TUPE has been in the news again this month. If the sole or principal reason for a dismissal is a TUPE transfer, the dismissal will be automatically unfair unless there is an economic, technical or organisational (ETO) reason for it (Regulation 7(1) TUPE 2006). The Court of Appeal has recently looked at whether a dismissal […]
Working time records
The Advocate General of the European Union Court of Justice has suggested that employers should keep records of actual hours worked by full time employees in order to comply with the Working Time Directive. In a Spanish case, CCOO v Deutsche Bank, the CCOO trade union brought a claim saying the Bank should record the […]
Agency workers
After 12 weeks’ employment, agency workers are entitled to the same basic employment terms (including pay) as if they had been hired directly by the hirer, rather than through an agency (regulation 5(1) Agency Workers Regulations 2010). There is an exception to this rule, called the ‘Swedish derogation’, if agency workers receive guaranteed pay between […]
Family leave pay increases
The cost of family leave is set to increase again in April 2019. The government has published its draft Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2019. From 7 April 2019, statutory maternity pay, paternity pay, shared parental pay and adoption pay will increase from £145.18 per week to £148.68. Sick pay is also due to increase […]
Unfair dismissal
If an employee is dismissed for raising allegations that his employer infringed one of his statutory rights, the dismissal will be automatically unfair (section 104(1)(b) Employment Rights Act 1996). There is no two-year qualifying period to bring this claim. The Employment Appeal Tribunal has looked recently at whether this sort of claim can include an […]
Disability discrimination
In order to satisfy the legal definition of ‘disabled’ in the Equality Act 2010, an impairment must have a substantial and long-term adverse effect on an employee’s ability to perform day to day activities. To be ‘long-term’, the condition must have lasted, or be likely to last, at least 12 months. In Nissa v Waverly […]