Equal Pay: Court of Appeal Rules in Favour of ASDA Employees
Brierley and Ors v Asda Stores Ltd [2019] EWCA CIV 44 Over 7,000 predominantly female retail employees brought equal pay claims against ASDA in the Employment Tribunal. The first hurdle to overcome in an equal pay claim is establishing an appropriate comparator. The fe...
Unlawful Inducement of Trade Union Members
Inducements to trade union members to forgo collective bargaining are normally unlawful and employers risk sanctions if a court finds them guilty of unlawful inducements, however this risk for employers has been reduced since the Court of Appeal decision in Kostal UK Ltd v D...
Unfair Dismissal Time Limits in the Employment Tribunal
Employment Tribunal Time Limit Extensions There are two kinds of time limit for every Tribunal case. a. The Primary Time Limit b. ACAS Early Conciliation (EC) Extended Time Limit. You have a primary time limit and an extension for EC. For unfair dismissal the time lim...
Best Practice Guidelines on Confidentiality Agreements in Discrimination Cases
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has this week published new Guidance: The use of confidentiality agreements in discrimination cases (October 2019). The Guide is not legal and is presented as good practice directions without setting out any legal requirements. Ke...
Consequences of a Flawed Disciplinary Investigation
Your employer must be procedurally fair during a disciplinary investigation. The case of Retirement Security Ltd v Miss A. Wilson illustrates the impact of a flawed disciplinary investigation on an unfair dismissal claim. Here, the procedural defects in an inv...
Reasonable Adjustments Should Be Made for Sickness Absence Triggers
In Northumberland Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust v Ward the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruled that the employer who did not adapt the sickness absence trigger point for a disabled employee, had failed to make a reasonable adjustment. Miss Ward suffers from ME/Chronic fat...
Beards and Dress Codes in the Limelight
In R Sethi v Elements Personnel Services Limited, an Employment Tribunal said that a ‘no beard’ requirement in Elements Personnel’s dress code policy amounted to indirect discrimination, as it placed Sikhs at a particular disadvantage. Mr Sethi is a practisin...
Guidance on Gagging Orders at Work
ACAS has published new Guidance on the use of Non-disclosure Agreements also known as Gagging Orders. The Guidance helps employers, managers, HR professionals, workers, worker/trade union representatives and job applicants to unders...
It Is Not Discriminatory to Pay Women More Says Court of Appeal
Ali v Capita and Hextall v Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police (joined cases) The Court of Appeal heard these two cases together and ultimately decided that it is not discriminatory to enhance maternity pay, while only offering statutory shared parental pay for partners. T...
Is a Belief That Men and Women Cannot Change Their Sex a Protected Belief Under the Equality Act 2010?
No said the Employment Tribunal in Maya Forstater v CGD Europe [2019]. Refusing to accept that trans women are women is not a protected ‘philosophical belief’ under the Equality Act 2010. Religion or belief is a protected characteristic in the Equality Act 2010 and beli...