The Court of Appeal has today handed down its decision in  cCabe v Cornwall County Council (CA, 23rd December 2002). Readers will be delighted to know the law on manner of dismissal remains as confused as ever, despite the valiant attempts of...

[Two job advertisements for the Citizens Advice Bureaux specialist support unit in Wolverhampton appear below] The Court of Appeal has handed down its decision in  Vento v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police  (CA, 20th December 2002). This...

The EAT, in  Ken Read v Dawson & Ette  (Burton P., 11/11/02), has made some interesting observations on a tribunal's interlocutory powers when considering applications for discovery and inspection. The principles to be drawn from Burton...

The DTI has, this evening, published a summary guide to TUPE. It deals with current law, not the proposals we are all awaiting....

The government has today announced regulations to limit working hours of young workers, to come into force on 6th April 2003. The new laws apply to workers between school-leaving age and 18, and limit working time to: • 40 hours per week; • 8...

The Court of Appeal has overturned the EAT's decision in Curr v Marks & Spencers plc (see bulletin dated 9th April 2002 for the EAT decision). An employee had a four year break in her employment, pursuant to the Marks & Spencers'...

The House of Lords has refused permission to appeal in  Chief Constable of Bedfordshire v Liversidge [2002] IRLR 651.  The law is therefore settled.  Under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Race Relations Act 1976 ,...

The new EAT Practice Direction has now been published. It came into force on Monday (9th December). Some practical points to note: • the Notice of Appeal must state the order the Appellant will ask the EAT to make (as well as the grounds of appeal);...

The regional chairman in Croydon has directed that in any cases where an IT3 is due to be filed between 21st December 2002 and 4th January 2003 (inclusive), time is extended to 14th January 2003. This does not apply to Originating Applications. Whilst I...

The Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Bill was introduced in the House of Commons today. Its purpose, in the explanatory notes, is stated to be  "to rewrite tax legislation relating to income from employment, pensions and social security so as to...

Hot off the press, the annual increase to the limits on tribunal awards have been published. They take effect as of the 1st February 2003 (for unfair dismissal claims, this is for all claims where the EDT is on or after 1st February 2003 rather than the date...

This decision has been placed on the EAT website in the last 24 hours. Harlow v General HealthCare Group plc (HHJ Peter Clark, 4/10/02) The employer failed to respond to a formal grievance, on the grounds the employee was off sick and his wife had...

The government has published the first draft of the  Flexible Working (Procedural Requirements) Regulations 2002 , made under the Employment Act 2002. They are intended to come into force on 6th April 2003. As readers will know, the Employment Act...

The government has published the first draft of the  Flexible Working (Procedural Requirements) Regulations 2002 , made under the Employment Act 2002. They are intended to come into force on 6th April 2003. As readers will know, the Employment Act...

The government has just introduced the  National Minimum Wage (Enforcement Notices) Bill  in the House of Lords. It is designed to correct the anomaly, thrown up last year in the EAT's decision in  Inland Revenue v Bebb Travel plc, ...

The government has approved the recommendations of the Employment Tribunal Taskforce (chaired by Janet Gaymer), which reported on 29th July 2002. ACAS and the Employment Tribunal Service will now undertake a study on how best to implement the proposals. ...

Correction to previous bulletin The bulletin sent out half an hour ago stated: The DTI has published its response, following its consultation paper on simplifying maternity/paternity rules. The conclusions include: • paternity leave will be available...

1. Anticipated Commencement Dates The DTI has published a list of anticipated commencement dates for the various provisions of the  Employment Act 2002. 2. Government Response following consultation on simplifying maternity/paternity rules The...

***PLEASE NOTE*** Following feedback, I am now putting the phrase '[Employment Law List]' at the end (rather than the beginning) of these bulletins. Message rules to divert the Emails should still work, but it will allow the subject to be seen more...

[A job advertisement (Chester region) appears at the end of this bulletin]  The government has this morning issued a consultation document containing the draft Regulations for the anti-discrimination legislation that must be implemented by next year,...

[A job advertisement (Glasgow region) appears at the end of this bulletin]  ***PLEASE NOTE*** I have been asked to stop using the identifying phrase '[Employment Law List]' at the beginning of the subject line for these bulletins, as it...

The government has issued a consultation document in response to the recommendation of the Better Regulation Taskforce that commencement dates for employment legislation should be harmonised so as to have just one or two 'implementation dates' each...

The government has issued a consultation document in response to the recommendation of the Better Regulation Taskforce that commencement dates for employment legislation should be harmonised so as to have just one or two 'implementation dates' each...

These decisions have been placed on the EAT website in the last 24 hours. Bournemouth Borough Council v Meredith (Maurice Kay J., 24/7/02) The employee, a teacher, was dismissed for gross misconduct when he took a disruptive 12-year old girl by the...

The Lord Chancellor's department has, today, appointed HHJ Jeremy McMullen to sit as a full-time judge in the EAT with effect from 7th October 2002. This follows on from last month's announcement appointing six QCs to sit as new part-time judges in...

Just in case anyone missed it in the newspapers, a reminder that the following come into force today: 1. Increase in national minimum wage This increases from £4.10 to £4.20 for workers over 22, and from £3.50 to £3.60 for those...

According to an article in today's internet edition of Personnel Today, the government has announced it intends to appeal the Stratford tribunal's decision in Rutherford v TownCircle (see bulletin dated 23rd August, reproduced below), where the...

The following cases have been placed on the EAT website in the last 24 hours. They are not yet officially reported, but may be appear in the law reports in due course. Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital Trust v Howard  (HHJ Reid, EAT 23rd August...

[At the end of this bulletin is an advertisement for CLT courses]  The Court of Appeal has handed down judgment in Lawal v Northern Spirit, upholding (by a majority) the EAT's decision that it is legitimate for part-time judges in the EAT to...

The long-awaited Part 2 of the Data Protection Code of Practice, dealing with record management, is now available. The Code sets out the procedures (and penalties) for storing personal data about employees and job applicants. It also explains the processes...

Readers will recall  Rutherford v Harvest Town Circle  (see bulletin 18/7/01), in which the Employment Appeal Tribunal set out the legal test for whether the unfair dismissal / redundancy upper qualifying ages were contrary to EU Art 141.  ...

Readers will recall Rutherford v Harvest Town Circle (see bulletin 18/7/01), in which the Employment Appeal Tribunal set out the legal test for whether the unfair dismissal / redundancy upper qualifying ages were contrary to EU Art 141. Yesterday, the...

The EAT has held that employees can recover aggravated damages in discrimination claims arising from the unreasonable conduct of the employer after dismissal - in this case, the unreasonable conduct of the employer in the way it conducted its defence in the...

CONTENTS: 1. Better Regulation TaskForce Reports 2. What are your burning questions? 1. Better Regulation TaskForce Report The government has announced it intends to implement a number of recommendations of the Better Regulation TaskForce Report (see...

This is an automatic message, sent to the older members on my mailing list. For the last year or so, I have been asking all new subscribers to complete a short form identifying themselves (basically, name and firm) when they sign up. Because you joined...

First, a note of apology. For some reason I am looking into, about 10% of the subscribers to this bulletin suddenly stopped receiving them last month (although from my end they still appear to be on the list). If your colleagues are not getting these Emails,...

The Employment Tribunal System Taskforce, chaired by Janet Gaymer, has today published its report on reform of the employment tribunal system. The report was provided to the DTI and the Lord Chancellor. The main recommendations are: • establishing a...

The following cases have been placed on the EAT website in the last 24 hours. They are not yet officially reported, but may be appear in the law reports in due course. The Chief Constable of Cumbria v McGlennon  (Mr Commissioner Howell QC, 15/7/02) ...

Blackburn v Gridquest (CA, 23/7/02) The Court of Appeal has given its decision in  Gridquest, holding that it is not permissible to 'roll-up' holiday pay within ordinary weekly remuneration in circumstances where there was no express...

Key Communications v Rose & others  (EAT, Maurice Kay J., 5th July 2002) An interesting TUPE decision on the meaning of "a transfer of an undertaking...may be effected by a series of two or more transactions". Facts An insolvent...

We all knew they were coming, and on a warm Thursday afternoon the DTI has released a flood of consultation papers on proposed changes to employment legislation. The various consultation papers cover: • employment status in relation to employment...

The Employment Bill received Royal Assent yesterday, becoming the Employment Act 2002. It will come into force in April 2003. I reproduce, below, a summary of the provisions of the Act from www.emplaw.co.uk (with permission of DiscLaw Publishing...

Kyndall Spirits v Burns (EAT 27/6/02, Lord Johnston) There is a duty on an employer to expressly raise the issue of mitigation of loss, if it wants to rely on it. The decision in  Morganite Electrical Carbon Ltd v Donne [1987] IRLR 363 , which states...

The government has issued a consultation document on how best to implement the EC Agency Workers Directive (see bulletins of 20th March and 22nd March 2002). It appears from the DTI commentary that the DTI intends to take advantage of the exemption...

A case on whether directors/shareholders of a company can amount to 'employees' for the purposes of the ERA 1996 (in particular, a redundancy payment from the DTI fund). The case contains a very useful analysis of the authorities and, whilst not...

The following decisions have been placed on the EAT website this morning: Nicholls v London Borough of Greenwich  (Bell J., 14th June 2002) Ms Nicholls was employed by a local authority for many years. Her contract provided that, on retirement, she...

I have been asked to see if any solicitors whose clients' cases have been adversely affected by the decision in  Liversidge  would like to get together to consider their options. As those involved in discrimination claims against the police...

Further to my bulletin dated 22nd January 2002 (reproduced below), the government has announced it is not able to implement the  Fixed Term Workers Regulations by 10th July 2002 , as required by the EC Fixed Term Workers Directive.  The reason...

I have (at last!) updated the articles on my website. I have added: • 'Agency Workers lose out' (ELA Briefing, July 2002) • 'More Power for the Workers' (Times Law Supplement, 25/6/02) • 'Developments in Age...

I have (at last!) updated the articles on my website. I have added: • 'Agency Workers lose out'  (ELA Briefing, July 2002) • 'More Power for the Workers'  (Times Law Supplement, 25/6/02) • 'Developments in Age...

The Court of Appeal has, this morning, handed down its decision in  Consignia plc v Sealy. Facts Mr Sealy was dismissed on 9th July 2000. He posted his IT1, claiming unfair dismissal, on Friday, 6th October 2000. The three months for presenting his...

Following an initial consultation period last year, the DTI has issued a further consultation paper on the new laws required to comply with the  Young Workers' Directive , having amended the original proposals. The new law will apply to...

Very few people will have missed the front page of today's Times, which contained an article describing an impending consultation paper from the DTI, due this summer. Apparently the consultation paper will seek views on changing the law to: •...

This decision has just been placed on the EAT website. It is currently unreported, but may be reported in due course. McLeod & Welsh v Phoenix Taxis & Rainbow Taxis (Lord Johnstone, 22/4/2002) A surprising TUPE decision from the EAT. Phoenix...

Following the resignation of Stephen Byers yesterday, 10 Downing Street has just announced that the new Secretary for Work and Pensions will be Andrew Smith. And for those who are interested in such mundane matters, the existing Work and Pensions Secretary,...

This decision has just been placed on the EAT website. It is currently unreported, but may be reported in due course. Hill v Howard Chappel (HHJ Peter Clark, 20/3/02) An employer is not entitled to deduct overpaid holiday from an employee's final...

The High Court has held  (London Borough of Newham v Skingle & The Pensions Ombudsman) , on an appeal from the Pensions Ombudsman, that pensionable salary for local government employees does not include overtime payments. The point (which is...

According to a case summary issued by the Independent Council of Law Reporting, the Court of Appeal decided the appeal in  Rossiter v Pendragon  (and the associated case,  Clarke v Air Foyle Ltd ) last week. The transcript is not yet...

The Better Regulation Task Force (a part of the Cabinet Office) has issued a report calling for reforms to the system of implementing employment legislation, referring to the unreasonable demands the method of regulation imposes on small and medium size...

The House of Lords has just handed down its decision in Fairchild, the mesothelioma test case. The issue was whether employees who had developed mesothelioma from inhalation of asbestosis could bring a claim against various previous employers, when it was...

The Age Discrimination (No. 2) Bill 2002 has been introduced to the House of Commons. It contains the following provisions (applying to both employees and contract workers): • making it unlawful to discriminate directly on grounds of age; • making...

These decisions have just been placed on the EAT website. They are currently unreported, but may be reported in due course. Paggetti v Cobb (HHJ Peter Clark, 22/3/02) An employee's compensatory award was calculated on the basis of his actual wage,...

The Employment Tribunal System Taskforce, chaired by Janet Gaymer, has today published its report on reform of the employment tribunal system. The report was provided to the DTI and the Lord Chancellor. The main recommendations are: • establishing a...

According to a press release just issued, the European Commission has upheld a complaint against the UK government, holding that the Working Time Regulations do not properly implement the EC Working Time Directive. Amicus, the trade union, complained to the...

The decision of the Court of Appeal in  RCO Support Services Ltd v UNISON (12th April 2002) is now available on the Court of Appeal website. For details of the EAT's decision, see my bulletin dated 6th July 2000. Facts The Aintree...

Esso Petroleum v Jarvis  [HHJ Pugsley, 18th January 2002] Esso engaged a number of workers through an employment agency. The workers were paid by the agency, although the rates were set by Esso. They worked alongside Esso employees, were subject to...

The government has launched a new 'desk aid' for GPs to help them decide whether a patient is fit for work. It contains the following guidelines: • the nature of the patients medical condition and how long the condition is expected to last...

Ian McCartney, Minister for Work and Pensions, has today set out the government's commitment to defeating age discrimination in employment, together with all other forms of ageism. The pledge is for such action to occur over the next 20 years - perhaps...

These cases are unreported (although some may be reported in due course). The transcripts were recently posted on the  EAT website Barlow v PE Jones Contractors Ltd [Mr Recorder Langstaff QC, 4th March 2002] A potentially important case on the...

The final text of the Information and Consultation Directive was published in the Official Journal of the European Communities on 23rd March 2002. The Directive gives employees a right to be: • informed about the business's economic situation,...

These cases are unreported (although some may be reported in due course). The transcripts were recently posted on the  EAT website Rotherham Reboring Services Ltd v Maycock  [HHJ Wilkie, 6th Feb 2002] The employment tribunal disapplied ...

The Court of Appeal has handed down its decision in  Wilding v British Telecommunications plc . It has dismissed the employee's appeal from the finding that he failed to mitigate his losses.   Click here to see the full decision ...

Further to Wednesday's bulletin, the text of the draft  EC Agency Workers Directive  is now available from here  (Adobe Acrobat required) . The site was temporarily down when I tried it, but it should be working again soon!...

The  Religious Discrimination and Remedies Bill  has been placed on the internet today. It is a private member's Bill. It mirrors the format of the sex and race discrimination legislation, making it an offence for employers to discriminate...

Further to the bulletin on 18th February, the Temporary Workers Directive has now been adopted by the European Commission. The Press Assocation has issued the following press release (below). As soon as the text of the Directive is available, I will issue a...

Part 1 of the long-awaited Employment Practices Data Protection Code has now been issued. It deals with recruitment and selection, and can be seen here. The main provisions are: • the code is stated as covering employees, job applicants, agency...

We may be seeing a change to the political agenda. According to a report in The Times, Conservative frontbencher, John Bercow, has urged the Conservatives to end hard opposition to workers' rights and establish a reputation for fairness as Labour...

The EAT has handed down its decision in  Kigass Aero v Brown  (and associated appeals), upholding the decision of the employment tribunal below (see bulletin dated 31/3/00). On a proper construction of the  Working Time Regulations 1988 ,...

This message is being sent to people who selected the  'journalist' category when they joined the list. If you have received this in error, please use the link at the bottom of the bulletin to change your details. This message accompanies...

The transcript in  R v Central Arbitration Committee, ex p. Kwik-Fit Ltd  has been released, being a judicial review of a decision of the CAC. The case involves a determination of what is the 'appropriate bargaining unit' in an...

The Court of Appeal's decision in  Rothschild v Ako  is now available. The decision was handed down on Friday, 1st March 2002. Facts Mrs Ako lodged an unfair dismissal and race discrimination claim against Rothschild. After seeking advice...

The DTI has published an extensive report (121 pages!) as a result of a survey of tribunal users in 2,700 cases. Some examples of the findings: • 5% of Applicants had made previous applications to a tribunal. 56% of employers had not faced a claim...

The government has today announced two amendments to the  Part Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000.  First, the requirement that a part-time fixed-term worker must be compared with a full-time fixed-term...

The Court of Appeal has, yesterday, handed down its decision in Bennett v London Borough of Southwark. Its flavour can best be gleaned from the opening words of Ward LJ, namely " This case fills me with despair" or the conclusion of...

The Court of Session has handed down its decision in the seminal Equal Pay case of  Soith Ayrshire Council v Morton , upholding the decision of the employment tribunal and the EAT. Facts Ms Morton was the headmistress of a Scottish primary school....

According to this morning's lead article in the Financial Times, and to BBC Radio, the EC is drawing up a Directive to grant agency workers - including 'temps' - equal rights to pay and pensions as normal employees. This will prevent employers...

The Court of Appeal has handed down its judgment in  Quirk v Burton Hospital NHS Trust. It upholds the distinction in the approach to men and women in occupational pension schemes, holding that, under Article 141 of the  Treaty of...

These cases are unreported (although some may be reported in due course). The transcripts were recently posted on the EAT website. LAWAL v NORTHERN SPIRIT LTD. (Lindsay J., 15th January 2002) Resolving the issue of the 5 well-known employment QCs...

Following extensive consultation, the government has published a second draft of the Fixed-Term (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002 and has commenced a period of further consultation. The Regulations are designed to give effect to the...

The annual increase in tribunal awards has been announced, pursuant to section 34 of the Employment Relations Act 1999. The important changes are: • compensatory award for unfair dismissal - from £51,700 to £52,600; • basic award...

These cases are unreported (although some may be reported in due course). The transcripts were recently posted on the EAT website. MORGAN v STAFFORDSHIRE UNIVERSITY (Lindsay P., 11th December 2001) Practical guidance from the EAT about evidence...

These cases are unreported (although some may be reported in due course). The transcripts were recently posted on the EAT website. BESTWAYS v MOFFATT (Lord Johnston, 1st November 2001) An example of the EAT awarding costs against a party who...