The annual Christmas party gives employers the opportunity to thank members of staff for their contribution over the past year and is a chance for everyone to relax and enjoy the holiday season. However, it is easy to forget that an employer owes its employees certain obligations, even outside work, when the event has been organised by the employer, and that employees’ conduct during it should comply with normal standards and should not breach workplace equal treatment and anti-harassment policies.
Restrictive covenants in employment contracts involve the imposition of restraints on employees’ personal freedom and have to be reasonable to be enforceable. In one case, the High Court ruled that a clause in an engineer’s contract that prevented him from working for competitors for 12 months passed that test.
Many people do dangerous jobs, but employers are required by law to do all in their power to minimise risks, and the consequences of failing to do so can be severe. In one case, an equipment maintenance company was served with an improvement notice under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 after a near-fatal accident.
Following a four-week pilot scheme, the Employment Tribunal Fees Refund Scheme is now open to anyone who paid fees in respect of an Employment Tribunal or Employment Appeal Tribunal claim after their introduction in July 2013.
In a ground-breaking decision that underlined the primacy of European law, the Supreme Court has opened the way for a police officer to appeal against her dismissal to an Employment Tribunal (ET) on disability discrimination grounds.
Christmas is a busy time for a lot of businesses, with many taking on temporary staff to cope with the extra workload. At the same time, many employees will want to take time off to spend with their family, go on holiday or attend religious services.
Your job may give you access to confidential data but the consequences of giving in to nosiness can be severe indeed. In one case, a midwife who took the opportunity to snoop through the files of patients and others over a 14-year period lost her job and was struck off by her professional body.
In a ground-breaking ruling, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has confirmed that drivers for online cab giants Uber are ‘workers’, as defined by the Employment Rights Act 1996, and are thus entitled to a panoply of rights and benefits.
Hard-edged opinions are all too easily formed in the heat of disciplinary proceedings, but employers must be careful to stand back and take a balanced approach. In one case in which that did not happen, a senior hospital radiologist won the right to substantial compensation following her unfair dismissal.
The position of ‘live-in’ workers as regards employment status and rights has long been a bone of contention in the care industry in particular, leading the Government to create a new compliance scheme for social care employers.