While the Christmas party is a great opportunity for staff to socialise together and celebrate their achievements over the past year, and for employers to thank them for the work they do, it is important to remember that employers owe their employees certain obligations, even
Managing an employee’s return to work after a long period of sickness absence can be a highly sensitive matter. A case in which a visually impaired nurse was awarded more than £30,000 in damages serves as an instructive illustration of how it should not be
Employees who want to improve their work-life balance have a legal right to request flexibility in their working hours, and their bosses are obliged to respond reasonably. In a case on point, a seamstress was awarded compensation after her employer refused to give her Fridays
Where employees are accused of gross misconduct, suspending them on full pay pending a disciplinary investigation is all too often a knee-jerk reaction. However, such a step is not always justified and a firm of architects which fell into that trap found itself liable to
What are the criteria that have to be met before a trade union can be listed as such under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992? The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) tackled that thorny issue in ruling that a union established to represent
Can foreign nationals who work illegally in this country rely on their employment contracts in bringing proceedings before an Employment Tribunal (ET)? The Court of Appeal tackled that issue in a decision which signals a judicial clampdown on the exploitation of overseas workers. The case
The distinction between political opinions and philosophical beliefs is far from easy to make. However, in a guideline decision, an Employment Tribunal (ET) has ruled that a commitment to the cause of Scottish independence falls into the latter category and is thus protected by the
The limited territorial reach of English Employment Tribunals (ETs) can pose difficulties to those who lead globe-trotting working lives. In a guideline case, however, the former captain of a superyacht which moved from port to port won the right to pursue his unfair dismissal claim
For many businesses, the whole point of using the services of agency workers is to cater for peaks and troughs in their demand for labour. The Court of Appeal made that point in rejecting arguments that agency workers have a legal entitlement to work the
Following Matthew Taylor’s 2017 independent review on modern working practices, entitled ‘Good Work’, in February 2018 the Government published its response and launched consultations on how best to implement many of the review’s recommendations. The Government has now announced phase two of the Good Work
