Labour and European Law Review

The law states that agency workers are entitled to the same basic working conditions as employees after 12 weeks’ employment in the same job. In Kocur v Angard Staffing Solutions Ltd and Royal Mail Group Ltd, the Court of Appeal held that agency workers are not, however entitled to the same standard hours of work as permanent employees.

02 October 2019

Where an agency and hirer are held equally liable for infringing the right to equal pay under the Agency Worker Regulations 2010, the Court of Appeal has held in London Underground Ltd v Amissah and ors that it would only be just and equitable in “exceptional” circumstances for a tribunal to order a hirer to pay less than the amount apportioned to them for the breach (...).

17 April 2019

The law defines an agency worker as someone who works “temporarily” for a hirer. In Brooknight Guarding Ltd v Matei, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that an individual on a zero-hours contract can also be an agency worker if their position can be shown to be temporary (…).

17 October 2018

Courts will only imply a contract on the ground of necessity in certain circumstances. In Smith v Carillion the Court of Appeal held that, even in the case of a blacklisted worker, the question for courts was whether it was necessary to imply a contract between the worker in question and the end user by looking at how the parties conducted themselves.

06 May 2015

The business secretary Vince Cable last week referred evidence of ongoing blacklisting of trade unionists at a major building project to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

01 August 2013

Following complaints by the GMB and human rights group Liberty about the failure to act against firms found to have been blacklisting trade unionists, the deputy Information Commissioner has said that there is nothing more his office can do.

06 September 2012

Although directors of a limited company cannot be held liable for inducing breach of contract if they are acting lawfully, the High Court has held in Antuzis and ors v DJ Houghton Catching Services and ors that they can be held liable if they were aware that their actions would have the effect of breaching their employees’ contract.

12 June 2019

Although there may be a legitimate public interest in the disclosure of certain information in order to ascertain whether large firms are fulfilling their social and moral duties towards their staff, the High Court held in Linklaters LLP and anor v Mellish that it could not justify disclosing sensitive confidential information which others had a legitimate interest in keeping confidential (...).

03 April 2019

Employees who have affirmed a breach of contact can resign and claim constructive dismissal if there is a subsequent breach. In Brown and anor v Neon Management Services Ltd and anor, the High Court held that employees who were working out their notice could still claim constructive dismissal after their employer committed further breaches during the notice period (…).

17 October 2018

In the current climate of austerity and mass redundancies in both the public and private sectors, employers will often look for reasons other than redundancy to dismiss employees to avoid paying a redundancy payment.

05 September 2012

It is important for employers to be consistent in a redundancy situation when deciding whether they can offer alternative employment instead of dismissing the employee.

27 August 2012

According to a report published this month by The Work Foundation, employers are underusing workers’ skills, resulting in lost productivity both for businesses and the economy as a whole.

26 January 2012

In indirect discrimination claims, tribunals have to decide what was the “relevant treatment” meted out to the claimant and whether it was unfavourable. In Chief Constable of Gwent Police v Parsons and Roberts, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that it was unfavourable treatment to cap the compensation lump sum to which the two disabled police officers were entitled.

08 July 2020

Tribunals are entitled by law to reduce a complainant’s compensation by an amount that is “just and equitable”, depending on the circumstances of their dismissal. In Parkview Care Ltd v Fenn, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that a five per cent reduction was perversely low, given that the employee had disappeared for two hours in a company car and then lied about where he had been and what he had been doing (...).

26 February 2020

Breach of contract claims that are heard by tribunals are subject to a cap of £25,000. The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held in Ugradar v Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust that where an employee brings a claim for both contractual and statutory redundancy payments, when the £25,000 cap applies, statutory redundancy is not included within the cap and statutory redundancy pay should be awarded in addition to the £25,000 maximum (...).

06 November 2019

Prior to lodging a tribunal claim, complainants have to obtain an early conciliation certificate in relation to their employer. In Patel v Specsavers Optical Group Ltd, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that, as the claimant in this case had failed to do so in relation to the correct employer, he could not continue with his claims (...).

01 July 2020

The law says that evidence of pre-termination negotiations is inadmissible except in claims of automatically unfair dismissal or improper behaviour. In Harrison v Aryman Ltd, the Employment Appeal Tribunal considered the proper approach a tribunal should take when determining when the exceptions applied (...).

13 November 2019

The law states that, once the Early Conciliation process has come to an end, claimants have one month in which to lodge their tribunal claim. In Pearce v Merrill Lynch, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that if the claimant has not adhered to the three-month time limit in which to submit their claim, they cannot then benefit from the one-month extension (...).

23 October 2019

If a contract of employment has been performed illegally, the employee cannot enforce any rights under it. In Robinson v Al Qasimi, however, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that they can enforce their rights (such as bringing an unfair dismissal claim) once the breach has been rectified (...).

23 March 2020

The Supreme Court has held in Tillman v Egon Zehnder Ltd that if a restraint of trade clause in an employment contract is too broad, the offending words can be severed from the clause with the result that the rest of it can still be enforced. However, courts need to ensure that, by virtue of severing the words, the overall effect of the clause does not change.(...)

11 September 2019

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held in Lozaique v Tesco Stores Ltd that just because a collective agreement is incorporated into an individual contract of employment, tribunals should not automatically assume that all terms are therefore incorporated. Instead, they need to consider whether each individual term of the agreement is apt for incorporation or not (...).

31 July 2019

On 8 July 2020 the Chancellor of the Exchequer was asked in parliament whether employers are prohibited from using grants obtained under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) for employees placed on notice of redundancy (...).

10 July 2020

A significant part of the updated Treasury Direction (TD) is dedicated to calculating pay for those who can now be flexibly furloughed. In this article we look at the impact of the TD and what this means in practice for both employers and employees (...).

10 July 2020

The whistleblower charity, Protect, is calling on HMRC to exempt workers who contact them about potential furlough fraud from having to pay any money back (...).

01 July 2020

The Limitation Act says that contract and statutory claims to recover sums taken as unauthorised deductions from wages are limited to six years from when the claim is brought, unless another statutory period of limitation applies (,,,).

28 November 2019

The Court of Appeal of Northern Ireland has held, in Chief Constable of the PSNI and anor v Agnew and ors, that contrary to the decision in Bear Scotland v Fulton a series of deductions regarding holiday pay is not broken by a gap of three months or more where there is a "sufficient similarity of subject matter, such that each event is factually linked with the next...in the alleged series [of deductions]...”.

21 August 2019

The law says that tribunals can only hear breach of contract claims on termination of employment. In the conjoined case of Agarwal v Cardiff University and Nexus v Anderson and ors, the Court of Appeal held that tribunals can hear unlawful deduction of wages claims, even if they involve construction of the claimant’s contract of employment.

21 November 2018

When determining if someone is an employee, tribunals will apply certain tests such as whether there is a requirement for personal service, the degree of control by the employer and other factors consistent with a contract for service. In Augustine v Econnect Cars Ltd, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that Mr Augustine was not an employee but a worker because he retained some control by deciding when he could work (...).

04 March 2020

To establish an individual’s employment status, tribunals have to consider certain tests. In Stuart Delivery Ltd v Augustine, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that a motorbike courier for a delivery company was a worker as he was obliged to perform the work personally and had no effective right of substitution (...).

19 February 2020

When bringing a claim of discrimination, workers who are not employees or apprentices have to show that they are working under a contract personally to do work. In Town and Country Glasgow Ltd v Munro, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that if the worker’s role can be performed by someone else, then they cannot be said to have a "contract personally to do work" (...).

18 December 2019

Although it is good employment practice for an employee to ask their employer for permission to record a meeting, the Employment Appeal Tribunal has held in Phoenix House Ltd and Anor v Stockman that it is not automatically misconduct to do so. Instead, tribunals have to assess the particular circumstances that apply in each case (...).

25 September 2019

The Court of Appeal has held in North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust v Gregg that employers do not need to wait until a police investigation has been completed before initiating their own disciplinary procedures unless they do so with the aim of destroying or seriously damaging the relationship with their employee (...).

15 May 2019

Although employers are usually expected to follow a fair process (including holding a meeting with the employee) before dismissing them, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held in Hawkes v Ausin Group (UK) Ltd that it is not necessarily unfair not to hold a meeting with an employee before dismissing them for some other substantial reason (...).

28 November 2018

Despite historically low levels of unemployment and tightening immigration controls, only a third of working age people in the UK feel positive about their future career prospects according to a recent report (...).

04 March 2020

According to a poll by the TUC, most people who voted in the 2019 election want the government to protect and enhance workers’ rights (...).

08 January 2020

According to an analysis into the enforcement of workers’ rights, about one in 20 do not receive their paid holiday entitlement, despite being legally entitled to at least 28 days a year (...).

25 September 2019

There are certain general principles governing the ways in which tribunals can assist someone without legal representation (known as a litigant in person). In Paul v Virgin Care Ltd, the Employment Appeal Tribunal confirmed that where a litigant in person withdraws a claim, tribunals must be satisfied that their decision to do so is clear, unambiguous, and unequivocal (...).

24 June 2020

Although tribunals have a lot of discretion when deciding whether to allow proceedings to be recorded, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held in Heal v The Chancellor, Master and Scholars of the University of Oxford and ors said that claimants still have to show a complete or partial inability to take contemporaneous notes that would result in a substantial disadvantage to them (...).

23 March 2020

Although tribunals are required to focus on the “mental processes” of the decision-makers in a dismissal, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held in Cadent Gas Ltd v Singh that there are still situations where the motivation and knowledge of a person who is not the decision-maker can be attributed to the employer. That is the case even when the decision-maker was unaware of that motivation and knowledge (...).

22 January 2020

According to analysis by the TUC, it would take 52 years for the average worker in Yorkshire to earn what one highly paid banker gets as an annual bonus (...).

11 December 2019

Although all relevant organisations have now reported their gender pay gap for 2019, the Equality and Human Rights Commission is now investigating those which submitted “implausible data”. (...)

28 August 2019

The Court of Appeal has held in Graysons Restaurants Ltd v Jones and Secretary of State for BEIS that potential compensation awards arising from equal pay claims can constitute “arrears of pay” under the law. As such, they form debts to be paid from the National Insurance Fund in the event of an insolvency, whether or not the claims still have to be determined (...).

10 July 2019

In disability discrimination claims, employers have to make “reasonable adjustments” if the disabled person has been put at a substantial disadvantage by a “provision, criterion or practice” (PCP). In Ishola v Transport for London, the Court of Appeal held that, to constitute a PCP as opposed to a one-off act, there has to be evidence that it will or would be done again in the future if a similar hypothetical scenario arose (...).

24 June 2020

The law says that to qualify as a disabled person, claimants have to show (among other things), that their impairment had a substantial effect on them for at least 12 months or was likely to. In Tesco Stores Ltd v Tennant the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that as Ms Tennant’s condition only had a substantial effect from 6 September 2017, this was the date when she became disabled, although most of the allegations occurred before then (…).

18 March 2020

Although it is direct sex discrimination to refuse to employ a woman because of her sex, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held in Walker v Wallem Shipmanagement Ltd and anor that it was not illegal to do so if the job in question was on a foreign registered vessel sailing outside UK waters (...).

12 March 2020

Under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, individuals have the right to respect for their private life. In López Ribalda and ors v Spain, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights held that installing covert surveillance did not violate the privacy rights under Article 8 of former employees caught stealing from their employer (...).

08 January 2020

The Supreme Court has held in P v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that police officers must have the right to bring claims of treatment contrary to EU law to a tribunal in order to comply with the principles of effectiveness and equivalence. Likewise, national rules in relation to judicial immunity have to be consistent with EU law.

20 December 2017

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has decided in Nogueira and ors v Crewlink Ireland Ltd and Osacar v Ryanair Designated Activity Company (formerly Ryanair Ltd) that, in order to decide where a cabin crew member habitually carries out their work, a number of different factors have to be considered, not just the place that has been designated as their “home base”.

15 November 2017

A recent survey by the charity Working Families has found that more than nine in 10 working parents and carers want their workplace to retain flexible working post-coronavirus (COVID-19) (...).

24 June 2020

After surveying more than 3,000 parents across the UK, the charity Working Families has found that the “always-on” culture is overwhelming many families (...).

22 January 2020

The government has issued guidance for people looking to return to work focusing on those who have taken a break of over a year for caring reasons (..).

23 October 2019

For an employer to be held vicariously liable for the actions of their employees, there has to be sufficient connection between their job and the wrongful conduct. In Wm Morrison Supermarket plc v Various Claimants, the Court of Appeal held that there was no exception to the rule of vicarious liability where the employee’s motive was to cause financial or reputational damage to the employer by causing harm to a third party (...)

19 December 2018

A report into workplace surveillance by the TUC has found that most workers believe that they are being monitored by their employer at work (…).

29 August 2018

The law says that if a contract is terminated by notice, then the effective date of termination (EDT) is the date on which the notice expires but if no notice is given, then it is the date on which the termination takes effect. In Cosmeceuticals Ltd v Parkin, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that in a summary dismissal that is communicated to the claimant straight away, the effective date of termination is immediate (…).

21 March 2018

The latest figures from the Health and Safety Executive show a drop in the number of workplace deaths, most likely due to the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) during the last two months of the economic year.

08 July 2020

Further to the news that statutory sick pay will be paid from the first day of sickness, the government has now announced that it will also be temporarily available to people who cannot work because they have been told to self-isolate (…).

18 March 2020

In response to the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on workers, the government has announced that statutory sick pay will be paid from the first day of sickness, as opposed to the fourth day under current rules (...).

12 March 2020

When deciding whether to restrict reporting in a case involving allegations of sexual misconduct, the Employment Appeal Tribunal has held in A and B v X, Y and the Times Newspapers Ltd that when carrying out the balancing exercise between the interests of accuser and accused, the principles of open justice must be fully taken into account.

12 June 2019

The European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights place duties on the State to protect against human rights abuses by businesses and provide access to remedy for victims.

12 April 2017

Britain’s leading equality organisation, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, has warned the government that its Brexit plans reflect a lack of ambition for equality and human rights standards.

29 March 2017

According to figures produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the number of stoppages last year in the UK were the lowest since records began in 1891. The number of workers involved in labour disputes was also the lowest ever recorded. (…).

06 June 2018

Employers are entitled to withhold payment when their employees go on strike, but how should it be calculated?

05 July 2017

The Trade Union Act 2016, which received royal assent on 5 May, represents the most significant changes to the law on industrial action and picketing in a generation.

05 September 2016

The Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations (ICE) require “undertakings” which carry out “an economic activity” to inform and consult with their employees about a wide range of issues. In Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) v Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that ACAS fell within the category of an undertaking that carried out an economic activity, rendering it subject to the regulations. Thompsons was instructed by PCS to act on behalf of their members (…).

15 August 2018

The law says that when an employer proposes to dismiss as redundant 20 or more employees at one “establishment”, they have to consult with the appropriate representatives. In Seahorse Maritime Ltd v Nautilus International, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that the territorial scope of the obligation to collectively consult was dependent on the individual employee’s connection to the UK.

22 November 2017

A poll carried out by the TUC earlier this month has found that workers do not generally feel that they are listened to at work.

15 November 2017

When women go on maternity leave, they are entitled to continue to receive all their existing rights and benefits, with the exception of pay. In The Commissioner of The City of London Police v Geldart, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that it was direct sex discrimination to fail to pay a serving police officer all her London Allowance for the whole of her maternity leave (...).

12 February 2020

The government has confirmed that parents who suffer a stillbirth or the loss of a child under 18 will be entitled to at least two weeks’ paid statutory bereavement leave, as of April 2020 (...).

29 January 2020

Although tribunals can draw on the experience of panel members when coming to a decision about a case, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held in Commerzbank AG v Rajput that they cannot independently decide that a claim has emanated from stereotypical assumptions without prior notice having been given to the parties and witnesses, as that is a type of specialist knowledge which has to be disclosed in advance (…).

18 September 2019

The government has revised its naming and shaming scheme calling out businesses which fail to pay their workers the National Minimum Wage (...).

19 February 2020

According to research published by the Resolution Foundation, an independent think tank, the minimum wage needs to be enforced more rigorously in order to reduce rising levels of underpayment by employers (...).

15 January 2020

As a worker’s employment does not cease in the event of a TUPE transfer but transfers over to the transferee, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held in Mears Homecare Ltd v Bradburn and ors that the obligation on the employer to maintain records with regard to the national minimum wage and to produce those records when requested to do so, also transfers over.

02 October 2019

Although women are saving more for their retirement than ever, men benefit on average from an additional £78,000 in their pension pot at retirement (...).

04 December 2019

In Secretary of State for the Home Department and ors v Sargeant and ors (heard jointly with Lord Chancellor and ors v McCloud and ors), the Court of Appeal has held that the government was not pursuing a “legitimate aim” when it introduced transitional pension arrangements (...).

20 February 2019

The Supreme Court has held In the matter of an application for judicial review by Denise Brewster that the requirement for a cohabiting partner to be nominated by a scheme member in order to be eligible for a survivor’s pension cannot be objectively justified.

12 April 2017

The conciliation service ACAS has produced a new report showing that two thirds of workers in the UK have felt stressed or anxious about work over the last year (...).

22 May 2019

Although employers can be held vicariously liable for their employees’ conduct, it has to be closely connected with the acts that the employee was authorised to do. In Bellman v Northampton Recruitment Ltd, the Court of Appeal held that that an assault committed at a drinks event following a company party could be said to have been carried out in the course of the employee’s employment (...).

12 December 2018

The law states that the first £30,000 of any payment made on termination of employment is exempt from tax, but what about payments made for injury to feelings? In Moorthy v HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the Court of Appeal held that payments for injury to feelings in the context of an age discrimination claim were exempt from tax but that any awards should be modest (…).

25 July 2018

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has held in Kostal UK Ltd v Dunkley and ors that employers cannot go over the heads of unions recognised for collective bargaining purposes and make offers directly to the workforce, if the purpose and effect is so that the workers’ terms will not be determined by collective agreement negotiated by the union.Thompsons was instructed by Unite the Union’s Strategic Case Unit to act on behalf of its members. (…).

28 February 2018

When considering an application for union recognition in Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain v RooFoods Limited T/A Deliveroo, the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) held that, as the drivers had a genuine right to substitute which operated in practice, they could not be workers under section 296 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULRCA).

31 January 2018

The law states that unions can request recognition for collective bargaining purposes if the proposed bargaining unit is deemed to be “appropriate”

28 June 2017

The law states that, when making someone redundant, employers must notify their employee that their current contract is being terminated. The Employment Appeal Tribunal held in East London NHS Foundation Trust v O’Connor that notifying someone that their post is to be deleted does not amount to notification of termination of their contract (...).

18 December 2019

The Equality Act 2010 states that it is discrimination to treat a woman unfavourably because she is on maternity leave. In SW Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust v Jackson and ors, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that sending an urgent email to a woman on maternity leave to a work email address that she could not access constituted unfavourable treatment (...).

01 May 2019

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held in George v London Borough of Brent that, given that the Council had conceded that the failure to offer a trial period was unlawful, it was hard to understand how the tribunal could then conclude that the claimant’s dismissal was “fair and reasonable” (...).

27 March 2019

A survey has found that almost a half of workers get so many emails that they cannot empty their inbox in the course of a working day (...).

26 February 2020

Social media refers to online networks that enable individuals to share and exchange an extremely broad range of information and ideas, the most well-known being Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

17 March 2016

Although employees have a right to use social media, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held in Game Retail Ltd v Laws that it has to be balanced with their employers’ need to minimise any risk to their reputation from communications that could be read by customers and other employees.

18 February 2015

The Court of Appeal has held in Kostal UK Ltd v Dunkley and ors that it is not against the law for an employer to go over the head of a union recognised for collective bargaining purposes and make an offer directly to the workforce if the employer’s aim is just to ensure that a single term is not determined by collective agreement on a one-off basis (...).

14 August 2019

According to recent government figures, the number of people who were trade union members rose by just over 100,000 to a total of 6.35 million in 2018.

12 June 2019

Although communication between a lawyer and their client is covered by legal professional privilege (and therefore does not have to be disclosed to a court), the same principle does not apply between a member and their union. However, in Dhanda v TSB Bank, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that although this communication is not privileged, it is still confidential and should only be disclosed when necessary to fairly dispose of the proceedings (…).

28 March 2018

Although a dismissal under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 can be fair for economic, technical or organisational reasons, the Court of Appeal held in Hare Wines Ltd v Kaur and anor that there is no category in law whereby it is fair to dismiss an employee for personal reasons relating to a transfer. More …

24 April 2019

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held in Nicholls and ors v London Borough of Croydon that if a public health commission team was an “economic entity” under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, the tribunal needed to explain why it did not constitute a relevant transfer under the regulations (...).

05 December 2018

Under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, employers cannot vary a contract if the reason for the variation is the transfer. In Tabberer and ors v Mears Ltd and ors, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that employers can, however, vary a contract if the relevant contractual term is outdated and unfair (...)

07 November 2018

A parliamentary committee has said that companies should have an employee representative on their remuneration committees to keep a lid on excessive executive pay levels (...).

03 April 2019

New pay ratio regulations introduced by the government which came into force at the beginning of January mean that companies are now required to justify the pay of top bosses (...).

16 January 2019

A group of equality organisations and human rights experts, including the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), has warned the government that the EU (Withdrawal) Bill will not protect workers’ rights.

24 January 2018

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held in Lafferty v Nuffield Health that it is reasonable for an employer to dismiss an employee because their reputation might be damaged as a result of criminal allegations made against the employee, even if they have not been convicted. However, there has to be a connection between the allegations and the potential for suffering damage.

08 July 2020

In circumstances where the real reason for dismissing someone has been hidden by a manager, the hidden reason can be attributed to the employer. In Uddin v London Borough of Ealing, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that this principle can be extended to circumstances where tribunals are considering the reasonableness of the decision to dismiss (...).

01 July 2020

Although tribunals are able to reduce a claimant’s compensation by an amount that they consider to be “just and equitable” depending on the circumstances of the dismissal, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held in Wheeley v University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust that tribunals have to identify the individual aspects of the conduct that led to the dismissal before assessing the extent to which the claimant was to blame (...).

26 February 2020

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held in Basfar v Wong that foreign diplomats based in the UK can claim immunity from tribunal complaints made by domestic servants on the basis that they do not fall within the exception of a “commercial activity exercised … outside … official functions” (...).

12 March 2020

The law says that an employee who has the right to work in the UK because they are married to a national from the European Economic Area does not have to produce evidence of it. In Badara v Pulse Healthcare Ltd, the Employment Appeal Tribunal confirmed that the tribunal was wrong to conclude that a claimant with the right to work under the relevant legislation could be required by his employer to produce evidence of it before allowing him to work (...).

15 January 2020

Research by the charity Oxfam has uncovered a range of human rights abuses on farms linked to major European supermarkets (...).

17 October 2019

The law protects workers from suffering a detriment (or disadvantage) as a result of blowing the whistle. The Court of Appeal has held in Jesudason v Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust that tribunals should not focus on the employer’s motive in telling their side of the story when deciding whether the worker has suffered a detriment or not (…).

18 March 2020

The law says that when bringing a complaint about making a protected disclosure (blowing the whistle), claimants have to show that they had a reasonable belief that it was made in the public interest. In Ibrahim v HCA International Ltd, the Court of Appeal held that, to establish this point, claimants have to be asked directly by the tribunal whether they subjectively believed they were acting in the public interest (...).

05 February 2020

When claiming unfair dismissal for making a protected disclosure (blowing the whistle), claimants have to show a “reasonable belief” that it was made in the “public interest”. In Okwu v Rise Community Action the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that the issue for tribunals was not whether the information disclosed was true but whether the claimant reasonably believed it to be in the public interest (...).

23 October 2019

Although the length of the working week has been falling for the last 200 years, that trend is now in reverse (...).

05 February 2020

Although case law has established that workers are entitled to carry forward annual leave from one year to the next as a result of sickness, the Court of Justice of the European Union has held in the conjoined cases of TSN v Hyvinvointialan liitto ry and AKT ry v Satamaoperaattorit ry that annual leave in excess of the four weeks provided by the Working Time Directive does not have to be carried over (...).

29 January 2020

Under the Employment Rights Act, workers have the right not to be subject to a detriment or dismissal if they refuse to comply with a requirement imposed on them by their employer in contravention of the Working Time Regulations. In Pazur v Lexington Catering Services Ltd, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that workers must communicate that refusal to their employer in order to be protected by the legislation (...).

06 November 2019

According to research by the TUC, workers on zero-hour contracts are more likely to do night shifts and to be paid less than other workers (...).

20 February 2019

A bill eliminating zero-hours contracts and providing greater protection for workers in precarious work is due to have its second reading in parliament tomorrow.

17 January 2018

A new TUC poll has found that the reason that so many workers remain on zero-hours contracts is because it is the only type of work available to them.

13 December 2017