Many employers when faced with a discrimination or harassment claim by one employee in relation to conduct by one or more other employees will seek to use the “reasonable steps” defence under s109(4) of the Equality Act 2010. If the employer can show that it took all reasonable steps to prevent employees from committing either […]
The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain v The Secretary of State for Work & Pensions and others. A recent decision by the High Court to extend health-and-safety protections those engaged in the gig economy will have a huge impact on hundreds of thousands of workers. The Independent Workers Unions of Great Britain brought the […]
An employee was entitled to bring a claim for unfair dismissal even where there was no reasonable prospect of recovering any compensation, according to an Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruling in the case of Evans v London Borough of Brent. Dr Evans was– a deputy head teacher involved in financial mismanagement which resulted in himself […]
In early September the Government revealed that an estimated £3.5 billion of Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme payments may have been claimed fraudulently or paid out in error. The scheme, which has been in operation since March, has so far cost the Government approximately £35.4 billion and the fraudulent and mistaken payments are thought to make […]
The concept of the ‘last straw’ in relation to constructive dismissal claims featured in the case of Williams v Governing Body of Alderman Davies Church in Wales Primary School, where a decision by an Employment Tribunal (ET) was subsequently overturned by an Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). The case centred on a primary school teacher, Mr […]
The Supreme Court (“SC”) has clarified what amounts to “unfavourable treatment” for the purposes of a claim for discrimination arising from disability under section 15 of the Equality Act 2010 (“EA”). In Williams v Trustees of Swansea University Pension and Assurance Scheme the SC held that a disabled employee who was entitled to a pension because of […]