The Supreme Court has recently decided that legal advice privilege (in England and Wales) does not extend beyond the legal professions of Solicitor, Barrister and Chartered Legal Executive (and their foreign equivalents) in R (on the application of Prudential plc) v Special Commissioner of Income Tax. Prudential obtained legal advice from their accountants in relation […]
Dismissals involving accumulated warnings
In the case of Wincanton Group v Stone the EAT considered the fairness of a dismissal based on accumulated disciplinary warnings. The question was can a tribunal look behind earlier warnings? The answer was no, unless satisfied that an earlier warning was issued in bad faith or was manifestly inappropriate. The case involved a lorry […]
What does 2013 have in store for UK Employment Law?
The government’s Fifth Statement of New Regulation was published on 17th December 2012. It records the government’s progress in reducing the regulatory burdens on business by cutting the “red tape” and sets out the dates on which the government intends to bring into force some key employment legislation in 2013. It is predicted that by […]
The Employment Rights (Increase in Limits) 2012
The Annual review of compensation limits has been announced this week. As always, the limits have been adjusted to align with the Retail Price Index and the most notable changes are as follows. An increase in the maximum Compensatory Award for unfair dismissal from £72,300 to £74,200 An increase in the maximum amount of a […]
Enforcing post termination restrictions
This case of Patsystems V Neilly highlights the importance of ensuring that employees actually sign and return new contracts issued following a change in role or a promotion, which contain all the terms and conditions (including post termination covenants) to which the employee is to be subjected. Covenants in Contracts of Employment preventing employees from […]
George Osborne announces plans for a new Contract of Employment
The Chancellor, George Osborne announced yesterday at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham his plans for a new type of employment contract. This new contract would be known as an “owner–employee” contract of employment. Under this new contract an employee would waive their employment rights on unfair dismissal, redundancy, the right to request flexible working […]