Weekly Issue 223

News in brief

The UK, along with 13 other member states of the European Union (EU), appear to have derailed the Pregnant Workers Directive indefinitely.

Giving notice

The Employment Rights Act (ERA)1996 states that an employee has to submit their unfair dismissal claim to a tribunal within three months from the effective date of termination. The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) said in Wang v University of Keele that, unless a contract has an express term to the contrary, contractual notice (whether oral or written), runs from the day after it is received.

No mutuality

To bring a claim under the disability legislation, claimants have to prove that they are in employment. In Breakell v Shropshire Army Cadet Force, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) said that even paid volunteers do not qualify as workers if there is no mutuality of obligation between them and their “employer”.