Weekly Issue 244

Lay members and the Tribunal system

New research on the role of lay members in employment rights cases, which has been published ahead of the government’s response to its Resolving Workplace Disputes consultation, shows the value they bring to Employment Tribunals.

Work or working time?

The National Minimum Wage Regulations (NMWR) set out what does and does not count as “work”, while the Working Time Regulations (WTR) define what is “working time”. In Baxter v Titan Aviation Ltd, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) said that although the answer to the question of what constitutes “work” will often be the same, Tribunals must be careful not to refer to one set of Regulations in a case brought under the other.

Buying out dismissal

Under the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA), Tribunals have to decide on the reason for the dismissal and then whether the employer acted reasonably (or not) in treating it as a sufficient reason for dismissal, when deciding if it was fair or not. In Slade v TNT (UK) Ltd, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) said that it was fair for the company to offer re-engagement on different terms to those it had made during negotiations preceding dismissal.