Practical Law

Employee data and monitoring. The ECtHR has held that a University’s installation of surveillance cameras in student auditoriums violated Article 8 of the ECHR. Privacy must be interpreted broadly, to include the right to lead a private social life, which applied in this case because lecturers not only taught, but interacted with students in the … Continue reading Employment highlights: December 2017 →

Holiday pay and working time. In a decision with potentially huge ramifications for misclassified workers, the ECJ has held that workers who are wrongly told they have no right to paid holiday may carry their holiday rights over indefinitely, and be paid in lieu, on termination, for any untaken holiday over their entire period of … Continue reading Employment highlights: November 2017 →

Discrimination. The ECJ has held that an employer’s failure to assess the workplace risks posed to a breastfeeding worker amounted to direct sex discrimination. The decision challenges the position of UK law which prevents a woman from bringing a direct sex discrimination claim if she has suffered a detriment related to breastfeeding. The ECJ has … Continue reading Employment highlights: October 2017 →

Discrimination. Advocate General Sharpston has given her view that the Pregnant Workers Directive (92/85/EC) should protect workers against dismissal from the moment they become pregnant, even before they have notified their employer of the pregnancy. This appears to be at odds with Article 2(a) of the Pregnant Workers Directive, and as the AG acknowledges, can … Continue reading Employment highlights: September 2017 →

Queen’s speech and Brexit. The Queen’s Speech on 19 June 2017 included the announcement of a new Immigration Bill to deal with the immigration status of EEA Nationals and the forthcoming repeal of EU freedom of movement law. A new Data Protection Bill was also announced to implement the EU General Data Protection Regulation and … Continue reading Employment highlights: June 2017 →

General election. Parliament will be dissolved on 3 May prior to a snap general election to be held on 8 June. Although it was previously thought that the Finance Bill would be pushed through unamended, the government has in fact dropped the changes to the taxation of termination payments (as well as other controversial measures … Continue reading Employment highlights: April 2017 →

Brexit. On 29 March 2017, the Prime Minister gave the European Council the Article 50 notification of the UK’s intention to leave the EU. In the absence of any agreed extension, the UK will leave the EU at midnight on 29 March 2019. Visit the Practical Law Brexit page and the Thomson Reuters Brexit resources … Continue reading Employment highlights: March 2017 →

Tribunal fees. Headline news this month is that the Ministry of Justice has finally published its long-awaited post-implementation review of employment tribunal fees. Although it believes fees are working well, the MoJ concedes that there has been a substantial drop off in claims, and is consulting on proposals to widen the means test for fee … Continue reading Employment highlights: February 2017 →

On 17 January 2017, the Prime Minister gave a speech on the UK government’s negotiating objectives for exiting the EU. This was followed on 24 January by the Supreme Court’s decision that an act of parliament is required before the Article 50 exit process can be triggered. As a result, the European Union (Notification of … Continue reading Employment highlights: January 2017 →

As the Brexit case rumbled on in the Supreme Court, with a decision expected early in the New Year, the House of Lords Library published a briefing paper on leaving the EU and the Bar Council Brexit working group published “The Brexit Papers” to help the government assess the most pressing legal concerns arising from … Continue reading Employment highlights: December 2016 →

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement last month that notice to leave the EU under Article 50 will be given  by the end of March 2017, the High Court held that the government does not have power to do this under the Royal Prerogative. It therefore seems that an Act of Parliament will be required, although … Continue reading Employment highlights: November 2016 →

Is the process of Brexit becoming clearer? The Prime Minister announced Article 50 would not be triggered before the end of March 2017 and the House of Commons library published a new briefing paper on the employment law implications of Brexit. For more information on the process of Brexit and the protection of employment rights following … Continue reading Employment highlights: October 2016 →

Following the summer break, discrimination received a lot of government scrutiny and there were several interesting decisions at the EAT. The EAT held that protecting a disabled employee’s pay can be a reasonable adjustment. Whether it was reasonable for the employer to have taken that step was a separate question. It also found that there … Continue reading Employment highlights: September 2016 →

Traditionally the quietest month of the year for legal developments, August has nevertheless been busy for employment law news. The ECJ has held that EU discrimination laws do not protect a job applicant who applies for a job purely seeking compensation. While sham applications in order to bring claims do occasionally occur, they are rare. … Continue reading Employment highlights: August 2016 →

With the legal world reeling and British politics in turmoil following last month’s surprise Brexit decision, it was business as usual in the courts and tribunals, with little respite from the deluge of new judgments in the run up to the summer recess. In the ECJ, Advocate General Sharpston opined that an employee’s dismissal for … Continue reading Employment highlights: July 2016 →

For anyone who inexplicably missed it, this month’s big news is Brexit, following the UK’s vote by a narrow majority to leave the EU. Although nothing can be known yet about the UK’s future trading relationship with the EU, we have briefly set out some of the possible implications for employment law, including some thoughts … Continue reading Employment highlights: June 2016 →

This week JCB became the latest business to wade into the choppy waters of the EU referendum debate. What sets JCB’s contribution apart from many of the others, like Unilever and Wetherspoons, is that the chairman’s letter in support of leaving the EU was specifically directed at the company’s employees, rather than its customers or … Continue reading Should you tell your employees how to vote in the EU referendum? →

Three major Bills affecting employment law received Royal Assent this month, becoming the Trade Union Act 2016, the Enterprise Act 2016 and the Immigration Act 2016, the last of which creates new immigration offences from 12 July 2016. Compared to last year, the Queen’s speech contained little for employment lawyers, besides the recycled promise of a British Bill … Continue reading Employment highlights: May 2016 →