Updated 28 July 2020 (see foot of page) Late last Saturday afternoon many people were taken by surprise by the introduction of 14-day quarantines for people entering the UK from Spain and its islands. When interviewed on Sunday morning, Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab said that the possibility had arisen last Friday afternoon and the decision…
In a decision that will no doubt be of interest to many apparently self-employed hairdressers, Employment Judge Marion Batten, sitting in the Manchester Employment Tribunals, has held on determination of a preliminary issue that a qualified hairdresser who was working under what was described as an Independent Contract for Services, was in fact an employee…
Significant changes to the Government’s furlough scheme are due to come into effect on 1 July and cover the period until it closes on 31 October. Flexible furlough Flexible furloughing is available from 1 July. It is open to staff who had been furloughed on or before 30 June. In practice that means that the…
The Law Commission has published its report into Employment Law Hearing Structures and made some significant and, in my view very sensible proposals. The report runs to 212 pages so I’ll just highlight a few of the key points, which I think would be welcomed by employment law practitioners and tribunal users alike. Time limits…
In East Coast Main Line Company Limited v Mr J Cameron the questions considered by the Employment Appeal Tribunal were whether the judgment of the Employment Tribunal, based on the facts, was perverse, and whether the Tribunal should have taken into account Mr Cameron’s long service when considering his claim for wrongful dismissal. Mr Cameron…
A former NatWest bank employee has been awarded a record £4.7 million for unfair dismissal and disability discrimination, with the award recently confirmed in the Employment Appeal Tribunal. The claimant, known in the tribunal proceedings as “AB” worked for NatWest (subsequently Royal Bank of Scotland plc) from 2008 until her resignation in 2014. In August…
As I mentioned in the introduction to last month’s newsletter, the end of 2019 brought with it the most-talked about employment case of the year, even though it was a tribunal decision rather than coming from one of the higher courts, and is therefore not binding on other tribunals. Those (like me) who follow current…
No matter how much employers might wish that it was not the case, even if they are meant to be confidential and not part of a published pay scale, employees tend to find out what other employees are earning. If there are discrepancies, real or perceived, this can lead to friction. If there is a…
Lots of employers think that just getting someone to sign a settlement agreement solves a problem. Well, that’s a risky approach and, for the second time this month, has been demonstrated to be not necessarily the best idea. An area of employment that can be “problematic” is the financial services sector. This was well demonstrated…
These days the possibility of someone making a recording of a conversation is potentially much more of an issue than it used to be, as a result of doing so easily by using a smartphone. Contrary to popular perception the mere fact of recording a conversation, in a face to face meeting or by phone,…