Category: Employment
June 2017
Data Protection: GDPR Guidance Updated
Author: Matthew Kilgannon
On 25 May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will replace the Data Protection Act. While the GDPR is a European Regulation, the UK Government has confirmed that the UK’s exit from the EU will not affect the commencement of the GDPR.
May 2017
Long Term Sick Absence Dismissals: Avoiding the Pitfalls
Author: Keith Potter
For many employers dismissing an employee for long term sick absence is probably regarded as one of the more straightforward tasks. The relevant case law has been established for about 40 years and the basic principles are well understood.
May 2017
FCA Fines Investment Banker for Sending Client Information Over WhatsApp
Author: David Seals
A well drafted contract of employment will normally contain a robust provision restricting the employee from disclosing the employer’s confidential information. But breaches of confidentiality do not regularly feature in employment cases that come before the Courts. There are various reasons why an employer may not pursue such matters. However, the position for employees in regulated sectors such as the banking industry who misuse confidential information is more fraught, as the case referred to below demonstrates.
March 2017
Employees and Breastfeeding
Author: Nicola O'Dwyer
In a recent case, an employment tribunal considered whether crew members employed by EasyJet who were still breastfeeding when they returned from maternity leave had suffered indirect sex discrimination as a result of the airline’s failure to allow them to have bespoke roster arrangements.
March 2017
Provision of Services and Disability Discrimination
Author: Nicola O'Dwyer
In FirstGroup PLC v Paulley, the Supreme Court considered the extent to which reasonable adjustments should have been made by a bus operator to accommodate a wheelchair user.
January 2017
Disciplinary Investigations
Author: Keith Potter
There is long-standing case law to the effect that, if a dismissal for misconduct is to be fair, the employer must investigate the facts thoroughly. It must then be able to show that it has reasonable grounds for concluding that the employee committed the misconduct of which he is accused and that the relevant misconduct is a sufficient reason for dismissing the employee. The employer’s decision must be shown to be within the range of reasonable responses – a principle which gives some latitude to employers.
January 2017
Employment Status - The Uber Case
Author: Keith Potter
The employment tribunal’s decision in the case relating to the Uber taxi drivers was given in late October 2016 (Aslam and others v Uber BV and others). The drivers claimed that they were “workers” under employment legislation. If true, this meant that they were entitled (a) to the national minimum wage for hours worked, (b) to paid annual leave and (c) to protection against unlawful deductions from wages.
January 2017
Rest Breaks
Author: Keith Potter
There has been conflicting case law on the subject of the right of workers to take rest breaks during the working day. The Working Time Regulations entitle a worker to an uninterrupted rest break of at least 20 minutes (or 30 minutes in the case of a worker less than 18 years’ old) where the working day exceeds 6 hours.
January 2017
Termination Payments
Author: Keith Potter
In 2015 the government embarked on consultation about simplifying the tax treatment of termination payments, an area which has frequently given rise to dispute and uncertainty in the past. The government’s response to the consultation has now been published. The proposed changes will take effect in April 2018.
January 2017
Holiday Pay
Historically, holiday pay was always calculated by reference to an employee’s basic pay. This principle was challenged in 2011 in a case involving various British Airways employees (Williams and others v British Airways plc), who successfully claimed that various allowances that they normally received in addition to their basic pay should be taken into account when calculating their rate of holiday pay. According to the Court, it was necessary to consider whether the additional allowances were intrinsically linked to the work which the employees were contracted to perform. The Court decided that there was a sufficiently close link and that the allowances should therefore form part of holiday pay.
