The Government has published the first really important secondary legislation to the Equality Act 2010. The Equality Act 2010 (Disability) Regulations 2010 (on the UK legislation website) set out various conditions that are specifically excluded from constituting a disability under the Equality Act 2010.

A round-up of links to news items on recent employment tribunal rulings, including: £63,000 for a teacher who was unfairly dismissed after disciplining a schoolgirl who simulated a sex act in class; £45,000 for a woman whose employer pretended that she was working part time while she was pregnant so that it didn't have to pay statutory maternity pay to her; and £1.2m for a former Cornwall hospital boss who was unfairly dismissed "as a whistleblower".

A tribunal in Northern Ireland has awarded £45,000 to a woman whose employer pretended that she was working part time while she was pregnant so that it didn't have to pay statutory maternity pay to her.

The Government's consultation on draft guidance on the definition of disability highlights that under the Equality Act 2010 an individual will not have to demonstrate that, where an impairment adversely affects his or her ability to carry out a normal day-to-day activity, that activity involves one of a specified list of capacities, such as mobility, speech, or the ability to understand.

Replacing nine laws and more than 100 other measures, the Equality Act 2010 is set to bring about the greatest change to employment law this year and, with the bulk of the legislation being introduced in October, there’s no time like the present for employers to identify how the Act will impact their organisation.

We use a consistent methodology to collect, verify and analyse company data. All data for any given survey is typically provided by an organisation's HR department who will provide demographic, pay and benefits data for each employee.

Full Time Equivalent (FTE) salaries are provided for part time employees to ensure that part time salaries do not distort the overall results. Data is collected as accurate on a given date, to ensure that pay data is consistent from one participant to the next, and to allow year-on-year trends.

A round-up of links to news items on recent employment tribunal rulings, including: a police officer who was forced out after blowing the whistle on a colleague; an investment banker who is seeking £13.5 million after successfully claiming sex discrimination; and an Israeli lecturer who claimed religious discrimination after she converted to Christianity.

New figures derived from XpertHR salary surveys data suggest that UK businesses are still more than five decades away from paying men and women equally. What follows is based on the press release we and the Chartered Management Institute issued today.

A detailed analysis of data from the XpertHR National Management Salary Survey carried out by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), which has been associated with the report since its launch in the early 1970s, reveals that women's salaries increased by 2.8 per cent over the past 12 months, compared to 2.3 per cent for men.

An employment tribunal has found that a housing officer was not unfairly dismissed or discriminated against on the ground of his religion when he was dismissed for telling a woman with an incurable disease that she needed to "put her faith in God", reports the BBC website.

In a well-publicised employment tribunal claim (on the BBC website), a lawyer whose job offer from major city law firm DLA Piper was withdrawn just a few days after she told HR of her history of depression is claiming disability discrimination. We look in detail at five employment tribunal decisions involving disability discrimination and depression [subscription required], including one where a police force was required to pay out almost £20,000 in circumstances that were very similar to the DLA Piper case.

A round-up of links to news items on recent employment tribunal rulings, including: a disability discrimination claim by a former trainee police dog handler with a voice condition; a woman who was constructively dismissed after her manager called her "short arse"; and a PA who claimed that she was unfairly dismissed for gossiping about her boss's affair.

It won't have escaped your notice that the Government has published its proposals for abolishing the default retirement age and the associated statutory retirement procedure. If you don't have time to read the full 60-page consultation document (PDF format, 440K) (on the BIS website), look at the XpertHR FAQs section for an overview of the main proposals.

A round-up of links to news items on recent employment tribunal rulings, including: a successful tribunal claim by workers whose jobs were axed after Portsmouth Football club went into administration; a caretaker who was fairly dismissed for drinking two pints before work; and an unsuccessful claim for unfair dismissal by Paul Eddery against his brother, the former jockey Pat Eddery.

The provisions surrounding the duty to make reasonable adjustments in relation to disabled employees and job applicants have generated plenty of case law activity, as the first article in a new series of XpertHR’s Topic of the Week (subscription required) demonstrates. In this overview article, Elizabeth Stevens of Steeles (Law) LLP explains employers’ obligations to make reasonable adjustments. We also look at the changes to the duty to make reasonable adjustments in the Equality Act 2010 (on the HMSO website), which the Government has announced (on the Government Equalities Office website) that it will implement from 1 October 2010.

A round-up of links to news items on recent employment tribunal rulings, including: compensation for a Protestant teacher who was made redundant in Northern Ireland; a payout for a property lettings agent who claimed that her boss asked her to lie in court; and an unsuccessful unfair dismissal claim by a postal worker who took time off work to grieve after the death of her pet dog.

The Government Equalities Office (GEO) has published its Easy Read guide to the Equality Act (PDF format, 2.3MB) (on the GEO website).

Easy Read guides are used to present information in an accessible format - using pictures, simple language and lots of explanations of the terms and concepts used.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has highlighted that "Sunday night syndrome", which it defines as "a dread of having to return to work - typically experienced at the end of the weekend", is not an impairment, in an interesting judgment on when depression amounts to a disability for the purposes of discrimination legislation.

A round-up of links to news items on recent employment tribunal rulings, including: a shop steward who was unfairly dismissed for swearing at work; a policewoman who has been award £273,000 for sex discrimination; and an academic employed for nine years on a succession of fixed-term contracts who has won his battle for a permanent contract.

As the Daily Mail recently reported (external website), women have been banned from a Russian project to simulate a mission to Mars. It’s a bizarre story, but goes to show that discrimination issues will go beyond our small planet.

Lillian Ladele, the registrar brought a religious discrimination claim after refusing to conduct civil partnership ceremonies between same-sex couples, has been back in an employment tribunal, reports the the Islington Tribune website.

A Bill has been approved in the US state of Tennessee that allows employers to require employees to speak English on the job, reports the Tennessean website. But is it legitimate for UK employers to adopt an English-only policy?

The trailer has been launched for a new British film based on the true story of a group of female machinists in a Dagenham car plant who protested for equal pay in 1968.

Scoring employees against redundancy selection criteria is tricky at the best of times, and as Personnel Today recently reported, even leading employment law firms can get into trouble. However, hidden behind the slightly misrepresentative reports that Eversheds was simply “afraid” of sacking an employee on maternity leave, the case highlights an important legal dilemma for employers: how far does the sex discrimination legislation allow employers to protect women who are pregnant or on maternity leave?

An American doctor is still working at the age of 100 and has had over 60 years in practice as an obstetrician, reports the Daily Telegraph website.

A senior NHS manager has been awarded £181,500 compensation for age discrimination and victimisation. Linda Sturdy (external website), who set up the breast screening service for Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and had run it for 16 years, was passed over for a new position running the service after the employer realised she was a few years away from retiring. In 2006, when discussing plans for the future structure of the service, Mrs Sturdy mentioned that she would be retiring in 2010. Her manager's ill-judged response to this was "I didn't realise you were so old".

A round-up of links to news items on recent employment tribunal rulings, including: a male lawyer made redundant over a colleague on maternity leave; a garden centre worker who was dismissed for taking home a goldfish he was told to dispose of; and an award of over £180,000 made against the NHS for age discrimination.

The Indianapolis Star website has reported that an American employee who has a severe allergy to paprika spent $10,000 on an assistance dog trained to alert her to its presence, only to find on her first day back at work that an asthmatic colleague was allergic to the dog.

Employees’ religion or beliefs don’t usually have an impact in their workplace, and actual claims are rarer still. Race and sex discrimination (to take two examples) are much more prevalent in society than discrimination based on religion or belief, but cases involving the latter provoke strong opinions and naturally get more publicity. The Times recently reported on the Pagan Police Association (external website), whose members have now (apparently) been given the right to take time off to celebrate their various festivals.

A round up of links to news items on recent employment tribunal rulings, including: a pilot who claimed race discrimination on the ground that treatment he received from colleagues was because he is Scottish; a financier who accused her boss of sexual harassment, bringing prostitutes to business meetings and trying to have her killed by Russian hitmen; and a female lawyer who brought a sex discrimination claim alleging that a boss at her firm slapped her bottom during a work function.

A sample of 100 employment tribunal rulings on disability discrimination gathered by XpertHR shows that, while depression and limb disorders such as back pain are the most common health conditions that lead to tribunal claims, there are a surprising number of dyslexic claimants bringing disability discrimination claims.

Details of the first employment case involving genetic discrimination, which is now outlawed in the US, have been made public, reports the New Scientist website.

The Court of Appeal has given short shrift to former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey's calls for the courts to do more to protect the rights of Christians, following a statement he made in support of an appeal by Gary McFarlane, a Christian counsellor who was dismissed for refusing to give advice to same-sex couples.

A round up of links to news items on recent employment tribunal rulings, including: a huge equal pay win for council workers in Birmingham; the unfair dismissal of a receptionist who allegedly made her boss look stupid on Facebook; and an employment tribunal victory for fixed-term university staff.

Professional Game Match Officials (PGMOL), the body which appoints referees and match officials to league and premier league matches, has fallen foul of the law prohibiting age discrimination as reported by trade union Prospect.

Tim Nicholson, the worker who successfully argued that his belief in the importance of acting to mitigate climate change is capable of being a philosophical belief for the purposes of religion or belief discrimination, has settled his case with Grainger plc, reports the BBC website.

A round up of links to news items on recent employment tribunal rulings, including well-publicised cases involving: Tim Wheeler, former chief executive of property group Brixton plc; a Christian nurse who was not allowed to wear her cross necklace while working; and a female soldier who had childcare difficulties.

A round up of links to news items on recent employment tribunal rulings, including: a new mother's successful sex discrimination claim after she was told that she looked like a mess when she returned from maternity leave; a part-time magistrate who was unfairly dismissed after allegations of theft; and a large cost order against an employer that failed to turn up for a tribunal hearing.

More sportswear-related employment news, following on from Manchester United's run in with a worker wearing a scarf. North East Lincolnshire Council has announced that it will relax its dress code to allow taxi drivers to wear national football shirts during the World Cup (on the BBC website).

A round up of links to news items on recent employment tribunal rulings, including: an unsuccessful age discrimination claim by a TV journalist; the first decision on trade union blacklisting; and an award for a chip shop worker who was dismissed for giving away chips.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has caused a bit of a stir with its draft Employment Statutory Code of Practice on the Equality Bill (external link), specifically in relation to discrimination on the ground of religion or belief.

A round up of links to news items on recent employment tribunal rulings, including: an award of over £50,000 for a Croatian employee who was harassed; an unsuccessful unfair dismissal claim by a doctor who refused to work unless he had somewhere to sleep during night shifts; and a payout for sexual orientation discrimination for a pub worker after attempts were made to "de-gay" the pub in which he worked.

A workforce that includes people from a variety of backgrounds benefits in many ways. One example of the benefits of employing disabled people, is that an organisation will prosper from the characteristics a disabled person has had to develop to deal with a disability, including tenacity, resourcefulness and resilience, to name but a few.

A round up of links to news items on recent employment tribunal rulings, including: compensation for a harassed female soldier; a decision on sickness during annual leave; and the resolution of a zero-hours contract dispute.

According to research, flexible working is beneficial to the physical and mental health of employees. Apparently, those who can decide on their working hours may even have healthier blood pressure and heart rates. The findings, which are available on the BBC website, come after a think tank, the New Economics Foundation (“NEF”), recently recommended a 21-hour week for all employees.

Are your job adverts non-discriminatory? Now might be a good time to double-check. According to the Sunday Times, a serial litigant in Bristol - pictured no doubt on his way to a post box, claim in hand - is taking advantage of any potentially age-discriminatory adverts that refer to “school leavers” or “recent graduates”.

Some mothers may have attributed a lapse in memory or concentration to their pregnancy or new born baby. Australian researchers, however, have confirmed that a woman’s brain is not adversely affected by pregnancy or motherhood.

Employers who are considering whether or not a job applicant accompanied by an assistance dog (commonly referred to as guide dogs) could be employed, should consider that accommodating an assistance dog could be a reasonable adjustment under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

A round up of links to news items on recent employment tribunal rulings, including: hundreds of former workers in a caravan manufacturer who may not see the money that they were awarded by an employment tribunal; an alleged refusal by Corus to reinstate three workers who were dismissed because of their trade union links; and a receptionist in Cardiff who was sexually harassed by her boss.

XpertHR's case reporting has been improved with the addition of a new service providing summaries of new employment decisions, as well as the full transcripts of the cases, to go alongside our more detailed monthly summaries on a particular area [subscription required]. We're keen to hear from you if there are any types of claim that you would particularly like to see reported.

XpertHR's new series of detailed summaries of employment tribunal decisions has continued with a look at five tribunal claims for pregnancy and maternity leave discrimination [subscription required].

A round up of links to news items on recent employment tribunal rulings, including: a successful unfair dismissal claim by Weston-Super-Mare pier staff who were made redundant after it was damaged in a fire; compensation for an engineer who was dismissed for failing to clock out for a hospital appointment; and a £115,000 payout for an NHS boss who was told that she was the "wrong colour and wrong culture" for Cumbria.

• the single figure difference between the median hourly earnings of men and women
• the difference between the average basic pay and total average earnings of men and women by grade and job type
• the difference between men's and women's average starting salaries.
  

Guidance on preventing workplace harassment and violence (PDF format, 822K) has been published jointly by the CBI, the Partnership of Public Employers and the TUC.

The guidance is intended to raise awareness about how to protect employees from the risk of harassment and violence, both from colleagues and from third parties.

It was widely reported on Monday of this week (including on this blog) that Harriet Harman was going to make an announcement about the abolition of the default retirement age. Harman apparently told the Daily Mail that the default retirement age should be scrapped and that the Government was proposing a "massive public policy change". But where were the details of this policy change, and the plans for carrying it out?

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has given two judgments on when employers can set upper age limits for employment, in Wolf v Stadt Frankfurt Am Main [subscription required] and Petersen v Berufungsausschuss Für Zahnärzte Für Den Bezirk Westfalen-Lippe [subscription required].

Do you need to know about employment law in France? The latest European employment law guide added to XpertHR looks at key elements of employment law in Frances as it applies to: recruitment and selection; pay and benefits; employee rights; contracts of employment; training and development; equal opportunities; industrial relations; health and safety; and termination of employment.

XpertHR regularly publishes information on industrial relations law and practice across Europe - providing expert analysis of developments at European level and in individual European countries. In addition, other guides to national employment law in European countries include: the Netherlands; Italy; Germany; Greece; Poland; and Ireland. For ease of reference, we’ve rounded our European information up on one European employment law and practice page.

Remember that we want to provide information on the countries that are relevant to you in your HR role - so let us know which countries you’d like to see guidance on in the future.

A round up of links to recent employment tribunal rulings, including the reinstatement of a Territorial army soldier who was made redundant after he returned from Afghanistan, a successful claim by a park ranger who was dismissed for making a joke about the colour of a black colleague's legs, and an award to a woman whose husband did the same job for the same employer but was paid more than her.

Want to receive the answer to a frequently asked HR question every day? If you’re on Twitter, you can do so by following HRdailyquestion. The questions come from the popular XpertHR FAQs section, which contains over 1,000 frequently asked HR questions - and more importantly the answers.

A round up of links to recent employment tribunal rulings, including a lorry driver who was unfairly dismissed after a row with a customer, a straight teacher who lost his sexual orientation discrimination claim, and a Northern Ireland industrial tribunal ruling on police officers' shifts.

Around 50 new model policies and documents have been added to XpertHR in 2009. But what have been the most popular? The XpertHR employment intelligence blog provides a round-up.

A round up of links to recent employment tribunal rulings, including an employer that tried to pacify an employee who had been racially abused with a 15p pay rise, a hospital chef who was dismissed for eating a piece of garlic bread, and an estate agent who spent hundreds of hours watching pornography on his work computer.

The draw for the football World Cup (on the BBC website) taking place in summer 2010 has now been made, while the England cricket team's defence of the Ashes begins in late 2010 and the rugby World Cup takes place in 2011. And of course we have the London Olympics to look forward to in 2012. XpertHR has published a model policy [subscription required] to help employers deal with issues that will inevitably arise during these major sporting events.

As usual, 2009 was a busy year in the employment tribunals, courts and in the European Court of Justice. But what employment law cases can we look forward to in the next 12 months? Here are 10 significant employment decisions expected in 2010.

The duty under the Disability Discrimination Act to make reasonable adjustments to prevent disabled people being disadvantaged at work applies during the recruitment process, as well as in relation to existing employees.

This means employers should consider how to comply with the duty at each stage of the recruitment process, from advertising a vacancy to selection. Employers shouldn't wait for a candidate to raise the issue of reasonable adjustments before they start thinking about potential action they could take.

A new guide in the XpertHR "how to" section gives employers practical guidance on how to comply with the duty to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process (subscription required).

The Times (on its website) has used the recent example of Mark Garlasco, a senior military analyst at a human rights organisation who was suspended when his employer found out that his hobby is collecting Nazi and other war memorabilia, to look at what an employer should do when an employee has an unusual or embarrassing hobby outside work.

An employer that dismissed a counsellor after he refused to give advice to same-sex couples did not discriminate against him because of his religious beliefs, confirms the Employment Appeal Tribunal in McFarlane v Relate Avon Ltd [subscription required].

The School of Sociology and Social Policy at Leeds University has advertised a vacancy for a research officer to look into "the rise and regulation of lap dancing and the place of sexual labour and consumption in the night time economy". The advert states that prior experience of conducting research in the female sex industry is essential and the successful applicant will earn between £29,704 and £35,469 per annum.

Photo: p a n e.

The Report Stage of the Equality Bill has been listed for 2 December - see progress of the Equality Bill on the Parliament website. At this stage the Bill is considered as a whole, rather than clause by clause.

See also:

• Next Stage of the Equality Bill announced [InCompany Training website]
• The Equality Bill - part one: how the Bill’s provisions will affect the key issue of disability discrimination in the field of employment [subscription required]
• The Equality Bill - part two: the changes that the Bill makes in relation to sex discrimination in the workplace and equal pay [subscription required]
• The Equality Bill - part three: the Bill’s treatment of discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, religion and belief, age and race, and important changes made by the Bill in relation to positive action [subscription required]

Two hundred and five of the 3,808 judges in the UK are freemasons. We know this because applicants to the judiciary are required to declare if they are part of the fraternal organisation. However, as a result of Jack Straw's decision earlier this month, applicants will no longer be forced to divulge their masonic connections. Read more on the telegraph website. What do you think? Should judges be forced to disclose their masonic connections?

A round up of links to recent employment tribunal rulings, including a decision that a spiritualist was not discriminated against because of his beliefs, an £800,000 payout for a former News of the World reporter who claimed bullying, and £440,000 compensation for a council equalities officer who was dismissed.

A police trainer who argued that he was discriminated against because he believes in the use of psychics in police investigations has lost his substantive claim, says the BBC website.

According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) (in the EHRC newsletter), two-thirds of fathers see flexible working as an important benefit when looking for a new job. Andrea Murray, the Commission's acting group director of strategy, says that this highlights an opportunity for British businesses to use flexible working as an incentive for attracting and retaining the most talented employees.

The EHRC report also finds that many British Dads fear that requesting flexible working will damage their careers.

IRS is conducting a survey of employer attitudes and policies in relation to paternity leave, which will reveal how far UK organisations are taking father-friendly policies beyond the statutory minimum and whether employees are actually using paternity leave when it's available. If you are an HR practitioner and would like to participate in the paternity leave survey, please click on the link here. Survey participants will receive a free copy of the report.

Two significant rulings have been published on the amount of compensation that employment tribunals can award, concerning the assessment of loss for employees who suffer a stigma when looking for a new job as a result of having brought a discrimination claim against a previous employer and the amount of compensation that can be awarded for injury to feelings.

A company boss has been jailed for forging a contract of employment and a warning letter after a former employee accused him of sexual harassment, reports the BBC website.

A police trainer who is arguing that he was dismissed because he believes in the power of psychics and their usefulness in police investigations is having his claim for religious discrimination heard by an employment tribunal (on the Daily Telegraph website).

Most employers know that they have a duty to make reasonable adjustments to prevent a disabled employee from being disadvantaged by any physical feature of the premises or any working practices. But what happens when an employee is moved to a new role and what should the employer do if the employee is off for a reason related to his or her disability?

More than 13 million working days a year are lost due to stress, according to the BBC. Employers who continue to ignore work-related stress do so at their peril, as the link between absence and stress has yet again been confirmed by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has decided that a strong belief that mankind should take steps to avoid global warming is a "philosophical belief" for the purposes of the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 [subscription required]. In doing so, it gave some useful guidance on what is likely to be a "philosophical belief" under the legislation.

In confirming that the scope of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 extends to discrimination in relation to an association with a disabled person, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has taken the unusual step of setting out how the Act might be redrafted to cover associative discrimination.

With the Royal Mail and Communication Workers Union both pointing the finger firmly at each other for the breakdown in negotiations and ensuing strike action, employers up and down the country are no doubt speculating about what they would do if they found themselves in the Royal Mail's shoes. The IRS masterclass on formal trade union negotiations, which takes place in London on 4 November 2009, will explore the practical side of how employers can be proactive in managing the negotiation process to a successful conclusion. We've put together a trade union negotiations resource pack to help XpertHR subscribers attending the event get the most out of it.

A round up of links to recent employment tribunal rulings, including compensation for employees at a printing firm who were not warned of redundancy, the failure of Gloucestershire Police to make reasonable adjustments for a dyslexic police officer and an unfair dismissal claim by a delivery driver who was caught urinating in public.

The General Medical Council (GMC) has heard how a doctor attacked an employment tribunal chairman with a chair when he was asked for further evidence to back up his discrimination claims, reports the Daily Telegraph website.

With the 2009 Conservative Party conference taking place in Manchester this week, and a general election looming, XpertHR looks at the employment law changes that an incoming Conservative Government might make.

A recent Employment Appeals Tribunal decision has increased the guideline figures for compensation for what is known as "injury to feelings" in discrimination cases.

Guideline figures for injury to feelings awards were set by the Court of Appeal in the case of Vento v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police (No.2) [2003] IRLR 102 CA. The guidance was intended to help tribunals and courts in deciding how much to award a successful claimant in compensation for the mental effects of discrimination, such as anxiety, fear, stress, and humiliation, which are impossible to measure objectively.

To no one's great surprise, the number of employment tribunal claims related to redundancy went up dramatically for the period 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009, according to new Tribunals Service statistics (PDF format, 257K) (on its website).

The High Court has given its decision (PDF format, 206K) in the "Heyday case", the case brought by Age Concern challenging the default retirement age. The Court found that the default retirement age of 65 can be justified and is therefore lawful, but that there was a "compelling case" for raising or removing it.

To establish that the default retirement age set by reg.30 of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 was justified, the Government had to show that it was introduced to meet a legitimate social policy aim. The Court found that it met the aim of maintaining confidence in the labour market, and that it was a proportionate way of doing so. The decision points out that the default retirement age does not require employers to dismiss employees at a certain age, it only allows them to do so, and finds that it is designed to give employers and employees certainty for planning purposes.

When the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 was first enacted, it did not extend to police constables who, technically, are office holders and not employees. However, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 was amended on 1 October 2004 to bring police officers within its scope in relation to employment.

A New York court is allowing a Broadway actor who performed in "Hairspray" to proceed with a claim for disability discrimination after he fell and injured his knee while performing in the show and was later dismissed.

Abercrombie and Fitch, the US clothing retailer which has four UK stores, is facing legal action in the US on the grounds that it discriminated against a muslim teenage girl by turning her down for a sales job because she wears a headscarf.

The company's approach to diversity was in the spotlight in the UK recently when a woman successfully claimed disability discrimination after being made to work in the stock room rather than the shop floor, because her prosthetic arm didn't comply with the "look policy".

Daniel Jones, the founder of the Star Wars-based Jedi faith, has accused Tesco of religious discrimination after he was removed from one of its stores for wearing a hood, reports the Daily Telegraph website.

For those of you who couldn't make it, we will be posting some footage of the conference soon. Susie Munro and I persuaded some of the speakers to dispense snippets of advice on camera, so watch out for that - it should give you a good insight into what to expect when you attend an IRS event.

What do Texas and Tower Hamlets have in common? Huge awards against employers in age discrimination cases, according to stories on the web today.

A browse through the archive of employment tribunal decisions shows that, not surprisingly, quite a few age discrimination cases involve redundancy. In the first in a new series of articles on tribunal decisions [subscription required], XpertHR has rounded up some of the more interesting cases on age discrimination in redundancy.

Next Thursday, 10 September, I'll be attending the IRS Managing Disability at Work conference in London. Jeya Thiruchelvam and I are planning to talk to some of the speakers and delegates about the issues covered during the day, and we're hoping to get some video footage to put up on this blog.

A Christian minister who did volunteer work as a radio presenter on Asian station Awaz FM but lost his position after a "lively" debate about differences between Christianity and Islam has had his employment case referred to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

The first major piece of research looking at the working experiences of people living with HIV has concluded that the health effects of people with living with HIV have only a small, if any, impact on their working life.

The IRS one-day conference on Managing disability at work - from the XpertHR Group - will cover the latest legislation, policy and practice on employing disabled people. The conference takes place in London on 10 September, and to help XpertHR subscribers who are attending get the most out of it, we’ve put together a disability resource pack rounding up the latest, and forthcoming, articles on disability compliance, good practice and benchmarking.