‘Occasionally, a claimant at the employment tribunal will contact the Gazette in distress, after seeing reports of their case apparently plastered all over the internet. Many seem unaware of – and certainly unprepared for – the implications of open justice in the digital age.’
Law Society's Gazette, 25th October 2021
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘In Summer 2021, Bloomberg published a striking series of stories from working people who had been ‘fired by a machine’. Stephen Normandin had worked for several years for Amazon Flex as a member of a fleet of ‘contract drivers’ who provide same-day delivery services for groceries and packages. Like other members of Amazon’s significant workforce, Stephen’s work was monitored through a system of real-time data collection and algorithmic analysis. Stephen’s performance rating plummeted after a series of unfortunate incidents made his job more difficult: inaccessible gated communities and lockers, unresponsive recipients and unhelpful responses from the company. Shortly after, he received an email stating that his contract had been terminated. Stephen took up the opportunity to appeal the decision but received a series of emails, each with a different name attached, that took him no further. The final email that Stephen received stated that the difficulties he had cited had already been taken into account. His termination stood, even though he was never able to interact ‘live’ with another human being.’
UK Labour Law, 19th October 2021
Source: uklabourlawblog.com
‘Half of the UK’s working mothers do not get the flexibility they ask for, while those that do work flexibly face discrimination, according to a survey.’
The Guardian, 15th October 2021
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A law firm is seeking to launch a group action against Amazon over employee rights for delivery drivers.’
BBC News, 13th October 2021
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Can the Employment Tribunal “go behind” a final written warning? Madeleine Shields reports on a recent Employment Appeal Tribunal ruling.’
Local Government Lawyer, 8th October 2021
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Parents are being forced to use holiday leave to look after their children when they get sick, a new study has found.’
The Independent, 7th October 2021
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Priti Patel’s department is resisting growing demands to allow asylum seekers to work following a public intervention from her cabinet colleague Dominic Raab to say that he would be “open-minded’ about the proposal.’
The Guardian, 30th September 2021
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The main challenges to compulsory vaccination policies come from unfair dismissal and discrimination law. Unfair dismissal claims are available to employees with two years’ service. Claims would hinge upon the issue of whether an employee’s refusal to comply with a vaccination policy is a ‘substantial reason’ sufficient to justify their dismissal.’
Law Society's Gazette, 27th September 2021
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Despite the concerns expressed by many commentators ahead of Brexit about the possibility of significant deregulatory reform of employment protection legislation once the United Kingdom left the EU, precious little has been heard subsequently in this regard in terms of specific proposals other than a brief flurry of speculation earlier this year about potential reform of working time, rest break and holiday entitlement provisions. This culminated in the Government’s confirmation that a review of workers’ rights would not be proceeding and its statement, in explaining the failure to include the promised Employment Bill in the most recent Queen’s Speech, that it is “unequivocal in its commitment to protect and enhance workers’ rights as we build back better from the pandemic….”’
UK Labour Law, 22nd September 2021
Source: uklabourlawblog.com
‘The judgment in Forstater v CDG Europe UKEAT/0105/20/JOJ has forced the courts yet again to grapple with the transgender debate. We have already seen the judiciary face up to the challenging issues of whether children with gender dysphoria can consent to receiving puberty blockers (see recent decision in Bell v Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust [2021] EWCA Civ 1363). In the present case, the issue was whether the Claimant’s belief that biological sex is real, important, immutable, and not to be conflated with gender identity was a “philosophical belief” within the meaning of section 10 of Equality Act 2010 (“EqA”).’
UK Human Rights Blog, 21st September 2021
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘Gig economy firms are facing calls to better protect their workers, as an MP and a trade union warn of a wave of harassment and physical and emotional abuse facing couriers and taxi drivers.’
The Independent, 19th September 2021
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) cannot be effectively controlled by professional regulators like the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and legislation is needed, a law professor and campaigner for tougher restrictions has said.’
Legal Futures, 15th September 2021
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘A few days ago it was highlighted in the press that the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers was in discussions with the Ministry of Justice. The aim of these was to explore how prisoners could be used to cover labour shortages, one of the many reported effects of Brexit. The scheme under which this could be done is the “Release under Temporary License”, which permits certain categories of prisoners who are on day release to work. Another group of prisoners who could work in this context are those with long sentences that are coming towards the end of these and who are idle for years while in prison.’
UK Labour Law, 8th September 2021
Source: uklabourlawblog.com
‘Alice Thompson wanted to work shorter hours to pick her daughter up from nursery, but ended up resigning.’
BBC News, 7th September 2021
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘A woman who raised concerns about the safety of children at an NHS gender clinic has been awarded £20,000 in an employment tribunal case.’
BBC News, 5th September 2021
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
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