The UK government has published new guidance on reducing the spread of respiratory infections, including COVID-19, in the workplace. It replaces the earlier working safely during coronavirus guidance, applies to England and...more
In Kocur v Angard Staffing Solutions Ltd, the Court of Appeal for England and Wales confirmed that agency workers have a right to be informed about vacancies in a hirer, not a right to apply for them on the same terms as...more
An English employment tribunal decided that it was fair for an employer to dismiss a care home worker when she refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19. However, employers should not assume that the decision means that it...more
A tale in two parts - COVID-19 and health and safety dismissals There have been more employment tribunal decisions examining when a COVID-19 related dismissal will be automatically unfair for health and safety reasons. One...more
First tribunal guidance on "serious and imminent" danger in context of COVID-19 -
In Rodgers v Leeds Laser Cutting Ltd the Employment Tribunal considered whether an employee had been unfairly dismissed for refusing to attend...more
4/26/2021
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
UK ,
Unfair Dismissal ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Workplace Safety
The roll-out of vaccinations against Covid-19 is gathering pace in the UK and on the current timetable all adults will have been offered a first vaccine by the end of July....more
3/30/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Privacy ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employee Rights ,
Employment Discrimination ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
UK ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Although the government’s Job Retention Scheme (JRS) was originally expected to close on 31 October 2020, the government has extended it on several occasions. Following the Budget on 3 March 2021 it is now clear that the...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
This note addresses some of employers' key questions about their obligations to employees when dealing with the continuing COVID-19 outbreak. It deals with the position in England. The governments in Scotland, Wales and...more
Although the government’s Job Retention Scheme (JRS) was originally expected to close on 31 October 2020, the government subsequently decided to extend it, initially to the end of March and then to the end of April 2021 (the...more
There has been a lengthy debate in the courts about the extent to which an employer can rely on cost considerations when seeking to justify a provision, criteria or practice that is potentially indirectly discriminatory. In...more
Although the government’s Job Retention Scheme (JRS) was initially expected to close on 31 October 2020, on 5 November 2020 the government announced that it would remain in place in some form until the end of March 2021 (the...more
Tell me more – ICO publishes detailed subject access guidance -
The ICO has published detailed guidance for handling subject access requests. This is relevant to employers responding to subject access requests from...more
11/5/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
Data Protection ,
EU ,
Furloughs ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) ,
International Labor Laws ,
Job Retention Schemes ,
Personal Data ,
Subject Access Request (SAR) ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Withdrawal Agreement
The UK government announced its Job Support Scheme (JSS Open) on 24 September and revised terms on 22 October. An expanded version of the Job Support Scheme (JSS Closed) is available for businesses that are required to close...more
On 24 September 2020 the UK government announced its Job Support Scheme (JSS), which will open on 1 November when the current Job Retention Scheme (JRS) comes to an end. It will run for six months until the end of April 2021....more
Replacement for furlough scheme announced -
On 24 September the government announced the Job Support Scheme, which will open on 1 November. The Job Support Scheme will support wages for employees who are performing at...more
Way ahead – Roadmap for employment tribunals published:
The Presidents of the Employment Tribunals have published a roadmap outlining a plan for increasing the number of employment tribunal hearings that can take place...more
On 20 March 2020 the UK government announced its coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (JRS), which allowed businesses to place employees on furlough (temporary leave of absence) and reclaim 80% of their usual monthly wage costs...more
On 20 March 2020 the UK government announced its Job Retention Scheme (JRS). The JRS allows businesses to place employees on furlough (temporary leave of absence) and reclaim 80% of their usual monthly wage costs from HMRC,...more
This note addresses some of the key questions employers are asking about their obligations to employees when businesses start to re-open on a phased basis after the UK's approach to lockdown is scaled back. It will be updated...more
Motive matters -
Employer not liable for rogue employee's data breach -
The Supreme Court confirmed that an employer was not vicariously liable for a data breach carried out by an employee as a personal vendetta against the...more
On 20 March 2020 the UK government announced its Job Retention Scheme (JRS), which will run for an initial period of three months from 1 March 2020. It is expected to be operational by the end of April 2020. The JRS will...more
COVID-19 -
We have collated some questions employers are asking in connection with their obligations to employees during the current public health emergency. ...more