Archive for November, 2007
By Sarah - Friday, November 30th, 2007
The Government has launched a review of health and safety laws and is seeking views from employers, workers and experts on how the laws of health and safety can be revamped. This is in particular from the small employer persepctive and there is also an aim to reduce the amount of form filling by 50%.
You can have your say here. So if you have any gripes and think things can be done better any better now’s the time to have your say. Consultation closes on 31st January 2008.
Posted in Categories, Health and Safety | No comments »
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By Liam - Thursday, November 29th, 2007
Under the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996, employers can currently be fined up to £5,000.00 for employing an employee who does not have the right to work in this country. It is currently a defence that you checked the identity of the employee to establish whether they have the right to work in this country and kept a copy of a prescribed form of proof of I.D. on file.
Under new proposals, the fine could increase to £10,000.00 for negligently employing someone who does not have the right to work in this country (i.e. for assuming someone has the right to work in this country without actually knowing that in fact they do not). Employers could also face an unlimited fine or imprisonment for knowingly employing someone who does not have the right to work in this country.
When recruiting employees and seeking to comply with the rules on not employing illegal workers, employers must take particular care not to discriminate on the grounds of race/national origin/religion or belief. For example, employers should check the identity of all employees not just those that “don’t look English”.
Posted in Religion or Belief Discrimination, Sex/Race Discrimination, Uncategorized | No comments »
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By Liam - Wednesday, November 28th, 2007
The President of the Employment Tribunal has issued a new Practice Direction regarding Age Discrimination Claims under Regulation 30 of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 (Regulation 30 provides that retirement of employees over 65 is a potentially fair reason for dismissal).
The President has ordered that all such claims be stayed until the ECJ has given its decision in Age Concern v Secretary of State (the Heyday Claim reported by this blog here). This means that any employee who tries to argue that dismissal by reason of retirment over the age of 65 is unfair will not have their claim heard until the ECJ have made their decision.
Posted in Age Discrimination | No comments »
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By Sarah - Tuesday, November 27th, 2007
Liam was before the EAT earlier this month and the Judgment has been published today. Unfortunately, the appeal which Liam was opposing was successful in part and will be remitted back to the Employment Tribunal.
The issues surrounded public interest disclosure, which does not come up frequently in practice. The EAT hearing was an example of the work the firm does pro-bono. You can read the full Judgment here but there are a few errors such as Liam is not Lian nor is he Counsel for those of you who spot the error.
When such errors occur in Judgments, we need to notify the EAT/Tribunal and get the same corrected so the record is straight. Errors occasionally occur in the main body of the Judgment but this is infrequent.
Posted in Unfair Dismissal | No comments »
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By Philip - Monday, November 26th, 2007
We have started a new legal resource called a legal glossary, which is an A to Z of common employment law terms.
We hope that the resource will build into an invaluable tool for both HR practitioners and lawyers alike.
To get everyone in the mood, here is a fun A to Z describing England’s performance (and the state of the pitch) last week against Croatia.
A - Abysmal
B - “Bobbins”
C -Complacent
D - Dire
E - Execrable
F - Forlorn
G - Goal shy
H - Horrible
I - Ignoble
J - Journeyman-like
K - Kindergarten - ish
L - Limp-wristed
M - (run of the ) Mill
N - Nadir
O - ‘Opeless
P - Piss-pauvre , point-less
Q - Quagmire
R - Risible
S - Soft
T - Tactically naive
U- Ugly
V - Vigourless
W -Wanting
X - X-rated
Y -Yawn-inducing
Z -Zero pointed
To rub further salt in the wounds, here’s what happened in Scotland. and here’s what the lads vowed to do to get over 40 years of hurt.
Posted in Miscellaneous | No comments »
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