December 2011 Archives

The second part of our round-up of employment tribunal decisions on the "Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures" gives examples where the amount of compensation against employers was increased because of breaches of the code and one unusual decision to reduce the claimant's compensation for failure to appeal his dismissal.

Breaches of the Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures: employment tribunal decisions - part two [subscription required]

Small employer's "serious failure" to follow Acas code attracts 15% uplift In Griffiths v Treeworks (West Wales) Ltd, the employment tribunal awarded a 15% uplift in the compensatory award after the employee was dismissed without warning.

Large employer's deficient investigation and disciplinary processes lead to 20% increase A large employer failed to follow a proper disciplinary procedure, held the employment tribunal in Davies v Richard Preston & Son Ltd.

Disproportionate disciplinary action attracts maximum 25% uplift The employment tribunal held in Burgess v Stephen Bleakley (Management) Ltd that the employer's decision to dismiss was outside the band of reasonable responses.

Breaches of Acas code by a "large and sophisticated employer" attract 25% uplift The employer unreasonably failed to comply with five provisions of the Acas code, held the employment tribunal in Bah v Pret A Manger (Europe) Ltd.

Employee's failure to appeal leads to 20% reduction In Baker v Birmingham Metropolitan College, the employment tribunal reduced the employee's compensatory award by 20% because he did not appeal against his dismissal.

We round up what caught Tribunal Watch's eye on Twitter in the week beginning 19 December 2011, including an employment tribunal decision that the retailer Next unfairly dismissed an employee for taking unauthorised absence on Christmas Eve.

At the end of 2011, Tribunal Watch rounds up 10 unusual employment tribunal decisions reported on XpertHR in 2011.

"Borat" nickname for Polish employee was discrimination This is a classic example of an ill-advised workplace nickname resulting in a successful discrimination claim.

Beliefs about "evil" and "satanic" conspiracy behind 9/11 and 7/7 not philosophical belief This unusual case concerned whether or not an employee's beliefs that the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and 7/7 were carried out by the US and UK Governments, and were part of a "gigantic" and "evil" conspiracy, are capable of being protected as "philosophical beliefs" under discrimination law.

Legislation has been published increasing the limit on the amount of the compensatory award for unfair dismissal from £68,400 to £72,300 on 1 February 2012.

Other changes coming into force on the same date through the Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2011 (2011/3006) include:

• an increase in the maximum amount of a "week's pay" for the purposes of calculating a basic or additional award of compensation for unfair dismissal or redundancy payment from £400 to £430; and
• an increase in the maximum amount of guarantee payment payable to an employee in respect of any day from £22.20 to £23.50.

The new limits are applicable where the event that gives rise to the award or payment occurs on or after 1 February 2012.

Photo: Christina Welsh

A round-up of links to news items on employment tribunal rulings in the week beginning 12 December 2011, including an award of almost £4.5m for race and sex discrimination to a former NHS doctor and compensation of over £8,000 for unfair dismissal of a reservist returning to work after deployment in Afghanistan.

Doctor awarded £4.5 million in sex and race discrimination case (on the Personnel Today website) A doctor who was dismissed from her position at a hospital in Yorkshire has been awarded £4.5 million after winning a tribunal claim for unfair dismissal, sex and race discrimination.

TA soldier sacked from job at Barclays (on the Daily Telegraph website) A Territorial Army soldier who fought in Afghanistan was sacked from his job at Barclays Bank because managers saw his service as a "betrayal".

We round up what caught Tribunal Watch's eye on Twitter in the week beginning 12 December 2011, including the Supreme Court decision in Edwards v Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Botham v Ministry of Defence that employees may not recover damages in civil courts for loss suffered as a result of a breach of a term in their employment contract as to the manner of their dismissal unless the loss can be said to precede and be independent of the dismissal.

The Ministry of Justice has at last published its consultation on the details of planned employment tribunal fees, which is one of the Government's flagship proposals for reducing the number of employment tribunal claims. So what's being suggested?

The consultation offers two broad options:

• Option one is an initial fee of £150 to £250 (depending on the nature of the case) for a claimant to begin a claim, with an additional fee of £250 to £1,250 if the claim goes to a hearing, with no limit to the maximum award.
• Option two is a single fee of £200 to £600, but this would limit the maximum award to £30,000, with the option of an additional fee of £1,750 for those who seek awards above this amount.

A round-up of links to news items on employment tribunal rulings in the week beginning 5 December 2011, including a finding of sexual harassment for a female sales worker who claimed that bosses would rate the attractiveness of potential female recruits and male colleagues were allowed to watch pornography at their desks.

Sales worker given compensation over laddish office culture (on the Daily Telegraph website) Angelina Ashby, a female sales worker, has won £26,000 in compensation from her "boys' club" employer after a tribunal ruled that the office's "laddish culture" permitted male colleagues to watch pornography at their desk.

We round up what caught Tribunal Watch's eye on Twitter in the week beginning 5 December 2011, including the launch of the XpertHR 2012 calendar, which covers: forthcoming legislation and cases on appeal; XpertHR surveys, conferences and events; religious festivals; bank/public holidays; training dates; and much more.

Other ways to keep up to date with employment law developments on XpertHR include our legal timetable and cases on appeal sections.

A round-up of links to news items on employment tribunal rulings in the week beginning 28 November 2011, including a large award for a Lambeth headteacher who was forced to quit after he made allegations of bullying and financial mismanagement.

Headteacher James Walker gets Lambeth Council payout (on the BBC website) A headteacher who won an unfair dismissal case after quitting a south London school has been given more than £100,000 in compensation.

We round up what caught Tribunal Watch's eye on Twitter in the week beginning 28 November 2011, including a special XpertHR podcast on the major employment law reforms with employment law expert and consultant editor, Darren Newman, who shares his thoughts on the various proposals, and an article in which Newman argues that "protected conversations" could end up rivalling the now abandoned statutory dispute resolution procedures in creating a legal nightmare.