An employee has won an appeal against a tribunal’s decision not to award him compensation even though it decided he had been unfairly dismissed. The issue arose because the tribunal had found that the dismissal was unfair due to the lack of consultation before making him redundant. However, it decided not to award any compensation on the basis that he would have been dismissed by the same date even if …Read More
Employee on sick leave can carry over holiday entitlement
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has confirmed that an employee who is unable to take annual leave because of sickness can carry over the entitlement to a later date. The case involved a teacher in Poland who was convalescing from an illness and unable to take her annual leave. When she later came to claim it, her school said that it had been used up during her sick leave. …Read More
Asda fails to block equal pay claim at employment tribunal
The retailer Asda has failed in its attempt to force 7,000 women to pursue equal pay claims in the High Court instead of at an employment tribunal. The case involved claims by more than 7,000 Asda employees, overwhelmingly women, working in its stores across the UK. They claimed equal pay with staff, mainly men, employed in distribution depots. Asda considered the case to be exceptional and of great significance for …Read More
Doctor in NHS whistleblower case awarded £2.5m compensation
A doctor, who was dismissed by the NHS after raising concerns about how a hospital was treating patients has been awarded £2.5m compensation. Dr Raj Mattu was a cardiologist at University Hospital Coventry in Walsgrave. He became alarmed that overcrowding was leading to patient deaths. He raised his concerns with the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust. He claimed it failed to respond appropriately so he spoke to the …Read More
Legal protection for zero hour contract workers now in force
New regulations providing employment protection for zero hour contract workers have now come into force. The dismissal of a zero hour contract employee will be considered automatically unfair if the main reason for dismissal is that they breached a clause in their employment agreement prohibiting them from working for another company. There is no qualifying period needed for the employee to bring a claim. The regulations also make it unlawful …Read More
Some of the main changes to employment law in 2015
There were several important developments in employment law in 2015. These are some of the most significant. Travel time can be ‘work time’ The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that if employees don’t have a fixed place of work then the time they spend travelling from home to their first job of the day should be classed as work time. The same principle applies to the time spent travelling …Read More
Woman on zero-hours contract wins sexual harassment claim
A woman on a zero-hours contract has won her claim of sexual harassment by her line manager despite initially being reluctant to bring a claim for fear of losing her job.
European Court rules against employees in Woolworths case
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled against the employees and the union involved in the Woolworths redundancy case. The case brought into focus the issue of when do employers need to negotiate with trade unions when making redundancies across multiple sites.
Cutting off stressed employee’s emails amounted to discrimination
An employee who was unable to enter into a share purchase plan because he wasn’t allowed to receive company emails while off work with stress has won a disability discrimination claim.
Legal first as obese worker wins disability harassment claim
An obese employee has won a disability harassment claim after being taunted about his weight by a work colleague. It’s the first case of its kind in the UK since the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled last year that obesity could be considered as a disability in certain circumstances.