Wrongful dismissal is synonymous with breach of contract. If an employer has breached a term of the contract of employment on termination, for example, by not paying notice pay the termination may be considered “wrongful” and damages can be claimed for the notice pay and any other pay due. If the breach occurs during employment[…]
In order to settle an employee’s potential claims against an employee, the parties can enter into a settlement agreement. This agreement must comply with certain legal requirements and the employee must obtain independent legal advice in order for the agreement to be effective and enforceable. It is important to get the wording right too, otherwise[…]
Whistleblowing claims are common in employment tribunal proceedings. One reason for this is that an award of damages in a successful whistleblowing claim is not capped in the same way as damages for unfair dismissal. In addition, there is no minimum period of service required in order to bring a claim. All workers are protected[…]
Under the Equality Act 2010 workers have the right not to be discriminated against because of a “protected characteristic;” these are: age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex and sexual orientation. Discrimination may come in the form of harassment, victimisation or unfavourable or less favourable treatment[…]
All employers are required to conduct disciplinary and grievance procedures in accordance with the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procures which sets out guidance on dealing with discipline and grievance issues. It is still strongly advisable for both employers and employees to follow the guidance as the employment tribunals can increase or[…]
In Duncombe and ors v Secretary of State for Children, School and Families (No.2) the Supreme Court decided that teachers employed by the Secretary of State to work in European Schools overseas fell within the protection of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and could therefore claim unfiar dismissal. The Court ruled that the teachers comprised[…]
The EAT has recently decided in the case of Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust v Mr Mylott that an employer does not have a duty under Section 4A of the Disability Discrimination Act to take steps to facilitate a disabled employee applying for ill health retirement. Reasonable adjustments, under Section 4A involve steps to enable[…]
Three key changes are due to take place in April: The default retirement age will be phased on from 6 April 2011 the right to request flexible working will be extended to parents of children under 18. However, in The Telepgraph today it was reported that Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and[…]
Gender Considerations should not be used to set insurance premiums or benefts
LATEST NEWS Apr 18, 2011
In Association Belge des Consommateurs Test-Achats ASBL and ors the European Court of Justice has decided that insurers cannot take gender into account as a risk factor when setting premiums and payouts in respect of annuities, retirement savings and accident cover. The decision is likely to affect many insured benefits provided by employers such as[…]
The Government has revised the draft Employment Equality (Repeal of Retirement Age Provisions) Regulations 2011 to address a problem in the transitional provisions contained in the original draft that would have meant that the retirement procedure could not be relied on in respect of an employee whom it was intended to retire before 1 October[…]