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

Worker Unfairly Dismissed For Writing About Boss On Social Media

On the 13th February 2020 after a heated discussion with his managing director (Matthew Robinson) about alleged poor work being carried out by the company, a paint sprayer at A1M Retro Classics (Michael Austin) wrote a Facebook status expressing how he felt after the comments made by his boss. This Facebook status received a number of comments from Austin’s Facebook friends, mostly aimed a

Can Employers Make COVID Vaccines Compulsory?

With the UK coronavirus vaccine rollout well underway, both employers and employees alike are looking to the future and many are hopeful to return to some form of ‘normality’ in terms of their working life in the near future. Due to the fact that vaccines are the most effective way to prevent infectious diseases and considering the economic devastation of this pandemic, business owners have starte

Equality Act 2010 : Gender Fluid Harassment

A gender-fluid/non-binary engineer who suffered abuse and harassment at Jaguar Land Rover has won a landmark discrimination case. Rose Taylor, who worked at Jaguar changed the way she presented in 2017. She has won what is believed to be the first claim of its kind. Until now, there had been uncertainty as to whether the Equality Act 2010 protections covered gender fluid/non-binary people. The rul

Sexual Harassment

An employee who has been subject to sexual harassment at work is entitled to take action. A claim for sexual harassment can be made to the Employment Tribunal under the Equality Act 2010. Harassment under the Equality Act 2010 There are 3 different types of harassment claims under the Equality Act 2010 (s26) : Harassment of anyone with a protected characteristic. The

Health and Safety at Work

PROTECTING HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK There are far-reaching powers to protect employees concerned about their health and safety at work. Employees can refuse to work if there they believe their health and safety is at risk (see Employment Rights Act 1996 (“ERA”), s44 (d)). Employees are also permitted to take appropriate steps to protect themselves if they believe their health and safety is at ris

Grievance & Disciplinaries

SUMMARY OF WHISTLEBLOWING LAW HOW TO WRITE A GRIEVANCE LETTER ABOUT DISCRIMINATION OR WHISTLEBLOWING DETRIMENT Summary 1. Ask your employer for a copy of the Grievance Procedure. 2. Draft a grievance focussing on facts in chronological order : What happened. How it happened. Why you believe it happened. Who was involved. When it happened. Where it happened. Whether you have suffered any los

Whistleblowing Cases

SUMMARY OF WHISTLEBLOWING LAW You should always consult an experienced specialist in employment law and whistleblowing. The below is only a short summary of some of the key areas and not a substitute for proper advice and representation. Below is summarised : Key cases. Main parts of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (“ERA 1996”). CASE LAW Disclosure of information – what must be disclo

Vento Scales Updated

On element of compensation that can be awarded by an Employment Tribunals for unlawful discrimination (such as sex discrimination, race discrimination and disability discrimination) are awards for ‘injury to feelings’. In Vento v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police [2003] IRLR 102 the Court of Appeal set out guidelines for the award of compensation for injury to feelings.

Does ‘return to work’ mean return to any work for the purposes of long-term disability benefit?

The Court of Appeal that it did not mean this in ICTS (UK) Limited v Visram. https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/202 Mr Visram worked for American Airlines at Heathrow. He was TUPE transferred to ICTS while on sick leave. Prior to the transfer he was entitled to receive long-term disability benefit (LTDB) provided by Legal & General (L&G). After the transfer ICTS

As An Employer How Can You Protect Your Reputation And Whistleblower Rights

When you’re an employer you can sometimes find yourself in a difficult position regarding protecting your reputation and still abiding by whistleblowing legislation. Of course, you will want to do all you can to ensure that your company’s reputation isn’t affected by any whistleblowing but, it is important to understand the law in this regard. What is whistleblowing? Simply put, whis

Autistic Employee Found Unfairly Dismissed By Care Charity

After a hearing that concluded in January this year, Leeds Employment Tribunal has now ruled that learning disability charity United Response unfairly dismissed a former care worker. This case was brought to the Tribunal after a complicated few years for the claimant and things finally worked out in his favour. Dave Gregson started working with the charity back in 2011 and was mainly based

Embassy Secretary Awarded £400,000 Following Sex Discrimination Claim

Recently, Deanne Kingson has been awarded almost £400,000 after being pestered for sex and asked to arrange orgies by diplomats at the Qatari embassy in London, following an employment tribunal. She was targetted by senior staff because she was not a Muslim and was seen as being ‘liable or willing to engage in sexual conduct with male employees’. The Case Deanne Kingson

Royal Mail Employee Unfairly Dismissed After Whistleblowing

Courts have begun extending protections for whistleblowers, which has been demonstrated in the recent Royal Mail case, where the Supreme Court has today upheld a ruling in favour of a former Royal Mail employee. The employee, Ms Jhuti, was dismissed from her role following an attempt to call out alleged bad practice. The Case Background Ms Jhuti joined Royal Mail in September 2013,

Ryanair Discrimination Case Against Flight Attendant With Brain Tumour

Recently, an Employment Tribunal was held for a flight attendant who was discriminated against because of her disability following a brain tumour. The Equality Act 2010 (EA) is the key piece of legislation which relates to any accusations of discrimination, which can be generated by a number of sources, such as an employer’s actions or the actions of an employee’s agents or colleagues. In this cas

Samira Ahmed Takes BBC To Employment Tribunal Regarding Equal Pay

Presenter Samira Ahmed is taking the BBC to a tribunal after claiming she has been paid less than male colleagues for doing equal work. She is suing the BBC for £693,245 in lost earnings over claims of unequal pay, based on the fact that BBC colleague Jeremy Vine was paid nearly seven times more than her, over a number of years for equivalent on-air work. The presenter previously secured an

Privacy in the Workplace Post GDPR

In today’s workplace, employers are incredibly conscious of the way personal data is used. Organisations are aware that GDPR is not just about customer data, it is also important to respect the privacy of employees and protect their personal information. How data is processed needs to be made clear, as the lines can be blurred between personal and work life. As new technology is introduced

Vento Guidelines Updated

The President of the Employment Tribunal has issued a Second Addendum to the Presidential Guidance originally issued on 5 September 2017. It contains the annual update to the Vento guidelines, which sets out the bands of awards for injury to feelings, adjusted for inflation. The new bass are as follows : – Lower band for less serious cases: £900 – £8,800; – Middle band : £8,800 &

HSE Publishes Annual Workplace Ill Health and Injury Statistics

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published annual statistics for health and safety at work in Great Britain for the year April 2016 to March 2017. These show that an estimated 31.2 million days were lost through work-related ill health (25.7 million days) and non-fatal workplace injury (5.5 million days).Crane In addition, in 2016/2017 there were: 137 fatal injuries – down from 144 in the

Government Takes Action to Boost Minimum Wage Compliance in Care Sector

The position of ‘live-in’ workers as regards employment status and rights has long been a bone of contention in the care industry in particular, leading the Government to create a new compliance scheme for social care employers.Care Home Amid concern that ‘sleep-in’ shift workers may have been incorrectly paid less than the National Minimum Wage, the new Social Care Compliance Scheme will give emp

Employers – Disciplinary Proceedings Require an Open Mind

Hard-edged opinions are all too easily formed in the heat of disciplinary proceedings, but employers must be careful to stand back and take a balanced approach. In one case in which that did not happen, a senior hospital radiologist won the right to substantial compensation following her unfair dismissal. When facing a disciplinary hearing, the woman had compiled a defence pack of documents at hom

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