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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Unfair dismissal: Disciplinary investigations By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter The removal of an investigator’s evaluative conclusions from an investigation report following…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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 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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Consultation Update By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan, Hilary Larter Government responds to two consultations and issues four more restrictive covenants
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Disability Discrimination: Perceived disability By Ceri Fuller An employer’s refusal to accept a request from a serving police offer to transfer because it…
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…
Collective Bargaining: Unlawful inducement By Ceri Fuller A one-off direct offer to employees bypassing collective bargaining was not an unlawful inducement.
Employment Matters - July 2019 By Ceri Fuller DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Cyber and Information Law Newsletter: Issue 1 - Sector spotlight By Ceri Fuller, Khurram Shamsee, , Jade Kowalski, Sophie Devlin Spotlight on data protection issues in the employment sphere HR professionals handle a wide…
Cyber and Information Law Newsletter: Issue 1 - Round up of 2019 By , , Jade Kowalski, Rhiannon Webster, Ceri Fuller, Khurram Shamsee, , Sophie Devlin Welcome to the relaunch of our cyber and information law round up…
Discrimination: Positive action By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller In the first employment tribunal decision on positive action, an employment tribunal found that the…
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: Disciplinary proceedings and unconscious bias By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan A gay headteacher was constructively dismissed because of a flawed disciplinary investigation into…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Employment Matters - April 2019 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Employment Matters March 2019 By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
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…
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
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…
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: Burden of Proof By Zoë Wigan, Ceri Fuller Court of Appeal overturns EAT burden of proof decision.
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…
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…
National Minimum Wage: Consultation By Ceri Fuller, Zoë Wigan The Government has launched a consultation on National Minimum Wage rules about salaried workers…
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…
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…
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"…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
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…
