The European Working Time Directive entitles workers to at least 4 weeks’ holiday per year. Many countries, including the UK, choose to give workers additional holiday entitlement over and above the minimum. The Working Time Regulations 1998 gives UK employees an additional 1.6 weeks of leave per year. The Court of Justice of the European… Read More
Whistleblowing and Automatic Unfair Dismissal
A dismissal will be automatically unfair if the main reason for the dismissal is the fact that the employee has ‘blown the whistle’ on malpractice. The Supreme Court has recently decided that an employer was liable for automatic unfair dismissal even though the decision maker was unaware of the protected disclosures. In Royal Mail v… Read More
Pregnancy and Maternity discrimination
Section 18 of the Equality Act 2010 deals specifically with pregnancy and maternity discrimination. A woman bringing a claim under section 18 does not need to show that a male comparator would have been treated more favourably (they can’t, because men cannot be pregnant or go on maternity leave). In normal direct discrimination claims under… Read More
Philosophical belief discrimination
The Equality Act 2010 protects people from discrimination based on their philosophical beliefs. In order to be protected, the belief must be: Genuinely held; Be a belief not an opinion or viewpoint; Concern a weighty or substantial aspect of human life; Have attained a certain level of cogency, seriousness or importance (in a similar way… Read More
Worker status
Workers don’t have as much employment protection as employees but do have important legal rights such as paid holiday and the right to be paid the national minimum wage. Employment tribunals will look at multiple factors when deciding whether an individual is a worker or self-employed. The main ones are Control – How much control… Read More