Weekly issue 89 - May 2004

In the news

UK law says that employers must calculate statutory maternity pay (SMP) using a set formula. This stipulates that SMP has to be based on the woman's normal weekly pay during an eight week reference period ending with the 'qualifying week'. This is the 15th week before the woman is due to give birth.

Short changed?

Although the Working Time Regulations 1998 introduced the concept of paid holiday, workers are still having to haggle over the amount they should be paid when they go on leave.

Happy holidays

The issue of holiday pay is becoming more and more of a minefield. In this case - Canada Life Ltd v Gray & Anor (IDS Brief 754) - the employment appeal tribunal (EAT) decided that two ex-workers were entitled to holiday pay even though they had worked for many years without taking any.

Lost labour

If you are dismissed because of redundancy, you will probably be entitled to a redundancy payment. And there is a possibility that the dismissal will be unfair. In this article, a solicitor from Thompsons' Employment Rights Unit in Liverpool, summarises the law and answers some commonly asked questions.

More than the sum of its parts

It has already been established (Abler v Sodexho, LELR Issue 86) by the European Court of Justice that TUPE applies to second generation transfers. Now the Court of Appeal has ruled in Fairhurst Ward Abbotts Ltd v Botes Building Ltd & Ors (IDS Brief 753) - see LELR Issue 85 for the EAT decision - that they also apply when only a part of the entity is transferred.

The way ahead?

It's not often these days that people are told that they cannot be made redundant, but that's just been confirmed by the High Court in the case of Kaur v MG Rover Group Ltd (2004, IRLR 279).

Seeing ahead

In personal injury claims - which are essentially negligence claims and therefore decided at common law - the courts can only award compensation for loss or damage if it was 'reasonably foreseeable'.

Upping the ante

In another decision about compensation for victims of racial abuse - British Telecommunications Plc v Reid (2004, IRLR 327) - the Court of Appeal awarded aggravated damages to the victim because of the high-handed way in which management handled the case.