HR Articles

This is according to the recent EAT decision in Aston v The Marlet Group. The EAT dismissed the claimant’s victimisation claim, considering the law on the judicial proceedings immunity and paying particular attention to the Supreme Court decision in P v Commissioner of Police in the Metropolis.

In Furlong v Chief Constable of Cheshire Police an employment tribunal unanimously found that a police force’s recruitment process directly discriminated against a white, heterosexual, male applicant in the first decided case on the use of positive action under s.159 of the Equality Act 2010.

A former Oxford professor lost his Employment Tribunal claim against the University after it was held their employer-justified retirement age (EJRA) was justified. Oxford University introduced a retirement age of 67 for academics, and allowed applications for extensions only in exceptional circumstances, such as to maintain continuity in projects or to complete work.

The Migration Advisory Committee in its latest report, published this week, recommends a major review of the SOL so that includes almost 9% of jobs in the labour market, a significant increase from the current 1%. The Migration Advisory Committee or otherwise known as MAC offers government advice on its immigration policy, and on the Shortage Occupation List (SOL).

We previously reported on the cases of Ali v Capita Customer Management Ltd and Hextall v Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police which left us with competing judgments on whether a failure to increase statutory parental pay to match enhanced maternity pay would be discriminatory on the grounds of sex. We now have appellate authority from the Court of Appeal in these cases (which were joined).

In the recent case of Owen v AMEC Foster Wheeler Energy Ltd and another, the Court of Appeal held that withdrawing the offer of an international placement due to concerns arising from the Claimant’s medical assessment did not amount to disability discrimination. The Claimant was in poor physical health and suffered from hypertension, kidney disease, ischaemic heart disease, type 2 diabetes and morbid obesity.

In Federación de Servicios de Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) v Deutsche Bank SAE, a trade union in Spain brought a claim against Deutsche Bank, which did not keep a record of the hours its employees worked on a daily basis. The Court of Justice of the European Union has decided that if there were no requirement to keep records “it would be impossible to determine objectively and reliably either the number of hours worked by the worker [or] when that work was done”.

According to The Government's Department of Health, 25% of us will experience mental health issues at some point in our lives. A study conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

Whilst it may be common place for retail staff to open and close their stores outside of their contractual hours, employers should be wary and ensure that everyone adequately remunerated for such activities. In the recent case Fitz v Holland and Barrett, Employment Judge Siddall posited such advice in her judgement.

A report released by the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) has revealed that just 5% of companies would appoint an employee to their board of directors, despite a push by the Government to improve employee participation in board meetings. Under the Corporate Governance Code, companies are asked to strengthen the “employee voice” in boardrooms.