Are race discrimination laws still needed in the workplace? – BBC News

Posted March 13th, 2015 in employment, news, race discrimination, racism, statistics by sally

‘UKIP leader Nigel Farage has claimed that concerns over race discrimination in the workplace are outdated, and no longer relevant to his “colour-blind” party.

Mr Farage said the laws “would probably have been valid” 40 years ago, but that he would scrap many of them today.’

Full story

BBC News, 12th March 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Blakesley v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions – WLR Daily

Blakesley v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2015] EWCA Civ 141; [2015] WLR (D) 96

‘The Government was not obliged to make lump sum payments to successful applicants for asylum representing the difference between the support they received while their application was being processed and mainstream benefits.’

WLR Daily, 26th February 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Disclosure and Barring Service checks: an individual’s rights – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted March 3rd, 2015 in criminal records, data protection, disclosure, employment, news, vetting by sally

‘Another of my articles has considered s56 of the Data Protection Act, which makes it an offence for an employer to compel a current or prospective employee to make a data subject access request. These subject access requests can reveal an individual’s spent criminal convictions as well as other sensitive personal information, and are therefore highly invasive and potentially highly prejudicial to an individual’s employment prospects.’

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Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 3rd March 2015

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Enforced subject access: what you need to know about section 56 of the Data Protection Act – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted March 2nd, 2015 in criminal records, data protection, employment, enforcement, news by sally

‘Under Section 56 of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA), it will soon be a criminal offence for an employer or other third party to require a data subject to supply records obtained through a subject access request. An employer, or a supplier of goods and services, cannot therefore make employment or provision of goods and services conditional on a data subject making a subject access request and providing their records.’

Full story

Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 26th February 2015

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Benkharbouche v Embassy of the Republic of Sudan (Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and others intervening); Janah v Libya (Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and others intervening) – WLR Daily

Benkharbouche v Embassy of the Republic of Sudan (Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and others intervening); Janah v Libya (Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and others intervening) [2015] EWCA Civ 33; [2015] WLR (D) 83

‘Domestic workers employed as members of the service staff of foreign diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom were entitled to bring proceedings asserting their employment rights against the employer state, in claims including unfair dismissal and breach of working time provisions, and such claims were not barred by the doctrine of state immunity pursuant to provisions in the State Immunity Act 1978.’

WLR Daily, 5th February 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Eirian Davies wins £1.3m of family farm in Carmarthenshire – BBC News

Posted February 26th, 2015 in agricultural holdings, compensation, employment, families, news, wills by sally

‘A farmer’s daughter has won £1.3m after working on her parents’ farm for nothing as a teenager while her sisters were having fun.’

Full story

BBC News, 25th February 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Benefits to be withdrawn from EEA jobseekers previously unaffected by the January 2014 changes – Free Movement

Posted February 25th, 2015 in benefits, employment, immigration, news, social security by sally

‘In January 2014, the Government introduced a number of measures aimed at restricting EEA migrants’ access to income-based JSA. A key change was the introduction of a statutory presumption that entitlement to income-based JSA (‘JSA(IB)’) would be limited to a period of three months (or six months for EEA nationals with retained worker status) unless the jobseeker could pass a Genuine Prospect of Work (GPoW) assessment.’

Full story

Free Movement, 24th February 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

How ‘get a job’ divorce ruling will change settlements on maintenance payments – Daily Telegraph

Posted February 25th, 2015 in divorce, employment, families, financial provision, matrimonial home, news, women by sally

‘Spouses can no longer expect full financial support from their ex-partners once their children reach age seven. Experts expect a rush to renegotiate.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 24th February 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Al-Malki and another v Reyes and another (Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and others intervening) – WLR Daily

Al-Malki and another v Reyes and another (Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and others intervening) [2015] EWCA Civ 32; [2015] WLR (D) 75

‘A contract of employment between a serving diplomatic agent and a domestic worker in his official diplomatic residence was not to be characterised as “commercial activity” which the diplomatic agent exercised in the jurisdiction outside of his “official functions”, so that in a claim under the contract the agent was not deprived of his immunity from civil suit by the employee since such a dispute did not come within the exception to diplomatic immunity under article 31.1(c) of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961), scheduled to the Diplomatic Privileges Act 1964.’

WLR Daily, 5th February 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Welcome relief – New Law Journal

‘Ian Smith reports on basic & immutable problems of employment law that require complex answers.’

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New Law Journal, 17th February 2015

Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk

Court of Appeal strikes down state immunity rules that prevent embassy employees seeking justice – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted February 16th, 2015 in appeals, EC law, embassies, employment, human rights, immunity, news by sally

‘This judgment concerned the conjoined appeals of Ms. Benkharbouche and Ms. Janah which arose from employment law claims brought against, respectively, the Sudanese and Libyan embassies. Certain of their claims, such as those for unfair dismissal, were founded on domestic law. Others, such as those under the Working Time Regulations 1998, fell within the scope of EU law. All were met with pleas of state immunity under the State Immunity Act 1978.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog,

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Met agrees final settlement in Carol Howard discrimination case – BBC News

Posted February 16th, 2015 in damages, employment, news, police, race discrimination, racism, sex discrimination, tribunals by sally

‘The Metropolitan Police has agreed a final settlement with an officer it discriminated against.’

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BBC News, 14th February 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Hanley Broadheath ‘harassed’ vicar at Court of Appeal – BBC News

Posted February 12th, 2015 in appeals, Church of England, clergy, employment, harassment, news, unfair dismissal by sally

‘A vicar who claimed he was the victim of four years of harassment has appeared at the Court of Appeal over whether he has the right to bring an action for unfair dismissal.’

Full story

BBC News, 11th February 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Graham v Commercial Bodyworks Ltd – WLR Daily

Posted February 11th, 2015 in appeals, employment, fire, law reports, personal injuries, vicarious liability by sally

Graham v Commercial Bodyworks Ltd [2015] EWCA Civ 47; [2015] WLR (D) 50

‘Where an employee, while at work, had perpetrated against his friend and colleague what was apparently intended to be a prank, by putting highly inflammable thinning agent on to his clothes and then igniting them, the employer was not vicariously liable.’

WLR Daily, 5th February 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Babes out of the Forest – NearlyLegal

‘The out of borough temporary accommodation position continues to get worse, with increasing numbers of homeless shipped out of borough (and for London councils, often out of London). London Councils (pace Nzolameso v Westminster CC ) have put the DCLG ‘Supplementary Guidance on the homelessness changes in the Localism Act 2011 and on the Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2012‘ at naught.’

Full story

NearlyLegal, 2nd February 2015

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Broni v Ministry of Defence; Woof v Ministry of Defence; Barbour v Ministry of Defence – WLR Daily

Posted January 27th, 2015 in armed forces, civil procedure rules, costs, employment, fees, law reports by sally

Broni v Ministry of Defence; Woof v Ministry of Defence; Barbour v Ministry of Defence [2015] EWHC 66 (QB); [2015] WLR (D) 24

‘The words “contract of service” in section 2(1) of the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 Act were not to be given a construction broader than their usual meaning. It followed that the claimants, as members of the armed forces, were not “employees” for the purposes of section 2(1) the 1969 Act and the fixed success fee regime for employer’s liability claims, as set out in Section IV of CPR Pt 45 (pre 1 April 2013), did not apply to their claims against the defendant ministry.’

WLR Daily, 20th January 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Is the Cart-threshold being set too high? – Garden Court Chambers Blog

‘Desmond Rutledge and Zubier Yazdani consider the hurdles facing welfare benefit claimants seeking to use the Cart test.’

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Garden Court Chambers, Blog, 6th January 2015

Source: www.gclaw.wordpress.com

Ched Evans: Attorney general’s office probe into website – BBC News

Posted January 7th, 2015 in attorney general, contempt of court, employment, internet, news, rape, sentencing, sport, victims by tracey

‘The attorney general’s office is considering whether a website supporting convicted rapist Ched Evans breached contempt of court laws.’

Full story

BBC News, 6th January 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

The legal issues in the Ched Evans case – BBC News

‘Footballer Ched Evans is still looking for a new club after being released from prison last October, having served half of a five-year sentence for the rape of a 19-year-old woman in a hotel in May 2011.’

Full story

BBC News, 6th January 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Can offensive use of social media justify a decision to dismiss? – Technology Law Update

Posted December 18th, 2014 in appeals, dismissal, employment, employment tribunals, internet, news by sally

‘Does use by an employee of a personal Twitter account in a way that is “intimidating, racist and anti disability” and “offensive to other groups of people including dentists, caravan drivers, golfers, the A&E department, Newcastle supporters, the police and disabled people” justify a decision to fire?’

Full story

Technology Law Update, 18th December 2014

Source: www.technology-law-blog.co.uk