For those who appreciate a light-hearted review of the employment law year, Wragge & Co. have produced a first-class summary of this year's employment law developments (and a preview of anticipated issues for 2006). Click here to download (.pdf...

The House of Lords, in a judgment handed down this morning, has overturned decades of practice/authority by holding that ministers of religion are employees (at least for the purpose of the  Sex Discrimination Act 1975 ). Ms Percy was an...

The Advocate General has, today, handed down an opinion stating that the UK is in breach of EU law. In the UK, men are entitled to draw a state pension at 65, but women are entitled to draw a state pension at 60. Sarah Richards is a male-to-female...

The statutory instrument containing the annual increase in compensation limits has just been laid before Parliament. The increases take effect, as always, on 1st February (2006). They apply to dismissals occurring on or after that date). The important...

The DCA has just (12.15pm) announced that the new President of the Employment Appeal Tribunal is the Honourable Mr Justice (Patrick) Elias. His term is from 3 January 2006 until 2 January 2009 inclusive. He will succeed the Honourable Mr Justice Burton....

An interesting point of construction of regulation 16 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 is dealt with in the EAT's judgment in  New Southern Railway v Quinn. Mrs Quinn was (effectively) demoted from the Duty...

Another case from the EAT (HHJ McMullen presiding) reminding tribunals that it is incumbent on them to consider making a Polkey reduction to compensation for unfair dismissal, and that the King v Eaton situation where no reduction should be made because of...

They're coming fast and furious... Yesterday, the EAT published yet another decision on step 1 statutory grievance letters (judgment was given on 13th October, although the transcript was not released until yesterday). As well as winning first prize in...

Hot on the heels of HHJ Peter Clark's decision in Thorpe & Soleil Investments v Poat & Lake (see bulletin 25/11/05) comes an even more important decision on what does (or does not) constitute a step 1 grievance letter for the purpose of...

Acas has issued a set of Frequently Asked Questions for employers arising out of 'Christmas Party' issues. Questions (and answers) include: How can you make sure people don't get too drunk and fail to turn up for work the day after the party? ...

Use brand-new technology to attend two one-hour telephone seminars that I am presenting on age discrimination on 12th January and 23rd January 2006. Just  dial-in  to a pre-arranged number (national rate) and listen to me speaking on age...

The EAT has handed down its judgment in  Home Office v Saunders . It holds that a tribunal is entitled to find that the correct hypothetical comparator for a female prison officer conducting a rub-down search of a male prisoner was a male prison...

We have the first EAT decision concerning the contents of statutory grievance letters under the Employment Act 2002. The EAT (HHJ Peter Clark sitting alone) holds: the intention of the employee is irrelevant - it matters not whether the employee did (or...

An interesting case from the EAT (sitting in Scotland) involving awards for injury to feelings when a disabled job applicant made a job application which was "not made wholly in good faith." The Claimant applied for a job as a security officer. On...

The ECJ has given judgment in Mangold v Rudiger Helm, dealing with the approach courts should take to the forthcoming age discrimination laws. Under German law (implementing the Fixed Term Workers Directive), fixed-term contracts are normally unlawful...

This is not particularly 'hot' news, but it is quite important and has not been picked up (as far as I am aware) by any of the legal journals. It is well-known that from 5th December 2005, cover under the DDA 1995 will be extended to include,...

The EAT has handed down an important equal pay decision, holding that the genuine material factor defence requires justification by objective criteria. There has, for a little while, been tension between domestic and ECJ authorities in this area. The...

The Equality Bill (which has been passed in the House of Lords) has now been transferred to the House of Commons and is available on the House of Commons' website. View Equality Bill ...

A useful decision from the EAT, in which a firm of solicitors moved offices at the same time as London (Central) tribunal moved from Woburn Place to Kingsway. Unsurprisingly, the tribunal's decision got lost somwhere along the way. The Claimant's...

From 6am on March 26, 2006, smoking will no longer be allowed in the majority of enclosed public places, including workplaces, to protect people from the harmful effects of passive smoking. This applies only to Scotland. The Scottish Executive has just...

I have been in correspondence with the Employment Tribunals Service over precisely which Claim and Response Forms are 'prescribed' for use in tribunals. I am receiving dozens of Emails on this topic and I understand the ETS are likewise receiving...

I have been told by Thompsons solicitors (acting for the Appellants) that Ainsworth v Inland Revenue has been granted permission to appeal to the House of Lords. The Court of Appeal decided (overturning  Kigass v Brown Aero ) that employees on...

The downloadable .pdf Claim and Response Forms on the ETS website are not in the prescribed form As readers will know, tribunals are now rejecting Claim and Response Forms that are not the 'official' versions. These include in-house computer forms...

From this week, all appeals in Scotland will be handled administratively from Audit House, London, rather than from Edinburgh. The hearings will continue to take place in Melville Street, Edinburgh. Click here for formal Notice from the EAT Thanks to...

Just up on BAILII today is a Court of Appeal decision from June. In it, the Court holds that when deciding whether psychiatric injury is reasonable foreseeable (for the purpose of a stress at work claim), it is proper for the court to take into account that...

Phew - wet towel time! The Court of Appeal has, this morning, handed down a staggeringly complicated decision on the correct approach to claims under the  Disability Discrimination Act 1995 . Don't even think about trying to read this one unless...

The EAT has just handed down an important decision in  Windsor Recruitment v Silverwood , overturning its previous approach to imposing restrictive covenants in  Forshaw v Archcraft. Windsor Recruitment wanted to impose restrictive covenants...

Acas has updated its guidance on sexual orientation and the workplace. It can be downloaded from the link below. Note it is a large pdf file and may take 10 or 20 seconds to open. Download Acas Guide...

The 'Age Positive' website has just published ten 'Key Facts your business needs to know about age discrimination' (rather embarrassingly, under the headling '20 key facts', although there are only 10 of them!). They can be accessed...

A majority decision from the EAT sitting in Scotland, holding that a Compromise Agreement did not exclude an Equal Pay claim... As often happens, the Claimant signed a Compromise Agreement on termination of employment. In exchange for signing away her...

The Employment Tribunals Service has introduced a service enabling Claimaints and Respondents to  save their Claim / Response Forms online. This makes it much easier to use the online facility, as the forms can be filled in over a period of time and...

The government has just announced its new family-friendly proposals, following extensive consultation. They will appear in the  Works and Families Bill , to be published soon. The new / changed laws will be:   extending Statutory Maternity...

The Court of Appeal has, today, handed down its judgment in  Perkin v St Georges Healthcare NHS Trust. It stands as authority for the proposition that employers are entitled to dismiss employees for having a difficult personality, even when they are...

Probably of interest only to those who deal in/with the public sector... The government has launched a consultation on its proposals to introduce a public sector duty to promote gender equality - commonly referred to as the 'gender duty'. These...

The EAT decision in  Leicestershire City Council v UNISON  has just been placed on the EAT website. Leicestershire City Council were renegotiating terms and conditions for about 2,600 employees. As commonly happens, they gave notice of dismissal...

As subscribers will know, use of the 'official' ET1 and ET3 forms becomes compulsory from next week. Following comments made at user group meetings in Cardiff and Bristol, it seems tribunal staff are being trained to accept and reject the...

The Commission for Racial Equality has just published its 'Race Equalty Scheme' for 2005-2008, setting out the way in which it intends to meet its obligations under the Race Relations Act 1976. Click here to view the Scheme. It has also...

The EAT has handed down a decision restating the importance of a solicitor ensuring he does not leave presentation of the Claim Form to the last day. The Claimant instructed solicitors a week after she was dismissed. The firm, which had only one employment...

The DTI has just published the booklet: Managing Change - Practical Ways to reduce long hours and reform working practices. This is a joint project between the TUC, CBI and DTI. The booklet identifies practical ways of implementing change management...

Some information for aficionados of the London Central tribunal... Their phone systems and Email systems have been down since (about) the beginning of the week. They now have intermittent phone access and 'slow' - whatever that means - Email access....

1 Temple Gardens are presenting seminars in London, Birmingham and Manchester on age discrimination. New laws are expected to have a substantial impact on practice for all employment lawyers and HR professionals. The seminars are designed to help delegates...

Acas has just published updated versions of three of its advisory booklets: Redundancy Handling Employee communications and consultation Time off Work It has also published the summer/autumn edition of its national newsletter, Acas News....

In the last three weeks, the High Court has handed down two inconsistent decision on whether, when a company is in administration, liability for protective awards and payments in lieu of notice take priority (or not) over the expenses of the administration....

The EAT has handed down a decision holding that BNP activists are entitled to rely on the race discrimination legislation. Mr Redfearn was a postal delivery driver for the West Yorkshire Transport Service. He was found to have been a "perfectly...

The EAT has handed down an important judgment dealing with, amongst other things, the ET's powers of review. Importantly, passages in the decision (dealt with below under 'Postscript') encourage tribunals to take a practical rather than rigidly...

The Court of Appeal has (by a majority) overturned the EAT's decision in St Helens MBC v Derbyshire. Issue Whether forceful and initmidating letters sent by an employer to a group of employees claiming Equal Pay can amount to victimisation. Facts ...

The Court of Appeal has (by a majority) overturned the EAT's decision in St Helens MBC v Derbyshire. Issue Whether forceful and initmidating letters sent by an employer to a group of employees claiming Equal Pay can amount to victimisation. Facts ...

Note- I have entered this case in emplaw under redundancy/meaning of but the internet is not working so have not been able to put in the reference. The Court of Appeal has today handed down a conceptually complex judgment concerning the effect of the Law...

In a fascinating case, the Court of Appeal has considered (in three separate reasoned judgments) the issue of whether and when the dismissal of an employee who refuses to work on the Sabbath is unfair. The case concerned the impact of article 9 of the ECHR...

The DTI has, at 10.30am, published the draft Regulations on age discrimination. The new Regulations: ban age discrimination in terms of recruitment, promotion and training; ban all retirement ages below 65 - except where objectively justified; require...

The DTI has, at 10.30am, published the draft Regulations on age discrimination. The new Regulations: ban age discrimination in terms of recruitment, promotion and training; ban all retirement ages below 65 - except where objectively justified; require...

The DTI, working with the HSE, CBI, TUC, Local Government Employers and the Forum of Private Business, has produced a leaflet for employers and employees on work-related stress. It says very little - in fact, it could hardly say less - but it comes in at an...

I've been sent a copy of a 'Be Ready' Personnel Organiser, produced by the Age Partnership Group. It's a filofax full of useful information on age discrimination for employers, plus a CD-ROM with training courses on age discrimination...

The Employment Tribunals Service (ETS) today published its Annual Report and Accounts for 2004-05 (1st April 2004 to 31st March 2005). Key findings include:   86,181 claims registered, compared with 115,042 the previous year. This decrease of 25% is...

Acas has today launched a range of tailor-made training and workshops to help public sector organisations manage change. This is accompanied by two publications - 'Working with you to manage change in the NHS' and 'Working with you to manage...

Where a Claim Form is sent to the tribunal by Email, a Claimant is entitled to assume it will be delivered at the tribunal within about an hour (unless there is an indication that it has not been received, such as a message bounce-back). Accordingly the...

The Court of Appeal has, this morning, held that the range of reasonable responses test does not apply when tribunals decide whether an otherwise indrectly discriminatory 'provision, criterion or practice' is objectively justified. In  Hardys...

The Court of Appeal has held that monies paid to employees by way of 'advances' on commission are not 'credit' within the meaning of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Accordingly the repayment clauses are enforceable even if they do not comply...

The EAT has handed down its decision in Hope v SITA (UK) Ltd. Mrs Hope was promoted to the position of Group Purchasing Manager, which a man had previously done, but not paid as much. The tribunal found that this was 'like work', but also found...

The statutory instrument containing this year's increase to the minimum wage has been laid before parliament (see bulletin dated 25th February 2005 when the increases were announced). The changes, which take effect on 1st October 2005, are: for adult...

In what was described by HHJ McMullen QC as "an arcane corner of the law relating to compensation for unfair dismissal", the EAT has held that a payment made by an employer, which purports to be a redundancy payment, cannot be set-off against the...

Acas has, today, updated three of its guides, namely: Booklet on Recruitment and Induction Q&A on Discipline, Dismissal and Grievances Advice Leaflet on Flexible Working Click on the titles above to link through ...

The EAT has handed down judgment on whether general 'mental handicap', or generalised learning disorders, can amount to a disability. It has often widely thought that a mental impairment must be clinically well-recognised before it can amount to a...

The EAT has handed down judgment on whether general 'mental handicap', or generalised learning disorders, can amount to a disability. It has often widely thought that a mental impairment must be clinically well-recognised before it can amount to a...

An interesting decision on the procedure for claiming / challenging state immunity, arising largely from the unusual facts of the case. Mr Aziz was employed for many years as an accounts assistant at the London embassy of the Republic of Yemen. He claimed...

The EAT has held, in  Fisher v Hoopoe Finance Ltd. , that where there are one or more possibilities of suitable alternative employment available to an employee who is to be made redundant, then the employer should normally inform the employee of...

UPDATE As most people will know, the 'rolled-up holiday pay' issue was referred to the ECJ last year (see bulletin 17/3/04). The conjoined cases of MJ Clarke v Frank Staddon and Caulfield Barnes v Marshalls Clay Products have now been listed for...

Acas has today issued a new advisory leaflet, 'Employing Older Workers'. It gives advice on what to consider when recruiting, planning for the future and managing older workers. As with all Acas guides, it is practical and succinct, with none of the...

The ECJ has provided its ruling in Celtec v Astley. The facts are set out below, reproduced from my bulletin dated 13th November 2004: Facts Prior to 1990, vocational training and enterprise activities were managed by the Department of Education. In 1989,...

Section 10 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 provides that the employment tribunal must dismiss a complaint of unfair dismissal if it is shown that the action complained of (ie dismissal) was taken for the purpose of safeguarding national security. Mr B was...

The Court of Appeal held, earlier this week, that the  Burns v Consignia  procedure adopted by the EAT is lawful, welcome and should not be interfered with by further appeals. In  Burns v Consignia , the EAT developed a procedure for...

The EAT (Burton P. presiding) has handed down judgment holding that damages for non-pecuniary loss (i.e. injury to feelings, aggravated damages etc.) cannot be recovered in Equal Pay Act claims, unlike in Sex Discrimination Act claims. The EAT, noting the...

In Scott & Co v Richardson, the EAT has reminded tribunals of the low threshold for deciding whether an employer has 'some other substantial reason' for dismissing an employee . Scott & Co was a firm of debt collectors. They wanted to...

Acas has updated a number of information leaflets, all available from its website. They are: Communicating with your Employees Contracts of Employment Controlling Labour Turnover Dealing with Grievances Discipline at Work Induction Training They are...

In a decision described by Burton P. as "a matter of some considerable importance" , the EAT has given guidance on how ETs should deal with Response Forms which are lodged late. In Blake Envelopes v Cromie, the Response Form was due to be...

The Court of Appeal has overturned the EAT's decision in  Hinton v University of East London , holding that it is necessary for a compromise agreement to expressly specify the cause of action being settled in order to be effective. Mr Hinton had...

Yet another case on agency workers... The Court of Appeal has, today, upheld a tribunal's findings that an agency worker was not employed by the agency. Mr Bunce worked through an employment agency called Skyblue. The contract stated he was not an...

The Court of Appeal has, this morning, handed down its decision in Alabaster v DWP. Last year in this case, the ECJ held that Article 141 required any pay rise awarded to a pregnant woman between the beginning of the pay reference period and the end of...

Under the new Procedural Rules, employment tribunal Claim Forms must contain certain matters, inlcuding "details of the Claim". The EAT has held that it is sufficient to identify the statutory right that it is alleged has been breached (in that...

The Court of Appeal has handed down its decision in Marks & Spencer v Williams-Ryan. It upheld the tribunal's (and the EAT's) decision that it was not reasonably practicable for Mrs Williams-Ryan to present her unfair dismissal claim within three...

The Court of Appeal has, today, overturned the EAT's decision in Saggar v Ministry of Defence. Lt. Col. Saggar was an army officer. He served between 1982 and 1998 (16 years) in the UK. He was then posted to Cyprus for just over three years. During the...

The Court of Appeal has, today, handed down its decision in the important case of  Beart v HM Prison Service . The case had previously reached the Court of Appeal on liability. This Court of Appeal hearing deals with damages. Mrs Beart was...

Since  Dacas v Brook Street Bureau , tribunals have been finding implied contracts of employment between agency workers and end users on a regular basis. A practical difficulty, however, is that employees often only bring a claim against either...

The Court of Appeal has, today, held that the right to four weeks' statutory paid holiday under the Working Time Regulations 1998 does not continue to accrue whilst an employee is off on long-term sick-leave. This overturns the EAT's...

A Modern Apprentice is not an 'apprentice' in the traditional sense, so as to fall within the definition of 'employee' in the Employment Rights Act 1996(which, at s203, defines 'employee' as including anybody working under a contract...

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has handed down a judgment restating the law on the 'normal retirement age' and comprehensively destroying the attempts of some BA employees to claim age discrimination by the backdoor route of sex discrimination. In...

A reminder: from today, London (Central) tribunal moves from Woburn Place to: Victory House 30-34 Kingsway London WC2B 6EX DX: 141420 Bloomsbury 7 Telephone and fax numbers remain the same....

The DTI is consulting on a proposed amendment to the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003. The amendment follows on from the Civil Partnerships Act 2005. It:   makes it clear that, for the purposes of the Employment Equality...

A statutory instrument bringing further sections of the Employment Relations Act 2004 has just been made. The sections come into force on 6th April 2005. The sections coming into force are (in summary): Union Recognition clarifying how the...

A statutory instrument bringing further sections of the Employment Relations Act 2004 has just been made. The sections come into force on 6th April 2005. The sections coming into force are (in summary): Union Recognition clarifying how the...

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has delivered a powerful judgment demolishing an argument that the rights given to employees under employment statutes can also form the basis of a contractual claim (enabling employees to claim constructive dismissal whenever...

Acas has revised and updated its advisory booklet, 'Representation at Work'. It covers the following topics: representation of individuals with personal issues; consultation; Works Councils; collective bargaining; workforce agreements; joint...

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has, in  Khudados v Leggatte & ors, set out the principles to be adopted when it considers an application for permission to amend a Notice of Appeal. Ms Khudados, a registrar whose career as a nuerosurgeon was not...

Acas has just issued its sixth e-Learning Guide, this time on  Working Parents. The course covers:   Maternity rights and pay Paternity leave and pay Adoption leave and pay Parental leave Time off to help dependants and The right to...

The Court of Appeal has handed down its judgment in  Majrowski v Guy's & St Thomas's NHS Trust , an important case dealing with principles of vicarious liability both generally (for breach of any statutory duty) and in connection with...

The DTI has, today, issued a consultation paper on proposed revisions to the Code of Practice on Industrial Action Ballots and Notice to Employers. The consultation document includes proposals to :   ensure that the Code reflects the changes to...

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (Burton P. presiding) has stated that it is legitimate to award interest (as long as it is not described as that) for unfair dismissal. The accepted position for many years has been that, unlike in discrimination cases,...

... or at least, moving half a mile down the road. From 18th April 2005, London (Central) employment tribunal will be sitting at: Victoria House 30-34 Kingsway London WC2B 6EX DX: 141420 Bloomsbury 7 Telephone and fax numbers remain the same....

Acas has revised its excellent advisory booklet, 'Tackling discrimination and promoting equality - good practice guide for employers'. The booklet contains a sample equality policy for those who like to cut and paste, and really helpful checklists...

Whoops! Sorry, that should be 'Victory House', not 'Victoria House'. And an excellent name it is too. So... From 18th April 2005, London (Central) employment tribunal will be sitting at: Victory House 30-34 Kingsway London WC2B 6EX DX:...

The Court of Appeal has handed down its crucial judgment in  Bowman v Fels , on the controversial issue of the extent to which the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 prohibits solicitors and barristers from engaging in litigation where they suspect the client...

This short, but important, point has been considered by the EAT in  Dattani v Chief Constanble of West Mercia Police. The EAT held that evasive, incorrect, or nil replies to questions asked in a race discrimination case can lead to drawing an...

The DTI has, this morning, announced that the national minimum wage will increase from £4.85ph to £5.05ph with effect from October 2005 - and to £5.35ph from October 2006. The youth rate, for 18-21 year olds, will increase to £4.25...

An unusual case. The cut-off point for lodging an appeal is 4.00pm on the 42nd day after the decision is sent to the parties. On the 42nd day, the Appellant started faxing its 21-page Notice of Appeal a minute or so before 4.00pm (the deadline), but the 21...

The Court of Appeal has just handed down its decision in the important equal pay case of  Robertson v DEFRA . It has upheld the decision of the EAT (Burton P.), reversing the employment tribunal's finding that it is legitimate to make...

The Court of Appeal has, this afternoon, handed down judgment in the three test cases on the newly introduced shifting burden of proof in discrimination claims. The Court has issued 'revised Barton guidelines' (as an annex to the decision). The...

In London Probation Board v Kirkpatrick, the EAT has considered a specific aspect of the tricky question of whether employer and employee can agree periods of continuity of employment.In  London Probation Board v Kirkpatrick , the EAT has considered a...

The Court of Appeal has, today (Thurs), handed down its decision in  Williams v J Walter Thompson Group Ltd. . Ms Williams, who is totally blind, was offered a job by JWT as a computer software operator. JWT knew of her disability, and that it would...

An interesting aside from Burton P. in the Employment Appeal Tribunal, in which he emphasises the importance of abandoning a case as soon as a party realises (or is advised) it has no real prospect of success - see para. 39 of the decision. He adds (at...

The text of Michael Rubenstein's annual lecture, summarising the cases the appellate courts will be hearing in the next 12 months, is now available on his website. This is one of the seminal talks for employment lawyers for the year. NOTE: Last year...

The President of the EAT, Burton P., last week handed down a new Practice Statement reminding Appellants of the documents that must be lodged with the Notice of Appeal, and making clear the consequences of a failure to comply (appeal not valid and no...

The EAT has handed down its decision in  Voith Turbo v Stowe , dealing with the issue of whether an unfairly dismissed employee needs to give credit for earnings achieved in new employment during a period when the former employer was paying notice...

The EAT has handed down its decision in  Voith Turbo v Stowe , dealing with the issue of whether an unfairly dismissed employee needs to give credit for earnings achieved in new employment during a period when the former employer was paying notice...

Acas has, today, issued the first in a new series of policy discussion papers. This paper, entitled 'Making more of Alternative Dispute Resolution', is a thoughtful analysis over 16 pages of trends, advantages and possible future of conciliation and...

The Court of Appeal has, this morning, handed down its judgment in  Bangs v Connex South Eastern  on the question of whether lengthy delay by a tribunal when promulgating its decision is, of itself, a ground of appeal. This case was heard as one...

The Court of Appeal has handed down its judgment in  London Borough of Enfield v Sivanandan  - a highly complex decision. Ignoring the facts completely, the principles that can be extracted are: (1) if a breach of contract claim is struck out...

It is well known that the collective consultation provisions in s188 of TULR(C)A 1988 are engaged when an employer is 'proposing to dismiss' as redundant more than 20 employees within 90 days. The obligations can be quite onerous, with breach leading...

The EAT has handed down an important decision on compensation for unfair dismissal, in  Morgans v Alpha Plus Security Ltd . It has long been the practice in tribunals to reduce the compensatory award by 50% of any incapacity benefit received by a...

In Webster v Brunel University, the EAT has decided what it describes as a "novel point" on the shifting of the burden of proof in discrimination cases. The Claimant was on the telephone to a co-employee. She overheard someone else in the room say...

Today seems to be a big day for I & C fans. The DTI has, this morning, published its Guidance Notes on the new I & C Regulations. At 66 pages, it's quite lengthy, but it looks a much easier read than the Regulations themselves. DTI Guidance...

... are now available on the HMSO website. They were passed last month, and have just been placed on the internet. The Regulations come into force on 6th April 2005, applying intitially to 'undertakings' with at least 150 employees. From 6th April...

by Daniel Barnett December 2004 The new edition of Managing Dismissals Fairly is updated to be fully compliant with the statutory disciplinary and dismissal procedures introduced in October 2004. The text provides strategic advice on how to dismiss...