Government announces intention to change the working time regulations, TUPE and non-compete clauses By Joanne Bell, Nick Chronias On 10 May the Government published a policy paper “Smarter Regulation to Grow the Economy’ setting…
Holiday pay entitlement for part-year workers should not be pro-rated - Supreme Court dismisses appeal in Harpur Trust v Brazel By Joanne Bell, James Rhodes The Supreme Court has today ruled that holiday entitlement and pay for workers on permanent…
“Fire and rehire”: Court of Appeal overturns injunction in Tesco v Usdaw By Philip Harman, Joanne Bell Earlier this year the High Court granted an injunction to prevent Tesco from ‘firing and rehiring”…
Government’s plans: “Living with COVID-19” – implications for non NHS health and social care employers By Zoe Thomas, Joanne Bell, Hilary Larter On 21 February the Prime Minister announced the Government’s plans to remove the remaining…
Government’s plans: “Living with COVID-19” – implications for NHS employers By Zoe Thomas, Joanne Bell, Hilary Larter On 21 February the Prime Minister announced the Government’s plans to remove the remaining…
Regulations requiring health and social care workers to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to be revoked from 15 March By Joanne Bell, Nick Chronias On 1 February we reported that the Secretary of State for Health had announced that the requirement…
Living with COVID-19 – implications for employers By Joanne Bell, Louise Bloomfield The Government has announced its plans to remove the remaining coronavirus (COVID-19) legal…
Mandatory vaccination for health and social care staff reconsidered By Udara Ranasinghe, Guy Bredenkamp, Joanne Bell The government announced on 31 January that the requirement for social care and patient-facing NHS…
COVID-19: New implementation guidance on the Mandatory Vaccination Regulations in the health and care sector By Joanne Bell, Udara Ranasinghe, Joanna Pennick NHS England have published further guidance on the implementation of the new Regulations…
COVID-19: Mandatory Vaccination Regulations in health and care sector now enacted By Sarah George, Udara Ranasinghe, Joanne Bell The widely trailed The Health and Social Care 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) (Coronavirus)…
Disability discrimination: Dismissal was not discriminatory where the employee told the employer about her disability after she was dismissed By Hilary Larter, Zoë Wigan, Joanne Bell The EAT has upheld a tribunal’s decision that the dismissal of an employee for poor performance was…
Worker status: Courier with a limited right of substitution was a worker By Hilary Larter, Zoë Wigan, Joanne Bell The Court of Appeal has held that a courier’s right to notify other couriers that his delivery slot…
Menopause: Disability discrimination By Hilary Larter, Zoë Wigan, Joanne Bell The EAT has held that an employment tribunal had not properly considered whether an employee’s…
Collective redundancy consultation: Special circumstances defence By Hilary Larter, Zoë Wigan, Joanne Bell The EAT has held that an employer could not rely on its compulsory liquidation as a “special…
“Fire and re-hire” bill By Hilary Larter, Zoë Wigan, Joanne Bell The Government has blocked a private member’s bill which aimed to curb the practice of "fire and…
Employment Matters - November 2021 By Hilary Larter, Zoë Wigan, Joanne Bell DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
Menopause: Disability discrimination - NHS By Hilary Larter, Zoë Wigan, Joanne Bell The EAT has held that an employment tribunal had not properly considered whether an employee’s…
Employment Matters - November 2021 - Independent Health By Hilary Larter, Zoë Wigan, Joanne Bell DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
Employment Matters - November 2021 - Public Health By Hilary Larter, Zoë Wigan, Joanne Bell DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
Employment Matters - October 2021 By Hilary Larter, Zoë Wigan, Joanne Bell DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
Employment Matters - Health - October 2021 By Hilary Larter, Zoë Wigan, Joanne Bell DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
Freedom day? Guidance and issues for employers By Joanne Bell, Louise Bloomfield In preparation for the lifting of remaining COVID-19 restrictions next week, the Government has…
Changes to the furlough scheme from 1 July 2021 – what you need to know By Louise Bloomfield, Joanne Bell The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is due to end on 30 September 2021…
COVID-19 vaccinations to become mandatory for care staff By Udara Ranasinghe, Joanne Bell Yesterday afternoon, Matt Hancock confirmed to Parliament that COVID-19 vaccinations are to become…
Asda v Brierley – Supreme Court judgment By Guy Bredenkamp, Joanne Bell The Supreme Court today delivered its judgment on a fundamental legal issue in the multiple equal…
Supreme Court rules that Sleep-in workers not entitled to national minimum wage for entirety of shift By James Rhodes, Joanne Bell The Supreme Court has this morning (19 March) handed down its much anticipated judgment in the…
Public Sector exit payments – cap on £95k revoked By Hilary Larter, Joanne Bell The Restriction of Public Sector Exit Payments Regulations have been in force since 4 November…
COVID-19 Vaccine: Can employers require employees to be vaccinated? - Health and Social Care By Joanne Bell, Udara Ranasinghe, Nick Chronias Health and social care workers are likely to welcome being vaccinated against COVID-19 given the…
COVID-19 Vaccine: Can employers require employees to be vaccinated? By Joanne Bell, Louise Bloomfield As the COVID-19 vaccine is being rolled out across the country many employers are considering the…
Extension of furlough scheme By Louise Bloomfield, Joanne Bell The Government announced yesterday that it is extending the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)…
Collective redundancies – ECJ decision on reference period By Nick Chronias, Joanne Bell The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has confirmed in UQ v Marclean Technologies SLU that in…
Furlough guidance amended regarding notice and Treasury Direction published By Louise Bloomfield, Joanne Bell On Friday evening, 13 November, the Government made further amendments to the Coronavirus Job…
Extended Furlough Scheme Guidance issued By Louise Bloomfield, Joanne Bell As we reported last week the Coronavirus Job Extension Scheme (CJRS) has been extended until 31…
Job Support Scheme - Chancellor announces increases in the financial support for employers By Deborah Hely, Joanne Bell In our alert on 25 September we set out an outline of the Government’s new Job Support Scheme (JSS…
Job Retention Bonus – Treasury Direction and new employer guidance By Joanne Bell, Louise Bloomfield In July, the Government announced that it would pay a bonus to employers who retain employees who…
New self–isolation obligations for employers in force today By James Rhodes, Joanne Bell Important new coronavirus laws have come into force in England today which require employers to…
Job Support Scheme – What we know so far By Joanne Bell, Louise Bloomfield The furlough scheme (CJRS) will come to an end on 31 October…
Flexible furlough – new Treasury Direction published By Louise Bloomfield, Joanne Bell The updated Treasury Direction which legally underpins the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)…
Flexible furlough - details published By Louise Bloomfield, Joanne Bell As is becoming the norm the anticipated Government guidance on the new flexible furlough scheme was…
Employment Matters - June 2020 By Ceri Fuller, Joanne Bell, Zoë Wigan DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
TUPE: are transfer-related changes to an employee's contract void if the changes are beneficial for the employee? By Ceri Fuller, Joanne Bell, Zoë Wigan In a landmark ruling, the EAT has held that all changes to terms and conditions of employment which…
Confidentiality clauses: employer was liable to make full payment under a COT3 in spite of the ex-employee's breach of the confidentiality clause By Ceri Fuller, Joanne Bell, Zoë Wigan The High Court has held that breach of a confidentiality clause in a COT3 was not breach of a…
Constructive dismissal: last straws By Ceri Fuller, Joanne Bell, Zoë Wigan The EAT has held that an employee was constructively dismissed although the act that tipped him…
Redundancy: can employers use competitive application procedures in redundancy situations? By Ceri Fuller, Joanne Bell, Zoë Wigan In this case, the EAT considered circumstances when it would be appropriate to use competitive…
Disciplinary and grievance procedures during the pandemic By Ceri Fuller, Joanne Bell, Zoë Wigan ACAS has published guidance on the conduct of grievance and disciplinary procedures during the…
Furlough leave: updates on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme By Ceri Fuller, Joanne Bell, Zoë Wigan Furlough continues to be a significant topic for all employment practitioners…
Employment Matters - Health - June 2020 By Ceri Fuller, Joanne Bell, Zoë Wigan DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is changing - Flexible Furloughing By Deborah Hely, Joanne Bell Further details on the extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) were issued on 29…
Working around COVID-19: new guidance for employers By Guy Bredenkamp, James Rhodes, Joanne Bell Following the Prime Minister’s statement on Sunday setting out the plan for easing the lockdown,…
Preparing for the end of lockdown – key issues for employers By Udara Ranasinghe, Joanne Bell With the UK Government considering an “exit strategy” it is now time for employers to start doing…
Employer Guidance on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (version 7) By Louise Bloomfield, Joanne Bell The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) opened on Monday…
Employer guidance on Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – further update (version 4) By Louise Bloomfield, Joanne Bell The Government has further updated the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Guidance (version 4)…
Employer guidance on Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – further update By Louise Bloomfield, Joanne Bell HMRC published the third version of its guidance on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) on…
Employment Matters - April 2020 By Ceri Fuller, James Rhodes, Joanne Bell DAC Beachcroft's Employment Matters focuses on some of the most interesting cases and events…
Further Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme guidance published: What you need to know By James Rhodes, Joanne Bell The Government have released further welcome guidance on The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme…
COVID-19: Impact of school closures and other recent developments employers need to know about (Health) By Joanne Bell, Udara Ranasinghe, Nick Chronias Following on from the Prime Minister’s announcement that schools will close for the majority of…
COVID-19: Impact of school closures and other recent developments employers need to know about By Ceri Fuller, Louise Bloomfield, Joanne Bell Following on from the Prime Minister’s announcement last night that schools will close for the…
Enforceability of restrictive covenants – the devil is in the detail By Georgina Rowley, Joanne Bell The judgment on 3 July from the Supreme Court is the first decision in a century that the highest…
Court of Appeal confirms voluntary overtime should be included in holiday pay under Agenda for Change (for NHS employers) By Nick Chronias, Joanne Bell The Court of Appeal has upheld the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) decision in Flowers v East of…
Court of Appeal confirms regular voluntary overtime should be included in holiday pay By Joanne Bell, Nick Chronias The Court of Appeal has upheld the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) decision in Flowers v East of…
Majority of Court of Appeal find that Uber drivers are Workers By Joanne Bell The Court of Appeal (CoA), by a majority, has upheld the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal…
Court of Appeal judgment: Sleep-in shifts do not count as time work for National Minimum Wage (NMW) purposes By Joanne Bell The Court of Appeal has today handed down its much anticipated judgment in the case of Royal Mencap…
Voluntary overtime should be included in holiday pay under Agenda for Change By Joanne Bell The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has decided that clause 13…
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…
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…
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…
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…
CJEU judgment opens door to backdated claims for unpaid holiday By Joanne Bell This morning the Court of Justice for the European Union (CJEU) gave its judgment in the case of…
