Employment Law News
New law removes employment barriers for over 120,000 ex-offenders
In a significant step towards reducing reoffending and providing opportunities for former offenders to reintegrate into society, the United Kingdom has witnessed a transformative change in its legal landscape. A recent alteration to the law is set to make life easier...
Female firefighter wins sexual harassment case against male colleagues
In a significant legal victory, female firefighter Julie Wilkinson has successfully won a sexual harassment case against her male colleagues at the Cleveland Fire Brigade in Stockton-on-Tees. Ms. Wilkinson, a 14-year veteran of the brigade, alleged that her male...
Citibank sacks worker over two-sandwich lunch claim
In a recent employment tribunal, Citibank secured a win after the dismissal of an employee, Szabolcs Fekete, who had been accused of gross misconduct related to dishonest expense claims. The case centred around Mr. Fekete's claim for expenses incurred during a...
Care workers fired for refusing vaccine granted appeal
A group of care workers who faced termination for refusing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic have been granted the right to appeal their dismissals. The Employment Appeal Tribunal has sided with the former employees, paving the way for them to...
Landmark £40m holiday pay case could have ‘major implications’ for flexible workers
In a ruling on the 4th of October, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom has closed a significant legal loophole, potentially allowing hundreds of thousands of flexible workers in the UK to claim backdated holiday pay from their employers. The decision follows a...
Nationwide manager awarded £350,000 compensation following remote work dispute
A high-ranking executive at Nationwide who lost her £75,000-per-year job due to the company's decision to eliminate remote work has been granted compensation totalling nearly £350,000. The employment tribunal heard that Jayne Follows had been permitted to work from...
Halfords ordered to implement new EDI training following discrimination case
The Bury St Edmunds tribunal has ruled that Halfords, the retail chain, discriminated against an MoT tester, Mr P Withers, who has cerebral palsy. As a result of this ruling, the company has been directed to introduce new equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI)...
Two new employment laws receive royal assent
In a year marked by a slew of legislative changes aimed at bolstering workers' rights, two additional laws have crossed the final hurdle, receiving Royal Assent. The Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023 Under this groundbreaking law, all workers,...
91% of UK employees express concerns over retaliation against whistleblowers at work
Startling statistics reveal that despite 51 percent of UK employers claiming confidence in their ability to handle workplace misconduct effectively, just 27 percent of their employees share the same sentiment. A staggering 91 percent of UK employees are apprehensive...
Employer responsibilities for road workers’ safety under scrutiny following recent tragedy
A recent incident involving the tragic murder of a delivery driver in Shrewsbury has sparked discussions regarding the safety measures that employers must undertake for their employees working remotely or on the road. While managing risks within the confines of an...
Employment Law Analysis
Mukul Chawla: Modern slavery in the workplace
This article was co-written by Mukul Chawla (Partner), Catherine Turner (Senior Associate) and Luke Hardingham (Associate). Modern slavery is not going away. COVID-19 has shone light on how employers treat their workforce. The inevitable glut of labour resulting from...
Jeya Thiruchelvam: Key employment law changes and what they mean for HR professionals
The start of the New Year has seen the UK enter a third lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19. HR professionals are once again dealing with the challenges of managing a remote workforce, processing furlough claims and looking after employees’ mental wellbeing....
Jennifer Liston-Smith: What can working parents, and their employers, do now?
Yesterday’s announcement from Prime Minister Boris Johnson that schools in England will not fully re-open until at least 8th March will come as another blow to many working parents. That 8th March target itself is also contingent on the successful rollout of...
Dave Chaplin: How to take reasonable care when hiring contractors under the new IR35 rules
Following the introduction of the Off-Payroll legislation that is due to take effect from April 2021, hiring organisations have just a couple of months to get their hiring plans in order so that they can continue to take on contractors for projects with as little...
Claire Nilson: Remote working will shape the future but what about sponsor workers?
This article was co-authored by Claire Nilson, Counsel, and Hodon Anastasi, Associate, at Faegre Drinker. Before COVID-19, office workers were often geographically tied to their offices, and it was mainly business travellers and the lucky few digital nomads who...
Giles Newman: It’s time to change perceptions of whistleblowing
Listening to staff is a fundamental part of the human resources function. Only with clear communication will the business know if something is – or isn’t – working well. While this may seem obvious, recently-published data suggests European organisations are...
Shakeel Dad: What lessons can we take from 2020 to prepare for future HR challenges?
After a challenging year for the UK economy, it has never been more important for HR to be on top of the rapidly changing legal landscape. As 2020 draws to a close, we look at what themes and trends have emerged from employment law in 2020, upcoming changes in 2021...
Mini Setty: Regional race to secure sponsor licenses
Regional race to secure sponsor licenses For almost 70 years, British employers have had rich pickings from the European talent pool and foreign workers have made up vital proportion of the UK’s workforce, thanks to free movement among European Economic Area (EEA)...
Barry Ross: Positive action versus positive discrimination & what this means for HR
Is the Rooney Rule lawful in the UK? The Rooney Rule is an important rule implemented by the American National Football League (the NFL) in 2003 and named after the late chair of its diversity committee, Dan Rooney. Originally, the rule required NFL teams to interview...
Razia Aziz: How to ensure workplace investigations are water-tight for the COVID age
The number of employment rights under which an employee could make a tribunal claim has more than trebled since the 1980s. The level of complexity has spiked over the past five years: the break from the old assumption that senior figures in an organisation make the...
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