Weekly Issue 219

News in brief

The Department for Work and Pensions has launched a review of UK health and safety Regulations, to be headed by Professor Ragnar Löfstedt, a risk management specialist and academic.

Binding agreement

Employers and employees have to enter into a compromise agreement or an Acas conciliated agreement in order to exclude or limit employees’ statutory employment rights. In Clyde & Co LLP v van Winkelhof, the High Court said the employer could not rely on a members’ agreement which provided for binding arbitration, thereby precluding members from bringing Tribunal claims.

Pay by commission

Indirect discrimination arises when an employer applies a provision, criterion or practice which, although superficially neutral, actually advantages one gender more than the other and cannot be justified. In The Audit Commission and Haq, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) said that an employer could rely on a pay protection policy following a re-grading to defend an equal pay claim, as long as there was no history of past discrimination.