Gender critical belief: A legal debrief – Law Pod UK

Posted December 11th, 2024 in employment, equality, freedom of expression, gender, news, podcasts, transgender persons by sally

‘Jim Duffy is joined by fellow 1COR barristers Alasdair Henderson and Paula Kelly to examine recent judicial attempts to grapple with questions of gender in the workplace. How do the UK courts and tribunals distinguish legitimate and protected expressions of belief from harassment and transphobia?’

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Law Pod UK, 11th December 2024

Source: audioboom.com

Birmingham city council agrees deal over equal pay claims – The Guardian

‘Birmingham city council has reached an agreement to settle historical equal pay claims that left the authority with liabilities estimated at £760m and pushed it into effective bankruptcy.’

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The Guardian, 10th December 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Rogue employers will be banned from hiring overseas workers – Home Office

Posted December 2nd, 2024 in employment, government departments, immigration, minimum wage, news, visas by tracey

‘Shameless businesses who commit serious offences will be banned from sponsoring overseas workers to crack down on visa abuse and prevent exploitation.’

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Home Office, 28th November 2024

Source: www.gov.uk

Shared parental leave ‘failing working families’ – BBC News

Posted December 2nd, 2024 in children, employment, equality, families, maternity leave, news, paternity leave by tracey

‘A decade on from the introduction of a landmark scheme aimed at helping new parents share childcare, campaigners say shared parental leave is failing the working families it was designed to help.’

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BBC News, 2nd December 2024

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Appeal judge orders re-hearing of employment claim against council where most of written reasons of tribunal were copied from evidence or submissions of local authority – Local Government Lawyer

‘The Employment Appeal Tribunal has ordered a re-hearing of claims by an ex-employee against a local authority, after finding that most of the Employment Tribunal’s written reasons were copied from the council’s witness evidence or written submissions.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 26th November 2024

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Political views vs philosophical beliefs: Fairbanks – Law & Religion UK

Posted November 25th, 2024 in belief discrimination, bullying, employment, equality, harassment, news, political parties by tracey

‘In Mrs C Fairbanks v Change Grow Live [2024] UKET 2409700/2023, Mrs Fairbanks had been employed by Change Grow Live (CGL), a charity, as a recovery worker based in Fleetwood from October 2022 until she was dismissed in July 2023. She had been a local councillor for the UK Independence Party between about 2017 and 2019, and at the job interview, she had told the charity that she had been a councillor but had not told them which party she had represented.’

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Law & Religion UK, 25th November 2024

Source: lawandreligionuk.com

New legal privilege guidance for in-house lawyers in England – OUT-LAW.com

‘Legal advice given by in-house lawyers will, under English law, attract privilege in the same way as legal advice given by any other lawyers, but there are certain issues in-house lawyers should pay particular attention to when considering legal professional privilege, according to new guidance by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).’

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OUT-LAW.com, 22nd November 2024

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

Britain’s New Tipping Act: A Promising Path for the Regulation of Service Work – by Einat Albin – UK Labour Law

Posted November 22nd, 2024 in codes of practice, employment, news, remuneration by sally

‘On October 1, 2024, the newly adopted Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 (hereinafter: the Tipping Act), came into force, accompanied by a Code of Practice on the fair and transparent distribution of tips (hereinafter: the Code), issued by the Department for Business & Trade (hereinafter: DBT). According to the DBT, the purpose of the Tipping Act is “to ensure the fair and transparent allocation of all tips, gratuities, and service charges.” Its desired outcome is “to improve fairness for workers by ensuring that the tips consumers leave in recognition of good service and hard work are going to the workers as intended.”’

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UK Labour Law, 21st November 2024

Source: uklabourlawblog.com

Slapps used to silence whistleblowers should be outlawed, says group of MPs – The Guardian

‘Excessive legal threats used to silence those who tried to expose the Post Office Horizon scandal and allegations against Mohamed Al Fayed should be outlawed, a cross-party group of MPs have said.’

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The Guardian, 21st November 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Swimming coaches win unfair dismissal tribunal – BBC News

Posted November 18th, 2024 in employment, employment tribunals, news, unfair dismissal by tracey

‘Two swimming coaches were unfairly dismissed and subjected to “unfounded” comments about safeguarding concerns, an employment tribunal has found.’

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BBC News, 18th November 2024

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Security guard sues Science Museum for allegedly denying suitable chair – The Guardian

‘A cancer survivor with chronic health problems is suing one of the UK’s most prestigious museums for discrimination for allegedly denying her a suitable chair to sit on when she is at work.’

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The Guardian, 17th November 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Supreme Court breathes new life into “equitable rectification” – Pensions Barrister

‘In National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers v Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive T/A Nexus [2024] UKSC 37, the Supreme Court has handed down an important judgment on the scope of rectification, holding that a collective bargaining agreement can be rectified even though it is not a legally enforceable contract. Of greater relevance for pensions lawyers is the decision that the Employment Tribunal, whilst it does not have the power to make a rectification order, can nevertheless treat a document as having been rectified on the basis of the principle that “equity can treat as done that which ought to have been done”. This has potentially wide-ranging consequences for other statutory tribunals, including the FTT and the Pensions Ombudsman.’

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Pensions Barrister, 14th November 2024

Source: www.pensionsbarrister.com

Splitting hairs: A review of the ‘related to’ test under section 26 Equality Act 2010 – Cloisters

‘In Finn v British Bung Manufacturing Company [2023] EAT 165, the EAT upheld an employment tribunal’s decision that calling a male colleague a ‘bald c**nt’ was harassment related to sex. The employer’s counterargument, that baldness is not an exclusively male characteristic, failed.’

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Cloisters, 8th October 2024

Source: www.cloisters.com

Employment Appeal Tribunal gives comprehensive guidance on the correct approach to applications to extend time – Devereuax Chambers

Posted November 13th, 2024 in appeals, chambers articles, employment, employment tribunals, news, time limits by sally

‘A litigant wishing to appeal against a decision of the Employment Tribunal must issue a Notice of Appeal within 42 days of either the Tribunal’s order or the date on which the written reasons were sent to the parties.’

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Devereux Chambers, 3rd October 2024

Source: www.devereuxchambers.co.uk

Licences granted to nearly 200 UK care providers despite labour law violations – The Guardian

Posted November 12th, 2024 in care homes, care workers, employment, immigration, licensing, news, reports by tracey

‘Nearly 200 care providers have been given government licences to bring foreign nurses to the UK despite having previously violated labour laws, according to a study that highlights widespread employment problems in the social care sector.’

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The Guardian, 12th November 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Council worker who objected to pronouns policy ordered to pay £12k in costs after losing employment tribunal – Local Government Lawyer

‘A council worker who protested against his local authority employer’s pronouns policy has been ordered to pay £12,000 in costs after his claim of unfair dismissal was dismissed in the Employment Tribunal.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 8th November 2024

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Disabled paralegal’s £41k damages over unfair law firm dismissal – Legal Futures

‘A paralegal has been awarded £41,000 in damages against a law firm that unfairly dismissed and discriminated against her because she could not work full-time due to disability.’

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Legal Futures, 11th November 2024

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Met Police refers itself to watchdog over Mohamed Al Fayed allegations – The Independent

Posted November 11th, 2024 in complaints, employment, news, ombudsmen, police, victims by tracey

‘Scotland Yard has referred itself to a police watchdog after two women complained about how their cases against Mohamed Al Fayed were handled.’

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The Independent, 9th November 2024

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Thousands of UK Bolt drivers win legal claim to be classed as employees – The Guardian

‘An employment tribunal ruled that 15,000 Bolt drivers were not self-employed contractors who ran their own businesses.’

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The Guardian, 8th November 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Swearing at work is particularly common in north of England, judge says – The Guardian

Posted November 6th, 2024 in employment, employment tribunals, judges, news, unfair dismissal by tracey

‘As every southerner knows, people from the north of England will not eat chips without gravy, insist on talking to every stranger they meet and often sport a flat cap when walking the whippet. But do they also swear more? In an employment tribunal judgment that raises further questions about regional stereotypes, a judge has suggested that swearing in the workplace is particularly common in the north.’

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The Guardian, 5th November 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com