Many employers feel that it is all too easy for an unhappy employee to bring a claim in the Employment Tribunal. It is free to start proceedings in the Tribunal, the claim form is available online and is relatively easy to complete, there is an abundance of...

In this new era of the post-default retirement age world, all employers are now pretty much up to speed on the fact that, save for very narrow circumstances, it will be discriminatory to compulsorily retire an employee on the grounds of their age. ...

Many thanks to all those of you who responded to our survey about the Government’s proposed reform of the parental leave and flexible working regimes. We are especially grateful for those who took the opportunity to express their views in the...

In the case of Clyde & Co LLP v Van Winkelhof [2011] EWHC 668, the High Court has decided that an arbitration clause in a Members' Agreement was unenforceable where it forced arbitration before a departing partner’s complaints of discrimination...

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The Equality Act 2010 (the “Act”) prohibits discrimination in employment in respect of a number of ‘protected characteristics’ including disability. Before an employee can complain that they have suffered discrimination because of...

Many thanks to all those of you who responded to our survey about the proposed reform of the Tribunal system. We are especially grateful for those who took the opportunity to express their, often forthright, views in the “any other...

“Immigration” will be splashing across the media again in the coming days.  Rule and guidance changes take effect on 6 April, and provide a convenient peg on which commentators can hang their stories.  The messages are mixed, and the...

Whilst some of us might have been under the impression that sexual harassment in the workplace is a thing of the past, the recent high profile and controversial case of the Sky TV presenters reminds us that, at least in some workplaces, sexual harassment is...

Fox Williams LLP has successfully represented the claimants in the recent case of Brandeaux Advisers (UK) Ltd and others v Chadwick [2010] in which the High Court has held a senior employee to be in repudiatory breach of contract and breach of trust by...

Thank you to all of you who completed our survey on the proposed abolition of the Default Retirement Age - we recognise the importance of this issue to you and have now fed your responses and our own views to the Government.  As you will be aware,...

Once upon a time there was a man who was engaged by a radio station to prepare a music catalogue under a consultancy agreement.   This involved creating a list of pieces of music together with a grading system as to their popularity.  The...

The tax treatment of termination payments has once again been the subject of judicial scrutiny and whilst the decision is unlikely to have implications beyond the facts of the particular case, it highlights the risks and uncertainties for employers and...

Those of us that regularly use the Employment Tribunal system will be well aware of the more frustrating aspects of its service. From spending hours sitting in airless waiting rooms to having hearings postponed on the day even though your witnesses have...

Businesses must take care and ensure that senior managers are not committing offences created by the Bribery Act 2010 (“the Act”), in particular the new corporate offence of failing to prevent bribery and ensure that there are adequate compliance...

The Equality Act received royal assent on 8 April 2010 and, according to the current Government timetable, the majority of the Act’s provisions should come into force in October 2010. The Act’s purpose is to harmonise existing discrimination...

Last month, Fox Williams secured a win for Mr Geys in his employment claim against Société Générale (SocGen).  The High Court decision addressed a number of issues commonly faced by employers with regards to giving notice to...

It has been established law that it is unlawful to discriminate against individuals on the ground of their religion or beliefs since December 2003 when the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 came into force.  However, the issue of...

Since 1998, employees who raise concerns by making a ‘protected disclosure’ or ‘blowing the whistle’ about the possibly unlawful activities of their employer enjoy protected status.  A whistleblower who believes he has been...

On 9 December 2009 the Chancellor announced a new tax regime for banks which pay bankers’ bonuses over £25,000. Whether this tax is a shrewd economic decision or a purely political move is a topic being hotly debated. What is the tax? The...

Workplace stress levels are possibly higher than ever in the current economic climate. Employees are concerned about possible redundancies, pay cuts, and having to work increasingly hard because of pressure from management.  It is at times like this...

In 2009 the courts and tribunals have continued to keep employment lawyers and HR professionals on their toes with a constant stream of significant cases. David Murphy takes a brief look at a dozen of the most significant and the key points arising from...

Directors’ duties – Do your directors know what their codified obligations are? The codification of directors’ duties is one of the more important and controversial areas of the Companies Act 2006 (“the Act”). All...

Jobless partners may once have been a rarity, but just as the days of a job for life have long gone for employees, being a partner is now no bar to being sacked. The scale of the reduction in partner numbers proposed by professional services firms over...

As of 6 April this year, the statutory dispute resolution procedures were repealed by the Employment Act 2008. This means that where an employer fails to follow a fair procedure when carrying out a dismissal, it will no longer be deemed automatically...

The UK’s new immigration regime, 6 months on: Five Tiers, and Five tips Although the first elements of the UK’s “tough, new Australian style” Points Based System for immigration were implemented at the end of February 2008, and...

Smashing the glass ceiling – How can employers help women make it to the top? The “glass ceiling” facing women in employment is not a new concept and neither is the debate surrounding the pay gap between men and women. That said,...

In the current climate businesses are increasingly seeking to use more flexible ways of engaging individuals to carry out work. By using self-employed contractors and agency workers, businesses can limit their potential liabilities when compared with taking...

It may have happened to Selina Scott, so why should the pale, stale male be immune?  The lovely fifty-something Selina has reportedly been passed over by Channel Five News as maternity cover for a newsreading slot and a younger model, or models,...

Payments on termination – General When a payment is made to an employee on the termination of their employment it is important to assess the basis on which the payment is made in order to determine the correct tax treatment.  Failure to tax...

Matthew Davies of Fox Williams LLP considers the new landscape employers and employees will face as the Points Based System for UK immigration is rolled out. Following a carefully managed media campaign heralding an “Australian style”...

There are two separate elements of pay that apply for periods of sickness absence: Provisions for sick pay in contracts of employment or in the company’s employee handbook/procedure documents; and Statutory sick pay provisions. ...

According to the 2007 Absence Management Annual Survey Report of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the average level of employee absence in a year is 3.7% of working time (i.e., 8.4 days per employee per year).  The average...

What is Redundancy? Redundancy is a potentially fair reason for dismissal. Broadly, a genuine redundancy situation arises in one of the following circumstances: (a)               The...

When an employee fears that he may have been discriminated against by his employer, proving this can be an extremely daunting prospect: realistically, what employer will readily admit to discrimination when challenged?.  The employee will have to decide...

The Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 (the “PTW Regulations”) were introduced to help protect part-time workers who are considered to be more likely to be the subject of detrimental action and inaction...

What is outsourcing? This is where a company arranges for a separate third party to undertake a service which, until then, the company has undertaken itself i.e. Company A has historically managed and run its own payroll but decides to outsource this to...

Rights to Notice The Employment Rights Act 1996 gives both employers and employees the statutory right to a minimum period of notice of termination of employment, as long as the employee has been employed for one month or more.  A notice period may...

At present there are two sets of rights for pregnant employees, one for those whose babies are due on or before 31 March 2007 and another for those whose babies are due on or after 01 April 2007 .  This dual system has come about because of a recent...

What is a Love Contract? In the United States , “love contracts” are used to protect employers should love arise between two of their workers.  They take the form of agreements between the amorous couple and the employer which confirm...

Over recent years, the Government has put in place various ‘family friendly’ legislation in an attempt to promote work/life balance and in recognition of the fact that parents frequently are required to juggle their work commitments with their...

Sometimes applicants for jobs conceal the fact that they have criminal convictions and other times, employees commit criminal offences (whether in the course of their work or not).  What can an employer do in these situations? Here is a rundown of the...

The Information and Consultation Regulations 2004 originate from an EU directive which establishes a general framework for information and consultation in the workplace.  The Regulations give employees in larger businesses (with 50 or more employees)...

Although when you are lying on the beach, the distinction will feel irrelevant, holidays divide generally into two categories in law: contractual and statutory.  The Working Time Regulations 1998 (“WTR 1998”) sets down the minimum annual...

Official Whitehall figures released in December 2005 say that 6% of the UK adult population, or about 3 million people, are lesbian, gay or bisexual.  A recent survey has found that whilst many homosexuals and bisexuals are open about their sexual...

The use of foul and abusive language should be a serious concern for any employer. The danger of having a bad language culture is the creation of a hostile and intimidating environment which may give rise to claims for bullying and harassment.  Blue...

WENDI S. LAZAR is of counsel to Outten & Golden LLP, a New York and Connecticut Firm. She has been practising international employment and immigration law for over 12 years with a focus on executive compensation, noncompetition and severance...

The Basics of Disability Discrimination What is a disability? Employment law imposes a special test. If someone has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal...

During employment an employee owes his employer a strict duty to maintain the secrecy of the employer’s confidential information. Once the employment has terminated the employer’s confidential information may still be protected by the...

Bonus claims often form a substantial part of compensation claims made by employees, particularly on termination of employment where an employee may feel aggrieved that they have been dismissed shortly before they were expecting to receive a bonus payment. ...

From 1 October 2006, employers face a major departure from current employment practice.  This is the date on which the Age Discrimination Regulations allowing employees to claim discrimination on the grounds of their age will come into force.  The...

The Part-time Workers’ Regulations 2000 came into force on 1 July 2000.  So far there have been a limited number of claims brought under the Regulations.  By far the most high profile of these is the case of Matthews v Kent & Medway...

Employers who regularly deal with difficult employment cases may have come across the argument from a clued-up employee that he can take an injunction out against the employer to prevent the employer from disciplining or dismissing him.  Usually this is...

The statutory dispute resolution procedures have now been in place for nearly 18 months.  Whilst the main aim of the procedures (which were introduced by the Employment Act 2002) was to reduce the number of claims that went to the employment tribunal,...

Recent media attention has focused on the airline BMI’s ban on its flight crew wearing crucifixes or St. Christopher medals on flights to Saudi Arabia to avoid offending Muslim passengers.  Is such a practice lawful? It would be interesting...

Thirty years after the introduction of the Sex Discrimination Act and sex discrimination at work is as controversial a topic as ever.  The beginning of 2006 saw a flurry of press comment concerning the treatment of men and women in the workplace,...

With Elton and David leading the way down the aisle amid a media frenzy, hundreds of couples are reported to have followed suit.  Civil partnerships or “gay weddings” became lawful in the UK on 21 December 2005.  Under the new laws,...

Headnote An employee may be dismissed on the grounds of his personality, even if there are no issues regarding his technical competence or honest, if it manifests itself in such a way that it damages the employer’s trust and confidence in him....

Perkin v. St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust (“the Trust”) Summary An employee may be dismissed on the grounds of his personality, even if there are no issues regarding his technical competence or honesty, if it manifests itself in such...

As the recent Equitable Life litigation shows, company directors, who are placed in a position of trust and relied upon by both company and shareholders to behave correctly, often find themselves the target of criticism and even legal action for alleged...

With the introduction of the controversial ban on smoking at work next year, should you be taking action now to ensure that you are not about to be the butt of jokes in the Tribunal? Should you be re-examining the effect of smoking on your workforce? ...

The government has just announced its new family friendly proposals, following extensive consultation. They will appear in the Work and Families Bill. The new / changed laws will be introduced in April 2007. The proposal includes extending Statutory...

In October 2006, legislation will be introduced which outlaws age discrimination in employment and vocational training. The impact of the age discrimination regulations is likely to far reaching, particularly as they will affect all ages, young and old. ...

The primary purpose of our sex discrimination legislation is to prevent a man or a woman being treated less favourably on the grounds of his or her sex – i.e. because he or she is a man or a woman. However, increasingly, we are seeing claimants use...

We have had some fantastic summers of sport over the last few years what with ‘Team GB’ doing phenomenally well at the Olympics, the tennis (come on Tim!) and obviously the cricket. There has been immense interest in work places across the...

There are few certainties in life:- taxes, death and the fact that your domestic appliances will wait until the most inconvenient time for you before exploding/leaking/giving up the ghost. Whilst moving house and changing jobs may be two of the most...

Employer’s need to know what is going on and the ability to gather evidence is crucial, particularly where there are concerns as to whether an employee is fulfilling his duties properly or there is a suspicion that an employee is falsely absent from...

The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 (“the Regulations”), which came into force in December 2003, made it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a worker because of his/her sexuality. The lack of reported case...

Summary The Court of Appeal concludes that a person who has not worked in the UK for 7 years can still bring a race discrimination claim here if he worked in the UK for the same employer before he left. Facts Lieutenant Colonel Saggar was an Army...

There has been a spate of recent cases dealing with bullying in the workplace or even, in one case, of a manager kidnapping and torturing an employee. Where does the employer’s liability start and end on such cases? A core part of the employment...

Last month saw the publication of the long-awaited revised draft TUPE Regulations. Readers who routinely deal with TUPE may feel that it is an area of law fraught with complexity and uncertainties. They are not alone: in one recent decision, the judge...

The new information and consultation regulations have been viewed by many with scepticism. Whilst the new regulations aim at improving dialogue between management and employees to help create “ high performance work places ”, many employers see...

A few weeks ago, Stephanie Villalba’s lawyers submitted a detailed appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal on a number of grounds. Although Ms Villalba was successful in her unfair dismissal claim and a discrete aspect of her victimisation claim, the...

Whilst it is not always possible to know, as most cases are settled and those that fight are not always reported, it appears that an employee has recently brought the first successful case under the new Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations...

Thank you to all of our readers who took part in the 2004 Christmas Quiz. Our congratulations go to Rhona Morrison at AEGON UK plc who was drawn at random from all those entrants who scored 20 or more correct answers. Well done Rhona!! Q1: Can a whistle...

As readers will be aware, the statutory disciplinary and grievance procedures came into force on 1 October 2004 in accordance with the Employment Act (Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2004 (“the Regulations”). Much has been made in the press of...

Time off for dependants is one of a number of statutory rights afforded to employees. A recent case, Forster v Cartwright Black Solicitors, examined the scope of this right and the question of how much flexibility an employer has to limit the length of...

Over the last twenty years or so, age discrimination in the workplace has been a maturing problem. The common perception is that age discrimination is an issue which disadvantages the older employee or applicant more than it does the younger one. Long gone...

Most readers will probably know someone who has been excused from jury service or who has had their jury service postponed. The categories of persons who used to have the right to be excused from jury service was fairly broad. The ease with which people...

Street v. Derbyshire Unemployed Workers’ Centre Mrs Street was employed as an administrator of Derbyshire Unemployed Workers’ Centre (“the Centre”). There were 6 other paid employees of the Centre including Colin Hampton, the...

New employment tribunal rules come into force on 1 October 2004. These make significant changes to the procedure for bringing and defending claims. There are two key dates to remember: On 1 October 2004 the majority of changes become operative. On 5 April...

Most employers have heard about the new statutory dismissal and grievance procedures, but how may can honestly say they know what is involved and what the impact is for their organisation? The procedures come into force on 1 October 2004 and as no employer,...

A few weeks ago, hrlaw (in conjunction with The Times) asked you for your views on whether the rumours and recent press headlines about discrimination in the City are true? Does discrimination continue to be rife or have just a handful of cases been blown...

Whilst workers may be able to decide easily whether employment or agency suits them best, the English courts and Employment Tribunals have often experienced difficulties in determining which of these two working arrangements applies. A number of tests have...

Injunctions are a discretionary remedy that may be awarded in addition to, or instead of, damages. The essence of an injunction is to enforce obligations that a party is required to abide by. These obligations may arise either under contract, or under the...