Category: "news"
Top Employment Law Stories of 2018
Employment law never stands still, and 2018 was yet another busy year. I thought it would be useful to look back at the developments over the past 12 months by looking at the top 10 most popular stories on our News page. (Please feel free to imagine the Top... read more »
Protection against discrimination for vegans
As you may have seen in the news, a case is being brought against the League Against Cruel Sports which is believed to be the first time that someone in the UK has claimed discrimination on the basis that they are a vegan. The Equality Act 2010 includes... read more »
Good Work Plan?
Possibly as a bit of a distraction from Brexit, the Government have announced a Good Work Plan which is designed to improve protection for agency workers, those on zero hour’s contracts and others with atypical working arrangements. The main headlines are that the Government plans to: Introduce a requirement for... read more »
Are Uber drivers workers? Our take on the latest decision
Yesterday afternoon the Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in the case of Uber v Aslam and others. I actually found it a surprisingly interesting read, although that may just be me (!) – if you decide to take a look then be warned, it is... read more »
Purely thrilled!
We are delighted to confirm that yet again we have been recognised as a top firm in the 2019 edition of Chambers & Partners, the UK's guide to the legal profession. In addition, Peter and Nicola have both again been rated as 'notable practitioners' in employment law. The Chambers guides... read more »
Setting the record straight – asking applicants about their criminal record
Some of you may have seen the statistics recently which claimed that “1 in 5 employers break the law in asking candidates about their criminal record.” In my view that was potentially misleading, and I thought it would be helpful for me to explain the position further. For most jobs,... read more »
Colleagues unable to work together - which to sack?
Who would want to be an employer in this situation? You have two employees who can’t work together. You have tried everything you reasonably can to resolve the issues between them, but to no avail. You don’t really want to get rid of either of them, but given the... read more »
Is it always reasonable to dismiss an employee for failing a drugs test?
As employers, you have a legal duty to take reasonable care of the health, safety and welfare of your employees. If an employee is suspected of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs (whether prescription or illegal drugs) then you may be expected to take action to protect... read more »
Individuals can be personally liable for whistleblowing claims
It has been the case for a long time that individuals can be held personally liable for acts of discrimination, so (for example) a manager who refuses to promote a woman because of her pregnancy can be named as a Respondent in her Employment Tribunal claim for discrimination, alongside... read more »
Can you make someone redundant when they are off sick?
I thought I would write about this topic as it is something that has cropped up (by coincidence) with several of my employer clients over the past few weeks. In particular, we have come across several situations where the employee avoids attending consultation meetings, is then signed off work... read more »