HR Articles

If an employee is dismissed for gross misconduct just short of 2 years service, s/he cannot add on statutory minimum notice so as to qualify to bring an unfair dismissal claim, found the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in Lancaster & Duke Limited v Wileman.

It will not have escaped organisations’ attention that data protection laws have undergone significant reforms lately.

In a recent ruling by the Employment Tribunal, Hermes couriers have been deemed to be workers. This is the latest in a long line of decisions about the gig economy, including Pimlico Plumbers, Uber, Citysprint and Deliveroo, in which the general trend has been that those working in the gig economy have been found to have greater rights than the company may have envisaged.

The UK Government has announced changes to the immigration rules that will come into effect on 6 July 2018. Many of the changes are positive and will bring welcome news to those looking to work or invest in the UK. Below is a summary of the main changes.

In Kilraine v London Borough of Wandsworth the Court of Appeal has confirmed that to be protected under whistleblower legislation, disclosures need to be more than mere allegations and have sufficient factual content and specificity of a relevant failure set out in the Employment Rights Act 1996.

The UK government has now released details of the “settled status” scheme which EU nationals in the UK will use to apply for permanent residence after Brexit. Sajid Javid confirmed the government’s default position will be to grant, not refuse, settled status. The government has also provided clarity on application fees and Comprehensive Sickness Insurance, which will no longer be required.

It is automatically unfair to dismiss an employee for taking part in trade union activities at an appropriate time. It is also unlawful to subject an employee to a detriment on this basis. For a union official, union activities include seeking to present a case on behalf of his/her members.

It is common for parties to a tribunal claim to agree, at an early stage, the list of the issues that they want a tribunal to determine. In the recent case of Scicluna v Zippy Stitch the Court of Appeal has suggested that tribunals will usually be confined to these issues.

Last week, Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced plans to introduce a new start up visa for entrepreneurs. The new start up visa will launch in Spring 2019 and is expected to replace the Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur scheme. The announcement was made during London Tech Week and the government hopes a simpler visa route will create a favourable environment for entrepreneurs.

The recent EAT decision of Quintiles Commercial v Barongo held that even in the absence of any prior warnings, a dismissal for misconduct is not necessarily unfair where the conduct is labelled ‘serious misconduct’ rather than ‘gross misconduct’. The Tribunals need to consider the circumstances as a whole when assessing the decision to dismiss.