News & Articles

The Supreme Court’s ruling that the Employment Tribunal fees introduced by the Government in 2013 were unlawful has sent shockwaves through the world of employment law. read more

Part-time workers are entitled to be treated equally with their full-time colleagues unless there is good reason otherwise. Generally that means applying a scheme where benefits that full-timers and part-timers receive are in proportion to their respective hours worked. read more

It is an odd feature of TUPE Regulations that they apply when there is a transfer of a business which, immediately before the transfer, is located in the United Kingdom but do not say anything about where the business needs to be located once the transfer is complete. read more

In Kansal v Tullett Prebon plc a tribunal found that there was no race discrimination when an employer excluded an Indian employee – Mr Kansal - from a sales pitch. The reason it rejected the allegation was that one of the employees who was included was Indian. read more

Where an employer gives an employee a contractual right to long-term sickness absence benefits, it will generally be an implied term of the contract that he or she won't be dismissed before those benefits are exhausted. Is it also unfair to dismiss during this period? read more

Perhaps the most complicated and difficult issue in the whole of employment law is working out whether an employee in one part of the employer’s business can claim equal pay by comparing herself with a man working in a completely different location. read more

In the UK, the rule is that the dismissal of a woman who happens to be pregnant is treated in the same way as any other dismissal, provided the reason for dismissal is in no way related to pregnancy. This law differs across Europe however and may influence the UK soon. read more

The UK will leave the EU at the end of March 2019, but any EU law that comes into force before we leave will continue to apply even when the Brexit process is complete. The General Data Protection Regulation, comes into force in May next year and will certainly apply. read more

When an employee is accused of serious misconduct, it may be appropriate for him or her to be suspended while an investigation takes place. This may be necessary to protect the business or the integrity of the investigation. read more

The entitlement to paid annual leave under the Working Time Regulations 1998 must be interpreted in accordance with the EU Working Time Directive. This has caused particular problems for the UK courts when it has come to the calculation of holiday pay. read more

Back in 2016 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that an employer did not violate an employee’s right to privacy when he printed off 45 pages of personal messages he had sent using the What’s App account he had installed on his work computer to deal with queries. read more

It seems like hardly a week goes by without another employer in the ‘gig-economy’ being told by an employment tribunal that it actually has to give employment rights to the people that it claims are just freelancers finding work through their app. read more

Warm weather always turns HR specialists to thoughts of… dress codes. This summer we have had news of male employees sent home from work for wearing shorts, only to return wearing skirts instead. If women are allowed to wear skirts, they say, then why can’t men? read more

The major provisions of the Trade Union Act 2016 came into force on 1 March, 2017. This means that now industrial action ballots will only be lawful if at least 50 per cent of those being balloted cast a vote. This may have a major impact on strikes in the future. read more

A worker who suffers a deduction from wages may bring a claim in the Employment Tribunal to recover the shortfall if it was not made in accordance with a written agreement with the employer or provided for in writing within the contract of employment itself. read more

Mr Lee had asked the bakery to decorate a cake with the words ‘Support Gay Marriage’, along with a picture of the Sesame Street Characters, Bert and Ernie. The bakery refused; the message on the cake was at odds with the owners’ Christian beliefs. read more

Mr Bandara was a senior producer at the BBC. He was given a final written warning (which the Tribunal later found to have been ‘manifestly inappropriate’). Further gross misconduct was later alleged and Mr Bandara was dismissed. read more

Age discrimination differs from other kinds of discrimination in that even direct discrimination – treating someone less favourably because of their age – can be lawful if the employer shows that the treatment is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. read more

The principles underlying a fair dismissal for poor performance are well established. An employer needs to give the employee a clear explanation of how their performance is falling short and a fair opportunity to meet the required standard before being dismissed. read more

Can a worker still be working even when he or she is asleep? It seems like a silly question, but it lies at the heart of an important set of cases recently heard by the Employment Appeal Tribunal. read more

When an employee resigns in response to a fundamental breach of contract on the part of the employer, then the law treats this as a (constructive) dismissal. It need to happen promptly after however, or a dispute can arise. read more

In Elmore v Darland High School, Ms Elmore was a maths teacher. Observations of her lessons had led to concerns about her performance and a formal procedure was put in place based around a series of lesson observations which eventually led to her dismissal. Was it just? read more

In an unfair dismissal claim, it is for the employer to prove what the reason for dismissal was. Generally, when employers dismiss for ‘conduct’ they are focusing on an employee’s ‘misconduct’ – but it seems that this need not always be the case. read more

The Conservatives may have lost their majority in the general election, but they remain in power. Their manifesto promised new rights regarding taking time off work, some more sensible than others. read more

This case was about workers’ entitlement to take at least 20 minutes’ rest after six hours’ work. It looked at when an employer will, and will not, be said to have denied a worker that right.
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When 2 mothers returned from maternity leave, only to be denied the right to change their roster to factor in their breastfeeding time they took their employer, Easyjet, to court.  read more

After their works Christmas party at a golf club, some attendees decided to move on to a new venue. These included Mr Bellman and company director, Mr Major.

At around 3am, Mr Major assaulted Mr Bellman. It led to a serious brain injury, and Mr Bellman went onto sue. read more

The question of whether an employee is or isn’t disabled continues to test employers, and there seems little sign of that easing. As this case highlights, it’s a challenge for employees too. read more

It looks like the key employment law issue for 2017 will be employment status. In recent months, we have seen cases affecting a range of workers operating in the ‘gig economy’ where Employment Tribunals have held that they are entitled to paid holiday. read more

We often say that an employer will be entitled to dismiss an employee without notice if the employee is guilty of gross misconduct.

That phrase suggests some sort of deliberate wrongdoing on the employee’s part but in this case was it also negligence? read more

Section 15 of the Equality Act 2010 provides that it is discrimination to treat a disabled person unfavourably because of something to do with his or her disability.
Recently the Court of Appeal looked at a mixed claim of Unfair Dismissal and a breach of the Equity act. read more

Whatever you might have read elsewhere, the Court of Justice for the European Union has categorically not ruled that employers are allowed to ban the wearing of Islamic headscarves in the workplace. read more

Mediation is an excellent tool for resolving workplace conflict and rebuilding individual relationships and, it can even strengthen the relationship with the employer. read more

At Inside Advantage we believe that strong workplace relationships are the essential foundation of high performing organisations. People work hard for each other, cooperating and collaborating to achieve their objectives... read more

While you focus on strategies to maximise performance and engagement in your business, could your employees be engaging in extra-curricular activities? The workplace can be a fertile place for spawning intimate relationships and, according to a survey by... read more