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Adoption - A Woman's Rights
Employers are reminded that women who are planning to adopt a child have similar rights as regards protection from unfavourable treatment as employees who are pregnant. This was illustrated by a landmark decision of the Employment Tribunal (ET). Anna... -
Age Discrimination Checklist
Age Discrimination Check List The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 , which came into force on 1 October 2006, aim to achieve equal treatment in employment and vocational training to eradicate discrimination on the grounds of age. Under... -
Asbestos Cancer Victims Win Landmark Ruling
A recent ruling in the High Court means that those claiming compensation for the fatal asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma could now be in line for six-figure sums. The decision confirms that mesothelioma sufferers are able to claim compensation from the... -
Associative Discrimination - ECJ Rules
In a decision that will have far reaching implications, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled ( Coleman v Attridge Law ) that a woman with a disabled child is entitled to protection from discrimination at work on the grounds of her child’s... -
Bullying Award Sounds Further Warning Bell for Employers
The award of £828,000 in damages to a Company Secretary Assistant, who endured a long-running campaign of bullying and harassment at the hands of her workmates, serves as a warning to employers who allow such behaviour to go on in the workplace. ... -
Changes to the Sex Discrimination Act
In 2007, the former Equal Opportunities Commission brought judicial review proceedings against the Government regarding some of the provisions of the Employment Equality (Sex Discrimination) Regulations 2005 , which made amendments to the Sex... -
Collective Redundancy Consultation
Employers should be aware of the potentially serious financial consequences of failing to consult when making collective redundancies. If an employer is proposing to make redundant 20 or more employees at one establishment within a period of 90 days or... -
Compensation for Illness in Unfair Dismissal Cases
In Adey-Jones v O’Dowd , the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) considered the extent to which an employee could claim compensation from her former employer for illness she suffered after she had been unfairly dismissed. Mrs O’Dowd was... -
Compromise Agreements
As a general rule, ‘out of court settlements’ of employment disputes are not legally binding in that they cannot exclude an employee's right to take the matter concerned to an Employment Tribunal (ET). A formal compromise agreement is one of the... -
Dealing with Employee Absence
Employee absences can be both costly and disruptive. It is advisable to have systems in place to measure and analyse these costs so that you can identify problem areas. Are there patterns of absence? Does a particular department have a below average... -
Disability Discrimination - Normal Day-to-Day Activities
Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA), a person has a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment which has a long-term substantial adverse effect on their normal day-to-day activities. The DDA requires employers to make... -
Driving on Company Business
Research by the Health and Safety Executive shows that 20 people are killed and 250 are seriously injured each week in traffic accidents involving someone driving for business reasons. The threat of employers being prosecuted for road accidents involving... -
Drug Policy - Recognising the Signs and What to Do
Research findings from Medscreen, based on drug testing carried out over the last ten years across a variety of professions, reveal that there has been a 3,000 per cent increase in the number of workers testing positive for cocaine. More than five per cent of... -
Employee or Self-Employed - Mutuality of Obligation
Employees, or their dependants, are entitled to claim damages for injury caused by a workplace accident if: • there was a duty of care owed to the injured person; • that duty was not performed; and • it was reasonably foreseeable that... -
Employer Responsible for Work-Related Suicide
Employees, or their dependants, are entitled to claim damages for injury caused by a workplace accident if: • there was a duty of care owed to the injured person; • that duty was not performed; and • it was reasonably foreseeable that harm... -
Expired Disciplinary Warnings and Unfair Dismissal
The Court of Appeal has overturned the decision of the Employment Tribunal (ET), upheld by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT), that an employee was unfairly dismissed because his employer had taken account of an expired disciplinary warning when... -
Faulty Work Boots - Employer Not Liable for Employee's Frostbite
The House of Lords ruled, in the case of Fytche v Wincanton Logis tics, that an employer’s absolute obligation to maintain or repair protective equipment, under the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992, does not extend to a... -
First Criminal Prosecution for Deliberate Non-Payment of the NMW
The owners of a Sheffield butcher's shop have been ordered to pay more than £11,000 to two former employees because they failed to pay them the National Minimum Wage (NMW). This is the fourth successful NMW prosecution to date but it is the first in... -
Gay Church Worker Awarded £37,000 Compensation
A recent case has illustrated once again that employers who fail to take appropriate action to prevent homophobic treatment of a gay employee can find themselves liable for substantial compensation payments. Stephen Price, who is openly homosexual,... -
Guidance for Employers of Teleworkers
Nowadays, many people work away from the traditional office environment through the use of modern technology. The Government estimates that there are now more than two million ‘teleworkers’ in the UK who do some work from home, an increase of 65... -
In Brief - ACAS E-learning Guides
The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) now has ten electronic learning guides available on its website. The topics are • bullying and harassment; • managing absence in the workplace; • handling redundancy; •... -
In Brief - Advice on Occupational Asthma
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) estimates that each year between 1,500 and 3,000 people in Great Britain develop occupational asthma. The number rises to 7,000 cases a year if asthma made worse by work is taken into account. The cost to society is... -
In Brief - Data Protection
The Office of the Information Commissioner has published a consolidated version of the guidance on data protection issues in employment. This brings together the four existing guides on recruitment and selection, employee records, monitoring at work and... -
In Brief - Guidance on Cancer and Working
Guidance on Cancer and Working Changes introduced in December 2005 extended protection under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to those diagnosed with progressive forms of cancer. The Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, together... -
In Brief - Working at Height Regulations
Falls from height are the single biggest cause of workplace deaths and one of the main causes of serious injury. In order to help prevent accidents of this type, revised Regulations came into force on 6 April 2005. The Work at Height Regulations (WAHR)...
