October 2010 Archives

XpertHR reports on an employment tribunal case involving Royal Mail that provides a useful example for employers that have to manage staff in the aftermath of harassment allegations that have been upheld.

The Law Society has issued a statement (on its website) that it is seeking urgent talks with the Government Equalities Office over ambiguity in s.147 of the Equality Act 2010, which covers who can be an "independent adviser" for the purposes of a compromise agreement.

The Scottish Court of Session has clarified that workers whose job involves long periods when they have to be at work, followed by long periods when their services are not needed, can be required to take their annual leave during those lulls.

Nadia Eweida, the British Airways worker who was prohibited from wearing a visible cross on a chain to work contrary to the airline's dress code, is bringing her case to the European Court of Human Rights, reports the Personnel Today website.

Two social workers who were sacked by Haringey Council after the death of Baby P have lost their claims for unfair dismissal, reports the Daily Telegraph website.

A round-up of links to news items on employment tribunal rulings in the week beginning 18 October 2010, including an unfair dismissal payout for a barmaid who was sacked by text message after oversleeping on the day after an 11-hour shift.

An employment tribunal has held - by a majority - that an employee’s dismissal for redundancy was unfair due to mistakes made by the employer in selection criteria scores, even though those mistakes came to light only at the tribunal hearing.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission's codes of practice on employment and equal pay under the Equality Act 2010, which provide guidance for the likes of employment tribunal panels and employment lawyers, have been laid before Parliament.

Almost half of employers (44%) in a CBI survey of 330 organisations (PDF format, 1.5MB) believe that the Government should look at introducing a cap on compensation for discrimination claims, as there is with unfair dismissal claims.

A round-up of links to news items on employment tribunal rulings in the week beginning 11 October 2010, including a former MP who bullied and harassed his office manager out of her job.

An employment tribunal has held that a probationer’s dismissal for proposing to take time off work for jury service was automatically unfair.

A round-up of links to news items on employment tribunal rulings in the week beginning 4 October 2010, including a nurse who won £3,000 after being sacked for organising a Halloween party.

On 7 October 1977, an 18-year-old woman of Jamaican descent brought (and lost) the first claim under the new Race Relations Act 1976, reports the Guardian website, in an extract from its archive.

An employment tribunal has held that a suggestion that a toy helicopter should be landed on an employee’s turban was discriminatory harassment on the ground of religion or belief.

A medical worker whose main job is to prepare cadavers for teaching purposes in the dissecting room at St George's Hospital Medical School did not make a protected disclosure when he complained about a "freezing" workplace, the EAT has found in Easwaran v St George's University of London (Microsoft Word format, 79K) (on the EAT website).

An employment tribunal in Scotland has found that Royal Mail unfairly dismissed a mother after she was absent on seven occasions during her first six months of employment to care for her asthmatic son, reports the STV website.

From 1 October 2010, the Ministry of Justice "fast-track" scheme to help employees to recover tribunal awards from their employer where it has failed to pay up has been extended to settlements brokered by Acas (on its website).

A round-up of links to news items on employment tribunal rulings in the week beginning 27 September 2010, including a manager at a university who claimed that she was sidelined after blowing the whistle on the state of the institution's finances.

In the run up to the Equality Act 2010, we look at some of the new and amended definitions in discrimination law that employment tribunals will have to grapple with from 1 October 2010. The Equality Act 2010 expands employment tribunal powers in relation to make recommendations.