HR Articles

In December, law firms like to write advice on dealing with employment issues that may arise over the festive period, but the summer in its own way can create just as many pitfalls.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) recently published a report on ‘insecure work’.

In the case of Elmore v The Governors of Darland High School, the EAT upheld the decision of the ET that the dismissal of a mathematics teacher on capability grounds was fair, despite the fact that the school’s appeal panel gave no reasons for its decision and none of its members were called as witnesses at tribunal.

The Scottish Parliament’s Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Committee has published its gender pay gap report, “No Small Change”. It contains a number of recommendations for devolved powers to be used to close the gender pay gap.

Last week (in Farmah & ors v Birmingham City Council & ors) the EAT gave an important Judgement in five different multiple equal pay claims, including the large scale claims against Asda.

On a share sale, it is easy to presume that TUPE will not apply as the employer remains the same and it is just the ownership that changes. In the recent case of ICAP Management Services Limited v Berry & BGC, the High Court looked at the circumstances in which a transfer could arise.

This week, the government published its policy paper for managing the immigration status of EU nationals in the UK after Brexit. The policy paper is still to be negotiated with the EU but it confirms that once the UK has officially withdrawn from the EU (which could happen at any point on or before 29 March 2019), existing residence documents such as those certifying permanent residence, would be invalid. Instead, all EU nationals and their family members would need to apply for new residence documents.

Her Majesty has outlined the legislative agenda for the coming two years in Parliament. As the Conservative Party failed to obtain a majority in the recent general election, many manifesto promises were scaled down or scrapped entirely. Three proposed bills relate to employment law:

If the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) follow the Advocate General’s recent opinion on holiday entitlement, for those wrongly classified as self-employed, businesses who dispute entitlement to paid annual leave could face large pay outs.

In LAD Media Ltd v ICO, a monetary penalty by the ICO for unsolicited marketing texts has been reduced on appeal by the First-Tier Tribunal (Information Rights).