June 2011 Archives

After concentrating on equality legislation, the Government's Red Tape Challenge is seeking views on health and safety legislation from 30 June 2011 until 21 July 2011.

The Red Tape Challenge seeks views on issues such as:

• major-hazard industries;
• higher-risk workplaces;
• dealing with hazardous chemicals and materials; and
• general health and safety in the workplace.

Now's your chance to give your views about health and safety laws, which comes up frequently in employment tribunals in relation to, among other things, working time, unfair dismissal and justification of discrimination.

Photo: davidseth

Both employment tribunal lay members and judges assess unfair dismissal as a jurisdiction where lay members add value to decision-making, according to the preliminary findings from a survey of employment tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) lay members and judges (PDF format, 808K) (on the University of Greenwich website).

The survey is timely because one of the employment tribunal cost-cutting measures proposed by the Government is a reduction in the role of lay members, with more cases being heard by employment judges sitting alone. However, the research does come with its own health warning that lay members' responses are inevitably going to reflect their wish to defend their status. The survey was answered by 144 tribunal judges (out of 424 invited), 12 EAT judges (out of 20), 926 tribunal lay members (out of 1,783); and 27 EAT lay members (out of 53).

In light of the proposal to allow employment judges to sit alone in unfair dismissal cases, perhaps the most interesting preliminary finding is that a high percentage of both employment tribunal lay members and judges assess unfair dismissal as a jurisdiction where lay members add value to decision-making. Only discrimination came higher on the list when they were asked in which jurisdictions lay members add value.

A round-up of links to news items on employment tribunal rulings in the week beginning 20 June 2011, including a teacher who was constructively dismissed after being bullied and locked in a cupboard.

Robert Gordon's College teacher wins bullying case (on the BBC website) A teacher who claimed that she was forced to leave her job after being bullied and locked in a cupboard has won her case for constructive dismissal.

We round up what caught Tribunal Watch's eye on Twitter this week, including news of the imminent judgment from the Supreme Court (on its website) in the important case of R (on the application of G) v Governors of X School and Y City Council, which concerns when employees should be allowed legal representation in disciplinary proceedings.

• Supreme Court to rule on legal representation in disciplinary proceedings @HRlawyers Supreme Court to rule next Wednesday [29 June 2011] on legal representation at disciplinaries - R (G) v Governors of X School
• Consultation on employment tribunal fees @reedmj HMCTS expects to consult on fees in the Employment Tribunal in the autumn.
• New research on Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures @hrbullets http://bit.ly/m5vDpB ACAS review of CoP on Disc & Griev Procedures - more needs to be done to increase awareness
• Tribunals fast-tracking unfair dismissal claims @reedmj ETClaims: Tribunals are listing unfair dismissal claims on the fast-track http://etclaims.co.uk/2011/06/fast-track-unfair-dismissal/
• Judges and litigants-in-person @richardmoorhead Should Judges be trained to deal with Litigants in Person? http://bit.ly/lFxWKe
• Research on religious discrimination @ljanstis Review of research on religious discrimination http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/publications/our-research/research-reports/research-reports-71/#73

You can follow Tribunal Watch on Twitter. Have we missed something interesting on Twitter? Tweet us or leave a comment.

The Government has confirmed in the response to its consultation on the future of legal aid (on the Ministry of Justice website) that legal aid will be removed for most employment claims in England and Wales.

Although legal aid is not available for representation in employment tribunals in England and Wales, there is some "legal help" for getting advice in advance of employment tribunal proceedings. In addition, legal aid for both advice and representation is available for appeals to the EAT and employment-related matters considered outside the tribunal system (for example, claims for breach of contract exceeding £25,000).

The principles revisited in the High Court decision of SG v St Gregory's Catholic Science College [2011] EWHC 1452 HC (on the BAILII website), where it was found that a school's policy banning cornrow hairstyles indirectly discriminated against a schoolboy, apply in a workplace context too. We've combed the archive to bring you the bare facts about hair in the workplace.

Note: A subscription is required to access the XpertHR law reports below.

1. Early 80s. After the introduction of the Race Relations Act 1976, it didn't take long for race discrimination cases to start arriving. The leading cases of the early 80s were:

• Panesar v The Nestle Co Ltd [1980] IRLR 64 CA, in which the Court of Appeal found that an indirectly discriminatory rule forbidding beards in a chocolate factory was justifiable for hygiene reasons; and
• the non-employment case of Mandla and another v Lee and others [1983] IRLR 209 HL, in which the House of Lords found that the refusal of a headmaster to accept as a pupil a Sikh boy who wore a turban was indirect race discrimination.

A round-up of links to news items on employment tribunal rulings in the week beginning 13 June 2011, including a woman who resigned prematurely from her job because of her bosses' attitude to her severe migraine problems has lost her claim for constructive dismissal.

Llangollen woman who quit job over illness loses tribunal (on the Leader Live website) A woman who resigned from her job because of her bosses' attitude to her severe migraine problems has lost her claim for unfair dismissal.

We round up what caught Tribunal Watch's eye on Twitter this week, including a less than positive reaction to Conservative MP Christopher Chope's Private Members' Bill (on the UK Parliament website) for compensatory awards for unfair or wrongful dismissal or discrimination arising out of employment to be capped at £50,000.

• Conservative MP seeks £50,000 cap on employment tribunal awards @PLCEmployment Commons to consider bill to cap employment tribunal compensation
• Having a cap of £50,000 on wrongful dismissal claims @DazNewman Even better he limits wrongful dismissal to £50K - lots of high value employees wouldn't like that!
• Very little chance of becoming law @TribunalWatch This is a Private Members' Bill - has very little chance of becoming law.
• TUPE: Supreme Court asks ECJ if transferee has to honour pay agreement signed by transferor @EmploymentBar I find myself arguing Alemo - Herron points every few months, hence why the referral to the ECJ is important.
• What's happened to the consultation on employment tribunal fees? @ljanstis Anyone heard anything about more consultation on employment tribunal fees? RWD doc said the consultation would be in spring 2011.
• Why aren't the employment tribunal rules online? @MarkTarran Why is there no freely-available up-to-date version of the ET Rules online? Suggests tribunals are only for lawyers, not lay people.
• What's Brian The Snail's employment status? @TribunalWatchSnail fundraiser fired for not raising enough money: http://bbc.in/iEYuZ1 Not sure of Brian The Snail's employment status!

You can follow Tribunal Watch on Twitter. Have we missed something interesting on Twitter? Tweet us or leave a comment.

In yet another case involving an employer failing to make a simple reasonable adjustment to assist a disabled employee at work, a tribunal held that a company discriminated against a diabetic employee when it suggested that she inject insulin in the toilet rather than in front of other employees, in one of XpertHR’s latest case reports.

Miss Clark started training at Newsquest Media (Southern) Ltd in October 2009, having accepted a job as a business executive. During the first few days of training, she was told by a manager that it was not appropriate for her to inject herself in front of other people, and that she might consider doing it in a toilet instead.

Miss Clark complained, and the manager who had suggested the toilet as a suitable venue backed down, apologising for her suggestion, and saying that she could inject herself at her desk provided that her colleagues were “OK about it”. However, the company rejected Miss Clark’s formal grievance and grievance appeal. The outcome letters made it clear that she had to perform her injections in private according to an agreed system, except in “extreme situations”.

A deaf diplomat is appealing against the employment tribunal decision dismissing the disability discrimination claim that she brought after an offer of a posting with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to Kazakhstan was withdrawn after it proved to be too expensive to provide her with special interpreters, reports the Daily Telegraph website.

The offer to Jane Cordell was withdrawn because the FCO thought that it would cost £695,000 to provide her with special interpreters for a two-year assignment, although Ms Cordell believes that it would have cost between £100,00 and £200,000 per year.

While the employment tribunal found that the FCO has a large overall budget, it held that the massive cost of sending Ms Cordell on the assignment meant that providing her with interpreters was not a reasonable adjustment.

We round up what caught Tribunal Watch's eye on Twitter this week, including another potential religious discrimination case (on the Daily Telegraph website) getting publicity, this time a Christian mental health worker dismissed after passing colleagues a booklet warning of the physical and psychological damage some women suffer after an abortion.

• Christian dismissed after abortion leaflet row @DazNewman Christian sacked after abortion leaflet row http://bit.ly/jdrXBR Here we go with another one!
• Latest on Christians European court battle @MrsMarkleham Christians take prejudice row to Strasbourg http://ow.ly/5c22y (Telegraph). Total waste of time - see Stedman http://ow.ly/5c25Y
• Case on validity of retirement notices appealed @IDS_team EAT decision in Bailey v R&R Plant Hire, on validity of retirement notices, to be appealed http://bit.ly/jlBCbs
• Employees will drop temps early @MJCarty Telegraph says: "Firms 'will sack temps early to get round rules' " http://tgr.ph/kMxM9D
• Costs order overturned @ljanstis EAT overturns £16k wasted costs order: http://bit.ly/mpJgMM

You can follow Tribunal Watch on Twitter. Have we missed something interesting on Twitter? Tweet us or leave a comment.

A round-up of links to news items on employment tribunal rulings in the week beginning 6 June 2011, including £175,000 for a servant paid less than £2.50 an hour who was forced to dig into his own pocket to cover the food bills from Harrods because Tesco was not considered good enough.

Servant paid £2.50 an hour wins tribunal against Arab princess (on the Daily Telegraph website) An Arab princess has been ordered to pay £175,000 in compensation to a servant paid less than £2.50 an hour who was forced to dig into his own pocket to cover the food bills from Harrods because Tesco was not considered good enough.

The Government's Red Tape Challenge is concentrating on different areas of legislation and it's particularly seeking feedback on equality legislation, including laws about discrimination in the workplace, until 30 June 2011.

The equalities review seeks views on issues such as:

• who is protected;
• what behaviour is prohibited;
• how people are protected from unfair treatment by employers;
• positive action;
• how equality legislation is enforced; and
• particular equality rules for public bodies.

So if you've got something to get off your chest about equality laws, now's your chance.

Photo: macinate

A group of city grandees has recommended to the Government that employment tribunal awards for discrimination be capped at £50,000, reports the Independent website.

There is currently no cap on the amount of compensation that can be awarded in discrimination cases, although there is currently a maximum compensatory award of £68,400 for unfair dismissal claims. The Government's professional services group, which is chaired by Sir Michael Snyder, wants both discrimination and unfair dismissal awards to be capped at £50,000.

We round up what caught Tribunal Watch's eye on Twitter this week, including a strong reaction to a Guardian article about the role of HR (on the Guardian website) painting HR professionals as "smiling assassins" who do their company's bidding while failing to represent employees.

• Are HR professionals the "smiling assassins" of the workplace? @MJCarty Guardian article paints HR as "double-agents, the smiling assassins" http://bit.ly/k6gRIq
• So, HR manager, just who are you working for? @FlipChartFT I kept quiet about the Guardian's "HR - silent assassins" piece: http://t.co/RswqUvv But that was never going to last: http://t.co/5jTyS8Y
• Call for cap on discrimination awards @michaelscutt Government advised to cap discrimination awards at £50k - Business News, Business... http://t.co/YcgHiWn - why 50k? Odd.
• Judge entitled to make costs order @tribunallawyer Judge entitled to make costs orders against party's solicitor at CMD - Wilson Solicitors v BTS Group http://tinyurl.com/3f7snuc
• Jubilee bank holiday dates announced @PLCEmployment 2012 Golden Jubilee bank holiday announced: Tuesday 5 June, with late May bank holiday moved to Monday 4 June for 4-day weekend

You can follow Tribunal Watch on Twitter. Have we missed something interesting on Twitter? Tweet us or leave a comment.

A round-up of links to news items on employment tribunal rulings in the week beginning 30 May 2011, including that Dumfries and Galloway Fire and Rescue Service is facing a bill of up to £160,000 to meet compensation payments to its retained staff.

Dumfries and Galloway fire service faces hefty pay cost (on the BBC website) Dumfries and Galloway Fire and Rescue Service is facing a bill of up to £160,000 to meet compensation payments to its retained staff.