Now that the distraction of new year’s resolutions are a distant memory, it’s time to get to grips with the likely changes ahead in 2016. You will feel prepared reading Practical Law Employment’s helpful What to expect in employment law. In the blog post I have highlighted some changes that have caught my eye. Continue reading
I can’t say I have ever met an employment lawyer who has admitted to a keen interest in pension contracting-out. But in the coming months this subject is going to be very interesting indeed to a great many employers and their employees as huge changes come into effect, some of them affecting what’s left in pay packets at the end of each month. Continue reading
Disability-related sickness absence is a perennial source of anxiety for employment lawyers, managers, human resources professionals, trade union representatives and employees. What does the law require when an employee is thrust into absence management procedures by virtue of absences caused by a disabling condition? How much leeway should be requested or granted? How should such a claim be properly drafted on behalf of the employee and how will it be analysed by the time it arrives at an employment tribunal? Continue reading
In recent years, there has been considerable government intervention in whistleblowing. Responding to the perception that whistleblowing legislation was being exploited as a means of avoiding the compensatory cap for unfair dismissal claims, the government introduced a requirement that a disclosure is not protected unless it is reasonably believed to be made in the public interest. Continue reading
The last 10 years have gone past faster than we ever thought possible. We have been speaking to lawyers who have been involved with the service about how employment law, and the work of employment lawyers, has changed over this period, and how Practical Law has helped them dealing with these changes. It made us feel old when one solicitor said “to be honest, I can’t remember a time without Practical Law Employment”. Continue reading
The Acas early conciliation (EC) regime has been in place for approximately 18 months so this is a good moment to pause and reflect on how the regime has affected employment tribunal (ET) litigation. The comments below are based on my own experiences and those shared with me anecdotally by my instructing solicitors. Continue reading
PCPs seem to strike fear in the heart of even the most seasoned employment practitioner. “Producing Complete Panic” would be more apt. Continue reading
In the widely reported case of Ramphal v Department for Transport UKEAT/0352/14, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) upheld a finding of unfair dismissal due to the inappropriate level of interference in the dismissal process by an HR manager. The EAT’s judgment included a table showing the extent of changes made to various drafts of an investigation report, many at the suggestion of HR. Continue reading
How can an appeal be lodged by email to the EAT if the attachments exceed the email size limit the EAT will accept? Will an appeal be properly constituted if a link is provided to a Dropbox location where the required attachments can be accessed? Continue reading
Many of those who have spent years litigating in the employment tribunals will be as familiar as I am with complaints from clients that the tribunals are “kangaroo courts”. This article is not the forum to dispute (or confirm) that generalised complaint. However, whether or not you have heard (or made) such complaints, it is likely that you will have experienced a difference of approach by disparate employment judges as to what claimants and respondents are required to plead in their ET1s and ET3s, and the issue of what is required by a party to amend their case. Continue reading