Just a reminder that the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 has brought into force the ban on exclusivity clauses in zero hours contracts. If you are an employer who uses such contracts now would be a good time to review your contractual provisions if you have not already done so.
Cannot pay a costs award?
What if a Claimant cannot pay a costs award? This is of course a mitigating factor against awarding a costs award and something the Judge may consider. However, in the case of Chadburn v Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and another the EAT held that there was no reason why the question as […]
Having your cake?
You may have read about the Northern Irish gay cake row which has been settled by the County court in Northern Ireland recently. A bakery was sued after it cancelled an order for a cake with an image and slogan “Support Gay Marriage” placed by a homosexual customer. The customer brought the case with the […]
Zero hours exclusivity ban now in force
Just a reminder that the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 has brought into force the ban on exclusivity clauses in zero hours contracts. If you are an employer who uses such contracts now would be a good time to review your contractual provisions if you have not already done so.
Failure to comply with ACAS EC requirements
Two recent decisions concerning failures to comply with the ACAS Early Conciliation procedures have been heard before the EAT. The first was the case of Sterling v United Learning Trust where the Claimant submitted her ET1 missing some digits from the EC number on the form. The form was returned by the Tribunal. Her representative […]
ECJ delivers Woolworths Decision
The long awaited decision from the ECJ was handed down this morning in the Woolworths case. The central issue for the ECJ to determine for the purposes of collective consultation whether each store was an establishment or the pool should be bigger. The ECJ has stated that it refers to the individual’s workplace not the […]
Unison to appeal
Unison are to appeal against the decision of the High Court which dismissed its judicial review application challenging the lawfulness of employment tribunal fees. Unison has secured permission to appeal on all grounds to the Court of Appeal which will be heard in June.
Adoption leave and pay changes
Changes were made to adoption leave this month. Employees no longer need any qualifying service to take adoption leave but they still require the 26 weeks service to claim adoption pay. The rules concerning eligibility have been extended to parents in surrogacy arrangements who can now take time off to attend antenatal appointments. Eligible employees are also […]
Disclosure in the public interest
A requirement was added for whistleblowers that the disclosure be made in the public interest. This was added to prevent Claimant’s relying on complaints concerning their own contracts. The question remained however as to how wide the public interest requirement was. The EAT held in Chestertons v Nurmohamed that the Claimant can have a reasonable belief is in the public […]
Holiday pay and commission
Following the European Court of Justice’s decision last year in the case of Lock v British Gas, judgment has now been given by the employment tribunal in Leicester. You will recall that the case was about Mr Lock was a salesman on a basic salary with variable commission paid in arrears. He could not earn commission […]