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07-09-2024 09:40:16 in General by Admin
The government has confirmed its plans to bring the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 into force on 26 October 2024, introducing a duty for employers to take "reasonable steps" to prevent sexual harassment of employees.
The Act, which received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023, will require employers to take "reasonable steps" to protect employees from sexual harassment in...
07-09-2024 09:38:44 in General by Admin
In Little and another v Olympian Homes Ltd [2024] EWHC 1766 (Ch), the High Court has held that consideration is not an essential component of a contractual waiver.
The applicants succeeded in establishing that there was a genuine triable issue that interest on the debt had been waived by “estoppel”. There was a "clear and unequivocal" statement in an email that the applicants had been...
07-09-2024 09:37:14 in General by Admin
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has updated its guidance on adverts, to help support those placing adverts to ensure they are lawful and do not discriminate. The updated guidance provides clarity around "occupational requirements" under the Equality Act 2010, noting that occupational requirement exceptions are sometimes incorrectly applied, particularly where the protected charact...
09-09-2023 08:46:56 in General by Admin
On 20 July 2023, the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill received Royal Assent. When section 1 of the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 comes into force, it will vary the Flexible Working Request procedure so that: • When making a request, an employee will no longer have to explain what effect, if any, the employee thinks their requested change would have on t...
09-09-2023 08:44:59 in General by Admin
In the case of Ponticelli UK Ltd v Gallagher [2023] CSIH 32 (15 August 2023) the Inner House of the Court of Session has upheld the Employment Appeal Tribunal’s decision that an employee’s right to participate in a share incentive plan arose “in connection with” their contract of employment for the purposes of the TUPE Regulations and that the employee was entitled ...
09-09-2023 08:42:25 in General by Admin
On 31 August 2023 the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) published detailed guidance on processing workers’ health data to help employers comply with their obligations under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Health data is categorised as special category personal data and is granted enhanced protection.
The first part of the guidance explains how the U...
09-09-2023 08:38:17 in General by Admin
In the case of AECOM Ltd v Mallon [2023] EAT 104 (10 August 2023) the Employment Appeal Tribunal has upheld a tribunal's finding that an employer was under a duty to make reasonable adjustments when its requirement for job applicants to create an online profile and complete an online application form put an applicant with dyspraxia at a substantial disadvantage.
The applicant, who had ask...
13-09-2022 15:00:54 in General by Admin
In the case of Hashmi v Lorimer-Wing, the High Court came to the surprising conclusion that article 7(2) of the Model Articles of Association (which provides that a sole director may take decisions without regard to any of the provisions of the articles relating to directors’ decision-making) does not supercede any quorum requirements contained in a company’s Articles of Associ...
13-09-2022 14:59:44 in General by Admin
ACAS has published new guidance to advise employers on how to consider and handle staff suspensions at work, specifically during investigations. The guidance covers deciding whether to suspend someone, the process for suspending someone, supporting an employee's mental health during suspension and pay and holiday during suspension.
ACAS recommends that because of the risk of breac...
13-09-2022 14:58:02 in General by Admin
Draft regulations have been laid before Parliament which will prohibit exclusivity clauses in the employment contracts of workers whose earnings are on, or less than, the lower earnings limit (currently £123 a week). The draft regulations follow a government consultation on extending to other low earners the ban on exclusivity clauses which was introduced in 2015 to zero-hours worker...
13-09-2022 10:04:25 in General by Admin
On 27 July 2022, the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) published a scoping document for the review it is going to undertake, examining the tax and social security implications of changing working practices. The scoping document sets out themes which will be covered in a call for evidence on the emerging trends and tax implications of hybrid and distance working.
The practices bei...
15-11-2021 17:30:23 in General by Admin
In Royal Mail Group Ltd v Efobi [2021] UKSC 33 (23 July 2021), the Supreme Court has confirmed that the wording of section 136(2) of the Equality Act 2010 has not altered the substantive law on burden of proof in employment discrimination cases. Under section 136(2), an employee still has the burden of showing a prima facie case of discrimination. If they do, the burden shifts to the emplo...
15-11-2021 17:30:05 in General by Admin
In Gwynedd Council v Barratt and another [2021] EWCA Civ 1322, the Court of Appeal held that the lack of any appeal or review procedure does not of itself render a redundancy dismissal unfair. However, it is one of the factors to be considered when determining the overall fairness of the dismissal.
The claimants were teachers dismissed by reason of redundancy. They had been denied...
15-11-2021 17:26:27 in General by Admin
Government consults on reforms to consumer protection law
On 20 July 2021 the government published long awaited proposals for reforms to consumer law, many of which were first suggested in a 2018 Green Paper. Included are proposed changes to:
Protect consumers from subscription traps, for example by requiring that auto-renewal should always be an opt-in choice, and from fake reviews, b...
15-11-2021 17:25:48 in General by Admin
In Harcus Sinclair LLP and another v Your Lawyers Ltd [2021] UKSC 32, the Supreme Court overturned the Court of Appeal and reinstated the trial judge’s decision that a non-compete restriction in a non-disclosure agreement between two law firms was not an unenforceable restraint of trade. When determining whether a party has legitimate interests to protect, account can be taken ...