Going to the pub while sick is not a sackable offence
A tribunal judge in Newcastle has ruled that a driver who was fired after being seen at a pub having called in sick was unfairly dismissed.
12 June 2021
Sales manager wins tribunal case after being ‘gaslit’ by his boss
In the case of Weinreb v Online Travel Training Group, a global e-learning platform for travel agents with approximately 12 employees, was found to be guilty of victimisation after penalising a sales manager who made a grievance.
11 June 2021
ET rules that symptoms of menopause are a disability
In the case of Daley v Optiva, Mrs Daley is a 51 year old woman. In her disability impact statement, she says that she has been suffering with symptoms of menopause for over two years including hot flushes, night sweats, headaches, joint pain and tingling extremities. Mentally, she endured anxiety, panic attacks, disrupted sleep, memory lapses and difficulty concentrating. She had also been diagnosed with an overactive thyroid, but her symptoms apparently arose predominantly from the menopause.
10 June 2021
Manager wins unfair dismissal case after ‘practical joke’ involving fake drugs
In the case of Buchholz v GEZE UK Limited, GEZE is a company which supplies products, systems and services related to door, window and safety technology. As part of a running joke with colleagues, Buchholz, a technical product manager, staged sherbet and straw on his desk to look like drugs and drug-taking paraphernalia.
9 June 2021
Equality and Human Rights Commission supports mandatory Covid vaccination for care home staff
Ministers are considering changing the law to make vaccination a condition of deployment for people in some professions that come into regular close contact with elderly and vulnerable people at high risk from the coronavirus.
8 June 2021
Employment Tribunal rules on Tesco equal pay claim
The BBC reports that the European Court of Justice has ruled that an EU law could be relied on in making equal pay claims against the employer. Tesco found itself in the spotlight after about 6,000 current or former employees took their grievance to an employment tribunal in Watford.
7 June 2021
‘Out of sight’ does not mean ‘out of mind’ when it comes to employer responsibilities regarding remote working health and safety
Employers will have to face new and emerging challenges around health and safety at work given that many employees have expressed a preference for continuing to work from home or for hybrid working. Certain industries like healthcare have industry specific guidelines but generally for employees in factories and offices working conditions have changed.
4 June 2021
Head of IT wins £500,000 after bumping head
In the case of Long v Elegant Resorts, Stephen Long has a history of work in the IT industry, both as an employee and running his own company. He obtained a job with Elegant Resorts as head of IT earning £50,000 gross per annum.
3 June 2021
Employee wins appeal against unfair health and safety dismissal
In the case of Sinclair v Trackwork Limited, Sinclair was employed by Trackwork and tasked with implementing a new safety procedure. Trackwork did not inform its other employees about Sinclair’s mandate to do this, and they raised concerns about what he was trying to do. In particular, they complained about his ‘overcautious and somewhat zealous’ approach.
2 June 2021
Amazon’s move to lower employee injury rates
Workers for the world’s biggest online retailer should be better protected in the future after Amazon announced that it is taking a new approach to looking after their employees’ health and safety. What changes are they bringing in and how much could they help?
1 June 2021