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	29/07/2010 Default Retirement Age \| Phase out by October 2011 The Coalition Government has opened consultation today about the phase out of the default retirement age between April 2011 and October 2011.... Find out more »
	29/07/2010 Equality Act 2010 \| Will it or won't it? Doubts were cast over whether the main provisions of the Equality Act 2010 will come into effect as planned in October 2010. The Government has now announced that they will.... Find out more »
	29/07/2010 Fixed term contracts \| Permanent employees With effect from 10 July 2010, employees engaged on successive fixed-term contracts totalling four years or more will automatically become permanently employed unless the continued use of a ... Find out more »
	29/07/2010 Data protection \| New code of practice launched The Information Commissioner has launched a new code of practice covering the use of personal data online. ... Find out more »
	29/07/2010 Disciplinary procedures \| Size of the uplift In a case decided under the statutory dispute resolution procedures, guidance has been given by the EAT on how the size of any uplift should be determined. ... Find out more »
	29/07/2010 Disciplinary procedures \| Claims for breach of contract The Court of Appeal has decided that an employee is entitled to compensation for damages arising from a dismissal conducted in breach of contract. Compensation is not limited to the cap on ... Find out more »
	29/07/2010 Sexual harassment \| Years of unwanted behaviour Unwanted conduct of a sexual nature stretching back years can be grounds for successful claims for sexual harassment.... Find out more »
	29/07/2010 Transfer of Undertakings \| Scope of 'ETO reason' The EAT has concluded that an ETO reason for a dismissal can apply where the relevant change applies only to part of the workforce. ... Find out more »
	29/07/2010 National minimum wage increases \| Go ahead as planned The Coalition Government has announced that it will not make any changes to the rates announced by the Labour Government and they will go ahead as planned from 1 October 2010. ... Find out more »
	29/07/2010 Legislation under review \| Round up Immigration \| Agency Workers Regulations 2010 \| Bribery Act 2010 \| Additional Paternity Leave... Find out more »
	29/07/2010 June 2010 Budget \| Employment Implications Although sometime ago, read on for a summary of the budget headlines as they relate to employment law and hr matters.... Find out more »
	15/06/2010 Vetting and barring registration delayed The requirement to register under the vetting and barring scheme, due to be implemented on 26 July 2010, is to be delayed.... Find out more »
	26/05/2010 Employment law under the coalition \| What to look out for \| Update Following the release of the Coalition's detailed agreement, 'The Coalition: our programme for government' ('the Programme for Government'), last week and the Queen's Speech on 25 May 2010, ... Find out more »
	20/05/2010 Employment law under the coalition \| What to look out for The Queen's Speech will take place on 25 May 2010, setting out the intentions of the new coalition government. It is not yet clear how the coalition government will deal with various employ... Find out more »
	20/05/2010 Equality Act 2010 \| A two minute summary The Equality Act passed into law on 6 April 2010 with many of its provisions coming into effect in October 2010. The intention of the Act is to harmonise the fragmented discrimination legis... Find out more »
	20/05/2010 Is your organisation World Cup fit? The World Cup and the inevitable possible employee absentee problems that it may generate need not be a problem. Handled well, itthe World Cup is a great opportunity to build upon (or rebui... Find out more »
	20/05/2010 Whistleblowing \| Disclosures to previous employer protected The whistleblowing provisions protect an employee from treatment arising from a disclosure made whilst working for a previous employer.... Find out more »
	20/05/2010 Age discrimination \| Requirement for a degree The Court of Appeal has concluded that it is not discriminatory on the grounds of age to require certain staff nearing retirement to hold a degree.... Find out more »
	20/05/2010 Disciplinary proceedings \| Concurrent police investigation In a welcome decision for employers, the EAT has decided that employers have a wide discretion on whether to continue or postpone their own investigation when the police are also investigati... Find out more »
	20/05/2010 Unfair dismissal \| Reliance on informal warnings The EAT has concluded that an employer, when dismissing for gross misconduct, can rely upon a previous and similar incident even though no formal warning was given.... Find out more »
	20/05/2010 Unfair Dismissal \| Conflict in witness evidence Where there is a conflict in the witness evidence obtained during an investigation and the employer cannot reasonably conclude one way or the other, it is 'proper' for the employee to be giv... Find out more »
	06/04/2010 Increase in statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay With effect from 4 April 2010 the rates for maternity, paternity and adoption pay increased.... Find out more »
	06/04/2010 Changes coming into effect on 6 April 2010 A number of changes come into effect on 6 April 2010, in particular the new 'fit' notes.... Find out more »
	06/04/2010 Disciplinary proceedings \| Injunction granted to stop The Court of Appeal has upheld an injunction preventing an NHS Trust from commencing disciplinary proceedings against a consultant forensic psychiatrist.... Find out more »
	06/04/2010 Breach of contract \| Termination date later than notified The High Court has held that an employee was not dismissed when the employer told him that he was being summarily dismissed but on a later date when the employer stated that it was exercisin... Find out more »
	26/03/2010 Holidays \| Sickness during holiday An employment tribunal has ruled that the Working Time Regulations can be interpreted to permit the carry over of holiday from holiday year to holiday year where holiday cannot be taken due ... Find out more »
	26/03/2010 Contracts of Employment \| Making changes without consent The EAT has ruled that Asda could rely on a contract term to impose a change without consent.... Find out more »
	26/03/2010 Unfair dismissal \| No remedy for a constructive dismissal The Court of Appeal has overturned a decision that an employer can remedy a breach of the implied term of trust and confidence.... Find out more »
	26/03/2010 Employment status \| Revised HMRC employment status manual HM Revenue & Customs has revised its Employment Status Manual to take account of recent case law. ... Find out more »
	26/03/2010 The law is changing \| Independant Safeguarding Authority Anyone wanting to undertake a regulated activity with children or vulnerable adults will be required to register with the ISA by law.... Find out more »
	09/02/2010 New Government "fit note" to be introduced on 6 April 2010 The new "fit note" will be introduced to replace the GP's sick note. It will be called the Statement of Fitness for Work. The reforms are designed to help employees return to work more quick... Find out more »
	30/01/2010 Employment Tribunals \| New compensation limits New tribunal compensation limits for a week's pay and unfair dismissal apply from 1 February 2010.... Find out more »
	30/01/2010 Public sector employees \| right to legal representation Public sector employees may have the right to be legally represented at disciplinary hearings if there is the possibility that their dismissal will prevent them from working in their profess... Find out more »
	30/01/2010 Data Protection Act 1998 \| new £500,000 fine for serious breaches The Information Commissioner has been given the power to impose fines of up to £500,000 for serious breaches. ... Find out more »
	30/01/2010 No more blacklisting of trade union members It is anticipated that between February and April 2010 new regulations banning blacklists of trade union members will come into force. ... Find out more »
	10/12/2009 Compromise agreements \| Entire agreements? A compromise agreement which includes an 'entire agreement' clause will not necessarily override all pre-existing agreements.... Find out more »
	10/12/2009 Wrongful dismissal \| No damages for wrong decision to dismiss The High Court has recently confirmed that damages for wrongful dismissal are limited to loss of earnings for the time it would take for the contractual disciplinary procedure to be complete... Find out more »
	10/12/2009 Religious discrimination \| no discrimination or unfair dismissal of Christian relate counsellor There was no direct or indirect discrimination on religious grounds of a Christian Relate counsellor who refused, because of his religious beliefs, to provide counselling to same-sex couples... Find out more »
	10/12/2009 Unfair dismissal \| Request by third party to dismiss - fair or unfair? A dismissal of an employee at the request of a third party was fair as the employer had acted reasonably and was able to show that it had done what it could to persuade the third party to ch... Find out more »
	10/12/2009 Immigration \| new advertising rules Changes take effect from 14 December 2009.... Find out more »
	10/12/2009 Disability discrimination \| exemption from making reasonable adjustments A new two-stage test has been advanced by the EAT.... Find out more »
	10/12/2009 Employment status \| sham contracts The Court of Appeal in Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher has held that tribunals must focus on the actual legal obligations of the parties and not just take into account express contractual provisions... Find out more »
	10/12/2009 Equal pay \| Length of service related pay The Court of Appeal has held that an employer will be required to justify the use of length of service as a criterion for setting pay levels where an employee provides "evidence capable of r... Find out more »
	10/12/2009 TUPE \| Obligations to inform The Court of Appeal has decided that the obligation to inform under TUPE requires the employer to provide information that they genuinely believe to be correct even if it proves to be wrong.... Find out more »
	10/12/2009 Agency Workers Directive \| consultation response Government has published its response to the first consultation on the introduction of the Agency Workers Directive.... Find out more »
	10/12/2009 Employment tribunals \| 2008/09 statistics The employment tribunal annual report has been issued and shows a marked decline in claims accepted by the employment tribunal service in 2008/09. ... Find out more »
	01/10/2009 Discrimination \| Compensation for injury to feelings The Employment Appeal Tribunal has decided that the band of damages awarded for injury to feelings in discrimination cases should be increased.... Find out more »
	01/10/2009 Recruitment \| Employing illegal workers The Attorney General, Baroness Scotland, has been fined £5,000 for negligently employing an individual who was not permitted to work in the UK.... Find out more »
	01/10/2009 The Supreme Court The Supreme Court is sworn in today and replaces the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.... Find out more »
	01/10/2009 Reminder \| New rates for National Minimum Wage and redundancy From 1 October 2009 new National Minimum Wage rates and an increase to the maximum weekly pay for statutory redundancy purposes applies.... Find out more »
	25/09/2009 Age discrimination \| Default retirement age of 65 is lawful The High Court has decided today that the default retirement age of 65 is lawful. Employers can therefore continue to force employees to retire on or after their 65th birthday providing the... Find out more »
	16/09/2009 Race discrimination \| benign motive no defence In Amnesty International v Ahmed the EAT held that the employer's benign motive did not avoid a finding of direct race discrimination but the employer was not guilty of constructive unfair d... Find out more »
	16/09/2009 Guidance on the Employment of Children The Department for children, schools and families has published a useful booklet explaining the law and best practice of employing children under the school leaving age.... Find out more »
	16/09/2009 New rates \| National Minimum Wage and redundancy From 1 October 2009 new National Minimum Wage rates and an increase to the maximum weekly pay for statutory redundancy purposes will apply.... Find out more »
	16/09/2009 Stratford Employment Tribunal moves to new home As from 24 September 2009 the Stratford Employment Tribunal moves to its new home.... Find out more »
	16/09/2009 Maternity leave \| six months' maternity leave to be transferable to father Yesterday the Government announced it will consult shortly on new regulations that will give families greater flexibility in how they choose to look after their children. This new provision... Find out more »
	16/09/2009 Swine flu \| Questions and answers With the incidents of swine flu anticipated to rise as autumn closes in and with winter on the way, we have found that the guidance about the swine flu pandemic is many and varied.... Find out more »
	16/09/2009 Holiday \| Right to defer holiday until after sick leave The ECJ, on 10 September 2009, has decided that a worker whose annual leave coincides with a period of sick leave must have the option to take their annual leave at a different time.... Find out more »
	29/07/2009 Disability discrimination \| act of dismissal may also be discriminatory The EAT has held that a college's failure to make reasonable adjustments to avoid a disabled employee's dismissal made the act of dismissal itself an act of disability discrimination.... Find out more »
	29/07/2009 NHS disciplinary hearings \| the right to legal representation NHS doctors and dentists are entitled to legal representation at internal disciplinary hearings concerned with serious allegations. This right may apply to all public bodies.... Find out more »
	29/07/2009 Unfair dismissal \| Admissions are no substitute for investigation The EAT has found the dismissal of an employee unfair even though the employee admitted the behaviour relied on by the employer.... Find out more »
	29/07/2009 Disability Discrimination \| latent health conditions A latent health condition that may recur or is kept under control by medication may nevertheless mean an employee is a "disabled person" under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.... Find out more »
	29/07/2009 Employment Tribunal Service and ACAS annual reports The Tribunal Service and ACAS have published their annual reports.... Find out more »
	09/07/2009 Equal pay \| Piggy back equal pay claims The EAT decided that a man may bring an equal pay claim on the back of a successful equal pay claim by a female colleague.... Find out more »
	09/07/2009 Consultation on "no win no fee" agreements The Ministry of Justice is currently consulting on the use and terms of "no win no fee" agreements which are increasingly used to fund tribunal cases. Regulations are to be introduced to pro... Find out more »
	09/07/2009 Unfair dismissal \| effective date of dismissal is when employee reads dismissal letter For the purposes of the three month time limit for unfair dismissal claims, the effective date of termination is when the dismissal decision is communicated to the employee. This means it is... Find out more »
	09/07/2009 TUPE \| New BIS guidance published The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) (we still don't like the name) has published a useful new guide about the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulatio... Find out more »
	09/07/2009 Whistleblowing \| what was the principal reason for dismissal? An employment tribunal must take a holistic approach when deciding if an employee was dismissed for whistleblowing. It should not look at one event in isolation.... Find out more »
	22/06/2009 Working Time Regulations \| failure to pay statutory annual leave is a deduction from "wages" In the long-running series of cases of Stringer and others v HM Revenue and Customs the House of Lords has decided that the non-payment of statutory annual leave can be claimed as an 'unauth... Find out more »
	22/06/2009 Working Time Regulations \| Sickness absence and paid annual leave We provide an update on employees who are on sick leave and paid annual leave entitlements: employees on long-term sick leave are entitled to take paid leave under the Working Time Regulatio... Find out more »
	22/06/2009 Recruitment \| Failure to mention medical history was not misrepresentation Cheltenham Borough Council attempted to argue that a senior employee's failure to provide details of her history of stress and depression in a pre-employment medical questionnaire was fraudu... Find out more »
	22/06/2009 Tier 2 shortage occupation list changed With effect from 15 June 2009, the Government has updated the list of occupations where there is a shortage of skilled workers.... Find out more »
	22/06/2009 New rates \| redundancy The 2009 budget increase to £380 of the maximum weekly pay for statutory redundancy purposes will take effect from 1 October 2009.... Find out more »
	22/06/2009 Goodbye BERR The Government has announced that the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has been rebranded as Department for Business Innovation and Skills.... Find out more »
	02/06/2009 Redundancy \| length of service may be valid criterion The Court of Appeal has held that the use of length of service as a "deciding factor" in a redundancy selection matrix is lawful.... Find out more »
	02/06/2009 Constructive unfair dismissal \| No claim when employer upholds grievance Where an employee's grievance is upheld by his or her employer, this can remedy a breach of the implied term of trust and confidence which the employee could have relied upon to justify resi... Find out more »
	02/06/2009 Dismissal \| what is the effective date of termination? (update) In February 2009 we reported on the case of Radecki v Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council. The Court of Appeal has overturned the decision.... Find out more »
	02/06/2009 Statutory dispute resolution procedures \| correcting a mistake The EAT has held that the statutory dismissal and disciplinary procedure was complied with even though no step one letter was sent to the employee prior to him being told that he was redunda... Find out more »
	02/06/2009 New rates \| National Minimum Wage and redundancy From 1 October 2009 new National Minimum Wage rates will apply. Also, as part of the 2009 budget, the chancellor announced an increase to the maximum weekly pay for statutory redundancy purp... Find out more »
	12/03/2009 Unfair dismissal \| No more statutory dismissal or grievance procedures! From 6 April 2009 a new approach to dealing with employee discipline, dismissals and grievances comes into force. The much criticised and unworkable statutory dismissal, disciplinary and gri... Find out more »
	12/03/2009 New Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures From 6 April 2009 a new approach to dealing with employee discipline, dismissals and grievances comes into force following the complete abolition of the statutory dispute resolution procedur... Find out more »
	12/03/2009 Acas Code \| Handling misconduct or poor performance Click here for a summary of how to handle misconduct or poor performance issues based on the new Acas Code.... Find out more »
	12/03/2009 Acas Code \| Potential headaches to watch out for Whilst it is fair to say that best practice advice should not change greatly in light of the new law, there are a number of potential headaches which arise from the wording of the new Acas C... Find out more »
	12/03/2009 Employment Tribunals \| New Procedural rules From 6 April 2009 new procedural rules come into force in relation to the conduct of employment tribunal cases introduced by the Employment Act 2008. For the technically minded.... Find out more »
	12/03/2009 Age discrimination \| Default retirement age may be permissible The ECJ has decided on the ongoing case commonly referred to as Heyday. The ECJ has decided that the default retirement age of 65 may be permissible under European law. The High Court must n... Find out more »
	12/03/2009 Unfair dismissal \| Comments on facebook Would you want to dismiss if one of your employees described their job as boring? One employer recently did according to a report by BBC news. Will that employer be able to successfully defe... Find out more »
	16/02/2009 What to look out for in 2009 2009 promises to be another year full of developments, if not always surprises, in employment law. We thought we would give you a brief heads up on what you might expect to see in the coming... Find out more »
	16/02/2009 2008 review \| the highlights and lowlights 2008 was another busy year in employment law, with a number of significant changes affecting employers. Our selection of 2008 top ten main principles established by the raft of new case law... Find out more »
	16/02/2009 Working Time Regulations \| can a sick worker really go on holiday? The ECJ has held that a worker on sick leave accrues annual leave despite not working. It is for member states to decide if leave can be taken whilst on sick leave but in any event workers m... Find out more »
	16/02/2009 Family friendly rights \| time off to care for dependant Employees are entitled to take a reasonable amount of time off work in order to take necessary action to sort out arrangements for the care of a dependant in circumstances where the existing... Find out more »
	16/02/2009 Race discrimination \| redundancy was unfair and discriminatory The facts of this case illustrate why employers must take care when implementing any redundancy related dismissals to avoid significant compensation claims. In Abbey National plc v Chagger t... Find out more »
	16/02/2009 Unlawful deductions from wages \| what is a valid claim? A worker has a valid unlawful deduction from wages claim only when it relates to wages that have in fact become payable. No claim exists when it relates to wages that are paid based on a cer... Find out more »
	16/02/2009 Unfair dismissal \| Imposition of new terms was a dismissal Employees who received letters from their employer informing them that their contracts of employment would be terminated but that they would be re-engaged on new less favourable terms were f... Find out more »
	16/02/2009 Health and safety \| new Act increases penalties to employers The Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008 has recently come into force, applying to all health and safety offences committed from 16 January 2009 onwards.... Find out more »
	16/02/2009 Statutory Pay \| Weekly pay increases from 6 April 2009 HM Revenue & Customs has announced new rates which are due to take effect from 6 April 2009 onwards. Statutory sick pay is set to increase from £75.40 per week to £79.15 per week.... Find out more »
	16/02/2009 Compensation limits \| 1 February 2009 increases On 1 February every year certain figures which are used for calculating employment compensation change.... Find out more »
	16/02/2009 Dismissal \| how far can an employer go without actually dismissing? Stating an effective date of termination in a draft compromise agreement and removing an employee from the employers payroll were held in the case of Radecki v Kirklees Metropolitan Borough ... Find out more »

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	29/07/2010 Default Retirement Age \| Phase out by October 2011 The Coalition Government has opened consultation today about the phase out of the default retirement age between April 2011 and October 2011.... Find out more »
	29/07/2010 Equality Act 2010 \| Will it or won't it? Doubts were cast over whether the main provisions of the Equality Act 2010 will come into effect as planned in October 2010. The Government has now announced that they will.... Find out more »
	29/07/2010 Fixed term contracts \| Permanent employees With effect from 10 July 2010, employees engaged on successive fixed-term contracts totalling four years or more will automatically become permanently employed unless the continued use of a ... Find out more »
	29/07/2010 Data protection \| New code of practice launched The Information Commissioner has launched a new code of practice covering the use of personal data online. ... Find out more »
	29/07/2010 Disciplinary procedures \| Size of the uplift In a case decided under the statutory dispute resolution procedures, guidance has been given by the EAT on how the size of any uplift should be determined. ... Find out more »
	29/07/2010 Disciplinary procedures \| Claims for breach of contract The Court of Appeal has decided that an employee is entitled to compensation for damages arising from a dismissal conducted in breach of contract. Compensation is not limited to the cap on ... Find out more »
	29/07/2010 Sexual harassment \| Years of unwanted behaviour Unwanted conduct of a sexual nature stretching back years can be grounds for successful claims for sexual harassment.... Find out more »
	29/07/2010 Transfer of Undertakings \| Scope of 'ETO reason' The EAT has concluded that an ETO reason for a dismissal can apply where the relevant change applies only to part of the workforce. ... Find out more »
	29/07/2010 National minimum wage increases \| Go ahead as planned The Coalition Government has announced that it will not make any changes to the rates announced by the Labour Government and they will go ahead as planned from 1 October 2010. ... Find out more »
	29/07/2010 Legislation under review \| Round up Immigration \| Agency Workers Regulations 2010 \| Bribery Act 2010 \| Additional Paternity Leave... Find out more »
	29/07/2010 June 2010 Budget \| Employment Implications Although sometime ago, read on for a summary of the budget headlines as they relate to employment law and hr matters.... Find out more »
	15/06/2010 Vetting and barring registration delayed The requirement to register under the vetting and barring scheme, due to be implemented on 26 July 2010, is to be delayed.... Find out more »
	26/05/2010 Employment law under the coalition \| What to look out for \| Update Following the release of the Coalition's detailed agreement, 'The Coalition: our programme for government' ('the Programme for Government'), last week and the Queen's Speech on 25 May 2010, ... Find out more »
	20/05/2010 Employment law under the coalition \| What to look out for The Queen's Speech will take place on 25 May 2010, setting out the intentions of the new coalition government. It is not yet clear how the coalition government will deal with various employ... Find out more »
	20/05/2010 Equality Act 2010 \| A two minute summary The Equality Act passed into law on 6 April 2010 with many of its provisions coming into effect in October 2010. The intention of the Act is to harmonise the fragmented discrimination legis... Find out more »
	20/05/2010 Is your organisation World Cup fit? The World Cup and the inevitable possible employee absentee problems that it may generate need not be a problem. Handled well, itthe World Cup is a great opportunity to build upon (or rebui... Find out more »
	20/05/2010 Whistleblowing \| Disclosures to previous employer protected The whistleblowing provisions protect an employee from treatment arising from a disclosure made whilst working for a previous employer.... Find out more »
	20/05/2010 Age discrimination \| Requirement for a degree The Court of Appeal has concluded that it is not discriminatory on the grounds of age to require certain staff nearing retirement to hold a degree.... Find out more »
	20/05/2010 Disciplinary proceedings \| Concurrent police investigation In a welcome decision for employers, the EAT has decided that employers have a wide discretion on whether to continue or postpone their own investigation when the police are also investigati... Find out more »
	20/05/2010 Unfair dismissal \| Reliance on informal warnings The EAT has concluded that an employer, when dismissing for gross misconduct, can rely upon a previous and similar incident even though no formal warning was given.... Find out more »
	20/05/2010 Unfair Dismissal \| Conflict in witness evidence Where there is a conflict in the witness evidence obtained during an investigation and the employer cannot reasonably conclude one way or the other, it is 'proper' for the employee to be giv... Find out more »
	06/04/2010 Increase in statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay With effect from 4 April 2010 the rates for maternity, paternity and adoption pay increased.... Find out more »
	06/04/2010 Changes coming into effect on 6 April 2010 A number of changes come into effect on 6 April 2010, in particular the new 'fit' notes.... Find out more »
	06/04/2010 Disciplinary proceedings \| Injunction granted to stop The Court of Appeal has upheld an injunction preventing an NHS Trust from commencing disciplinary proceedings against a consultant forensic psychiatrist.... Find out more »
	06/04/2010 Breach of contract \| Termination date later than notified The High Court has held that an employee was not dismissed when the employer told him that he was being summarily dismissed but on a later date when the employer stated that it was exercisin... Find out more »
	26/03/2010 Holidays \| Sickness during holiday An employment tribunal has ruled that the Working Time Regulations can be interpreted to permit the carry over of holiday from holiday year to holiday year where holiday cannot be taken due ... Find out more »
	26/03/2010 Contracts of Employment \| Making changes without consent The EAT has ruled that Asda could rely on a contract term to impose a change without consent.... Find out more »
	26/03/2010 Unfair dismissal \| No remedy for a constructive dismissal The Court of Appeal has overturned a decision that an employer can remedy a breach of the implied term of trust and confidence.... Find out more »
	26/03/2010 Employment status \| Revised HMRC employment status manual HM Revenue & Customs has revised its Employment Status Manual to take account of recent case law. ... Find out more »
	26/03/2010 The law is changing \| Independant Safeguarding Authority Anyone wanting to undertake a regulated activity with children or vulnerable adults will be required to register with the ISA by law.... Find out more »
	09/02/2010 New Government "fit note" to be introduced on 6 April 2010 The new "fit note" will be introduced to replace the GP's sick note. It will be called the Statement of Fitness for Work. The reforms are designed to help employees return to work more quick... Find out more »
	30/01/2010 Employment Tribunals \| New compensation limits New tribunal compensation limits for a week's pay and unfair dismissal apply from 1 February 2010.... Find out more »
	30/01/2010 Public sector employees \| right to legal representation Public sector employees may have the right to be legally represented at disciplinary hearings if there is the possibility that their dismissal will prevent them from working in their profess... Find out more »
	30/01/2010 Data Protection Act 1998 \| new £500,000 fine for serious breaches The Information Commissioner has been given the power to impose fines of up to £500,000 for serious breaches. ... Find out more »
	30/01/2010 No more blacklisting of trade union members It is anticipated that between February and April 2010 new regulations banning blacklists of trade union members will come into force. ... Find out more »
	10/12/2009 Compromise agreements \| Entire agreements? A compromise agreement which includes an 'entire agreement' clause will not necessarily override all pre-existing agreements.... Find out more »
	10/12/2009 Wrongful dismissal \| No damages for wrong decision to dismiss The High Court has recently confirmed that damages for wrongful dismissal are limited to loss of earnings for the time it would take for the contractual disciplinary procedure to be complete... Find out more »
	10/12/2009 Religious discrimination \| no discrimination or unfair dismissal of Christian relate counsellor There was no direct or indirect discrimination on religious grounds of a Christian Relate counsellor who refused, because of his religious beliefs, to provide counselling to same-sex couples... Find out more »
	10/12/2009 Unfair dismissal \| Request by third party to dismiss - fair or unfair? A dismissal of an employee at the request of a third party was fair as the employer had acted reasonably and was able to show that it had done what it could to persuade the third party to ch... Find out more »
	10/12/2009 Immigration \| new advertising rules Changes take effect from 14 December 2009.... Find out more »
	10/12/2009 Disability discrimination \| exemption from making reasonable adjustments A new two-stage test has been advanced by the EAT.... Find out more »
	10/12/2009 Employment status \| sham contracts The Court of Appeal in Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher has held that tribunals must focus on the actual legal obligations of the parties and not just take into account express contractual provisions... Find out more »
	10/12/2009 Equal pay \| Length of service related pay The Court of Appeal has held that an employer will be required to justify the use of length of service as a criterion for setting pay levels where an employee provides "evidence capable of r... Find out more »
	10/12/2009 TUPE \| Obligations to inform The Court of Appeal has decided that the obligation to inform under TUPE requires the employer to provide information that they genuinely believe to be correct even if it proves to be wrong.... Find out more »
	10/12/2009 Agency Workers Directive \| consultation response Government has published its response to the first consultation on the introduction of the Agency Workers Directive.... Find out more »
	10/12/2009 Employment tribunals \| 2008/09 statistics The employment tribunal annual report has been issued and shows a marked decline in claims accepted by the employment tribunal service in 2008/09. ... Find out more »
	01/10/2009 Discrimination \| Compensation for injury to feelings The Employment Appeal Tribunal has decided that the band of damages awarded for injury to feelings in discrimination cases should be increased.... Find out more »
	01/10/2009 Recruitment \| Employing illegal workers The Attorney General, Baroness Scotland, has been fined £5,000 for negligently employing an individual who was not permitted to work in the UK.... Find out more »
	01/10/2009 The Supreme Court The Supreme Court is sworn in today and replaces the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.... Find out more »
	01/10/2009 Reminder \| New rates for National Minimum Wage and redundancy From 1 October 2009 new National Minimum Wage rates and an increase to the maximum weekly pay for statutory redundancy purposes applies.... Find out more »
	25/09/2009 Age discrimination \| Default retirement age of 65 is lawful The High Court has decided today that the default retirement age of 65 is lawful. Employers can therefore continue to force employees to retire on or after their 65th birthday providing the... Find out more »
	16/09/2009 Race discrimination \| benign motive no defence In Amnesty International v Ahmed the EAT held that the employer's benign motive did not avoid a finding of direct race discrimination but the employer was not guilty of constructive unfair d... Find out more »
	16/09/2009 Guidance on the Employment of Children The Department for children, schools and families has published a useful booklet explaining the law and best practice of employing children under the school leaving age.... Find out more »
	16/09/2009 New rates \| National Minimum Wage and redundancy From 1 October 2009 new National Minimum Wage rates and an increase to the maximum weekly pay for statutory redundancy purposes will apply.... Find out more »
	16/09/2009 Stratford Employment Tribunal moves to new home As from 24 September 2009 the Stratford Employment Tribunal moves to its new home.... Find out more »
	16/09/2009 Maternity leave \| six months' maternity leave to be transferable to father Yesterday the Government announced it will consult shortly on new regulations that will give families greater flexibility in how they choose to look after their children. This new provision... Find out more »
	16/09/2009 Swine flu \| Questions and answers With the incidents of swine flu anticipated to rise as autumn closes in and with winter on the way, we have found that the guidance about the swine flu pandemic is many and varied.... Find out more »
	16/09/2009 Holiday \| Right to defer holiday until after sick leave The ECJ, on 10 September 2009, has decided that a worker whose annual leave coincides with a period of sick leave must have the option to take their annual leave at a different time.... Find out more »
	29/07/2009 Disability discrimination \| act of dismissal may also be discriminatory The EAT has held that a college's failure to make reasonable adjustments to avoid a disabled employee's dismissal made the act of dismissal itself an act of disability discrimination.... Find out more »
	29/07/2009 NHS disciplinary hearings \| the right to legal representation NHS doctors and dentists are entitled to legal representation at internal disciplinary hearings concerned with serious allegations. This right may apply to all public bodies.... Find out more »
	29/07/2009 Unfair dismissal \| Admissions are no substitute for investigation The EAT has found the dismissal of an employee unfair even though the employee admitted the behaviour relied on by the employer.... Find out more »
	29/07/2009 Disability Discrimination \| latent health conditions A latent health condition that may recur or is kept under control by medication may nevertheless mean an employee is a "disabled person" under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.... Find out more »
	29/07/2009 Employment Tribunal Service and ACAS annual reports The Tribunal Service and ACAS have published their annual reports.... Find out more »
	09/07/2009 Equal pay \| Piggy back equal pay claims The EAT decided that a man may bring an equal pay claim on the back of a successful equal pay claim by a female colleague.... Find out more »
	09/07/2009 Consultation on "no win no fee" agreements The Ministry of Justice is currently consulting on the use and terms of "no win no fee" agreements which are increasingly used to fund tribunal cases. Regulations are to be introduced to pro... Find out more »
	09/07/2009 Unfair dismissal \| effective date of dismissal is when employee reads dismissal letter For the purposes of the three month time limit for unfair dismissal claims, the effective date of termination is when the dismissal decision is communicated to the employee. This means it is... Find out more »
	09/07/2009 TUPE \| New BIS guidance published The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) (we still don't like the name) has published a useful new guide about the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulatio... Find out more »
	09/07/2009 Whistleblowing \| what was the principal reason for dismissal? An employment tribunal must take a holistic approach when deciding if an employee was dismissed for whistleblowing. It should not look at one event in isolation.... Find out more »
	22/06/2009 Working Time Regulations \| failure to pay statutory annual leave is a deduction from "wages" In the long-running series of cases of Stringer and others v HM Revenue and Customs the House of Lords has decided that the non-payment of statutory annual leave can be claimed as an 'unauth... Find out more »
	22/06/2009 Working Time Regulations \| Sickness absence and paid annual leave We provide an update on employees who are on sick leave and paid annual leave entitlements: employees on long-term sick leave are entitled to take paid leave under the Working Time Regulatio... Find out more »
	22/06/2009 Recruitment \| Failure to mention medical history was not misrepresentation Cheltenham Borough Council attempted to argue that a senior employee's failure to provide details of her history of stress and depression in a pre-employment medical questionnaire was fraudu... Find out more »
	22/06/2009 Tier 2 shortage occupation list changed With effect from 15 June 2009, the Government has updated the list of occupations where there is a shortage of skilled workers.... Find out more »
	22/06/2009 New rates \| redundancy The 2009 budget increase to £380 of the maximum weekly pay for statutory redundancy purposes will take effect from 1 October 2009.... Find out more »
	22/06/2009 Goodbye BERR The Government has announced that the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has been rebranded as Department for Business Innovation and Skills.... Find out more »
	02/06/2009 Redundancy \| length of service may be valid criterion The Court of Appeal has held that the use of length of service as a "deciding factor" in a redundancy selection matrix is lawful.... Find out more »
	02/06/2009 Constructive unfair dismissal \| No claim when employer upholds grievance Where an employee's grievance is upheld by his or her employer, this can remedy a breach of the implied term of trust and confidence which the employee could have relied upon to justify resi... Find out more »
	02/06/2009 Dismissal \| what is the effective date of termination? (update) In February 2009 we reported on the case of Radecki v Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council. The Court of Appeal has overturned the decision.... Find out more »
	02/06/2009 Statutory dispute resolution procedures \| correcting a mistake The EAT has held that the statutory dismissal and disciplinary procedure was complied with even though no step one letter was sent to the employee prior to him being told that he was redunda... Find out more »
	02/06/2009 New rates \| National Minimum Wage and redundancy From 1 October 2009 new National Minimum Wage rates will apply. Also, as part of the 2009 budget, the chancellor announced an increase to the maximum weekly pay for statutory redundancy purp... Find out more »
	12/03/2009 Unfair dismissal \| No more statutory dismissal or grievance procedures! From 6 April 2009 a new approach to dealing with employee discipline, dismissals and grievances comes into force. The much criticised and unworkable statutory dismissal, disciplinary and gri... Find out more »
	12/03/2009 New Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures From 6 April 2009 a new approach to dealing with employee discipline, dismissals and grievances comes into force following the complete abolition of the statutory dispute resolution procedur... Find out more »
	12/03/2009 Acas Code \| Handling misconduct or poor performance Click here for a summary of how to handle misconduct or poor performance issues based on the new Acas Code.... Find out more »
	12/03/2009 Acas Code \| Potential headaches to watch out for Whilst it is fair to say that best practice advice should not change greatly in light of the new law, there are a number of potential headaches which arise from the wording of the new Acas C... Find out more »
	12/03/2009 Employment Tribunals \| New Procedural rules From 6 April 2009 new procedural rules come into force in relation to the conduct of employment tribunal cases introduced by the Employment Act 2008. For the technically minded.... Find out more »
	12/03/2009 Age discrimination \| Default retirement age may be permissible The ECJ has decided on the ongoing case commonly referred to as Heyday. The ECJ has decided that the default retirement age of 65 may be permissible under European law. The High Court must n... Find out more »
	12/03/2009 Unfair dismissal \| Comments on facebook Would you want to dismiss if one of your employees described their job as boring? One employer recently did according to a report by BBC news. Will that employer be able to successfully defe... Find out more »
	16/02/2009 What to look out for in 2009 2009 promises to be another year full of developments, if not always surprises, in employment law. We thought we would give you a brief heads up on what you might expect to see in the coming... Find out more »
	16/02/2009 2008 review \| the highlights and lowlights 2008 was another busy year in employment law, with a number of significant changes affecting employers. Our selection of 2008 top ten main principles established by the raft of new case law... Find out more »
	16/02/2009 Working Time Regulations \| can a sick worker really go on holiday? The ECJ has held that a worker on sick leave accrues annual leave despite not working. It is for member states to decide if leave can be taken whilst on sick leave but in any event workers m... Find out more »
	16/02/2009 Family friendly rights \| time off to care for dependant Employees are entitled to take a reasonable amount of time off work in order to take necessary action to sort out arrangements for the care of a dependant in circumstances where the existing... Find out more »
	16/02/2009 Race discrimination \| redundancy was unfair and discriminatory The facts of this case illustrate why employers must take care when implementing any redundancy related dismissals to avoid significant compensation claims. In Abbey National plc v Chagger t... Find out more »
	16/02/2009 Unlawful deductions from wages \| what is a valid claim? A worker has a valid unlawful deduction from wages claim only when it relates to wages that have in fact become payable. No claim exists when it relates to wages that are paid based on a cer... Find out more »
	16/02/2009 Unfair dismissal \| Imposition of new terms was a dismissal Employees who received letters from their employer informing them that their contracts of employment would be terminated but that they would be re-engaged on new less favourable terms were f... Find out more »
	16/02/2009 Health and safety \| new Act increases penalties to employers The Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008 has recently come into force, applying to all health and safety offences committed from 16 January 2009 onwards.... Find out more »
	16/02/2009 Statutory Pay \| Weekly pay increases from 6 April 2009 HM Revenue & Customs has announced new rates which are due to take effect from 6 April 2009 onwards. Statutory sick pay is set to increase from £75.40 per week to £79.15 per week.... Find out more »
	16/02/2009 Compensation limits \| 1 February 2009 increases On 1 February every year certain figures which are used for calculating employment compensation change.... Find out more »
	16/02/2009 Dismissal \| how far can an employer go without actually dismissing? Stating an effective date of termination in a draft compromise agreement and removing an employee from the employers payroll were held in the case of Radecki v Kirklees Metropolitan Borough ... Find out more »