Weekly Issue 436

Increase in zero-hours contracts

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) last week reported an increase of 19 per cent in the number of employees on zero-hours contracts over the last year.

Information only

The Agency Workers Regulations and the Directive on Temporary Agency Work give agency workers the right to be informed about vacant posts in the organisation where they have a temporary assignment. In Coles v Ministry of Defence, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that the right was only to be informed of a vacancy, not to be considered for a vacancy on an equal footing with a comparable permanent employee.

Genuine error

To prove a claim of direct race discrimination, claimants have to show that they have been treated less favourably because of their race. In Adeshina v St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and ors, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that it was not less favourable treatment if a manager made a genuine procedural mistake, which was not tainted by consideration of the employee’s race.