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
Author Archives: James Carmody
Redundancies at HSBC
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
Religious Garments at Work
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
Zero Hours Contracts
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
Disciplinary and Grievance
15 May 2015: Whether to Suspend a Disciplinary hearing to hear a Grievance first: It is quite common for employees to submit grievances in response to disciplinary proceedings. Sometimes this is done strategically to slow down the disciplinary process. In … Continue reading
Dismissal and Discriminatory Colleagues
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
Group Consultation on Redundancy
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
Costs in Employment Tribunals
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
Harassment and Injury to Feelings
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
Whistleblowing and the Public Interest
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
Redundancy, unfair dismissal awards to increase
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
Diet-Controlled Type 2 Diabetes was not a Disability
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
ACAS Code on Disciplinary Procedure Amended
13 March 2015: Updated ACAS Code & the Right to be Accompanied The updated ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures plus non-statutory guidance came into effect on the 11 March 2015. Amongst other things the updated code … Continue reading
Dress Down Friday
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
Disciplinary Investigations
20 February 2015: How much investigation is appropriate in disciplinary proceedings? In Shrestha v Genesis Housing Association Ltd, the Court of Appeal held that an employee was fairly dismissed after an investigation revealed that he had claimed mileage in … Continue reading
Can employers unilaterally change employment contracts?
13 February 2015: The general position is that it takes the agreement of both parties (express or implied) to change a contractual term in an employment contract. In Norman and others v National Audit Office … Continue reading
Gross Misconduct Dismissals
9 February 2015: Gross Misconduct Employers can dismiss summarily for gross misconduct, but have to carry out a reasonable investigation and a fair procedure before doing so. In the case Brito-Bapapulle v Ealing Hospital NHS Trust (Court of Appeal), … Continue reading
Dismissal Appeals. Informing the Employee
30 January 2015: Employers who dismiss an employee should give them the right to appeal that decision. Failure to do so may give rise to an unfair dismissal claim. What if the employer upholds the decision but fails to inform … Continue reading
When is redundancy not redundancy
16 January 2015: Redundancy arises when an employer’s business closes down, or stops in the place where the employee was employed. Alternatively it arises when there is a reduction in the need for the business for that particular kind of … Continue reading
What is redundancy
16 January 2015: Redundancy arises when an employer’s business closes down, or stops in the place where the employee was employed. Alternatively it arises when there is a reduction in the need for the business for that particular kind of … Continue reading
2015. Changes to Employment law in the year ahead
9 January 2015: With an election looming in May 2015, it is more difficult than normal to predict what changes there may be to employment law in the year ahead. The main changes that are currently on the cards are … Continue reading
Obesity and Disability
23 December 2014: Reasonable Adjustments for Santa? Santa has been getting rather portly in recent years and his sleigh is no longer comfortable for him to ride in. Santa has mixed feelings about the European Court of Justice decision … Continue reading
The definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010
12 December 2014: Disability Discrimination – What’s in a Name? There are some names which seem strangely apt, such as that Mark Avery of the RSPB, Belgian footballer Mark De Man, lawmaker Lord Judge and gardener Bob Flowerdew (see BBC article). … Continue reading
Employment Status – Pimlico Plumbers v Smith
5 December 2014: Plumbing the Depths of Employment Status: Some businesses engage staff on a ‘self employed’ basis to avoid PAYE obligations, employee rights (such as the right not to be unfairly dismissed) and worker rights (mainly the right to paid … Continue reading
Dismissal, stress, depression and personal injury
28 November 2014: Stress and a Person of Ordinary Robustness: Can suspension trigger a personal injury claim for depression caused as a result? Generally no, said the Court of Appeal in Yapp v Foreign and Commonwealth Office 2014 which … Continue reading
Redundancy and Maternity Leave
21 November 2014: In the recent EAT case of Sefton Borough Council v Wainwright, Mrs Wainwright was put at risk of redundancy during her maternity leave, but not considered for alternative vacancies until several months later. Regulation 10 of … Continue reading
Do union activities count as ‘working time’
14 November 2014: Even though an employer may not ‘recognise’ a union formally, there may still be union representatives within the business who have union work to attend to. In Edwards and another v Encirc Ltd (ET/2412489/13) a health … Continue reading
Holiday Pay must include overtime
4 November 2014: Does holiday pay include overtime? When calculating the statutory right to paid holiday, most employers make the calculation based on basic pay only, and not overtime. Should they? The Employment Appeal Tribunal has just issued its answer … Continue reading
Consultants providing personal services via limited companies
31 October 2014: Consultants providing personal services via limited companies Many consultants set up limited companies to provide services, in order to reduce their tax exposure. In Halawi v WDFG 2014 reported this week, the Court of Appeal held that … Continue reading
Sickness Absence and Reasonable Adjustments
24 October 2014: Should an employer disregard disability-related absence as a ‘reasonable adjustment’ under the Equality Act? This was considered by the EAT in General Dynamics Information Technology Ltd v Carranza UKEAT/0107/14. Mr Carranza got a final written warning … Continue reading
Tax on Settlement Agreements
17 October 2014: It’s commonly known that a non-contractual payment of up to £30,000 can be made on termination under section 401-4 Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (‘ITEPA’). Contractual payments, and payments in lieu of holiday etc have … Continue reading
Are ‘self employed’ consultants really employees?
10 October 2014: Are ‘Self Employed’ consultants really employees? Many organisations engage self-employed consultants to carry out work for them, sometimes over a period of years. Problems can arise when business wants to dispense with their services, as whatever the … Continue reading
National Minimum Wages Increases
3 October 2014: On the 1st October 2014 the National Minimum Wage increased. It’s now: Adults: Up from £6.31 to £6.50 per hour Young Worker: Up from £5.03 to £5.13 per hour. The London Living Wage remains £8.80 per hour … Continue reading
Shared Parent Leave from April 2015
19 September 2014: Shared Parental Leave from the 5th April 2015: Currently fathers can take Additional Paternity Leave and Pay – for between 2 and 26 weeks at £138.18 pw, to start 20 weeks after the birth or adoption. Parents of babies … Continue reading
Unfair dismissal and international employees
12 September 2014: Can international employees claim unfair dismissal in the UK? Employees in the UK and Europe generally enjoy stronger employment rights than workers in the USA. This might make it attractive for employees of multinationals to claim … Continue reading
Employers Giving References
5 September 2014: The Perils of Giving References: The recent case of Playboy Club London Ltd v Banca Nazionale del Lavaro [2014] is a warning to all employers whose staff may give references without approval. It is well established (in … Continue reading
Do Employers own their staff’s linkedin contacts?
1 August 2014: Do employers own their staff’s linked in contacts? We wrote in July 2013 about Confidentiality, Restrictive Covenants and Linkedin profiles. LinkedIn is becoming a particularly important tool in some jobs, and the ownership of an employee’s … Continue reading
Can an employer convert a disciplinary warning to dismissal on appeal?
25 July 2014: Can an employer convert a disciplinary warning to dismissal on appeal? Not unless the policy expressly says so, was the answer in the Court of Appeal case of McMillan v Airedale NHS Foundation Trust. A contractual … Continue reading
Is Obesity a Disability?
18 July 2014: The short answer is that severe obesity is likely to be a disability under the Equality Act 2010. In Kaltoft v Municipality of Billund (C-354/13) the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice has given … Continue reading
Sick leave or throwing a sickie?
11 July 2014: Throwing a Sickie: Occasional low level sickness absence can be a significant problem for employers. While sickness absence is often genuine, staff also sometimes throw a ‘sickie.’ The BBC reports this week a survey by PwC aiming … Continue reading
