Promises made and assurances given to employees can have contractual force, so it is vital not to make such commitments without taking legal advice. That point was made by one case in which a council went back on an assurance…
It is regrettably common for employers to cite redundancy as a reason for getting rid of workers they do not like, and when cases of this nature come before an Employment Tribunal (ET), its job is to find out where…
In July 2013, the Employment Tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal Fees Order introduced fees for bringing a claim to the Employment Tribunal (ET) and the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). The stated aims of the Fees Order were to transfer…
Employees who need to live on site to carry out their duties are often provided with so-called 'tied' homes. In a guideline decision, the High Court considered the legal effect of such arrangements in a case concerning a former school…
The definition of ‘disability’ has been the subject of much legal debate ever since the Equality Act 2010 came into force. However, an Employment Tribunal (ET) has shed some much-needed light on the issue in a case concerning a visually…
On the whole, we are not accustomed in the UK to long periods of hot weather, so when high temperatures do occur employers may not be prepared to deal with situations that arise as a result. The Advisory, Conciliation and…
Staff pregnancies can be disruptive, particularly for small businesses, but it is vital that employers do not allow their decision-making to become infected by discrimination. In one case, a hair stylist who was dismissed after she took time off, suffering…
In the context of a redundancy process in which workers competed with each other to keep their jobs, it was reasonable for the employer to expect that each of them would look after their own interests. An Employment Tribunal (ET)…
If you suffer discrimination in the workplace you can be compensated for injury to your feelings as well as for your financial losses. A £12,000 award was made under that head in one striking case in which a woman was…
Before accepting an employee’s resignation, it is crucially important to be certain that that is their true intention. In one case, an Employment Tribunal (ET) found that a letter in which a woman asked her manager to ‘please accept one…
