An interesting practical point arose in the recent case of Ramphal v Department of Transport surrounding whether HR advice and guidance should be sought by the dismissing officer. In that case the issue for the EAT was whether the Tribunal had properly considered the inference that HR had inappropriately interfered with the dismissing officers decision […]
Working time for mobile workers
The ECJ has handed down its decision in the case of Federacion de Servicios Privados del sindicato Comisiones Obreras v Tyco Integrated Security SL and another concerning employees who do not have a fixed place of work and spend time travelling between sites and whether this is working time within the meaning of the Directive. […]
Employee on long term sick leave did not transfer under TUPE
The Claimant was employed by BTMS Limited as a field operations engineer. His team had its own separate and dedicated structure within the company and its own costs centres. In 2006, the claimant went on long term sick leave and became permanently incapacitated without any prospect of returning to work. He was allowed to remain […]
Unison Loses Court of Appeal Challenge
The Court of Appeal has dismissed Unison’s appeals against the judicial review application challenging the legality of employment tribunal fees. Again, as seems to be a theme in the litigation, the Court agreed that Unison had not provided enough evidence to establish that the fees regime reached the EU law principle of effectiveness. The statistics […]
Agency Worker’s Rights to be informed about vacancies
The Employment Appeal Tribunal in the recent case of Coles -v- Ministry of Defence has held that Regulation 13 of the Agency Workers’ Regulations 2010 does not prevent the company giving preference for vacant posts to permanent employees in need of redeployment. Regulation 13 of the Agency Workers’ Regulations 2010 gives agency workers the right […]
New ACAS Equality Guides
ACAS has published three new guides on equality which are detailed and set out the best practices for businesses to follow in the areas equality. The three guides are entitled: Equality and Discrimination: Understanding the Basics Prevent Discrimination: Support Equality Discrimination: What to do if it happens The guides can be found here and […]
Choice of Companion
The High Court has recently held in the case of Stevens v University of Birmingham [2015] that the University’s refusal to allow a representative from a professional defence organisation to accompany the employee at an investigation meeting concerning serious allegations of misconduct was unfair and in breach of the implied trust and confidence. Although the […]
Tribunal Fees Enquiry
The Justice Committee of MP’s is holding an enquiry into the effects of the introduction and levels of Court fees and charges, in particular the Employment Tribunal fees. This review is distinct from the Ministry of Justice’s review. It has a particular focus on whether the introduction of fees has affected access to justice. The […]
Slavery disclosure
It has recently been announced that businesses in the UK with a total turnover in excess of £36 million will need to comply with a duty to publicly report steps they have taken to ensure their operations and suppliers are trafficking and slavery free with effect from October 2015. The duty arises in the Modern […]
Labour Leadership Contest
As the press is dominated by the race for the next Labour leader, I noted with interest that Jeremy Corbyn has set out his vision for the future government in equality policy. Jeremy Corbyn is seen as the favourite to take over the party in the opinion polls. The highlights of his policy are that […]