The Growth and Infrastructure Bill, which received Royal Assent in April 2013, provides for a new type of employment status – the ‘employee-shareholder – with effect from 1 September 2013. Not to be confused with partnership arrangements whereby employees benefit…
A recent case dealt with the issues surrounding the respective rights of a parent and child in unusual circumstances. The natural father of the child wished to join in the proceedings to oppose his son being adopted. The unusual feature…
In Walker v Sita Information Networking Computing Limited, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) found that the Employment Tribunal (ET) was in error in concluding that a claimant who was overweight and who suffered from a ‘constellation of symptoms’ that caused…
When a woman’s niece and great niece were appointed her deputies (persons responsible for looking after her financial affairs) under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, they made gifts of her assets to charities, themselves, family members and friends. They also…
Businesses faced with employees making repeated unsubstantiated complaints of discrimination will have to think twice before dismissing them following a Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) decision. The EAT held that the dismissal of an employee who brought a series of grievances…
A former jockey has won £58,000 in compensation for injuries he suffered at Cheltenham racecourse when his horse fell at the first hurdle. Philip Hide’s horse skidded and fell at the outer end of the hurdle, causing him to be…
The ECJ has ruled that an employer's redundancy selection exercise must not discriminate against workers who have taken parental leave. In this case, the employer used selection criteria from a recent appraisal process, which the employee had not participated in…
A new system has come into force which relaxes the rules regarding the disclosure of past convictions and cautions when checks are carried out on job applicants by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) – formerly the Criminal Records Bureau…
Under the Equality Act 2010, a person is disabled if they have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. In Wheeldon v Marstons plc, at…
In shedding light on the correct approach to cases where evidence of misconduct is uncovered subsequent to dismissal, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled that it was open to an employment tribunal (ET) to find that a fair dismissal…