Issue 101 - June 2005

In The News

Employers have to carry out a risk assessment if they employ someone of "childbearing age". But they then have to do another assessment once the woman has told her employer that she is pregnant.

Damaged by disability

Unlike unfair dismissal compensation, which has a maximum basic and compensatory award, damages for disability discrimination are unlimited.

Sick note

It is well established in law that tribunals must consider whether an employer acted within the band of responses of a reasonable employer when deciding whether a dismissal is unfair.

Sick and tired

According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, sickness absence costs employers about £567 per employee every year.

No such thing as a free holiday

Most workers (and all employees) are entitled to four weeks' paid holiday under the Working Time Regulations (WTR) 1998.

Making amends

The law says that during paid maternity leave, a woman is entitled to all the same terms and conditions had she not been away from work, with the exception of pay (defined as "wages or salary").

Making it modern

Modern apprentices, who work for an employer but are sent elsewhere to get trained, do not fit the traditional definition of "employee", that is: someone working under a contract of service or apprenticeship. The question, of course, is what legal status do they have?

Blowing the whistle

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 protects employees who are dismissed after blowing the whistle on their employers, as long as the disclosures are made in good faith, and not out of spite.