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 comes to the calculation of holiday pay. The European Court of Justice has repeatedly ruled that holiday pay must reflect a…
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 will not be dismissed before those benefits are exhausted. Does that mean, however, that it will also be unfair to dismiss an employee in that period and…
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 does not say anything about where the business needs to be located once the transfer is complete. In theory, TUPE can apply even if…
Unlawful Deduction from Wages – Contractual Disputes Agarwal v Cardiff University and another A worker who suffers a deduction from wages may bring a claim in the Employment Tribunal to recover the shortfall. This is the case if it was not made in accordance with a written agreement with the employer, or provided for in…
Age discrimination and redundancy BAE Systems (Operations) Ltd v McDowell 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. Pension and Redundancy?…
Dismissals for poor performance Awojobi v London Borough of Lewisham The principles underlying a fair dismissal for poor performance are well established. An employer needs to give the employee a clear explanation of the ways in which his or her performance is falling short and a fair opportunity to meet the required standard before being…
Constructive Dismissal Asghar v Habib 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. The resignation needs to take place promptly however or a tribunal may find that the employee has chosen to ‘affirm’ the contract and…
Appeal hearings Elmore v Darland High School In Elmore v Darland High School, Ms Elmore was a maths teacher. Maths had been identified by inspectors as being a problem area in the school and Ms Elmore’s class had performed poorly. Observations of her lessons had led to concerns about her performance and a formal procedure…
Conduct dismissals JP Morgan Securities plc v Ktorza In an unfair dismissal claim, it is for the employer to prove what the reason for dismissal was and that it fits into one of the potentially fair categories of reason such as ‘conduct’, ‘capability’ or ‘redundancy’. Generally, when employers dismiss for ‘conduct’ they are focusing on…
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, for example, comes into force in May next year and will certainly apply in the UK.…