Following a consultation last year, the government last week outlawed the use of exclusivity clauses in zero hours contracts by employers.
Section 153 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, which came into force on 26 May, inserts sections 27A and 27B into the Employment Rights Act 1996.
The law allows judges to sit alone in some cases but not in others, so what happens in claims with a combined jurisdiction? In Birring v Rogers and Moore t/a Charity Link, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that judges should actively consider with the parties concerned whether to exercise their discretion to sit with members to hear claims one of which requires a full tribunal and one of which does not.
Employers are entitled to take “live” warnings into account when considering whether to dismiss an employee. However, the Court of Appeal has made clear in Way v Spectrum Property Care Ltd that they cannot take into account warnings given in bad faith when deciding whether there is sufficient reason for dismissing an employee.