In the case held in the Court of Appeal in Page v Lord Chancellor, a lay magistrate in Kent, Mr Page, who is also a Christian and has a strong belief that it is in the best interests of every child to be brought up by a mother and a father had opposed an adoption application by a same sex couple in 2014 because of his private views and had been reprimanded following a complaint by his fellow magistrates.
11 March 2021
Supervisors and HR should be careful not to conclusively classify a condition as temporary before the employee has provided proper medical documentation. Further, regardless of whether the condition is temporary, an employer may have overlapping obligations under other laws.
10 March 2021
Research conducted by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has revealed that 7.5 million employees started this year with no protection against unfair dismissal because they had not accumulated the required two years' service. This amounts to a quarter of UK employees.
10 March 2021
The case of Royal Mencap Society -v- Tomlinson-Blake was heard in the Supreme Court in February 2020. Mrs Tomlinson Blake is a care support worker for two men with autism and substantial learning difficulties. As part of her role, she is expected to “sleep-in” and effectively be on call, in case either resident requires support through the night. She was paid a flat rate of £22.35 plus one hour’s pay of £6.70 (a total of £29.05) for a sleep-in.
9 March 2021
A cleaner who resigned after her manager wrote to her doctor and alleged she was out drinking while “on the sick” and abusing company sick pay was unfairly dismissed, a tribunal has ruled. In the case of Miss P Newcombe v Machynlleth Town Council the tribunal also found that the council’s “consistent avoidance” of assisting Newcombe in progressing her grievance appeal or complaint left “no doubt there was an intentional blocking” by senior management.
8 March 2021
An increasing awareness of mental health issues is leading to higher rates ... View Article
7 March 2021
This month the Government announced that the Restriction of Public Sector Exit Payments Regulations 2020 will be revoked. The employment team at law firm Womble Bond Dickinson has looked into the implications and likely impact of the decision.
6 March 2021
A British former prosecutor fired by the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) after allegedly swearing at an FBI officer in a London pub has won a lawsuit for unfair dismissal and breach of contract. An employment tribunal ruled that Tom Martin, who led the British part of a global bribery investigation into the prominent Ahsani family and their Monaco-based energy consultancy Unaoil, probably did not use expletives and that U.S. agencies “clearly” wanted him removed from his post.
5 March 2021
In the case of Ms Seyi Omooba v Leicester Theatre Trust Ltd, an actress, billed to play a lesbian character, was not subjected to discrimination or harassment by either her agent or the theatre she was working for when she was dismissed after it came to light that she had previously posted on her public Facebook page that she did “not believe homosexuality is right”.
4 March 2021
In a twist from the usual scenario, a recent EAT decision finds that the dismissal of an employee who set up a secret camera was unfair. In the case of Northbay Pelagic Limited v Colin Anderson Mr Anderson set up a web enabled camera in the office to monitor anyone who might be entering it and attempting to access the computer.
3 March 2021
