Government suffers two defeats in Lords on Immigration Bill – BBC News

Posted March 10th, 2016 in bills, employment, immigration, news, parliament, Sunday trading by sally

‘The government has twice been defeated in the Lords over its Immigration Bill, shortly after losing a vote in the Commons on Sunday trading.’

Full story

BBC News, 9th March 2016

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Adam Johnson guilty of sexual activity with a child – The Guardian

Posted March 3rd, 2016 in employment, news, pleadings, sentencing, sexual grooming, sexual offences, sport by sally

‘The footballer Adam Johnson is facing the prospect of five years in jail after being found guilty of sexual activity with a 15-year-old schoolgirl.’

Full story

The Guardian, 2nd March 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Closing the Gap: Will the gender pay gap information Regulations bring about equality? – Cloisters

Posted February 22nd, 2016 in employment, equality, gender, news, penalties, remuneration, sex discrimination, statistics, women by sally

‘On 12 February 2016, the Government published the draft Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2016, which will affect some 8,000 businesses. This means that it finally implemented s.78 of the Equality Act 2010 (“EqA”), the section enabling the Secretary of State to make Regulations concerning equal pay audits. (The gender reporting implemented by these Regulations is not be confused with the compulsory audits ordered by ETs under s. 139A of the EqA). Section 78 was shunted sideways in 2010, then revived following pressure from the Lib Dems in the Coalition and Mind the Pay Gap, the campaign launched by Grazia magazine. And you thought Grazia was all about clothes and celebrities…’

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Cloisters, 15th February 2016

Source: www.cloisters.com

Virginia Mantouvalou: Modern Slavery? The UK Visa System and the Exploitation of Migrant Domestic Workers – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted February 18th, 2016 in employment, immigration, news, trafficking in human beings, visas, women by sally

‘Since 2012 migrant domestic workers arrive in the UK under very restrictive visa conditions. The Overseas Domestic Worker visa does not permit them to change employer and ties them to the employer with whom they arrived for a non-renewable period of six months. Domestic workers, particularly when they live in the employers’ household, are a vulnerable group of workers. They are also often excluded from labour protective laws. The UK visa has been heavily criticised by many for creating further vulnerability, and has even been linked to slavery. Between 15,000 and 16,000 such visas are issued each year, according to the Home Office, which does not provide any further information on arrivals but produces data on the nationality of the employers. About 80 per cent come from a very small number of countries in the Middle East.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 16th February 2016

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

New legal right for shop workers to refuse longer work hours on Sundays – Daily Telegraph

‘Ministers are changing legislation to give councils the power to extend trading hours in their local areas’

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Daily Telegraph, 13th February 2016

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

English courts taking ‘increasingly pragmatic’ approach to correcting pension scheme deeds, says expert – OUT-LAW.com

Posted February 11th, 2016 in courts, documents, employment, news, pensions, rectification by sally

‘A run of recent decisions shows the “increasingly pragmatic approach” that the courts in England are adopting when faced with applications to fix mistakes in pension scheme deeds, an expert has said.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 9th February 2016

Source: www.out-law.com

Prisoners won’t have to declare convictions when seeking work, David Cameron says – Daily Telegraph

Posted February 9th, 2016 in civil servants, criminal records, employment, news, recruitment, speeches by sally

‘Prime Minister says that prisoners should not have to submit a list of previous convictions when initially applying for jobs’

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Daily Telegraph, 8th February 2016

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Enhanced Criminal Records Check Mate – Panopticon

Posted January 26th, 2016 in criminal records, employment, news, regulations by sally

‘One might have thought, following the judgments of the Court of Appeal (noted here) and the Supreme Court (noted here) in R (T) v Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police [2014] UKSC 35, that there was little left to say about enhanced criminal records certificates (ECRC). After all, the Government had, with moderate grace, gone away after the Court of Appeal loss and drafted a revised set of rules in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2013 (SI 2013/1198) which sought to better implement the Article 8 ECHR balance between the needs of employers and the need for long-distant misbehaviour not to be a permanent stain. But that thought fatally undervalues the ingenuity of lawyers (as well as the breadth of application of the ECRC regime).’

Full story

Panopticon, 23rd Janaury 2016

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Criminal record disclosure checks ruled ‘unlawful’ – BBC News

Posted January 25th, 2016 in criminal records, disclosure, employment, news, proportionality, vetting by sally

‘Two people who claimed their careers were being blighted by having to disclose their minor criminal convictions to employers have won their case at the High Court.’

Full story

BBC News, 22nd January 2016

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

High Court upholds Pensions Regulator’s approach to auto-enrolment of peripatetic workers – OUT-LAW.com

Posted January 18th, 2016 in contracts, employment, judicial review, news, pensions by sally

‘The eligibility of peripatetic workers for automatic enrolment onto workplace pension schemes in Great Britain depends on where the worker is based and not on what is set out in the worker’s contract, the High Court has said.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 15th January 2016

Source: www.out-law.com

Surveillance of Internet usage in the workplace – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted January 15th, 2016 in dismissal, electronic mail, employment, human rights, internet, news, privacy by sally

‘In December 2015, the European Court of Human Rights, by 6 votes to 1, dismissed a Romanian national’s appeal against his employer’s decision to terminate his contract for using a professional Yahoo Messenger account to send personal messages to his fiancé and brother.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 14th January 2015

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Private messages at work can be read by European employers – BBC News

Posted January 14th, 2016 in electronic mail, employment, human rights, interception, news, privacy by sally

‘Employers can read workers’ private messages sent via chat software and webmail accounts during working hours, judges have ruled.’

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BBC News, 13th January 2016

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Disabled workers can’t afford justice to deal with workplace harassment – The Guardian

‘Since the government introduced fees for employment tribunals, together with legal aid cuts, disabled people have increasingly been unable to have their cases heard.’

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The Guardian, 6th January 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Naeem v Secretary of State for Justice – WLR Daily

Naeem v Secretary of State for Justice [2015] EWCA Civ 1264; [2015] WLR (D) 517

‘In a claim under section 19 of the Equality Act 2010 for indirect discrimination, based on a system of pay relating to length of service, once the claimant had shown that use of the particular provision, criterion or practice, namely the length of service criterion, had lead to a disparity in pay, it was permissible to consider the reason for the disparity complained of in the sense of the factors which had caused it to occur.’

WLR Daily, 9th December 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Can young adult offenders be diverted into work? – BBC News

Posted December 10th, 2015 in employment, news, rehabilitation, young offenders by sally

‘Some reform groups believe the justice system should treat young adult offenders differently. Could a programme in south London lead the way in terms of their rehabilitation?’

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BBC News, 10th December 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Prison officer who ‘caught TB from inmates’ wins five-figure payout – Daily Telegraph

Posted December 9th, 2015 in compensation, duty of care, employment, health & safety, news, prison officers by sally

‘Fiona Murphy in out-of-court settlement from Ministry of Justice amid claims she was unknowingly exposed to disease at HMP Wakefield.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 8th December 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Drugs boss who said he ‘only employs beautiful women’ guilty of sexism – Daily Telegraph

Posted November 17th, 2015 in employment, harassment, news, sex discrimination, tribunals, unfair dismissal by sally

‘The boss behind a banned cancer “wonder drug” has been found guilty of sex discrimination after writing “Red lipstick, heels – good” on his personal assistant’s job application.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 17th November 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Yes you can discriminate against a company (but you shouldn’t!) – No. 5 Chambers

‘How odd, you might think. A company can suffer a detriment under the Equality Act 2010 and so bring a claim for direct discrimination. Yet a company is impersonal and protected characteristics are highly personal that only individuals can have. How can that be?’

Full story

No. 5 Chambers, 8th October 2015

Source: www.no5.com

Barristers set for freedom to operate through corporate vehicles and agencies – Legal Futures

Posted October 15th, 2015 in barristers, consultations, employment, news by sally

‘Barristers are to be allowed to operate through agencies and corporate vehicles under proposals released today by the Bar Standards Board (BSB).’

Full story

Legal Futures, 13th October 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Bar regulator wants to remove restrictions on employed barristers, seeking views – Bar Standards Board

Posted October 14th, 2015 in barristers, consultations, employment, law firms, press releases by sally

‘The regulator is seeking to broaden the definition of employment for barristers working in-house for organisations that are not authorised law firms, in a new consultation launched today.’

Full press release

Bar Stadards Board, 13th October 2015

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk