If not now then when? Tribunal should have identified when jurisdiction established -
An employment tribunal only has jurisdiction to hear claims under the Employment Rights Act 1996 and Equality Act 2010 if the claimant...more
Narrow escape - limited waiver of privilege decision upheld In Watson v Hilary Meredith Solicitors Ltd the EAT reaffirmed the correct approach to waiver of privilege. A tribunal was entitled to find that a respondent had...more
Employment newsletter In this weeks issue: Beating around the bush – disclosure did not have to identify legal obligation Gone fishing – disclosure in equal pay claims All change – tribunal limits and pay gap reporting ...more
Timed out – reasonable steps defence fails because training stable -
An employer can defend a discrimination claim under the Equality Act if it has taken all reasonable steps to prevent employees from committing acts of...more
2/22/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Economic Impact Analysis ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equality Act ,
Harassment ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
Pay Gap ,
Race Discrimination ,
UK ,
UK Employment Appeal Tribunal ,
Wage and Hour
Tell it like it is – email referring to potentially discriminatory conduct not a protected act -
In Chalmers v Airpoint Ltd the EAT in Scotland found that an employee had not done a protected act for the purposes of a...more
Read all about it – agency worker had right to be informed about vacancies, not to apply for them -
It is perhaps surprising that nearly ten years after the Agency Workers Regulations (the Regulations) came into force, the...more
Only joking – employer not vicariously liable for practical joke -
In Chell v Tarmac Cement and Lime Ltd employees of Roltech Engineering were contracted to work alongside Tarmac employees at a site, resulting in some...more
What's in a name? Return to work was a return to employee's old role -
In ICTS (UK) Ltd v Visram the Court of Appeal confirmed that an employee was entitled to receive long term disability benefit until he was able to...more
3/10/2020
/ Age Discrimination ,
Breach of Contract ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Disability Leave ,
Employment Litigation ,
Former Employee ,
International Labor Laws ,
Leave of Absence ,
Legal Advice ,
PHI ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
UK ,
UK Employment Appeal Tribunal ,
Wage and Hour
Turning a blind eye – one-off act not a PCP -
In Ishola v Transport for London the Court of Appeal confirmed that it was not a provision, criterion or practice to require an employee to return to work before a proper...more
2/26/2020
/ Appeals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Grievance Process ,
Gross Misconduct ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Law Violations ,
New Guidance ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Return-to-Work Agreements ,
UK ,
Unfair Dismissal
Timing is everything – acts pre-dating disability not discrimination -
The EAT decision in Tesco Stores Ltd v Tennant confirmed that an employee could not bring a discrimination complaint in relation to acts that pre-dated...more
2/10/2020
/ Contract Terms ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Exclusive Jurisdiction ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Regulations ,
Shareholders' Agreements ,
UK ,
UK Employment Appeal Tribunal ,
Unfair Dismissal
Gathering clouds – flawed investigation made dismissal unfair -
In Sunshine Hotel Ltd t/a Palm Court Hotel v Goddard the EAT agreed that failing to hold an investigatory meeting does not necessarily make a dismissal...more
1/13/2020
/ Employee Misconduct ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Pay ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Job Promotions ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
UK ,
UK Employment Appeal Tribunal ,
Unfair Dismissal ,
Workplace Investigations
Red faces – no gross misconduct when employee revealed executive's pay -
The EAT had to consider whether an employee had acted in breach of contract or committed gross misconduct when he revealed details of an executive's...more
12/16/2019
/ Couriers ,
Defense Strategies ,
Employee Definition ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Pay ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
UK ,
UK Employment Appeal Tribunal ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wrongful Termination
It's not what you know – dismissal for whistleblowing despite dismissing manager's belief -
In Royal Mail Group Ltd v Jhuti the Supreme Court has reinstated a decision that an employee was dismissed because she had blown...more
12/3/2019
/ Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Entitlements ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Holidays ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Regulations ,
Retaliation ,
Senior Managers ,
Sick Leave ,
Trade Unions ,
UK ,
UK Employment Appeal Tribunal ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
Further developments in relation to harassment -
The EAT confirmed in Bessong v Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust that as the law currently stands employers will not generally be liable for third party harassment of...more
11/5/2019
/ Appeals ,
Appeals Tribunals ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Copyright ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) ,
International Labor Laws ,
Inventions ,
Inventors ,
Ownership of Works ,
Sexual Harassment ,
UK
Coming clean – false reason for dismissal shifted burden of proof -
In Base Childrenswear Ltd v Otshudi the Court of Appeal confirmed that giving a false reason for dismissal and persisting with it was enough to shift the...more
10/21/2019
/ Appeals ,
Aviation Industry ,
British Airways ,
Burden of Proof ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
Race Discrimination ,
Strike ,
UK ,
UK Parliament ,
Unions
It's no secret – protected conversation potentially admissible -
The EAT decided in Harrison v Aryman Ltd that a claimant could potentially rely on a protected conversation in evidence. This was the case even though she...more
10/7/2019
/ Employee Misconduct ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Evidence ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Protected Disclosures ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
UK ,
Unfair Dismissal ,
Wage and Hour
Noteworthy – no holiday pro-rating for "part year" music teacher -
In The Harpur Trust v Brazel the Court of Appeal confirmed that a music teacher was entitled to be paid for 5.6 weeks' annual holiday, even though she only...more
9/9/2019
/ Constructive Discharge ,
Diversity ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) ,
Foreign Workers ,
Holiday Pay ,
Immigrants ,
International Labor Laws ,
UK ,
UK Employment Appeal Tribunal ,
Wage and Hour
Cut it out! Covenant severed to make it enforceable -
In Tillman v Egon Zehnder Ltd the Supreme Court revisited the question of when it is possible to sever words from a restrictive covenant to make it enforceable, taking...more
7/15/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Facebook ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Regulations ,
Race Discrimination ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Sexual Harassment ,
UK
Perception is king – rejection for hearing impairment perceived disability discrimination -
In The Chief Constable of Norfolk v Coffey the Court of Appeal confirmed that rejecting a transfer request from someone with a...more
7/1/2019
/ Age Discrimination ,
Appeals ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Regulations ,
UK ,
UK Employment Appeal Tribunal ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblowers
No handbrake turns – holiday pay included voluntary overtime pay -
The Court of Appeal confirmed the EAT decision in East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust v Flowers that holiday pay has to include voluntary overtime...more
6/17/2019
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Tribunals ,
Holiday Pay ,
International Labor Laws ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Over-Time ,
UK ,
UK Employment Appeal Tribunal ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
Fatherhood penalty – statutory shared parental pay not discriminatory -
In Ali v Capita Customer Management Ltd and The Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police v Hextall the Court of Appeal confirmed that paying enhanced...more
Battle Royal – handling of boardroom dispute was repudiatory breach -
The High Court decision in Stobart Group Ltd v Tinkler explores the extent of a director's duties in the context of a boardroom dispute....more
5/13/2019
/ Appeals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Foreign Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
HMRC ,
Jurisdiction ,
NICS ,
UK ,
Wages
Home or away – hearing claims against international defendants -
Two recent cases, one in the CJEU and one in the EAT, found that courts and tribunals in Great Britain had jurisdiction in principle to hear claims against...more
4/29/2019
/ Appeals Tribunals ,
Breach of Contract ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
EU ,
EU Directive ,
Foreign Defendants ,
International Labor Laws ,
Jurisdiction ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process ,
UK ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies
Get it right – mistaken belief was not disability related -
In iForce Ltd v Wood an employee's mistaken belief that new working practices would worsen her disability did not make her written warning for refusing to follow...more
No objection – TUPE was principal reason for dismissal -
In Hare Wines Ltd v Kaur, the Court of Appeal confirmed that a TUPE transfer was the principal reason for an employee's dismissal, despite the employer's evidence...more
3/4/2019
/ Disability ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Tribunals ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
TUPE ,
UK ,
Unfair Dismissal ,
Wage and Hour