was fair. The EAT held that when assessing the fairness of selection for redundancy, the marks awarded in the selection exercise should only be investigated in exceptional circumstances, such as bias or obvious mistake....
The Court of Appeal has held in Wardle v Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (2011), that tribunals should assess future loss of earnings up to the point when an employee is likely to secure an equivalent job. Assessment of career-long compensation will not be appropriate except where there is no real prospect of the employee ever obtaining an equivalent job. This may not produce an accurate result as things turn out, but it is the best that can be done to achieve finality in law....
You may have already seen our blog this week about the government proposals to introduce flexible parental leave. This is part of a consultation document entitled ‘Consultation on Modern Workplaces` launched by the Department for BIS and is not the only radical proposal for reform. This proposal and others include the following:...
Research by mental health charity, Mind published yesterday confirms that over 40% of employees are currently "stressed" or "very stressed" by their job. 70% of those surveyed felt that their boss would do nothing to help them alleviate their workplace stress....
The Government has today launched a consultation on plans to introduce a new system of flexible parental leave, which could come into force from 2015....
When so called "fit notes" were introduced last year it was hoped that they would result in a decrease in sickness absence levels. A survey by the CBI of 223 employers published this week shows that they have failed to achieve this, and in fact the UK average level of sickness absence has increased....
The impact of the recession, a rise in the demand for services combined with a reduction in public and corporate income has undoubtedly created a challenging environment for charities and voluntary groups. The knock-on effect on jobs in the third sector, which rely on public sector contracts, is yet to be seen....
According to new research published by Lumesse, UK staff have the second least job satisfaction from 14 countries surveyed. Scandinavians were apparently the happiest staff....
The astounding allegations of bribes sought by four FIFA officials in return for their votes in support of England`s failed 2018 World Cup bid (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/9481563.stm) highlights just the sort of unethical behaviour the new Bribery Act 2010 is aimed at stamping out. Unfortunately these FIFA execs will not be able to be prosecuted under the Bribery Act because the alleged discussions obviously occurred before the Act comes into effect on 1 July this year....
The government announced yesterday that it will look at the case for employment law reforms in areas such as TUPE, discrimination compensation and collective redundancy consultations periods....
The new Public Sector Equality Duty, which came into force on 5 April 2011, requires public bodies to consider the impact of their policies and methods of delivering services on those who possess certain protected characteristics....
This week the Employment Tribunal gave judgement in favour of a Claimant who was subject to discrimination and harassment of a sexual nature which was compared to the Carry On... film franchise....
The Government has published its final guidance on the Agency Worker Regulations 2010, which are due in force on 1 October this year....
In Watkins v Journeys Toward Recovery ET/1606842/10 the Tribunal held that parts of a handbook that is stated to be non-contractual was in fact incorporated into the Claimant`s contract of employment....