Latest News

Court of Appeal – December 2018 

The Court of Appeal (CA) has dismissed Uber’s appeal against the employment tribunal (ET) and Employment Appeal Tribunal’s (EAT) decision that drivers engaged by Uber were not self-employed contractors, but fell squarely within the legal definition of ‘worker’ under the Employment Rights Act 1996, the Working Time Regulations 1998 and the National Minimum Wage Act 1998.

Employment Appeal Tribunal – November 2018

Employment tribunal failed to consider employer’s breach of contractual obligation to provide a trial period when determining fairness of redundancy dismissal.

NMW increases confirmed in budget and employer is vicariously liable for assault by MD

Court of Appeal – October 2018

The Court of Appeal have overturned the High Court’s decision that an employer was not vicariously liable for an assault carried out by the organisation’s Managing Director at an impromptu drinking session after the company Christmas party.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled that the intentions behind a letter of resignation should be clarified to correctly confirm if the employee does intend to leave the company.

Employment Appeal Tribunal – August 2018

This case examined whether an individual can be unfairly dismissed, having been denied the opportunity to postpone their disciplinary hearing, despite the fact that their conduct could potentially justify a dismissal.

Court of Appeal – July 2018 

The Court of Appeal (COA) has ruled that a care worker who performed ‘sleep in’ shifts was ‘available for work’ and not 'actually working’ and so was not entitled to the national minimum wage (NMW) for the time spent asleep.

Court of Appeal - July 2018 

The Court of Appeal (COA) has reinforced the notion that the successful appeal of a dismissal means that continuality of employment is preserved, thereby meaning the employee's dismissal is considered to have 'vanished'.

The Court of Appeal decides that sleep in workers are not entitled to the national minimum wage when asleep, and more employers have been named and shamed for failing to pay the minimum hourly rates to their staff.

In other case law, the Court of Appeal also confirmed the position of the ‘interim period’ between an employee’s dismissal and his successful appeal.

Employment Appeal Tribunal – June 2018 

The EAT has ruled that an employer’s belief that an appeal would make no difference in a right to work dismissal was incorrect. The appeal could have provided opportunity for key evidence against the dismissal, not readily available at the time, to be submitted.

Employment Appeal Tribunal – May 2018 

The EAT has ruled that lower annual leave and rest break allowances for agency workers, in comparison to directly employed workers, cannot be compensated by an increased hourly rate of pay, however there is no requirement to provide agency workers with the same number of working hours as the directly employed workers.

Recently published Ministry of Justice statistics show a continual increase in the number of employment tribunal claims made since fees were abolished almost a year ago.

The long anticipated Supreme Court ruling in a long-running gig economy case has been published, confirming the Court’s agreement with previous decisions that a “self-employed” plumber was in fact a worker.

Employment Appeal Tribunal – May 2018 

The EAT has ruled that it was not religious harassment for an employee to ask a Muslim colleague if they were a supporter of Islamic State (IS) because the context of these remarks was not related to the individual’s religion.

Court of Appeal – May 2018 

The Court of Appeal has ruled that it was disability discrimination to dismiss an employee for gross misconduct because his conduct was a consequence of his disability

Employment Appeal Tribunal – May 2018

Was the payment of statutory shared parental pay to men and enhanced maternity pay to women an act of indirect discrimination?

EAT gives landmark judgement on shared parental pay

This month, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has handed down its judgement on a direct sex discrimination case involving shared parental pay.

In other case law, the Supreme Court held there was an implied term in all contracts of employment as to the point that a notice period begins.

High Court – April 2018

What duty of care does a reference writer owe when they include facts and opinions in a reference that are based on a previous investigation?

GDPR comes into force on 25 May 2018. The new rules are intended to meet the needs of a digital age, and require a change in organisational attitude towards data privacy. 

With only a few weeks to go here’s our top tips for how you can make sure you’re ready.

Changes to the law taking place in April

The new national minimum wage rates are now in operation, as are the new rates for statutory maternity pay and other family friendly rates. Other changes will also take place this month.

Also, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed that the number of employment tribunal claims has increased by 90% in the last year.

Keeping Kids Company (in compulsory liquidition) v Smith and ors

Employment Appeal Tribunal – February 2018

Was a company required to carry out collective consultation before being placed in compulsory liquidation?

United First Partners Research v Carreras

Court of Appeal – February 2018

Can an ‘expectation’ to work longer hours amount to a provision, criterion or practice under the Equality Act 2010?

Employment Appeal Tribunal – February 2018

Did higher hourly pay for an agency worker compensate for differences in holiday and payment for breaks when compared to an end-user’s employee?

Supporting transgender employees in the workplace

Stonewall urges organisations to adopt a zero tolerance position towards gender reassignment discrimination or harassment after a report found many transgender employees hide their gender identity.

In case law, the European Court of Human Rights finds an organisation’s covert surveillance at work infringed employees’ privacy rights.

Latest statistics show huge increase in Employment Tribunal claims and yet another holiday pay decision 

As expected, new Ministry of Justice figures show a significant increase in the number of claims made to the employment tribunal since fees were abolished.

In recent case law, a worker was able to claim holiday pay arrears continuing over 13 years.

New national minimum wage rates announced

In his Autumn Budget, the Chancellor confirmed the national minimum wage increases which will take effect from April 2018. Also, a new scheme has been announced affecting care sector employers who may have underpaid their workers.

In case law, we have seen conflicting gig economy employment status judgments involving Uber and Deliveroo and a timely Bill has been published to offer further protection to these atypical workers.

Government launches Employment Tribunal fee reimbursement scheme

Claimants who paid an employment tribunal fee can now start to reclaim their money under a scheme recently launched by the Government.

Also, details on the new right to parental bereavement leave have been published, and the EAT looks at whether a disciplinary investigation can be too wide.

Court rules email monitoring breached human rights

An employer breached an employee’s human rights when it read personal emails sent from the employee’s work email account, says the ECtHR. Also, new legislation is in force from October and, in case law, the EAT departs from the traditional approach to the burden of proof in discrimination cases.

Supreme Court decides tribunal fees are unlawful

In a surprise decision, the UK’s highest court has overruled government policy on tribunal fees and quashed the 2013 regulations, thereby raising the prospect of a rise in claims. At the same time, the government-commissioned Taylor report has suggested ways to shape employment law for the future

The Supreme Court restores the balance in indirect discrimination cases, the Court of Appeal confirms an appeal procedure can rectify a flawed disciplinary procedure, and the EAT identifies factors for deciding whether ‘sleeping-in’ on-call night workers are due the national minimum wage

Important April employment law changes, and why gender pay reporting may just be the start of corporate governance reforms