Mandatory Gender Pay Reporting: Full Details Published By Khurram Shamsee, Ceri Fuller For the first time the Government has published full details of the new requirement for employers…
Employment Matters October 2016 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan This month, employers may be reassured by an EAT decision about flexible working requests and…
Employment Matters November 2016 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan We are hosting another of our live webinars this month…
Employment Matters December 2016 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan Yesterday the Government Equalities Office published significantly revised draft gender pay and…
Gender Pay and Bonus Gap: Revised draft regulations now published By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The revised draft regulations differ significantly from the earlier draft. They are twice as long.
Autumn statement: key points for employers By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The Chancellor of the Exchequer delivered the Autumn Statement on 23 November.
Unfair dismissal: gardening leave and small mistakes undermine fair procedure By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In this case, the EAT considered an appeal against a finding that a redundancy dismissal was fair…
Unfair dismissal: "manifestly inappropriate" final written warning By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In this case, the EAT considered when a tribunal should revisit earlier warnings in unfair…
Statutory maternity payments: bonuses and settlement agreements By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In this case, the First Tier Tax Tribunal decided that a bonus should be included in calculation of…
Working time regulations: working arrangements must allow for rest breaks By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In this case, the EAT considered whether the employer had "refused" to give an employee a rest…
Trade union act 2016: draft code of practice and regulations published By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan Draft regulations and a revised code of practice on industrial action ballots and notice to…
Legal advice privilege: lawyers' notes of investigatory meetings disclosable By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In this case, the High Court ruled that lawyers' notes of interviews with employees and…
Whistleblowing: identifying the "legal obligation" By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In this case, the EAT held that a tribunal had erred in its approach to considering whether there…
Disability discrimination: work stress By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In this case, the EAT provided guidance on when stress caused by difficulties at work may be a…
Vicarious liability: employer was not liable for MD's assault on an employee By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan An MD assaulted an employee at a drinking session after the Christmas party, and the employer was…
Protected conversations: not protected By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan A "protected conversation" was admissible in evidence because of the employer's improper conduct.
What does 2017 hold for employers? By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan Tax free childcare 2017 will see the introduction of a new tax-free childcare scheme to support…
Gender pay and bonus gap reporting: revised regulations published at last By Ceri Fuller, Khurram Shamsee The gender pay gap has been in the news in early 2017, with mixed news for campaigners hoping to…
ACAS produces draft non statutory guidance to assist employers with gender pay and bonus reporting By Khurram Shamsee, Ceri Fuller Commercial and financial sector organisations with 250 or more employees do not have long before…
Unfair dismissal: relying on mobility clauses in redundancy situations By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The EAT has held that two employees with contractual mobility clauses who refused to relocate were…
Unfair dismissal: expired warnings and serial offenders By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In this case, the EAT held that there are circumstances under which expired warnings can be taken…
Discrimination arising from disability: employer's knowledge about the consequences of an employee's disability By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The EAT has held that knowledge of the consequences of a disability is not required for claims of…
Wrongful dismissal: can an employee be dismissed without notice for gross negligence? By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In this case, the Court of Appeal held that gross negligence can constitute gross misconduct,…
Employment Matters March 2017 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan Among many employment law developments this month the Supreme Court has refused British Gas…
Unfair dismissal: dismissal for trade union activities By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The dismissal of a trade union representative for keeping private information that had been…
Discrimination: refusal of five week holiday to attend religious festivals in Sardinia was not indirect religious discrimination By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan Participation in religious festivals in Sardinia can be a genuine manifestation of religious…
Limits on tribunal awards and statutory limits to increase By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan Limits on tribunal awards and statutory payments are to increase from 6 April 2017.
Whistleblowing: annual reporting by prescribed persons By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The facts Draft Regulations, which are due to come into force on 1 April, will require prescribed…
Employment Matters for Health March 2017 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan Among many employment law developments this month the Supreme Court has refused British Gas…
Employment and Pension Group Webinars: Have your say By Ceri Fuller After the success of our previous webinars, DAC Beachcroft's recognised experts in employment law…
What's coming up in Employment Law? A Webinar By Joanne Bell, Ceri Fuller Ceri Fuller and Joanne Bell, members of DAC Beachcroft's Employment and Pension team, look at what…
Employment Matters April 2017 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan Spring is always a busy time for HR and employment lawyers given that many legislative changes take…
Discrimination: Workplace Dress Codes By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan A ban on all religious dress that prevents a Muslim woman from wearing an Islamic headscarf is not…
Unfair dismissal and disability discrimination: dismissing for long term sickness absence By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In this case, the EAT made the difficult decision that an employer should not have dismissed an…
Disability harassment: no harassment without proving a disability By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In this case, the EAT held that a claimant cannot bring a claim of harassment based on a disability…
TUPE - service provision changes: what is the principal purpose of the grouping of employees? By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In this case, the EAT considered the correct approach to determining the "principal purpose" of an…
Sex discrimination: redundancy of part time employee was unfair as tainted by indirect sex discrimination By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In this case, the EAT upheld findings of indirect sex discrimination and discrimination on the…
Notice: when does notice take effect? By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan Does contractual notice of termination take effect on posting, delivery, or communication of the…
Breach of contract: nominal damages of £1 awarded despite taking confidential information By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan Where former employees breach a duty of confidence and make no use of that information such that…
Employment Matters for Health April 2017 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan Spring is always a busy time for HR and employment lawyers given that many legislative changes take…
Trade Union issues: New Facility Time Publication Requirements for Public Sector Employers By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017 are now in effect…
Employment Matters for Financial Services April 2017 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan Spring is always a busy time for HR and employment lawyers given that many legislative changes take…
Employment Matters May 2017 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan Outside the world of employment law the main news, of course, is the snap election on 8 June…
Indirect discrimination: no need to establish the reason for a particular disadvantage By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In two conjoined cases, (Essop and Naeem) the Supreme Court considered whether a claimant in an…
Unfair dismissal and race discrimination: poor attitude to organisational change can constitute gross misconduct By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The Court of Appeal has held that an employee's poor attitude to organisational change had amounted…
TUPE: employee liability information By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The EAT has held that employee liability information provided pursuant to TUPE does not need to…
Employment Matters for Public Health May 2017 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan Outside the world of employment law the main news, of course, is the snap election on 8 June…
Employment Matters June 2017 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan With the general election taking place this week, both Labour and the Conservatives have put the…
Disability discrimination: refusal to adapt multiple choice test for job applicant suffering from Aspergers was discriminatory By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The EAT has upheld a tribunal's decision that a job applicant suffering from Aspergers was…
The right to be accompanied: £2 awarded for employer's breach By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan A tribunal awarded nominal compensation of £2 for not permitting an employee to be accompanied by…
Whistleblowing: it's for the tribunal to decide if a disclosure is protected By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In this case the Court of Appeal restored an employment tribunal's decision that a consultant…
Holiday pay: a series of deductions is broken by gaps of three months or more By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In this case, the EAT confirmed that, where there is a three month gap between incidents of…
Shoe company fined £40,000 by the pensions regulator for failing to meet its auto-enrolment obligations By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The facts Johnsons Shoes Company had an automatic enrolment staging date of 1 May 2014, when…
The election: manifesto highlights By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan Labour and the Conservatives both put employee and worker issues at the centre of their manifesto…
Employment Matters for Health June 2017 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan With the general election taking place this week, both Labour and the Conservatives have put the…
Whistleblowing: trainee doctor may be able to bring a whistleblowing claim against both health education England and the employing NHS trust By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal against a decision that whistleblower protection did not…
IR35 update - working through intermediaries By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The facts Further guidance has been issued by NHS Improvement in relation to the application of…
Restrictive covenants: High Court upholds six month non-compete By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The High Court has held that the reasonableness of a six month non-compete clause should be…
The Queen's Speech: what do employers need to know? By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan On 21 June 2017, the Queen's Speech set out details of legislation that the government intends to…
Disability discrimination: redundancy following sickness absence was not discriminatory By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The EAT has held that it was not discriminatory to make a disabled employee redundant following a…
Subject Access Requests: ICO publishes updated code By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has updated its subject access code of practice to…
Immigration: EU migrants By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The government has released a policy paper on the proposed rights of EU migrants in light of Brexit…
Employment Matters July 2017 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan This month, the press has reported on an employment tribunal decision that a male employee was…
Employment Matters for Health July 2017 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan This month, the press has reported on an employment tribunal decision that a male employee was…
Employment Matters August 2017 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The world of employment law has been very busy this month…
Whistleblowing: non-executive directors personally liable for nearly £1.8 million following the dismissal of a whistleblower By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The EAT upholds a finding that (with the employer) two non-executive directors were jointly and…
Disability discrimination: advantageous treatment of disabled employee was not unfavourable treatment By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan TA disabled employee was not treated unfavourably when his enhanced pension on ill-health…
Discrimination: increases to awards for injury to feelings and personal injury By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The Court of Appeal has held that the 10% increase in certain types of awards in county courts…
Privilege: confidentiality and "clean hands” By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In this case, the High Court considered whether a document was privileged, looking at whether it…
Regular voluntary overtime should be included in holiday pay By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council v Willetts and others…
Regular voluntary overtime should be included in holiday pay (NHS) By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council v Willetts and others…
Employment Matters for Public Health August 2017 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The world of employment law has been very busy this month…
Employment Matters September 2017 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan This month has been much quieter in the world of employment law…
Pensions: Court of Appeal takes pragmatic approach to changes affecting pensions By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In two recent cases the Court of Appeal have taken a pragmatic approach when considering the issue…
Religion or belief discrimination: disciplining an employee for quoting bible passages that caused offence was not religious discrimination By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The EAT has held that a prison employee disciplined for quoting bible passages which caused offence…
Constructive dismissal: suspension was not a neutral act but a repudiatory breach of contract By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The High Court has held that the suspension, pending investigation, of a teacher accused of having…
Worker status: Addison Lee cycle courier was a worker By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In the latest case on worker status, an Employment Tribunal held that a cycle courier was a worker,…
The General Data Protection Regulation - what are the implications for employers as data controllers? By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan Last month the Government issued its statement of intent to publish a new Data Protection Bill…
Protection of pregnant workers from redundancy: Advocate General's opinion By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan According to an Advocate General, pregnant workers are protected from the beginning of their…
Industrial action: ballot paper requirements By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan There is no requirement to specify the precise date for proposed industrial action on a voting…
Discrimination: awards for injury to feelings By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The bands according to which compensation for injury to feelings awards are calculated have been…
Equal pay: supermarket employees are entitled to compare themselves to distribution depot employees By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The EAT had held that predominantly female Asda supermarket employees can compare themselves with a…
Data Protection Bill 2017: implications for employers on first reading By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan Last month we reported on the EU's General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR")…
Monitoring emails: right to privacy was infringed by decision to monitor personal messages sent on a work account By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has reversed a previous finding on the…
Employment Matters October 2017 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In this month's alert, we look at an Advocate General's Opinion which, if followed by the European…
Employment Matters November 2017 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan This month more employers have published their gender pay and bonus gap results on the Government's…
Tax: changes to taxation of termination payments from tax year 2018/2019 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The Government has published the second Finance Bill of 2017 which contains provisions relating to…
Unfair dismissal: taking past misconduct into account By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The EAT has held that an employee was not unfairly dismissed when the investigation report gave…
Discrimination: who is liable where the decision maker is influenced by someone else? By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In this case, the EAT considered where liability for discrimination sits when decisions are made…
Discrimination: part time workers By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In this case, the EAT upheld a tribunal's decision that the requirement for a part time worker to…
Mental health at work: report published By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan "Thriving at Work", the review into mental health at work commissioned by the Prime Minister, has…
Tribunal fees: employment tribunal fee refund scheme opens By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan Following the Supreme Court judgment on tribunal fees, the Government has launched the first stage…
Parental bereavement: bill published By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The Parental Bereavement Bill has been published and received a second reading.
Employment Matters December 2017 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan This month, holiday pay has been back in focus as a result of a European judgment about a worker…
Wrongful constructive dismissal: don't give misleading reasons for dismissal By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan Employer's false explanation that the reason for dismissal was reorganisation, when it was poor…
Unfair dismissal: dismissing for illegality By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan An employer cannot fairly dismiss an employee for illegality simply because they do not provide the…
Reimbursement of Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal fees: refund scheme now rolled out in full By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The facts In October the Government launched the initial phase of its tribunal fees refund…
Increases to family leave and statutory sick payments announced By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The facts In a Written Ministerial Statement from the Department for Work and Pensions, the…
The gig economy and worker status developments By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan UBER: EAT upholds Employment Tribunal's decision that UBER drivers are "workers".
Deliveroo: The CAC decides that riders are not "workers" and not entitled to trade union recognition By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The facts In 2016, the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain submitted an application for…
Report on modern working practices published By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan A combined report from two House of Commons Select Committees has been published, recommending…
Tax and employment status: government reforms By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The facts In April 2017, the Government reformed the off-payroll working rules (known as IR35)…
Subject access requests under the GDPR: much ado about nothing? By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan There is no denying that the General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR") will have far reaching…
Collective bargaining: Unlawful inducements to cease collective bargaining By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The EAT has upheld an employment tribunal's decision that an employer offered employees unlawful…
Disability discrimination: Employment tribunal was right to find perceived disability discrimination By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The Facts In this case the EAT upheld an employment tribunal decision that a police officer, who…
Protected conversations: When can an employment tribunal hear evidence about a protected conversation? By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In this case, the EAT has held that a tribunal can consider evidence of protected conversations…
Data Protection: Employer held vicariously liable for employee data breach By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The High Court (Langstaff J) handed down a significant decision holding Morrisons supermarkets…
Whistleblowing: Disclosures made purely in self-interest are not protected By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In this case the EAT held that an employee who raised compliance issues purely out of concern for…
Gender Pay Reporting - what NHS bodies need to know and do before 31 March 2018: Webinar By James Rhodes, Ceri Fuller DAC Beachcroft's recognised experts, James Rhodes and Ceri Fuller cover what NHS bodies need to…
Employment Matters February 2018 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan Not many will have missed the coverage of events at the Presidents Club dinner last month where…
Whistleblowing: a detriment claim can be brought against overseas colleagues By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The EAT has held that whistleblowing claims can be brought against co-workers who are based abroad…
Whistleblowing: the person subjecting a whistleblower to a detriment must be personally motivated by a protected disclosure By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The EAT has decided that, to be liable for a detriment under whistleblowing legislation, a person…
Collective Bargaining: outsourced workers not entitled to collectively bargain with "De Facto" employer By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The Central Arbitration Committee has rejected a claim that outsourced workers employed at a…
Covert Surveillance: does it breach the right to privacy? By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The use of hidden cameras did violate the right to privacy of employees who were dismissed for…
Unfair Dismissal: effective date of dismissal By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The effective date of termination for a summary dismissal is the date on which the employee is told…
Working Time Regulations: compensatory rest breaks must be a single continuous period of at least twenty minutes By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan In this case, the EAT considered whether compensatory rest must be taken in one uninterrupted…
Employment Matters March 2018 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan Our first two cases this month will not be welcomed by employers as they allow for the possibility…
Working time: compensation for injury to feelings can be awarded in claims for working time detriment By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The EAT has held that tribunals have the jurisdiction to make awards for injury to feelings in…
Whistleblowing: awards for detriment claims may include post-termination losses By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The Court of Appeal has held that, in principle, whistleblowers can claim post-termination losses…
Disability discrimination: when does the employer "know" about a disability? By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan This Court of Appeal decision confirms that an employer does not have to take every possible step…
Injunctions: springboard injunction could be appropriate where the employee breaches a contractual term requiring him to tell his employer about job offers from competitors By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The Courts have held that a 12 month springboard injunction preventing an employee from working for…
Pensions and age discrimination: certain pension schemes changes could amount to age discrimination By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan Under the Equality Act 2010, discrimination on grounds of age is unlawful unless it can be…
Increase in compensation limits, payments for time off work and national minimum wage By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan Compensation limit Current From 6 April 2018 Maximum limit on a week's pay £489 £508…
Employment Matters April 2018 By Ceri Fuller, Joanne Bell This month, the world of employment law has produced a rich variety of cases, as covered in this…
Unfair dismissal: It was reasonable to dismiss a head teacher for not disclosing a relationship which presented a risk to children By Ceri Fuller, Joanne Bell The Supreme Court has upheld a tribunal decision that a school acted reasonably in dismissing a…
TUPE: Service provision changes and fragmentation By Joanne Bell, Ceri Fuller In this case, the EAT considered whether there had been a service provision change where the…
National minimum wage: Consultation on new national minimum wage rates and national living rates By Ceri Fuller, Joanne Bell The Low Pay Commission has opened a consultation seeking views on existing national minimum wage…
Disability discrimination: Is a “pre-cancerous” condition a disability? By Ceri Fuller, Joanne Bell The EAT has held that a tribunal was wrong to decide that a form of skin cancer described as…
Employment tribunals: Costs orders By Ceri Fuller, Joanne Bell The EAT has confirmed that costs orders can be awarded in respect of costs incurred before the…
Pregnancy discrimination: An employer cannot discriminate on the grounds of pregnancy if it does not know about the pregnancy By Ceri Fuller, Joanne Bell To be liable for automatic unfair dismissal or discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy, the…
Disability discrimination: Long working hours By Ceri Fuller, Joanne Bell The Court of Appeal has confirmed that an expectation that a disabled employee would work long…
Employment Matters May 2018 By Ceri Fuller, Joanne Bell Now that the first round of reporting gender pay and bonus gaps has been done, the next deadline…
GDPR: less than a month to go and counting By Ceri Fuller After a two year countdown the implementation date for the General Data Protection Regulation…
Contractual Notice: In the absence of an express term, when does notice of termination take effect? By Ceri Fuller If there is no express contractual term, contractual notice takes effect on the date when it comes…
Discrimination? No discrimination where shared parental leave pay and enhanced maternity pay are not paid at the same level By Ceri Fuller If you offer enhanced maternity pay do you also have to enhance shared parental leave pay? On 11…
Redundancies and Unfair Dismissal: Does an employer have to consider "Bumping" in redundancy situations? By Ceri Fuller In this case, the EAT considered whether employers are required to consider bumping junior…
References: Do reference writers have to consider whether earlier investigations have been fair? By Ceri Fuller An employer was not negligent where it had provided a reference containing negative opinions formed…
Employment Matters June 2018 By Ceri Fuller, Joanne Bell, Neil Bhan This month has seen some interesting case law on unfair dismissal…
Constructive Dismissal : Last straws By Ceri Fuller, Joanne Bell The Court of Appeal has confirmed that a last straw incident can revive the employee’s right to…
Constructive Dismissal: Unilateral imposition of a pay cut can never be reasonable and proper By Ceri Fuller, Joanne Bell An employer can never have a reasonable and proper cause for breaching the implied term of trust…
Unfair Dismissal: Summary dismissal for a pattern of behaviour, rather than a single act of gross misconduct, can be fair By Ceri Fuller, Joanne Bell The dismissal of a surgeon with an unblemished record for a series of misconduct issues was…
Unfair Dismissal: A dismissal without prior warning can be fair even if the misconduct is "serious" rather than "gross" By Ceri Fuller, Joanne Bell The EAT has held that a dismissal without prior warning is not necessarily unfair where the conduct…
Disability Discrimination: Dismissing for misconduct where the misconduct is caused by disability By Ceri Fuller, Joanne Bell A dismissal for misconduct can be discriminatory even if the employer does not know that a…
Harassment: Was an employee harassed on the grounds of his religion when a colleague asked him whether he promoted Islamic State? By Ceri Fuller, Joanne Bell The EAT has upheld a tribunal’s judgment that, taking the context into account, a Muslim employee…
Employment Matters July 2018 By Ceri Fuller DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters August 2018 focuses on some of the most interesting cases and…
Unfair Dismissal: automatically unfair dismissal for trade union activities By Ceri Fuller When is an employee’s conduct so bad that dismissal for carrying out trade union activities will…
Equal Pay: Comparators By Ceri Fuller The EAT has held that a group of female employees' right to equal pay was not affected by the…
Disability Discrimination: An employer discriminated by disciplining a disabled employee for sixty days’ sickness absence By Ceri Fuller The EAT has held that an employer failed to objectively justify its decision to discipline a…
Zero Hours Contract: Part time workers' discrimination By Ceri Fuller A part time associate lecturer on a zero hours contract was employed under the same type of…
Whistleblowing: Protected disclosures By Ceri Fuller In this case, the Court of Appeal considered the circumstances under which allegations might amount…
Immigration: Round Up for Employers By Nicola Sherry, Ceri Fuller Immigration compliance remains a challenge for employers…
Employment Matters August 2018 By Ceri Fuller, Hilary Larter This month, the Court of Appeal held that workers on sleep in shifts are only entitled to the…
Disability Discrimination: Failure to consider part time working By Ceri Fuller An employment tribunal erred in not considering whether part-time working as an alternative to…
Unfair Dismissal and Immigration: Employer should have allowed employee a right of appeal when he had been dismissed for failing to evidence his right to work By Ceri Fuller The EAT has held that the dismissal of an employee for failing to provide evidence of his right to…
Employment Status: Employment Tribunal find Hermes couriers were workers By Ceri Fuller Following on from the Pimlico Plumbers case, an employment tribunal has found that couriers of…
Data Protection: Disclosure of mixed personal data By Ceri Fuller The Court of Appeal has considered the circumstances under which personal data which relates to a…
Sexual Harassment in the workplace By Ceri Fuller Far reaching proposals for reform would, if adopted, bring significant changes for employers.
Menopause: Is it a disability? By Ceri Fuller A Scottish tribunal case has highlighted that women who have the symptoms of the menopause may be…
Unfair Dismissal: No dismissal where the employee successfully appealed under a contractual disciplinary policy By Ceri Fuller The Court of Appeal has upheld the EAT’s decision that an employee who successfully appealed their…
Employment Matters October 2018 By Ceri Fuller DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters October 2018 focuses on some of the most interesting cases and…
Termination of Employment: Ambiguous Resignations By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan An employee’s letter to an employer giving “one month’s notice” was not a letter of resignation.
Privilege: Judgement on litigation privilege overturned By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court decision about whether litigation privilege will…
Disability Discrimination: Incompetent procedure was not discriminatory By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The Court of Appeal has held that an employer’s use of an “arcane and unwieldy” to process an…
TUPE: Changing terms and conditions following TUPE transfer By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The withdrawal following a TUPE transfer of an outdated and unjustified contractual entitlement was…
Employment Tribunal Procedure: Error in an ET1 form and extensions of time By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan We successfully appealed against an employment tribunal judgment which granted a claimant an…
Victimisation: When is a protected act done in bad faith? By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The EAT has held that an ulterior motive does not mean a protected act is made in bad faith where…
Business Immigration: Migration Advisory Committee publishes long awaited report By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The Migration Advisory Committee has now released its long awaited report on EEA Migration which…
Vicarious Liability: Employer vicariously liable for Managing Director's assault By Ceri Fuller An employer was vicariously liable for its managing director’s assault on an employee when drinking…
Whistleblowing: Individual workers can be liable for a whistleblowing dismissal By Ceri Fuller The Court of Appeal has upheld the EAT’s decision that an employee may bring a claim against a…
Refusal to provide cake with slogan "Support Gay marriage" not discriminatory By Ceri Fuller The Supreme Court has held that a bakery did not discriminate against a gay man when it refused to…
Discrimination: Was it harassment to call a colleague with Type 1 Diabetes a "fat ginger pikey"? By Ceri Fuller An employee suffering from type 1 diabetes, with strong links to the traveller community, was not…
Employment Tribunals: Claims of unlawful deductions from wages By Ceri Fuller The Court of Appeal has held that employment tribunals have jurisdiction to resolve disputes about…
Disability Discrimination: Causation test for discrimination arising from a disability By Ceri Fuller The causation test for discrimination arising from a disability must not be applied too strictly.
Disability Discrimination: Despite a failure to issue job descriptions reflecting a disabled employee's adjusted duties, there was no discrimination By Ceri Fuller Although an employer had not issued job descriptions showing adjustments made to a disabled…
Holiday Pay: Employers need to show they have encouraged their workers to take the holiday they have accrued By Ceri Fuller In two co-joined German cases, the European Court of Justice has looked at the issue of when a…
Data Protection: Employer vicariously liable for a rogue employee's internet disclosure of 100,00 employees' personal information By Ceri Fuller The Court of Appeal has upheld a High Court decision that Morrisons was vicariously liable in…
EU Settlement Scheme: Helping you support EU staff By Udara Ranasinghe, Ceri Fuller The Government has announced that the majority of employees working in the Health and Social Care…
Employment Matters - November 2018 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters November 2018 focuses on some of the most interesting cases and…
Employment Matters - December 2018 By Ceri Fuller DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters December 2018 focuses on some of the most interesting cases and…
Worker Status: Addison Lee taxi drivers are workers By Ceri Fuller The EAT has upheld an employment tribunal decision that drivers working for Addison Lee were…
Unfair Dismissal: Redundancy trial periods By Ceri Fuller An employer’s failure to offer a contractual trial period was likely to mean that the employee’s…
Equal Pay: Time limits for bringing claims By Ceri Fuller The EAT has held that a “stable working relationship” can potentially be maintained where workers…
Breach of Contract: Foundation trust did not breach consultant's contract when it investigated its concerns outside the MHPS framework By Ceri Fuller The High Court has held that the provisions of MHPS were not incorporated into a consultant's…
Employment Matters - January 2019 By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters January 2019 focuses on some of the most interesting cases and…
New Work Plan: Government issues further guidance By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller The Government has laid the first statutory instruments in relation to its proposals under the Good…
Workplace Sexual Harassment: Government to introduce statutory code of practice By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller The Government has published its response to the Women and Equalities Select Committee’s report of…
Privilege: Emails about commercial settlement of a dispute were not covered by litigation privilege By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller Emails between board members and board members and stakeholders were created for the dominant…
Disability Discrimination: Employee was dismissed for a tendency to steal, and could not claim disability discrimination By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller An employee was dismissed for a tendency to steal, which is excluded from being a "disability"…
Disability Discrimination: What is "unfavourable" treatment? By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller The Supreme Court has agreed with the Court of Appeal that advantageous treatment because of a…
Dismissal while on PHI benefit: Restriction on dismissing employee receiving long term disability benefits By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The EAT has held that, given the drafting of a particular contract, a term should be implied to…
National Minimum Wage: Consultation By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The Government has launched a consultation on National Minimum Wage rules about salaried workers…
Employment Matters February 2019 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters February 2019 focuses on some of the most interesting cases and…
Disability Discrimination: Employer's knowledge of the disability By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan An employer had actual and constructive knowledge of an employee’s disability months before an OH…
Discrimination: Burden of Proof By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller Court of Appeal overturns EAT burden of proof decision.
Whistleblowing: Is an employee complaint about defamation protected? By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller The EAT has held that a complaint about defamation is capable of being a qualifying disclosure, and…
Discrimination: Judges' and Firefighters' pension schemes By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller In a landmark case, the Court of Appeal has held that the Government has discriminated against…
Immigration: January Developments By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller Settled status fees abolished, right to work checks go digital, and planning for a 'no deal' Brexit
Working Time: Calculation of holiday pay By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller The European Court of Justice considered whether a reduction of pay for statutory holiday to take…
Employment Matters March 2019 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
Discrimination: An employer does not directly discriminate by treating an employee less favourably because of the employer's rather than the employee's religion or belief By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller The dismissal of a nursery teacher for co-habiting with her boyfriend, contrary to her employer’s…
TUPE Dismissals: The dismissal of an employee because of a bad working relationship with a colleague was a TUPE related dismissal By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller The dismissal of an employee on the day of a TUPE transfer because her new employer anticipated…
Unfair Dismissal: Asserting a future breach of a statutory right cannot be the basis of a claim for automatically unfair dismissal By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller A claim of automatically unfair dismissal for asserting breach of a statutory right must be based…
Limits on tribunal awards and statutory payments to increase from 6 April 2019 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan From 6 April 2019, the maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal will rise from £83,682 to…
Agency Workers: Hirer's liability for failure to provide equal pay to agency workers By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller The hirer of agency workers was liable for the agency’s failure to pay equal pay to the workers in…
Working Time & Compensatory Rest: Compensatory rest breaks need not be for an uninterrupted period of 20 minutes where there is a "special case" exemption By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan An employer is entitled to allow an employee, when they have been unable to take an uninterrupted…
New guidance issued by NHS Employers on the use of settlement agreements and confidentiality clauses By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan NHS Employers have issued a new factsheet for employers and workers in order to assist…
Cyber and Information Law Newsletter: Issue 1 - Round up of 2019 By Jade Kowalski, Rhiannon Webster, Ceri Fuller, Khurram Shamsee, Sophie Devlin, Christopher Air Welcome to the relaunch of our cyber and information law round up…
Cyber and Information Law Newsletter: Issue 1 - Sector spotlight By Ceri Fuller, Khurram Shamsee, Jade Kowalski, Sophie Devlin, Christopher Air Spotlight on data protection issues in the employment sphere HR professionals handle a wide…
Employment Matters - April 2019 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
Suspension: The suspension of a teacher in anticipation of a misconduct investigation was not a breach of trust and confidence. By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan An employer had reasonable and proper cause to suspend a teacher: necessity is not the correct…
Suspension and Internal Process: Continuing with internal process before conclusion of criminal proceedings not a breach of contract but suspending a Doctor without pay was. By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller An NHS employer was entitled to progress internal hearings concerning a doctor although a criminal…
Disciplinary Discrimination: No discrimination where an employee mistakenly believes that following an instruction would exacerbate her disability By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan A disciplinary warning for refusal to comply with an instruction was not unfavourable treatment…
Disability Discrimination: Reasonable adjustments and dedicated parking spaces. By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan An employment tribunal was wrong in its approach to reasonable adjustments when considering whether…
Discrimination: Disciplinary proceedings and unconscious bias By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan A gay headteacher was constructively dismissed because of a flawed disciplinary investigation into…
Working Time: Compensation for failure to provide rest breaks By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan An employment tribunal was entitled to award personal injury damages where an employer’s failure to…
Discrimination: Positive action By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller In the first employment tribunal decision on positive action, an employment tribunal found that the…
Employment Matters - May 2019 By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller, Hilary Larter DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
Unfair Dismissal: Employer could rely on tribunal findings to forgo a disciplinary investigation but an appeal hearing was still required By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller, Hilary Larter An FCA regulated employer dismissed an employee in reliance on an employment tribunal’s findings…
PHI: Dismissed employee was entitled to compensation for his PHI benefits until hes death or retirement age By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller, Hilary Larter The EAT has held that an employee would have been entitled to PHI benefits until death or…
Executive Remuneration: Government report published By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller, Hilary Larter A Business, Energy and Industrial (BEIS) parliamentary committee has published a strongly worded…
Vicarious Liability: Employer not liable for injury sustained by employee at Christmas party By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller, Hilary Larter The High Court has held that an employer was not liable for injuries sustained by an employee when…
Discrimination and Whistleblowing Awards: Vento Band increased By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller, Hilary Larter An increase to the bands for injury to feelings awards in discrimination and whistleblowing awards…
Government resurrects plans for a cap on public sector exit payments By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller, Hilary Larter The government has launched a consultation on draft regulations and associated guidance which…
Employment Matters for Health - May 2019 By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller, Hilary Larter DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
Employment Matters - June 2019 By Nick Chronias, Ceri Fuller, Hilary Larter DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
Unfair Dismissal: Dismissal of a Christian employee for proselytising was not unfair By Nick Chronias, Ceri Fuller, Hilary Larter An NHS Trust did not unfairly dismiss a Christian nurse who had continued to proselytise to…
Working Time: The ECJ holds that employers must have a system for measuring daily working time of all workers By Nick Chronias, Ceri Fuller, Hilary Larter The European Court of Justice has held that member states must require employers to set up a system…
Disability Discrimination: Blocking of internal posting for disabled employee was not disability discrimination By Nick Chronias, Ceri Fuller, Hilary Larter An employee with multiple disabilities did not suffer disability discrimination when an overseas…
Disability Discrimination: Knowledge of disability By Nick Chronias, Ceri Fuller, Hilary Larter The dismissal of an employee may have been discriminatory even though the employer only found out…
Unfair Dismissal: Employer's failure to follow its own informal disciplinary procedure resulted in constructive dismissal By Nick Chronias, Ceri Fuller, Hilary Larter An employee of an NHS Trust who resigned in response to the issuing of an informal “Improvement…
Employment Matters - July 2019 By Ceri Fuller DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
Collective Bargaining: Unlawful inducement By Ceri Fuller A one-off direct offer to employees bypassing collective bargaining was not an unlawful inducement.
Right to Privacy: Employer's reliance in dismissal procedure on material found by police on an employee's phone was not a breach of the employee's right to privacy By Ceri Fuller An employer who, when deciding to dismiss an employee, relied on material found on an employee’s…
Disability Discrimination: Perceived disability By Ceri Fuller An employer’s refusal to accept a request from a serving police offer to transfer because it…
DSAR responses: High Court decides paper files need to be considered, and gives guidance on reasonable and proportionate searches (as well as legal professional privilege) By Ceri Fuller In this case the High Court (in a remitted hearing from the Court of Appeal) looked at whether a…
Employment Matters - August 2019 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
Discrimination: Stereotypical assumptions By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter A tribunal can take judicial notice of stereotypical assumptions that might be held, but it must…
Disability Discrimination: Employer's knowledge of disability By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter An employer did not have constructive knowledge of an employee’s disabilities because she had…
Harassment: Are employers liable for employees' offensive Facebook posts? By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter An employer was not liable for harassment when an employee posted a racially offensive image on…
TUPE: National minimum wage pay information By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter Transferors are not responsible for providing pay information under national minimum wage…
Consultation Update By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter Government responds to two consultations and issues four more restrictive covenants
Employment Matters - September 2019 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
Covert Recordings: An employee's covert recording is not necessarily an act of gross misconduct By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter The EAT has given useful guidance on whether, and when, covert recordings by employees will amount…
Holiday Pay: Holiday pay entitlement for part year workers By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter Statutory holiday pay entitlement for workers who only work for part of the holiday year should be…
Illegal Workers: Illegal worker was not barred from bringing contractual claims against her ex employer By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter A domestic worker whose right to live in and work in the UK had expired without her knowledge was…
Employment Matters for Health - September 2019 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
Junior Doctors: Widely used methodology for monitoring working hours and rest breaks for junior doctors is flawed By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter The Court of Appeal has held that junior doctor pay has been incorrectly calculated in breach of…
Employment Matters - October 2019 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
Religion or Belief Discrimination: Employment Tribunal finds ‘vegetarianism’ is not a “belief” protected from discrimination By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter An employment tribunal has held that vegetarianism is not protected by discrimination legislation…
Legal Privilege: Cherry picking the waiver of legal privilege By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter Employers who decide to waive legal privilege over documents that support their case risk…
Whistleblowing: Is an employee protected as a whistleblower if the disclosure is made partly out of self-interest? By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter An employee who makes a disclosure partly out of self-interest may be protected as a whistleblower…
Redundancy Payments: Employee entitled to be awarded a Statutory Redundancy Payment as well as an NHS Contractual Redundancy Payment By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter The tribunal cap of £25,000 for contractual claims did not apply to prevent an employee being…
Employment Matters for Health - October 2019 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
Employment Matters - November 2019 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
Religion and belief discrimination: Beliefs about transgenderism were not protected by discrimination legislation By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter A Christian doctor whose beliefs about transgenderism prevented him from referring to transgender…
Legal advice privilege: Leaked email from a solicitor was legally privileged By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter The Court of Appeal has overturned an EAT decision and held that a solicitor’s leaked email did not…
Race discrimination: The dangers of not giving an honest reason for a dismissal By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter An employer who lied about the reason for a dismissal was trying to cover up a dismissal tainted by…
Indirect religion and belief discrimination: Did an employee suffer indirect discrimination because of her beliefs about copyright? By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter The Court of Appeal has dismissed an employee’s claim that she suffered indirect discrimination…
Unfair dismissal: Disciplinary investigations By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter The removal of an investigator’s evaluative conclusions from an investigation report following…
Employment Matters - December 2019 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
Holiday and sickness absence: Employers are only required to allow carry-over of four weeks' holiday for workers on sickness absence By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter Under current law, employers must permit workers who are unable to take their statutory annual…
Whistleblowing: Public interest test By Ceri Fuller, Hilary Larter, Zoë Wigan A claimant must have the opportunity to give direct evidence about whether they had a subjective…
Whistleblowing: Interim relief By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter An application for interim relief can be brought in a whistleblowing claim for unfair dismissal…
Automatically unfair dismissal: Should the motivation of anyone except for a decision maker be taken into account? By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter An employee was automatically unfairly dismissed because the investigation was driven by a manager…
Disability discrimination: Sickness absence triggers By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter An employer who did not adapt the sickness absence trigger point for a disabled employee failed to…
Confidentiality clauses: Evolving position By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter Ignited by the #MeToo movement, there continues to be significant interest around the topic of…
General Election 2019: Possible employment law reform By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter With the UK general election fast approaching, we have summarised the key employment law policies…
Indirect religious discrimination: Blanket “no beards” policy indirectly discriminated against Sikh job applicant By Ceri Fuller, Hilary Larter, Zoë Wigan Mr Sethi is a Sikh who adheres strictly to Kesh, which is the requirement that the hair of the body…
The Queen's Speech: Employment Law Changes By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter On 19 December 2019, the Queen’s Speech was delivered, setting out details of legislation that the…
Whistleblowing: Suffering a Detriment By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter To bring a whistleblowing detriment claim in an employment tribunal, a worker must suffer the…
Workers Status: Right of Substitution By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter A courier’s ability to “release” a delivery job was not an unfettered right of substitution
Menopause: New Guidance For Employers By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter ACAS has published guidance to help employers manage and support menopausal staff…
Data Protection: ICO amends guidance on timescales for compliance with DSARs By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has amended its guidance on the timescales for…
Miscarriage and the workplace By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter The Miscarriage Association has published a leaflet containing information and advice for…
Employment Matters - February 2020 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
6 April 2020: What is changing for Employers? By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter Changes to statutory rates and employment related legislation are coming into effect from 6 April…
New Law: Section One Statements By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter From 6 April 2020, all employers will need to take action to comply with new obligations to provide…
Brexit: Employment Rights By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter No changes expected in 2020 to existing EU-derived employment rights.
Suspension: Solicitor who was suspended wins right to continue to perform most of her duties By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter The High Court has granted an interim injunction requiring an employer to permit a solicitor who…
Sexual harassment and harassment at work: Technical guidance issued By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller, Hilary Larter The Equality and Human Rights Commission has published technical guidance on harassment in the…
Unfair Dismissal: Probation service employee who failed to disclose a child protection issue was fairly dismissed By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter A Probation Service Officer was not unfairly dismissed for deliberately failing to give her…
New Law: Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter From 6 April 2020, parents who have tragically suffered the loss of a child will be entitled to two…
