Category Archives: law

22 April 2016: Can Employers Unilaterally Change Handbooks If They Contain Contractual Terms? It is generally sensible for employers to expressly state that handbook policies and procedures are non-contractual. By so doing, the employer can change its own policies more easily … Continue reading →

15 April 2016: Religious Views and the Workplace: In Wasteney v East London NHS Foundation Trust, a junior employee who happened to be Muslim, complained that her manager was ‘grooming’ her by praying with her in one-to-one’s, laying hands on her, … Continue reading →

8 April 2016: Checking the Right to Work in the UK: Employers should check their employee’s right to work in the UK, regardless of their apparent origin (see www.gov.uk/legal-right-to-work-in-the-uk). It is unlawful to employ someone who does not have the right … Continue reading →

1 April 2016: Post Termination Restrictions and Restraint of Trade Post termination restrictions (limiting an ex-employees right to do business with clients of their old employer or work for a competitor for a period of months after leaving) will only … Continue reading →

11 March 2016: Splitting Commission: In Hills v Niksun Inc, reported this week the Court of Appeal   held that the High Court was entitled to increase the level of commission awarded to a salesperson by the employer.   Generally when consider employer’s … Continue reading →

4 March 2016: Vicarious Liability: Last week we asked whether the BBC could be vicariously liable for Jeremy Clarkson punching and abusing his producer.   The Supreme Court has considered vicarious liability in employment this week in Mohamud v WM Morrison Supermarkets … Continue reading →

27 February 2016: Jeremy Clarkson and the BBC: According to press reports this week, Jeremy Clarkson has apologised to the Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon and settled a £100,000 racial discrimination and personal injury claim after an incident last March in … Continue reading →

5 February 2016: Disability and ‘Day to Day Activities’: According to s6 Equality Act 2010, a person has a disability if he or she has a physical or mental impairment, and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect the … Continue reading →

29 February 2016: National Living Wage:   Since April 2015 the National Minimum Wage has been: Over 21: £6.70 ph 18-21: £5.30 Under 18: £3.87 Apprentice: £3.30 From the 1st April 2016 the New National Living Wage will add  50p per … Continue reading →

22 January 2016: Substance Abuse at Work: In years gone by, many employers were relaxed about staff smoking in the office, or drinking alcohol at lunchtime. Nowadays, smoking in confined spaces is illegal, and drinking during office hours is generally frowned … Continue reading →

15 January 2016: Reading Staff Email. A snoopers charter?   Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA), employers can lawfully monitor staff email if the employer has reasonable grounds to believe that both the sender and the recipient … Continue reading →

8 January 2016: Zero Hours Contracts Zero hours contracts (where there is no certainty that work will be made available to the worker) attracted a lot of criticism in 2015 and steps are now beginning to be taken to restrict them. … Continue reading →

19 December 2015: Rest Breaks.  In the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Court  in December 2015 the EFTA Court held that an 84-hour working week imposed on resident therapists at a care home was compatible with the EU Working Time Directive. … Continue reading →

4 December 2015: Redundancy, Interviews & Reasonable Adjustments In a redundancy situation, many employers will put everyone at risk of redundancy, and then interview them all for the remaining positions, without considering earlier appraisals or performance assessments.   This came up … Continue reading →

20 November 2015: Should employees be sacked for off-duty behaviour? As reported in the press, Clive O’Connell, a partner in a law firm, was sacked after referring to ‘scouse scum’ during an interview after a match between Chelsea and Liverpool. … Continue reading →

13 November 2015: Holiday Pay and Part-Timers In Greenfield v The Care Bureau Ltd reported this week the European Court of Justice considered whether employers have to recalculate a part-time workers holiday leave entitlement retrospectively if she increases her hours. … Continue reading →

8 November 2015: UK Uber Drivers seek Employment Status As reported in the press this week, UK Uber drivers are planning legal action to claim employment or worker status:   Worker Status: A Worker is someone under contract, express or … Continue reading →

20 October 2015: Constructive Dismissal & Chelsea Football Club As widely reported on the sports pages, Chelsea manager José Mourinho criticised club doctor Eva Carneiro for going on to the pitch to treat the aptly named Eden Hazard. She was subsequently … Continue reading →

23 October 2015: Whistleblowing and the Public Interest: In order to pursue a whistleblowing claim, the employee has to show that he made the disclosure ‘in the public interest.’ In Chestertons v Nurmohamed earlier this year it was found that a … Continue reading →

16 October 2015: Procedurally unfair dismissals and reductions to awards: It’s often forgotten that even when a Claimant is unfairly dismissed,  compensatory awards can be reduced to reflect the chance that the claimant would have been dismissed anyway; even if … Continue reading →

9 October 2015: Working Time and Sleep Earlier this year we wrote about whether the Working Time Regulations and National Minimum Wage covered time spent travelling to work. Another issue is whether an on-call night worker can claim the NMW for … Continue reading →

2 October 2015: National Minimum Wage Rises: The National Minimum Wage increased on the 1 October 2015 as follows:   The standard adult rate (workers aged 21 and over) is now £6.70. The development rate (workers aged between 18 and 20) … Continue reading →

7 August 2015: Dismissal for Facebook postings: If any employees think that they can say whatever they like on social media with impunity, they should think again.   In British Waterways Board v Smith [2015] reported this week, the EAT held … Continue reading →

31 July 2015: Maternity Leave & Discrimination: As reported in the press last week, research based on interviews with some 3000 employers and mothers has found that:   10% of women were discouraged from attending antenatal appointments during pregnancy.   It’s … Continue reading →

10 July 2015: National Living Wage: This week George Osborne has announced that the National Minimum Wage will be increased to a National Living Wage, starting at £7.20 and rising to £9 an hour by 2020, replacing the £6.50 minimum … Continue reading →

17 July 2015:  Pay As You Go Sick Pay? According to press reports this week David Cameron is prepared to look at making workers’ pay into flexible saving accounts to fund their own sick pay or unemployment benefits. Whether that … Continue reading →

26 June 2015: Procedure and Disciplinary hearings: In Adeshina v St George’s University Hospitals, the EAT decided that neither procedural flaws in the disciplinary hearing, nor breach of  the ACAS Code regarding the appeal panel, resulted in Ms Adeshina’s dismissal being … Continue reading →

19 June 2015: Working Time and Travel to and from Work: Travel to and from work is not generally considered to be ‘working time’ for the purposes of the Working Time Regulations. But what about workers without a normal place … Continue reading →

12 June 2015: Alcohol & Work: What do you do if your employee turns up at work smelling of alcohol?   That was the issue in the Tribunal case of McElroy v Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust reported this week, in … Continue reading →

10 June 2015: Sadly HSBC have announced it will be making in the region of 1,400 redundancies from head office and support staff before the end of the year. Chief executive Bill Dalton is reported to state that HSBC hopes … Continue reading →

5 June 2015: Religious Garments at Work: In January 2013 we reported on Eweida v BA concerning the right of cabin crew on flights to wear a crucifix with their uniform. The European Court of Justice said yes to crucifixes with uniforms, … Continue reading →

26 May 2015: Zero Hours Contracts: From the 26 May 2015, a new section 27A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 states that any provision of a zero-hours contract that prevents a worker from doing work under another contract is unenforceable. This … Continue reading →

8 May 2015: Dismissal and Discriminatory Colleagues:   Last week the Court of Appeal held in CLFIS v Dr Mary Reynolds that it was not discriminatory to dismiss an employee after relying upon the reports of colleagues with discriminatory motivation.   … Continue reading →

1 May 2015: Group Consultation for Redundancy: Where an employer proposes to make 20 or more redundancies at a particular establishment within a period of 90 days it must consult on its proposal with representatives of the affected employees. Consultation will … Continue reading →

24 April 2015: Costs Awards in Employment Tribunal proceedings: In Chadburn v Doncaster & Bassetlaw Hospital NHS Foundation Trust reported this week, the EAT upheld a costs award of £10,000 against Mrs Chadburn, despite her current inability to pay it.   … Continue reading →

17 April 2015: Zero hours worker gets £19,500 for injury to feelings for harassment:   In Southern v Britannia Hotels Ltd reported this week, an employment tribunal awarded £19,500 for injury to feelings to a zero hours worker who was subjected … Continue reading →

10 April 2015: Whistle-blowing and the Public Interest:   It is unlawful to subject someone to a detriment or dismiss them as a result of having made a Protected Disclosure, also known as whistle-blowing).   In June 2013 the law … Continue reading →

27 March 2015:   Changes from the 6th April 2015: The following changes will take effect from the 6th April 2015:   The National Minimum Wage will be: £6.50 ph for a worker who is aged 21 years or over (up from … Continue reading →

20 March 2015: Diet-Controlled Type 2 Diabetes was not a Disability: Type 2 diabetes is an increasingly common medical problem, and many would assume that it amounts to a disability under the Equality Act 2010.   Under the Act, ‘disability’ means … Continue reading →

Friday 6 March 2015: Many employers have a dress code in order to maintain their corporate image, professional standards or health and safety / job related requirements.   There is no limit within reason to the restrictions an employer can … Continue reading →