Weekly Issue 426

Parental rights

The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) have published two new guides, ‘Time off for antenatal appointments’ and ‘Surrogacy – rights for intended parents’.

Waiving anonymity

As the right to privacy of someone suspected of serious criminal offences cannot outweigh public interest in open justice, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has held in BBC v Roden that a judge should not have granted an anonymity order to a claimant against whom a number of serious sexual allegations had been made.

Abuse of process

Although tribunal claims should normally be brought within three months of the act complained of, courts can extend that time limit in certain circumstances. The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held in Higgins v Home Office and anor that the tribunal should not have struck out a claim for constructive dismissal as an abuse of process even though it was brought six years after the claimant resigned.