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Introducing Fees in the Employment Tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal

A new consultation has been launched which proposes to reintroduce modest fees within the Employment Tribunals (ET) and Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) systems, aiming to enhance the ongoing refinement of the Court and Tribunal Service while lessening the burden on taxpayers to finance these services. Charges were previously in place from July 2013 to July […]

First COVID – 19 Case Reaches Court of Appeal

Just prior to Christmas, the first COVID-19 related case reached the Court of Appeal. The court heard that an employee who failed to attend work during COVID-19 because they believed that they would be faced with serious and imminent danger had not been unlawfully dismissed. The Tribunal Case Rogers v Leeds Laser Cutting is the […]

Is supporting a football club, a philosophical belief?

In the case of Mr E McClung v Doosan Babcock Ltd, the Employment Tribunal considered whether someone supporting a particular football team can be deemed a philosophical belief in accordance with the Equality Act 2010. In which case, it would offer employees protection from discrimination and unfair treatment. The circumstances In this case, Mr McClung […]

Pimlico Plumbers Ruling: Do you need to review your annual leave policy?

plumbing

Claiming backdated holiday pay outside the usual tribunal time rules You may well remember a case going back and forth through the various courts relating to Pimlico Plumbers. It is a long-standing and complicated case that has dealt with employment status and rules around claiming backdated holiday pay. The claimant (Gary Smith) was unsuccessful in […]

Employment tribunal backlog reaches 10 year high 

Employment Tribunal Backlog | Employment Law | HR Solutions

Soaring unemployment in the aftermath of COVID-19, on top of an existing backlog, has seen the highest level of employment tribunal claims in ten years. A person bringing an employment tribunal claim will now have to wait 14 months to have their case resolved, with while a quarter of people will have to wait at least 16 months.    While […]

Case Law Update: Collective Redundancy Consultation

Collective Redundancy Consultation | HR Solutions

Deciding the Threshold for When Collective Consultation is Triggered This case law update provides a digestible account of a recent Employment Tribunal outcome. We take a look at the background details on the case, the rationale behind the judgements and takeaway learning points. Case UQ v Marclean Technologies SLU looks at when the threshold exists for when […]

New Case Ruling: Working Time in the Care Sector 

Working Time in Care Industry | Employment Tribunal Case | HR Solutions

A group of home care providers have been ordered to pay more than £100,000 in backdated earnings, around £10,000 per employee, the equivalent of 9 months full time work at the national minimum wage and holiday pay.    Unison, on behalf of ten employees brought a tribunal claim against three care providers for failing to pay […]

Interesting Employment Tribunal Cases: Dismissal and Redundancy

Employment Law Tribunal Case | Dismissal & Redundancy | HR Solutions

This case law update article provides a digestible account of recent Employment Tribunal outcomes; where you get the background details on the case, the rationale behind the judgements and takeaway learning points. An Exceptional Fair Dismissal M Gallacher vs Abellio Scotrail Ltd A fair dismissal requires a proper procedure to be followed, and the decision […]

Protected conversation and ‘without prejudice’ conversation, what’s the difference?

Protected Conversation v Without Prejudice Conversation | HR Solutions | Employment Law

Within HR a ‘protected conversation’ is not the same as a ‘without prejudice’ conversation. However, both of these types of conversations allow employers to enter into off-the record conversations with a view to agreeing an exit with the employee. So, what is the difference between a protected conversation and a ‘without prejudice’ conversation? A protected […]

Female banker wins gender discrimination case

Gender Discrimination Case | Employment Tribunal | HR Solutions

A female city banker has won her case for gender discrimination, harassment and unequal pay. Ms Macken sued the London office of the French bank BNP Paribas for £4m claiming she was paid hundreds of thousands of pounds less than a male colleague. The financial product manager claimed she was paid considerably less than her […]

Presenter wins equal pay case against BBC

Equal Pay Case | Pay Gap | HR Solutions

Journalist and presenter Samira Ahmed won her equal pay claim against the BBC in a landmark case that could open the floodgates to similar claims from other staff.  An employment tribunal unanimously concluded that the BBC had not provided adequate evidence that the pay gap was based on anything other than gender discrimination. The BBC, however, continues […]

Employment tribunal statistics: July to September 2019

Employment Tribunal Statistics 2019 | HR Solutions

Employment tribunal claims continue to rise, according to the latest quarterly statistics from the Ministry of Justice. Figures from July to September 2019 reveal that the impact of abolishing tribunal fees is showing no sign of slowing. The Ministry of Justice has published the quarterly employment tribunal statistics for the period of July to September 2019 […]

Employment tribunal awards 2019

Employment tribunal awards 2019 | HR Solutions

In an employment tribunal case, a Claimant (i.e. employee or worker) is the person who brings the claim against the Respondent (the individual or organisation responding to the claim i.e. the employer). If the Claimant is successful in his or her claim, the Employment Judge has the power to make a financial award to the […]

Council ordered to reinstate wrongly sacked manager

Wrongly Sacked Manager | HR Solutions

Camden Council has been ordered by a tribunal to reemploy a former manager and pay him £100,618 after a failed attempt to sack him. Mr Thornhill was a street lighting and drainage manager and had worked at the council for 37 years until he was sacked for mishandling a procurement process. However, the manager was […]

Vegetarianism is not a philosophical belief under the Equality Act, but Veganism may be

Vegetarian Vegan | Discrimination | Philosophical Belief | Employment Law | HR Solutions

Conisbee v Crossley Farms and others  In this case, the employee (claimant) had been employed at Crossley Farms as a Waiter/Barman from April 2018 until he resigned on 30 August 2018 shortly after being called ‘gay’ because he was a vegetarian. The employee did not have qualifying service to claim ordinary unfair or constructive dismissal, […]

Tribunal cases and wait times increasing

Employment Tribunal | HR Solutions

Minutes taken at the Employment Tribunals (England and Wales) National User Group meeting which took place in September, have recently been published. These indicate a 165% increase in single claims compared to last year. This is in line with the Ministry of Justice’s figures which reported a 130% increase in outstanding singles cases for the […]

£2m ruling for whistleblow dismissal and directors held personally liable

Whistleblowing | Unfair Dismissal | HR Solutions

In 2017 International Petroleum Ltd (IPL) appealed the tribunal decision which found that their Chief Executive had been unfairly dismissed for making protected disclosures about the business’ operations and contracts which were awarded in West Africa. The Chief Executive had several disagreements with the company Chairman and one of the largest shareholders about his concerns. […]

Employment Newsflash – Substantial Rise in Tribunal Claims

Employment Tribunal Claim Fees | HR Solutions

It has now been a full year since tribunal fees were abolished by the Supreme Court after it was found that they were a barrier to justice and were in fact, indirectly discriminatory towards women. Refund application scheme When the tribunal claim fees were abolished, a refund application scheme was launched. So far 14,500 applications […]

How to minimise risk: disciplinary investigations

Minimise Risk: Disciplinary Investigation | HR Solutions

To ensure the process is deemed legally ‘fair’, a disciplinary procedure must begin with an appropriate investigation. Disciplinary investigation reports Investigations at work are often considered to be the ‘easy bit’ as there is no formal outcome, only a report which recommends whether the matter should go to a disciplinary hearing. However, did you know […]

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