Weekly Issue 295

Reforms to parental leave announced

The government has this week announced reforms to parental leave provision allowing parents to choose how to share care of their child in the first year after birth. The idea is that women should face less of a “career penalty” for taking an extensive period of time off.

A question of costs

Although tribunals are allowed to be critical of a party to a hearing, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) said in Oni v NHS Leicester City that they should not come to conclusions on issues that anticipate arguments about costs which have not yet been put before them.

Difference in treatment

Once a claimant has presented facts from which a tribunal could conclude they have been discriminated against, the burden of proof then shifts to the employer to provide an explanation for the complaint which must cover "something more" than just a difference in treatment and status.