Archive for August, 2008
By Sarah - Friday, August 29th, 2008
It is all doom and gloom with the economic situation at the moment. This is reflected not only in the business news but in a survey by TUC. This states that 1 out of 10 workers believe they will be made redundant by the end of this year totalling about £3.3 million workers holding that view. Workers in Wales were the most concerned but union members and those working in the East of England were more optimistic.
We have seen a number of employers seek guidance of late concrning restructuring. We have also seen a number of employees who have been made redundant across many sectors. There are a few common points which are worth noting. The first is that a proper redundancy process should be followed to avoid unfair dismissal claims. You can find some guidance here but we are also running a course on restructuring and managing chnage and more details can be found here.
Secondly, from the employee side any trial period in the new job is only four weeks under statute. Some local employers are telling employees that they have six weeks to make a decision which is incorrect. Under statute any extension to the trial period has to be for training.
Posted in Redundancy, Redundancy Payment | No comments »
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By Jenny - Thursday, August 28th, 2008
It has been reported that ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) have voted to strike over a dispute about pay. See here. There have allegedly been delays in pay rises being decided for this year, which apparently also happened last year and resulted in pay rises not being paid for 10 months.
If ACAS do strike, employment solicitors will most likely feel the impact, particularly those who are trying to settle something close to a hearing date. I believe that ACAS do play a key role in helping settle cases. I would say though that some ACAS Officers are more helpful than others!
Mark Serwotka of the Public and Commercial Services Union said; ”With the Government losing the goodwill of the people who deliver the everyday things we take for granted, there is a rapid need for it to rethink its approach to public sector pay.”
We all remember when the Police were refused their recommended payrise which resulted in a protest march by thousands of police in London. Of course they do not have the right to strike….
Posted in Statutory Procedures | No comments »
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By Nicky - Wednesday, August 27th, 2008
An employee who suffered chronic dermatitis and whose employment was terminated due to excessive absences from work, brought an Employment Tribunal claim in respect of his dismissal.
The employee intended to bring a claim for disability discrimination, amongst other claims, claiming that he was dismissed due to absences from work which were connected with his dermatitis. He claimed this was a disability within the meaning of the legislation. However, the claim form was completed incorrectly, and the employee later sought to rectify this mistake.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal allowed the Claimant’s claim to be amended to include a disability discrimination claim as the Claimant had referred in his original claim to his dermatitis condition, the fact that his employer would not change the material of his uniform, and as a result he had incurred further absences which resulted in his dismissal.
For further details of this case click here.
Posted in Disability Discrimination, Unfair Dismissal | No comments »
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By Liam - Tuesday, August 26th, 2008
We are often asked about appeals to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). A large number of litigants (whether Claimants or Respondents) who have failed at an Employment Tribunal believe that they can appeal simply because the Employment Tribunal arrived at the wrong conclusion.
This is not the case. In order for an appeal to proceed to a full hearing at the EAT it must have reasonable prospects of showing that the original Employment Tribunal either erred in law or arrived at a perverse decision.
A perverse decision is one that no reasonable Tribunal could have arrived at on the evidence before it. This, according to the leading case on the point Yeboah v Crofton is a very high hurdle for Appellants to jump.
Here is an illustration of a Claimant who was clearly unhappy with the Tribunal’s decision, not just once either. He also appeared unhappy with the EAT’s decision as he tried his luck before the Court of Appeal too, but failed to get leave.
Posted in Employment Tribunal Procedure | 2 comments »
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By Jenny - Thursday, August 21st, 2008
The Times has today reported on law firms having their own blogs.
Apparently only a handful of law firms are blogging. As those of you who read our blog may know, we’ve been blogging since October 2006! Does this mean we were ahead of our time?
We find blogging a good way to keep on top of the law and current events as well as letting everyone know what we think about all things employment law! I was however disappointed not to see PJH Law in the Times list of the best blogs.
We do get comments on our blog so we know that there are at least a few out there who are reading and, perhaps I dare say, enjoying our blog? Its always good to receive feedback so get in touch!
Posted in About us, Uncategorized | 1 comment »
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By Emma - Wednesday, August 20th, 2008
The Home Office has launched a consultation paper seeking to require telephone and internet companies to keep details of personal text, email and internet traffic for a minimum of 12 months so it can be used in connection with criminal investigations and other threats to public safety.
The proposals will cover the retention of details of personal internet and text traffic but not content. The data will be available to public bodies. The impact on the internet and telephone industry will be significant in terms of the cost of storing of the data.
This measure is to bring into force a European directive covering the collection of personal data. The consultation is open until 31 October 2008.
See more here.
Posted in Data Protection | No comments »
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