News

A recent case identified a Hong Kong company as liable for acts of discrimination and unfair dismissal of an employee that they had seconded to a third party in London for an indefinite period. The usual legal test applied to such situations involves consideration of two factors: whether the employer carried on business in England […]

On the 4th January 2011 the rate at which VAT is charged increased from 17.5% to 20%. Effectively for recruiters, this means that the cost of your service has also increased by 2.5%. This is something that may not be welcomed by hirers, particularly those who operate in non VAT charging sectors such as the […]

The coalition government has confirmed that the default retirement age of 65 is to be abolished on 1 October 2011. This means that the last date an employer can give notice of intention to retire an employee who is approaching or has reached their 65th birthday is 30 March 2011. It will also be possible […]

The sacking in January of Andy Gray the football commentator by Sky Sports has brought the issue of sex discrimination into the news again. The allegations against Mr Gray, which have been widely documented by the media, concern comments made to his co-presenter regarding the competency of a female assistant referee and remarks directed towards […]

The coalition government has announced that it will begin a consultation process into extending flexible parental leave to allow both parents to enjoy flexible working in the period following the birth of a child. The coalition has also confirmed that it will continue with the introduction of the Additional Paternity Leave Regulations 2010 that were […]

The government has announced an increase in the maximum weekly wage for calculating redundancy payments, in the amounts that can be awarded by an employment tribunal where an employee is unfairly dismissed and also in various statutory payments. When calculating a statutory redundancy payment or the amount that a worker is entitled to as their […]

The Employment Appeal Tribunal judgement in Bullimore v Pothecary Witham Weld explored who is liable when a bad reference has been given. Ms Bullimore brought proceedings against PWW, a firm of solicitors, which were eventually settled out of the Employment Tribunal by way of a compromise agreement. Ms Bullimore went on to work for a […]

It has recently been suggested that there could be a change in the law so that employees will be required in most cases to have two years continuous service in order to bring a claim for unfair dismissal.  Currently employees are required to have just one year of continuous service, unless the dismissal is due […]

It has been announced that the royal wedding will take place on Friday 29th April 2011 and in order that we may all celebrate this day will be a public holiday. This date is the Friday after Easter and in the same week as Easter Monday, meaning that many people will work just a three […]

A judicial review into the Government’s decision to stop travel expenses for journeys to a temporary place of work from counting towards the calculation of the National Minimum Wage has been rejected today by the Administrative Court. Mr Justice Kenneth Parker ruled that the Government’s proposed legislative amendment to the National Minimum Wage Regulations was […]

A consultation has been launched by the Ministry of Justice on whether to merge the Courts service and the Tribunals service to create one single organisation. The new organisation would include the Employment Tribunals service and the Employment Appeal Tribunal. The proposed name of such organisation is ‘Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service’. The legal […]

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published three Codes of Practice on the Equality Act 2010 which came into force in October 2010.  The Codes of Practice cover three areas: Equal Pay Employment Services, Public Functions and Associations. The Codes of Practice provide guidance to organisations about the provisions in the Equality Act […]

Unfortunately, there are a minority who seek to abuse anti-discrimination legislation by bringing false claims in the Employment Tribunals. These scams usually focus on job applications and the scam operates by an individual submitting two job applications which only differ on particular characteristics. For example, one application has a typical Anglo-Saxon name, and the other […]

A recent case serves as a reminder that you cannot appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (‘EAT’) against a decision of an Employment Tribunal, unless it is on a point of law only. The EAT will not hear an appeal which relates to a disputed fact in a case. In this case, an employee who […]