London South Employment Tribunal has today (23 February 2012) ruled that Merton Council did not unlawfully discriminate against Celestina Mba, a devout Christian, on the grounds of religious discrimination when it asked her to work on Sundays. Whilst relatively limited details of the case are publically available as yet, Miss Mba alleged that she was [...]
Thanks to the Agency Workers Regulations 2010, which came into force on 1 October 2011, workers who are hired through an agency will soon acquire equal treatment rights with regard to basic working and employment conditions as if they had been recruited directly by the hirer. Although some rights (including in relation to access to [...]
Over the weekend the Sunday Telegraph reported that agency truck drivers providing services to Tesco have been asked to sign contracts waiving certain rights under the new Agency Workers Regulations 2010. This is not however a great surprise: it would seem that Tesco is merely seeking to take advantage of the so-called ‘Swedish Derogation Model’, [...]
The Coalition Government has today announced that the length of time you need to be employed to bring an unfair dismissal claim will be raised from one to two years with effect from April 2012. This change has been introduced following the Coalition Government’s ‘Resolving Workplace Disputes’ consultation which was commenced in response to concerns raised by employers about an apparent [...]
With 03 April fast approaching and, with it, the Additional Paternity Leave Regulations 2010 coming into force, the cost of employing parents could be set to get more expensive for employers. Such changes have made us think about the changing roles men and women are now taking on generally. Gone are the days when the [...]
Following our blog of 4 January, there are reports in today’s press confirming that the government is proposing to raise the length of time you need to be employed to bring an unfair dismissal claim from one to two years. The proposal, on which the government is consulting, is in response to concerns raised by employers about an apparent increase in unjustified [...]
So, like in many homes this week, the Andy Gray and Richards Keys debacle has caused much debate in our household between my husband (an avid football fan) and myself (a straight-laced employment lawyer). We’ve covered all the ground from what is banter at work where work is a football field, to the complete sanitisation [...]
Much has been made in the media today about this week’s ruling in Germany giving employers the right to enforce specific dress codes on staff. There has been public outrage after the State Labour Court in North Rhine-Westphalia ruled on the case concerning the clothing and general appearance of airport security personnel, appearing to give [...]
Employers have faced a double whammy in the last 48 hours when it comes to dealing with older workers. Hot on the heels of Miriam O’Reilly’s successful age discrimination and victimisation claim against the BBC, the government has today confirmed it will start phasing out the default retirement age from 1 April 2011 and abolish [...]
Bankers Bonuses are about to be declared and reports in the press suggest that the coaltition government has failed, despite their public announcements to the contrary, to influence the level of bonus payments. What has changed following the credit crisis is that there are now rules stipulating that a set proportion of bonuses must be [...]
