In 2021 the UK ICO said that it would revise its Employment Practices Data Protection Code to reflect the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018. It has now published its first topic-specific guidance on employee monitoring in...more
In separate developments, the UK government announced two potentially significant changes for employers. The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill could mean that at least some EU-derived employment law will expire on...more
There were a surprising number of employment-related developments in the UK over the traditional summer holiday period. We highlight new employment status guidance, government support for neonatal care leave and fair...more
The Court of Appeal in England and Wales has confirmed that in a wrongful dismissal claim, damages can reflect the least burdensome way of terminating an employment contract. In Mackenzie v AA Ltd, this meant that even if the...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
In Smith v Pimlico Plumbers Ltd the Court of Appeal for England and Wales allowed a worker to carry forward statutory holiday he had accrued during the course of his employment, which he had taken but not been paid for, until...more
The High Court of Justice for England and Wales has prevented an employer from dismissing employees and offering to re-engage them on new terms. As the employer was seeking to remove a right to enhanced pay that it had...more
When the UK government announced its national disability strategy in July, it promised to consult on whether to make disability reporting mandatory for employers with 250 or more employees. The consultation paper has now been...more
Using “fire and rehire” as a way to implement changes to terms and conditions of employment has become increasingly controversial in the UK in recent years. In October the government blocked legislation that would have made...more
In Stuart Delivery Ltd v Augustine, the UK Court of Appeal confirmed that a courier who could offer a time slot he had signed up to cover to other couriers was still obliged to perform work personally. This meant that he was...more
The UK government published a consultation paper on making flexible working the default. Possible changes to the current framework include removing the service requirement for making a request, allowing more than one request...more
The UK government has published its national disability strategy, which is designed to help reduce the disability employment gap and ensure that disability is not a barrier to someone’s ability to reach their full potential....more
The UK Supreme Court decision in Royal Mail Group Ltd v Efobi confirms that employees must still prove facts from which a tribunal could draw an inference of discrimination before their claim can proceed, despite a change of...more
7/28/2021
/ Burden of Proof ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equality Act ,
Evidence ,
International Labor Laws ,
Race Discrimination ,
UK ,
UK Employment Appeal Tribunal ,
UK Supreme Court
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
Ethnicity pay gap reporting is currently voluntary in the UK. The Government ran a consultation for employers about ethnicity pay gap reporting that ended in January 2019, and on 9 February 2021, the Women and Equalities...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
Cashiered – supermarket staff succeed in Supreme Court -
To bring an equal pay claim, an employee has to point to a comparator of the opposite sex doing like work, work rated as equivalent or work of equal value. If the...more
4/12/2021
/ Adoption ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Holiday Pay ,
International Labor Laws ,
Parental Leave ,
Sex Discrimination ,
UK ,
UK Employment Appeal Tribunal ,
Wage and Hour
Split the difference - CJEU decision on fragmentation applies to service provision changes -
When a contract is retendered, services that were originally provided by a single contractor may be divided between two or more...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
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
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
See no evil – new employer breached equitable duty of confidence - In Travel Counsellors Ltd v Trailfinders Ltd, the Court of Appeal upheld a decision that Travel Counsellors was in breach of an equitable duty of confidence...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