As specialists in employment law, we have day to day experience in all employment related matters. We would like to share some of our insights in the articles on this page.

News and comment from the team

Executive Dismissal

Where a director or executive has been dismissed from his or her position, there are a number of potential scenarios in which compensation can be sought. Wrongful dismissal A director or executive can take action for wrongful dismissal where a) he or she has been dismissed, b) there has been no gross misconduct on the director or executive’s part and c) the contractual dismissal obli

Sexual-orientation discrimination in good and services

Discrimination at work on the basis of sexual orientation was first dealt with by theEmployment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003, which made this unlawful. This has now been absorbed into the provisions of the Equality Act 2010 (‘EA’), which provides protection for lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals (but not for specific sexual orientation practices). These individuals may fall in

Sexual Orientation Discrimination in Goods, Facilities & Services

The right to not be discriminated against because of sexual orientation has been extended (since 2007) from an employment situation to the provision of goods, services and facilities. Because society today operates very much on a heterosexual basis, the clear beneficiaries of this legislation are mostly lesbian, gay and bisexual people. However, the right covers anyone of any sexual orientation an

Race discrimination

The Equality Act 2010 (the ‘EA’) covers race discrimination at work. It is a combination of years of former statutes that have been designed to prevent this kind of discrimination, including the Race Relations Act 1976, the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000 and the Race Relations Act 1976 (Amendment) Regulations 2003. The EA makes direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation on

Gender reassignment discrimination

Thanks to the Gender Recognition Act 2004, anyone who has made a positive move to permanently change gender will have the same rights as anyone else of the new gender to which that person is changing. In addition to this, there is specific protection for those going through the gender reassignment process itself as the 2004 act provides for special time off for this, which is to be treated no less

Religious discrimination

The Equality Act 2010 (‘EA’) governs protection from religious discrimination.When it was enacted in 2010, the EA consolidated all previous legislation that related to religious discrimination, including the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, which put the EC Equal Treatment Framework Directive provisions on religious discrimination into practice in the UK. Claims br

Paternity rights

There are several different types of paternity rights that may be available to new fathers or to those who are the partner of a new mother: 1. Statutory paternity leave How do you qualify? In order to quality for statutory paternity leave, on the last day of the 15th week before the week in which the baby is expected, the paternity applicantmust have been employed in the same positio

Disability discrimination

Discrimination in the workplace on the basis of disability is unlawful in the UK. The Equality Act 2010 (‘EA’), which consolidated all previous legislation in this area (including the Disability Discrimination Act), sets out a number of ways in which an employer may discriminate against someone with a disability: – Direct discrimination – Indirect discrimination – Victimis

Constructive Dismissal & Resignation Advice

Constructive dismissal arises when an employee has no choice but to resign because of the behaviour of their employer. This will still count as a “dismissal”. What is constructive dismissal? When employer behaviour triggers a resignation from an employee, this result is considered a fundamental breach of the employee’s contract for which justice can be sought. Although it is n

Age Discrimination & Redundancy – Protection for all Ages In Redundancy

The age discrimination provisions of the Equality Act 2010 (‘EA’) apply to the processes that an employer uses when selecting candidates for redundancy. The EA specifically prohibits direct and indirect discrimination, victimisation and harassmentin these circumstances. Harassment is unlikely to be relevant in a redundancy situation and victimisation may only occur in limited situations, for examp

Compromise agreements

Compromise agreements are normally used in a situation where an employee’s contractual, statutory or common law rights are going to be waived or ‘compromised.’ The waiver is usually effected by an employee signing the agreement and receiving an amount of money in return for not taking action to protect or enforce certain rights against the employer. As there is the potential for a situation of thi

Bullying and harassment

An employee who has been subject to bullying and harassment at work is entitled to take action. The difficulty usually lies in being able to establish whether bullying and harassment has actually taken place, or whether the behaviour amounts to something less serious. Whilst the information below applies generally, the circumstances of a situation will usually have a significant impact on the clai

Age discrimination – your rights at retirement

The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 brought in some important changes to the default age for retirement, which used to be 65. These regulations were then consolidated into the Equality Act 2010 (‘EA’). The default retirement age was phased out from 6th April 2011 and anyone who has been dismissed after that date because of their age could be a victim of direct discrimination under the E

Age discrimination and retirement

Age discrimination and retirement The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 brought in some important changes to the default age for retirement, which used to be 65. These regulations were then consolidated into the Equality Act 2010 (‘EA’). The default retirement age was phased out from 6th April 2011 and anyone who has been dismissed after that date because of their age could be a vi

Age Discrimination and Benefits

With the arrival of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations in 2006 and the later consolidation of all equality measures into the Equality Act 2010 (‘EA’), treating someone differently in a work environment because of their age, without good reason,became unlawful. However, it is recognized that there are some workplace policies, decision etc that, whilst they may theoretically constitute discri

Sex Discrimination

Protection against sex discrimination has traditionally been something that has been provided to women and the relevant legislation in this area – the Equality Act 2010 (the ‘EA’) – is written to reflect this. However, other than those provisions that obviously apply only to women – such as those relating to pregnancy – regardless of the wording of the legislation men also have the ben

Age discrimination in recruitment and selection

Age discrimination legislation was introduced first in 2006 with the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, which was then incorporated with all other UK equality legislation into the Equality Act 2010 (‘EA’). Since the legislation was introduced it has created a number of situations relating to the recruitment of employees that could constitute age discrimination. Where a claim is to

Testimonial

The specialist advice NEL have given us and their thorough planning and administration highlight their collective competence. Its good to know you have such an experienced team working for you when the stakes are high. Thanks to NEL we’re now much better informed and have a wide understanding of the risks we face and how to avoid them in future.
Zaher Shaikh