On 30th June 2014, the new rules concerning flexible working come into force. Employees still have to have 26 week’s service to make a request but no longer need to have parenting or caring responsibilities as they have done in the past. The request simply need to be made in writing, dated and state whether […]
Too much notice?
The recent EAT case of Cockram v Air Products Plc concerns an employee who resigned claiming constructive dismissal following a repudiatory breach of contract by his employer. The employee gave longer notice than he was contractually required to do for financial reasons. He was required to give three months notice but in fact gave seven months […]
Is size a disability?
At present I would argue there is no such provision in the Equality Act 2010 for protection against discrimination on the grounds of size. It is not widely perceived as a disability giving rise to protection or obliging employers to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate their larger work force. A test case is currently before […]
Holiday pay
Following my blog at the end of last year, it has been confirmed that holiday pay must include commission. I reported on the case of British Gas v Lock in which the Attorney General had given his opinion that statutory holiday pay under the Working Time Regulations must include commission. This was subject to the […]
National Minimum Wage and sleeping time
When the provisions of the Working Time Regulations came into force, there was a run of cases concerning whether those that were required to be on night shifts sleeping at the employer’s premises were in fact working for the purposes of working time. The recent case of Esparon t/a Middle West Residential Care Home v […]
Employment Status
Two recent cases have impacted on the law of employment status. Firstly, in the case of Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills v Knight, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that an employee for the purposes of the Employment Rights Act 1996 did not have to receive pay in order to gain that status. […]
Challenges to the new ET Rules
By way of an update, there have been two recent pieces of news concerning employment tribunals and the changes that came into force last year. Firstly, in connection employment tribunal fees, Unison has been granted permission to appeal the failed judicial review of employment tribunal fees. Further, question time from the House of Commons has […]
Go Team Excello
On Monday night, the Excello Law team took part in the 10th London Legal Walk to raise money for access to justice. It was a very warm night so the 10Km felt a lot longer in the heat. We did however get treated to an ice cream at the halfway point and a refreshing drink […]
What is a settlement agreement?
A settlement agreement is a legally binding agreement between two parties, which was previously known as a compromise agreement. It is normally between an employer and an employee or two parties that were in that relationship before employment terminated. The employee agrees not to bring any claims against their employer in return for a lump […]
Employment law Glossary
I have started a new category of blogs in anticipation of the slower summer months when news stories relevant to employment law are less frequent. This will build into a question and answer resource dealing with the most common employment law terms and what they mean in plain English. Any terms anyone doesn’t understand feel […]